Good morning. You can now add "Adele" to the list of words you've been mispronouncing for over a decade.

In a Q&A last week, the famed British singer revealed the proper way to pronounce her name is "uh-dale," as opposed to the more popular "uh-del." 

In today's edition:

• 🏦📈 The Fed raises interest rates
• 🔍 Google Search is getting new shopping features
• 🛰️ Space lines are being drawn

... and more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 3.93 minutes to read.

“Short cuts make long delays.”

–J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973)

Yesterday, we mistakenly said the $23 million home built by the founder of Yankee Candle was in Connecticut, instead of Massachusetts. Apologies for any confusion, and thanks to everyone who wrote in to let us know. (Though you have to cut us a little slack – who hasn't read A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court?😉)

The Federal Reserve’s policy-making committee unanimously voted to raise interest rates by 0.75% for the fourth straight time yesterday in an effort to tame inflation (which increased 8.2% year-over-year in September).

🏛️ More details… It continued the Fed’s most aggressive pace of monetary policy tightening since the early 1980s, the last time inflation was this high.

• Benchmark interest rates are now set at a range between 3.75% and 4%. That’s the highest level since 2008, and up from near-zero as recently as March.
• The central bank’s official statement, published yesterday, said “ongoing increases” will likely be needed to reach its commitment of returning long-term inflation to 2%.

📈 Big picture: The decision to raise interest rates affects borrowing costs throughout the entire US economy. It also increases returns for savings accounts, bonds, and CDs. Some notable examples:

• The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has nearly doubled since mid-March (3.85% → 7.08%).
• The yield on a two-year US Treasury bond has increased from 0.73% at the start of the year to 4.54% in November.
• Average credit card interest rates jumped to 22.2% in October, up from 16.3% in February. It’s also the highest level since LendingTree began tracking that data in 2018.

👀 Looking ahead… Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank is considering slowing the pace of rate increases to 0.5% or lower – “and it may come as soon as the next meeting [Dec. 14] or the one after that [Feb. 1]. No decision has been made.” Though along with this seemingly good news, he also indicated the bank expects to raise rates to a peak level that’s higher than anticipated.

🇰🇵 N. Korea launched 23 short-range ballistic missiles yesterday, its most ever in a single day, including one that landed closer to S. Korea than any before. The missile tests aren't anything new – North Korea has been doing similar launches for more than a decade. But this year has seen a record number of tests, which experts attribute to several possible reasons. North Korean officials said Wednesday’s missile launches were in response to ongoing large-scale military exercises by the US and South Korea.

🇮🇷 The US and Saudi Arabia are on high alert following intelligence reports that indicate an Iranian attack is coming. The two countries, as well as other Middle Eastern allies, have raised their military alert level in recent days due to a possible threat from Iran, per multiple reports. Saudi and US officials reportedly view the possible attacks as an attempt to distract from nationwide protests that have engulfed Iran since mid-September – demonstrations the Iranian government publicly blames on the US and its partners.

🇪🇹 Ethiopia and the Tigrayan rebels reached a surprise peace deal yesterday, ending two years of civil war. The conflict in Africa’s second-most populous nation has killed hundreds of thousands of people and exacerbated an ongoing hunger crisis. Nearly 90% of people in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region need food aid, per the WHO, with a third of the region’s children suffering from malnutrition. Yesterday’s truce is reportedly more comprehensive and binding than a previous deal struck in June, which was later breached in August.

Whether your legs are crazy flexible or in crazy shape, getting jeans that fit just right is a pain… especially when you’ve worked tirelessly to sculpt your legs beyond the norm, or were just born with a different body shape.

Either way, you shouldn’t have to resort to wearing sweatpants in an inappropriate setting just to be comfortable. And to make that dream a reality, unspun guarantees their jeans will be the best-fitting you've ever worn – or your money back.

How can they guarantee perfection?

• Start by customizing your fit, fabric, waist rise, and more. Then, take a body scan with your iPhone, upload your measurements, and patiently wait for your new favorite pair of jeans.🥳

👖👍 These jeans will fit perfectly, and they won’t cost a month's salary either. And if you aren’t satisfied, unspun will tweak them until you are, or give you a full refund. You really can’t lose here – that is, unless you prefer ugly, poor-fitting jeans.🦹

Grab a gift kit before Nov. 20 to save $50 on unspun jeans, and get a FREE tote bag!

