The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday by a quarter-point — its third cut this year — but also signalled that it expects to reduce rates next year more slowly than previously thought, with inflation still well above the central bank’s two per cent target.

Canada Post announced today that Santa will not be writing back to the children who write him letters this year. In a news release, the Crown corporation said that it has begun ramping up operations again after its month-long strike came to an end Tuesday.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided on Wednesday to hear a bid by TikTok and its China-based parent company ByteDance to block a law intended to force the sale of the short-video app by Jan. 19 or face a ban on national security grounds.

Three men who are citizens of the United Kingdom have been arrested and charged in the killing of Sharif Rahman, a restaurant owner in Owen Sound, Ont., in August 2023. In a statement, Rahman’s wife says she’s thankful for the support she’s received since the “terrible incident.”

The University of Waterloo community is mourning after twin sisters who were set to enter a PhD program in Ontario were killed this month in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war. Their family says the two “saw an end to their and our suffering” after being accepted into a program for students from conflict zones, but didn’t get to “realize their dreams.”

No Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball player will wear Caitlin Clark’s No. 22 again as it will be retired in a ceremony Feb. 2 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, the Iowa athletic department announced Wednesday.

The owner of Theodore Too, the life-sized replica of a beloved CBC-TV character, says he’s committed to executing a “safe and successful refloat” of the boat, which was built in Nova Scotia in 2000 and has been in Ontario waters since 2021.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says a patient has been hospitalized with a severe case of H5N1 infection in Louisiana, making it the first instance of a severe illness linked to the virus in the United States.

Italian rescue crews pulled Ottavia Piana to safety Wednesday, 75 hours after she was injured while exploring a cave near the city of Bergamo. The 32-year-old caver had been rescued from the same cave complex once before, when she broke her leg while exploring.

More than 40 years after being told she was a threat to Canada because of her sexuality, Diane Pitre is being given one of the country’s top honours.

The family of a B.C. man with bipolar disorder and chronic back pain is suing the federal and provincial governments after he allegedly used a day pass from hospital to end his life with medical assistance.

Montreal police’s arson unit is investigating a fire at a synagogue and Jewish community centre in the West Island. The damage was minor and police officers put it out with a fire extinguisher shortly after arriving at the scene.