BBC News with Jonathan Izard.
The American Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, has decided to end the program of buying financial assets known as quantitative easing. The scheme under which the Fed bought up financial assets with newly created money is estimated to have involved 3.5 trillion dollars. Andrew Walker reports.
Quantitative easing involved the Federal Reserve creating new money to buy financial assets in an attempt to stimulate economic recovery. It was a very unusual step and has been described as the world's biggest economic experiment. It began in 2008 at the height of the financial crisis and was driven by fears of an extremely severe recession. The Fed's decision to end QE reflects the view that the economy has regained some strength. Critics of the policy say it created a danger of inflation and further financial instability.
American troops working in West Africa to help stop the spread of Ebola have been ordered to undergo 21 days of quarantine on their return home. The US Defense Secretary Chuck Hegel says the move is prudent given the large number of servicemen being sent to combat the disease. Around 1,000 troops have been deployed to build treatment units in Liberia and Senegal. Barbara Plett Usher reports from Washington.
The army had already ordered a 21-day isolation period for troops returning from West Africa. Mr. Hegel's decision expands that to all parts of the military - this even though the soldier's mission won't bring them in contact with Ebola patients. Medical experts here have sharply criticized strict quarantine measures as unnecessary and even counterproductive. But the Defense Secretary said the position of military personnel was different in that of civilian relief workers. They are not volunteers, he said. There are large numbers of them, and many military families have urged extra safety measures.
Boko Haram militants are reported to have taken the northeastern Nigerian town of Mubi after clashes with government forces. Thousands of people have fled the town. Residents told the BBC the militants raised their flag over the town and blocked the main access roads. Our Africa Editor Richard Hamilton reports.
Many people from Mubi are believed to be fleeing towards neighbouring Cameroun. Some are said to be hiding in the hills and forests fearing for their lives. Earlier residents spoke of hearing heavy gunfire, and seeing military fighter jets overheads. Mubi is a commercial hub and the second largest town in Adamawa State. The Nigerian military has not commented on the reports. The government had announced a ceasefire agreement with Boko Haram that was supposed to lead to the release of more than 200 kidnapped school girls. That deal is now looking increasingly hollow.
The authorities in Egypt are going ahead with creating a buffer zone along its border with Gaza to prevent the smuggling of weapons. People living on the Egyptian side of the border had been given 48 hours to leave their homes ready for demolition. Those refusing to leave will have their homes seized by force. North Sinai's governor General Abdel Fatah H. said 800 houses in Rafa have been evacuated.
World News from the BBC.
The Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin has said Russian officials have been invited for the handover ceremony held for the first of two French-produced Mistral helicopter carriers. Mr. Rogozin twitted the scan of the invitation letter sent to Moscow, saying the ceremony was scheduled for November the 14th, but the French presidency said there had been no decision yet on the deal. And the French manufacturer said the handover date had not been set.
A Syrian human rights group says Islamic State militants have freed 25 Kurdish school children they had kidnapped in northern Syria in May. The Britain-based Syrian observatory for human rights said they were the last of the 153 school children aged between 13 and 15 who had been taken hostage as they were returning to Kobani after sitting exams in Aleppo City. Five children had managed to escape earlier.
A 14-year-old boy has been detained in Austria on suspicion of planning acts of terror. Bethany Bell reports from Vienna.
A spokeswoman for the State Prosecutor's Office M. O. said the boy is a Turkish citizen who has lived in Austria for eight years with his family. She said he'd expressed sympathy with the Islamic State, and often said he wanted to go to Syria. She said he'd also done research on the Internet about explosives and had planned an attack on one of Vienna's main railway stations. The boy's been detained for two weeks while investigations continue.
The authorities in Chile have begun planting hundreds of cannabis seeds as part of the first medical marijuana project of its kind in Latin America. The cannabis would be harvested next year to make painkillers for dozens of cancer patients. The seeds were imported from the Netherlands and had been planted in the suburb of the Chilean capital Santiago. If the project is successful, it could be widened and used to treat other illnesses as well as cancer. But some doctors are against using cannabis as medicine, saying more research is needed. It's illegal to grow marijuana in Chile for personal use.