The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday by a quarter-point — its third cut this year — but also signaled that it expects to reduce rates more slowly next year than it previously envisioned, largely because of still-elevated inflation. The Fed’s 19 policymakers projected that they will cut their benchmark rate by a quarter-point just twice in 2025, down from their previous estimate in September of four rate cuts. Their new quarterly projections suggest that consumers may not enjoy much lower rates next year for mortgages, auto loans, credit cards and other forms of borrowing.

The owner of Britain’s Guardian newspaper confirmed Wednesday that it has sold The Observer, the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper, to Tortoise Media for an undisclosed fee. The Scott Trust, which owns the Guardian Media Group, said in a statement that Tortoise Media is purchasing The Observer through a combination of cash and shares. The Observer, which was founded in 1791 and became part of the Guardian Media Group in 1993, is a bastion of liberal values in Britain’s media landscape. Tortoise has promised readers that it will honor the paper’s historic values. Tortoise was launched in 2019 by James Harding, a former editor of the London Times and director of news at the BBC, and the former U.S. ambassador to London, Matthew Barzun.

A quarter of the hostages released from captivity in the Gaza Strip suffer from Stockholm syndrome, Kan News reported last week. Stockholm syndrome is manifested by the victim’s identification with their captors as a survival mechanism and even in the development of positive feelings towards them. The data is from a study conducted by Prof. Gil Zaltzman, the director of the Geha Mental Health Center in Petach Tikvah and chairman of the Health Ministry’s suicide prevention program. The researchers analyzed the medical data of 102 released hostages and presented their conclusions at a conference of the Israel National Institute For Health Policy Research regarding the treatment of additional released hostages in the future. According to Prof.

Underneath a granite hill in southern China, a massive detector is nearly complete that will sniff out the mysterious ghost particles lurking around us. The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory will soon begin the difficult task of spotting neutrinos: tiny cosmic particles with a mind-bogglingly small mass. The detector is one of three being built across the globe to study these elusive ghost particles in the finest detail yet. The other two, based in the United States and Japan, are still under construction. Spying neutrinos is no small feat in the quest to understand how the universe came to be.

Nearly two million Israelis, including hundreds of thousands of children and seniors, were living below the poverty line in 2023, according to an annual report released by the National Insurance Institute (NII). The report underscores a troubling picture of economic inequality in Israel, placing the country near the bottom of the OECD rankings for poverty based on disposable income. The report reveals that 1.98 million people, or 20.7% of the population, lived in poverty last year. Among them were 872,400 children (27.9% of the child population) and 158,500 senior citizens (12.8% of the senior population). Rates of deprivation were particularly severe in Arab and Charedi communities, with Modiin Ilit—a predominantly Charedi city—identified as the poorest locality.

IDF troops who entered the Syrian part of Ramat HaGolan in the wake of the fall of the Assad regime took over Syrian army outposts without firing a shot after the Syrian army soldiers abandoned their outposts. IDF soldiers stationed at the Tel Kudana outpost made an unusual discovery. The soldiers found a notebook used by a Syrian army soldier who was studying Hebrew while on guard duty over the Israeli yishuvim four kilometers away, Kan News reported. The notebook has notes in Hebrew and instructions for writing in Hebrew along with words translated from Arabic to Hebrew, including “soldier,” “home,” “border,” and “Damascus.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

In a string of visits, dinners, calls, monetary pledges and social media overtures, big tech chiefs — including Apple’s Tim Cook, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos — have joined a parade of business and world leaders in trying to improve their standing with President-elect Donald Trump before he takes office in January. “The first term, everybody was fighting me,” Trump said in remarks at Mar-a-Lago. “In this term, everybody wants to be my friend.” Tech companies and leaders have now poured millions into his inauguration fund, a sharp increase — in most cases — from past pledges to incoming presidents. But what does the tech industry expect to gain out of their renewed relationships with Trump?

Today marks the 80th yahrzeit of HaGaon Rav Shlomo Heiman zt”l, and to mark it, a group is organizing a special minyan at his kever at the Mt. Judah Cemetery in Ridgewood, Queens. The minyan is set to take place at 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, and organizers are encouraging anyone who can attend to join. Visitors to Rav Heiman’s kever have often reported tremendous yeshuos after davening there, making this minyan a unique opportunity for personal tefillos. Rav Shlomo Heiman’s kever can be found at Section 1, Block T, Gate 5, along Judah Road, in the last section before Sinai Avenue. Those searching for the kever should note his name in the cemetery database is listed as “Heyman, Solomon.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The premier of Canada’s most populous province said Tuesday President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to impose sweeping 25% tariffs on all Canadian products would be a “disaster” that would hurt U.S. stock markets. Ontario Premier Doug Ford also said in an interview with The Associated Press that he’s “extremely worried” about Trump’s plan to launch a mass deportation of millions of undocumented people. Ford said he has a plan to send hundreds of police officers to the border if they come north. Ford said tariffs won’t work considering how integrated the U.S. and Canadian economies are. He noted that in the auto sector alone parts and go back and forth between Canada-U.S. border seven or eight times before being assembled in Ontario or Michigan. “It is so integrated.

A shul in Montreal’s West Island was the target of a suspected arson attack early Wednesday morning, according to Montreal police (SPVM). Authorities received a 911 call shortly before 3 a.m. reporting a fire on Westpark Street near Roger Pilon Street. The area includes the Beth Tikvah shul, the Hebrew Foundation School, and the Federation CJA’s West Island office. In 2023, YWN reported that the same Shul had been attacked.  “Firefighters extinguished the blaze,” said SPVM spokesperson Véronique Dubuc. “They found at least one incendiary device.” Witnesses reportedly saw at least one suspect near the scene before the fire began, she added. The damage was described as minor, with a smashed window and a broken door being the primary impact on the synagogue.

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