USA - US stocks dropped more than 1 percent on Wednesday as the first diagnosis of Ebola in a patient in the United States spooked investors, economic data pointed to uneven growth, and the Russell 2000 index entered correction territory. The Ebola news pressured shares of airlines and other transportation names, with the NYSE ARCA Airline index .XAL falling 3.1 percent, the biggest percentage decline since January. The Dow Jones transportation average .DJT dropped 2.5 percent, its biggest daily percentage drop since February. Shares of drugmakers with Ebola treatments in the pipeline were up sharply. US shares of Tekmira Pharmaceuticals (TKMR.O) climbed 18.2 percent.

UK - Ebola is a viral illness of which the initial symptoms can include a sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pain and a sore throat, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). And that is just the beginning: subsequent stages are vomiting, diarrhoea and - in some cases - both internal and external bleeding.

USA - The so-called prepper community has a long list of concerns — and for quite some time Ebola has been near the top of it. Experts, though, are split on whether the confirmation that the disease has entered the US will spur a rush in equipment sales. Even as awareness of doomsdayers grows thanks to a reality series on the National Geographic Channel, sales of supplies like canned food and hand-cranked flashlights had actually begun to level off before Tuesday. And since Ebola has been on the community's radar for so long, many people have already stocked up. Others who have been aware of the need but who have not yet made the purchases will very likely be on Amazon, ordering the necessary supplies, just in case this does turn into a pandemic.

UK - The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant could acquire nuclear weapons if they are allowed to consolidate their hold in Iraq and Syria, Theresa May has warned. Isil could get hold of “chemical, biological or even nuclear weapons” in the “world’s first truly terrorist state,” the Home Secretary said, in a wide-ranging speech to the Conservative party conference. The Home Secretary dramatically highlighted the threat to Britain from the terrorist group, which is operating “within a few hours flying time of our country”. Isil are using their new territory to train men and women, she said, while devising “new methods to kill indiscriminately”.

JAPAN - Share orders worth several billions of dollars were cancelled in Japan due to a trading error. At 9:25 am local time, orders for shares in 42 companies totalling 67.78 trillion yen ($617 billion, £380 billion, €488 billion) were cancelled, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from the Japan Securities Dealers Association. The stock orders amount to more than the size of Sweden's economy. Off-exchange or over-the-counter trades are conducted directly between two parties without supervision of the stock exchange. "It's not rocket science that there was a fat finger here, but it reopens the question about accountability," Gavin Parry, managing director at Hong Kong-based brokerage Parry International Trading, told Bloomberg. The trading errors commonly known as 'fat finger' is not new to Japan. In 2009, UBS mistakenly ordered 3 trillion yen worth of convertible bonds in Capcom.

USA - The first case of the deadly Ebola virus diagnosed on US soil has been confirmed in Dallas, Texas. Officials at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital say the unidentified patient is being kept in isolation. The man is thought to have contracted the virus in Liberia before travelling to the US nearly two weeks ago. More than 3,000 people have already died of Ebola in West Africa and a small number of US aid workers have recovered after being flown to the US.

GERMANY - For months the German media and leading politicians have been calling for an end to Germany’s postwar policy of military restraint. Last week the campaign for militarism reached a new highpoint. During years of tight budget policy and cuts, any major increase in the defense budget was excluded. Now this demand has moved to the center of the media propaganda. The media campaign has been carefully prepared. Not a day goes past without a new “unexpected” revelation regarding the dilapidated state of the German army.

GERMANY - The European Court of Justice announced September 22 that hearings in the case against the European Central Bank's (ECB) bond-buying scheme known as Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) will begin October 14. Though the process is likely to be lengthy, with a judgment not due until mid-2015, the ruling will have serious implications for Germany's relationship with the rest of the eurozone. The timing could hardly be worse, coming as an anti-euro party has recently been making strides in the German political scene, steadily undermining the government's room for maneuver.

VATICAN - In a pre-Rosh Hashana meeting, Pope Francis and a World Jewish Congress delegation discussed the worrying international situation, including the persecution of Christians in the Middle East. The meeting took place in a “very intimate atmosphere,” Andras Heisler, president of the Hungarian Jewish umbrella organization Mazsihisz, told Hungarian media. He said Francis offered his best wishes for the New Year but also reiterated his statement made Saturday at a World War I memorial that today’s raging crises around the globe could represent a third world war, “one fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres, destruction.”

UK - The number of wild animals on Earth has halved in the past 40 years, according to a new analysis. Creatures across land, rivers and the seas are being decimated as humans kill them for food in unsustainable numbers, while polluting or destroying their habitats, the research by scientists at WWF and the Zoological Society of London found. “If half the animals died in London zoo next week it would be front page news,” said Professor Ken Norris, ZSL’s director of science. “But that is happening in the great outdoors. This damage is not inevitable but a consequence of the way we choose to live.” He said nature, which provides food and clean water and air, was essential for human wellbeing. “We have lost one half of the animal population and knowing this is driven by human consumption, this is clearly a call to arms and we must act now,” said Mike Barratt, director of science and policy at WWF.

EUROPE - Negative interest rates in Europe are causing havoc for the money market industry, threatening its long-term survival. Europe’s giant money market funds are struggling to stay afloat as negative interest rates drain the industry’s lifeblood, with many at risk of crippling downgrades by the rating agencies.

TOKYO, JAPAN - All 23 districts of Tokyo contaminated with radiation, worse than at Chernobyl after the accident, and blood cells of children under ten are showing worrying changes; the WHO, the IAEA & the Japanese government cannot be trusted.

SWITZERLAND - A record level of $158.8 trillion in global debt, together with low economic growth is creating a serious threat of a new financial crisis, says the sixteenth annual Geneva Report. Total world debt, excluding the financial sector, has risen from 180 percent of global output in 2008 to 212 percent last year, according to the report written by a panel of senior economists including three former senior central bankers. “Contrary to widely held beliefs, the world has not yet begun to deliver, and the global debt to GDP ratio is still growing, breaking new highs,” the report said. The World Bank data showed that in 2013 global GDP was $74.909 trillion.

GERMANY - On 31 August 2014, the German government decided to supply the Northern Iraqi Kurds with arms shipments in support of their struggle against the Islamic State (IS). This is the first time in post-World War II history that Germany officially sends weapons to a conflict zone.

GERMANY - Should we be worried by the Alternative for Germany? In federal elections held last year barely six months after the eurosceptic party was founded, the AfD came within a whisker of claiming 5 per cent of votes cast – the threshold it needed to cross to win representation in the Bundestag. In European elections held this May, the AfD won 7 per cent, and in the three state elections that have been held since then, it has done even better. The answer is: yes, we should be worried.