World/Nation

• Lawmakers press for travel ban from Africa

WASHINGTON - Warning that Americans are losing faith in their government's ability to stop Ebola, Republican lawmakers on Thursday pressed for a ban on travel to the U.S. from the West African outbreak zone. The White House said other measures are more effective.

The administration spent the day trying anew to tamp down fear as the pool of Americans being monitored for symptoms expanded from Texas to Ohio. President Barack Obama said he might appoint a single official to lead the nation's efforts against the deadly disease.

While a contentious congressional hearing focused on the three cases of Ebola diagnosed within the U.S., the World Health Organization said the outbreak in West Africa was on pace to top 4,500 deaths by the end of the week.

Obama authorized a call-up of reserve and National Guard troops in case they are needed. His executive order would allow more forces than the up-to 4,000 already planned to be sent to West Africa, and for longer periods of time.

• Africa largely stems Ebola via border closings

NAIROBI, Kenya - Health officials battling the Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 4,500 people in West Africa have managed to limit its spread on the continent to five countries - and two of them appear to have snuffed out the disease.

The developments constitute a modest success in an otherwise bleak situation.

Officials credit tighter border controls, good patient-tracking and other medical practices, and just plain luck with keeping Ebola confined mostly to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea since the outbreak was first identified nearly seven months ago.

Senegal did so well in finding and isolating a man with Ebola who had slipped across the border from Guinea in August that the World Health Organization on Friday will declare the end of the disease in Senegal if no new cases surface.

• FBI: Encryption has 'very serious consequences'

WASHINGTON - FBI Director James Comey warned in stark terms Thursday against the push by technology companies to encrypt smartphone data and operating systems, arguing that murder cases could be stalled, suspects could walk free and justice could be thwarted by a locked phone or an encrypted hard drive.

Privacy advocates and technology experts called the concerns exaggerated and little more than recycled arguments the government has raised against encryption since the early 1990s.

Likening encrypted data to a safe that cannot be cracked or a closet door that won't open, Comey said the move by tech companies to protect user communications in the name of privacy is certain to impede a wide range of criminal investigations. New legislation to allow law enforcement to intercept communications is needed at a time of advancing technology and new forms of communication, he said.

"We have the legal authority to intercept and access communications from information pursuant to court order, but we often lack the technical ability to do so," Comey said in a Brookings Institution speech.

• AP: Biden's son discharged after cocaine test

WASHINGTON - Hunter Biden, the youngest son of Vice President Joe Biden, has been kicked out of the military after testing positive for cocaine, two people familiar with the matter said Thursday.

The Navy said Biden, a former lobbyist who works at a private equity firm, was discharged in February - barely a year after he was selected for the part-time position as a public affairs officer in the Navy Reserve. Citing privacy laws, the Navy did not give a reason for the discharge, which was not disclosed until it emerged in the media on Thursday.

In a statement released by his attorney, Biden said he respected the Navy's decision and was moving forward with his family's love and support. He did not give a reason for his discharge.

"It was the honor of my life to serve in the U.S. Navy," Biden said. "I deeply regret and am embarrassed that my actions led to my administrative discharge."

• Hong Kong police swoop in to clear protest zone

HONG KONG - Riot police cleared an offshoot Hong Kong pro-democracy protest zone in a dawn raid on Friday, taking down barricades, tents and canopies that have blocked key streets for more than two weeks, but leaving the city's main thoroughfare still in the hands of the activists.

Hundreds of officers, some in helmets and shields, descended in the early morning on the busy district of Mong Kok, a smaller protest zone across the Victoria Harbor from the main occupied area in the city's financial district. The key thoroughfare in Admiralty, near the heart of the city's financial district, remained occupied by protesters.

The dawn operation - the third in recent days by police to retake streets from protesters - came hours after Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying sought to defuse a bitter standoff with student-led democracy protesters by reviving an offer of talks over democratic reforms in the city.

Police surrounded about 30 protesters, who did not put up resistance. There were no clashes between the two sides, but several activists lay down on the street after the operation and refused to budge.

Officers swiftly tore down metal barricades, bamboo and wooden planks used by protesters to block off the streets, and much of the protest zone was cleared in about half an hour.