Disappointing fed rate cut spurs Wall Street slide

The Federal Reserve cut its federal funds rate by one-quarter of a percentage point today, trying to keep the country out of recession. Wall Street had hoped for a more aggressive cut, and traders reacted to the news by sending the Dow Jones industrial average down almost 200 points within minutes of the announcement.

Shas minister: Americans’ attitude to report reminiscent of Auschwitz

Israel-Yitzhak Cohen says during cabinet meeting ‘US intelligence report was ordered by someone who wants dialogue with Tehran. Minister Eli Yishai: ‘We must not play dumb in the face of the report’s findings’
“The manner in which the Americans relate to the intelligence report on Iran is similar to the way in which they viewed those reports they received during the Holocaust on railways transporting hundreds of thousands of Jews to their death at Auschwitz,” Minister Yitzhak Cohen of Shas said during a security cabinet meeting Sunday morning on the Iranian nuclear issue. “It can not be that (US President George W.) Bush is committed to peace as was declared at Annapolis, and then the Americans propagate such an intelligence report which contradicts the information we have proving Iran intends to obtain nuclear weapons,” Cohen said. “How can we rely on the Americans if they publish this report that emasculates what the world explicitly knows regarding Iran, and renders impotent the entire struggle against the Iranians?”

Minister Cohen asserted that the report must have been “ordered by someone who wants dialogue with Tehran” and formulated an historical analogy to express just how serious the situation is: “In the middle of the previous century the Americans received intelligence reports from Auschwitz on the packed trains going to the extermination camps. They claimed then that the railways were industrial. Their attitude today to the information coming out of Iran on the Iranians’ intention to produce a nuclear bomb reminds one of their attitude during the holocaust.”

Cabinet Member Cohen had this to say to his fellow ministers not present in the meeting: “Whoever thinks that the president of Iran is a lover of Zion, with Kosher certification from the Americans, misleads and is mislead. He is not a lover of Zion, but instead an aspiring strangler of Zion. Someone in America fell asleep on his watch, but we must remain awake and aware.”

‘Pressure on Iran must continue’

Neither Cohen nor the Shas party would confirm nor deny the remarks the minister made in the meeting.

Earlier a senior security source told Ynet that “Iran will do all in its power to proceed on the path (to a nuclear weapon), while trying to confuse the western world.” In the meeting, policy makers attempted to formulate the Israeli response to the America National , published last week, which asserted that Iran suspended its activities for acquiring nuclear weapons in 2003.Ynet

Passaic-Man Arrested in Connection with Paramus Park Mall Stabbing

PARAMUS, N.J. – There was horror for stunned holiday shoppers at the Paramus Park mall.

Police said a bleeding 18-year-old staggered in with a knife in his neck and collapsed Monday night.

Deputy Police Chief Richard Cary said police believe the man was stabbed outside the mall’s main western entrance.
A man suspected in the stabbing was arrested around 1:15 a.m. in Passaic, Cary said. He did not release other details.

The victim, whose name was not released, was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center. Cary said he was out of surgery Tuesday morning and was expected to survive

Firefighter Injured in Clifton

Clifton N.J. A firefighter was taken to the hospital after he tripped down a flight of stairs and injured himself during a service call Saturday night at a Lakeview section home, a fire official said.At about 7 p.m. Saturday, the fire department was called to 77 E. Second St., to extinguish a mattress fire sparked by a shorted-out electrical outlet, Deputy Chief Leo Loder said.

The firefighter, George Kruckmeyer, was carrying the extinguished mattress down the stairs when he slipped.

Kruckmeyer was taken to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center, where he was treated for injuries to his left leg and released on Saturday night, Deputy Chief Thomas Lyons said on Sunday.

— Ed Beeson and Paul Brubaker