BBC News with David Austin.

The head of the UN mission responding to the Ebola emergency in West Africa has said that there's a critical need for hundreds more health workers to join the fight against the disease. Antony Banbury urged governments around the world to support their deployment, and to avoid any actions that would dissuade them from helping. His warning was echoed by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who criticized mandatory quarantine restrictions imposed on health workers returning from the affected region by several countries and cities.

Returning health workers who had managed to avoid infection are exceptional people. They should not be subjected to restrictions that have no scientific bases. They should not be stigmatized for their selfless service. We depend on them to fight this battle.

Islamic rebel groups in Syria have carried out a major attack on the government-controlled city of Idlib in the northwest of the country. The offensive was led by the Nusra Front which has links with Al-Qaida. Reports say the rebels managed to capture several important buildings before being driven back to the city's outskirts.

A global body monitoring attempts to end polio has described Pakistan's program as a disaster. The independent monitoring board is made up of polio experts and reports to the World Health Organization. Pakistan accounted for 80% of new cases this year. But its government blames the current surge on the Taliban who attacked vaccination teams. Here is G. G.

The report by the independent monitoring board said Pakistan's program continues to flounder hopelessly as its virus flourishes. It was now the major stumbling block to polio eradication, it said, and went on to describe the level of political commitment and the involvement of civil society as totally inadequate. It recommends that its program is handed at once to the country's disaster management body which deals with emergencies like floods and earthquakes.

G. G. reporting.

There has been shock in France at the revelation that the country's culture minister hasn't read a single novel in the past two years. The minister Fleur Pellerin made the admission while being interviewed on the television about the French winner of this year's Nobel Prize for literature Patrick Modiano. Our correspondent Lucy Williamson was watching.

In the interview yesterday, Mrs. Pellerin described having had a wonderful lunch with the writer in question, Patrick Modiano, but wasn't able to say which of his titles she preferred because she said she hadn't had time to read his books or indeed any others since taking up a ministerial post two years ago. Mrs. Pellerin's comments have caused a lively debate on social media with some accusing her of being a technocrat but many sympathize with her situation.

Our correspondent Lucy Williamson was reporting from Paris.

This is the World News from the BBC.

A car bomb has exploded in the central of the Iraqi capital Baghdad killing at least eight people. The attack took place in a square in the Karada area that's a popular resting place for Shiah pilgrims on their way to religious commemorations in the holy city of Karbala.

A new study suggests that population growth is so out of control that a Third World Was costing as many lives as the previous two combined would barely have any effect. Australian researchers said projections put the number of humans at more than ten billion by the end of the century up from seven billion today.

A painting sold by the auction house Sotheby's in London for 83,000 dollars is at the center of a legal battle amid claims that it could be the work of the Baroque-Italian master Caravaggio and worth over 20 million dollars. In 2006 the then owner of the painting Bill S. asked Sotheby's for their opinion. They said it was a replica. The owner then sold it but the buyer claimed it was an original. Shane Pill reports.

It's called the Card Shops, and it depicts a wealthy young man at a card table falling victim to two cheats. As the trial got underway Henry Legg the lawyer representing Mr. S. said the issue is not whether the painting was by the Italian Baroque master; the core of the case, he said, was negligence and had claimed that Sotheby's had failed to thoroughly research the painting or consult outside experts. Sotheby's denies negligence.

A man who has spent 19 years on death row in Nigeria and came within moments of being executed has been released. According to Amnesty International, the prisoner was last year taken to be hanged when his guards suddenly realized that he was actually supposed to be shot. The delay enabled lawyers to question the fairness of the military tribunal that convicted him. Amnesty International says Mr. E. has been freed by the governor of Kaduna State.

BBC News.