Decorations are starting to go up, Mariah’s singing on the airwaves, and Thanksgiving turkey is so close you can almost taste it – the holiday season is HERE, y’all.

And you know what that means. The holiday shopping season is also here. Over the next two months, nearly 217 million Americans will spend an estimated $178+ billion on gifts for friends and loved ones.

Enter: Google, the place where 46% of all product searches start, which on Tuesday announced a series of new shopping features that will be rolling out just in time for the holidays.

• The tech giant is launching its own version of Honey, Rakuten, Capital One Shopping, etc. After this new coupon-clipping feature goes live, when using Search, promos and coupons will automatically appear to users via a new promotion badge. Once a user finds a deal they like, they’ll be able to clip the promo codes when making a purchase (no manual entry required).
• "Compare" and price insights are coming to Search. Google’s price insights feature, which helps shoppers browse prices and make better buying decisions, will be moving from existing solely on its “Shopping” tab to be included in Search as well.

📸🔍 Big picture: Google’s focus on improving its online shopping experience comes at a time when, like Mario on a banana peel, its dominance of search may be slipping. More product searches now start on Amazon (54%), and the wildly-popular TikTok is working to augment both its search and e-commerce functionalities.

China successfully docked the third and final module to its Tiangong space station this week, a key step towards completing the construction of its first such structure in history by the end of the year.

🇨🇳🛰️ A deeper dive: In 2011, Congress passed a law prohibiting NASA from funding any collaborations with China, citing espionage risks. The move effectively barred Chinese astronauts from participating in the ISS, prompting Beijing to start developing its own space-research facility.

• With the official addition of the third module, the Tiangong station will feature 4,000 cubic feet of habitable space for three astronauts.
• For context, the ISS has 15,000 cubic feet of living space that’s typically shared among six astronauts – though it can fit up to 13 for days at a time.

👀 Looking ahead… Tiangong is designed to be operational for at least the next decade, serving as a hub for international scientific cooperation, per Beijing. Officials said France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Pakistan, and other space agencies had already assisted on the project.

But things with the US & Co. are less certain. The ISS, a cooperation between the US, Canada, Japan, Russia, and eleven member states of the European Space Agency, is currently set to retire in 2030.

• And while NASA signed an agreement earlier this year with three US companies to develop designs of space stations and other commercial destinations in space, some experts worry nothing will be operational by decade’s end.

+Fun fact: ​​Tiangong contains robotic arms, controlled from Earth, that can take care of most maintenance or construction needs.

💬 Quoted…​​ "The pandemic definitely accelerated this in every industry. I would be surprised in 10 or 20 years if there were schools that only did in-person and did nothing online."

Starting in 2023, MBA students at NYU, Cal Berkeley, and UPenn's Wharton School of Business will be able to complete most of their coursework online, marking a "turning point" for the adoption of online degrees at prestigious universities, school leaders told the WSJ.

• Between 2016-17 and 2020-21, the number of online MBAs at accredited US business schools nearly doubled, from 284 to 526.

🍺 Stat of the Day: An estimated 1 in 5 deaths of people ages 20 to 49 in the US were attributable to excessive alcohol use, per a peer-reviewed study published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open.

🤯 Did You Know?... The last recorded Black Widow death in the US happened in 1983.

📖 Worth a Read: ​​The strange business history of the Ouija board → (The Hustle)

