Swiss Referendum On Bank Loans

The Swiss government says it will hold a referendum on an initiative to stop banks creating money by making loans they can't cover from their own deposits. Swiss authorities say it's the only way to guard against another economic crash.

It's feared that more than 100 people have been killed in a huge explosion at a gas depot in southeastern Nigeria.

The American victims of the Iran hostage crisis of 1979 will finally receive compensation. A US spending bill passed last week awards each of the hostages or their estates up to 4.4 million dollars. The money will come in part from a 9-billion dollar penalty paid by the French bank BNP Paribas for breaking sanctions against Iran.