• ☝️ NASA recently published new images from its Landsat 9 satellite showing the change of seasons in upstate New York.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📉 US stocks closed down across the board yesterday, despite initially soaring after the Fed’s interest rate announcement. (Dow: -1.5% | S&P: -2.5% | Nasdaq: -3.4%)
• 💰💊 CVS and Walgreens, America’s two largest drugstores, agreed to pay a collective $10+ billion to resolve opioid-crisis lawsuits brought by states, cities, and local governments.
• 🫀 Johnson & Johnson agreed to buy heart device-maker Abiomed for $16.6 billion in an all-cash deal.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 📺 Netflix’s ad-supported tier, priced at $7/month, is available starting today. | YouTube launched a streaming service store where users can buy subscriptions to Paramount+, Showtime, and more.
• ⚾️ The Houston Astros threw the first combined no-hitter in MLB postseason history in their 5-0 win over Philadelphia Phillies last night; the World Series is now even at 2-2.
• 🏈 Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder hired Bank of America to explore selling part or all of his NFL team, he announced yesterday; hours later, ESPN reported that US attorneys have opened a federal criminal investigation into several areas of the team. (Background) | TMRW Sports, a sports startup founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, received an investment from a group of super-athletes including Serena Williams, Alex Morgan, Lewis Hamilton, and Stephen Curry.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• ☕ Even a small amount of coffee during pregnancy can lead to shorter kids, per a new peer-reviewed study published this week in JAMA Network Open that found a 0.6-0.8 inch height discrepancy by age 8.
• 🪫 NASA’s Mars InSight lander only has enough power to last a few more weeks, the agency said on Tuesday.

EVERYTHING ELSE

• 🎓 Stanford University is reviewing its security procedures after a man pretended to be a student and lived in an on-campus dormitory for at least 10 months.
• ⚖️ The 24-year-old man responsible for killing 17 people at a Parkland, FL, high school in 2018 was formally sentenced to life in prison without parole by a judge yesterday.

CLICKBAIT

• 🧅 The way you chop an onion matters – here's why.
• 🐶 Make dog care simple. Sundays’ delicious jerky-style dog food is air-dyed to preserve nutrients. No prep, fridge, or cleanup needed, and auto-delivery makes the entire thing a breeze. Save 50% on your first month with code DONUT.*

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Yesterday, we covered arguments in a Supreme Court case challenging the practice of affirmative action in college admissions.

❓ Our question to you: Do you think colleges and universities should be able to consider race as one of many factors for admission?

• 👍 Yes: 34%
• 👎 No: 50%
• 🤷‍♀️ Unsure/other: 16%

See the full 360° view.

+Note on sample size: We received 4,707 responses.👏🥳

We bring you the most unusual, off-the-wall and occasionally laugh-out-loud headlines from this week.

• Scuba diver rescued by group of women in mermaid costumes off Catalina Island → (Geartape)
• Colorado couple trapped in home by tumbleweeds → (ABC News)
• A man who won $30 million on the Chinese lottery says he'll keep it secret from his wife and child in case it makes them lazy → (Business Insider)
• Bavaria police find crystal meth in doughnut → (Deutsche Welle... P.S. This DONUT is a meth-free zone🙅‍♀️.)

CROWDSOURCED

Have you ever encountered a glitch in the matrix, quirky animal behavior, or even just a hilarious first grader? Tell us about it here for a chance to be featured in next Thursday’s newsletter.

👩 Who: Dana R. from Arlington, Texas

💬 The experience: My boyfriend was telling me about working with his new coworker, saying nothing about his appearance. All of a sudden, I got a flash of intuition as if I had seen his coworker in my mind’s eye. 

I interrupted him and asked “does he have curly red hair?” – and it turned out he did!

It’s pretty minor, could mean nothing, but it was just a powerful flash of insight that has always stuck with me.

P.S. Don’t forget to share your odd or hilarious experience with us here.

Airbnb is in the process of choosing ten recipients for their $10 million "OMG!" fund.

The fund, which will give each winner $100,000 to build the unique rental property of their dreams, is looking for the most out-there and quirky listing ideas in the world. 

🤯 Thinking outside the box... The OMG! fund is judged by a panel of architects and designers with an eye for unique-but-practical spaces. 

• From a giant potato house to a light up UFO, it's clear there's a vacation space for everyone out there somewhere.

+Correction from yesterday: It's Norwich, England, not 'Norwhich'🤦‍♀️.

What's the only continent that spans all four hemispheres?

(keep scrolling for the answer)

👆 Check out the referral prizes you can get, just for introducing people you know to little old us. 

What to do: Copy your unique link below, then send it to anyone who you think would like the DONUT. Once you hit each milestone, you'll get an email with a link to claim your prize. (Pro tip: there's no need to ration points, you're entitled to a prize at each tier.)

Start referring.👇

Africa