10 things you need to know today: October 29, 2015

1. Top GOP candidates meet in chaotic primetime debate

The leading Republican presidential candidates clashed Wednesday in their third debate of the primary season, trading sharp criticism of each other and host CNBC. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) got some of the night's biggest cheers when he slammed CNBC for treating the debate like a "cage match" with hostile questions. Cruz and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who deftly deflected a jab from one-time mentor Jeb Bush, had strong performances, at times overshadowing frontrunners Ben Carson and Donald Trump.

The Washington Post

2. China ends its one-child policy

China's ruling Communist Party has decided to end the country's one-child policy, which was imposed in the late 1970s to curb population growth, the official Xinhua News Agency said Thursday. Now Chinese leaders are concerned that a labor shortage linked to the aging of the population is threatening economic growth, so party leaders approved rules letting couples have two children. The move, which was expected, came after less dramatic attempts to ease the policy failed to increase births by the targeted two million per year.

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Bloomberg USA Today

3. Republicans officially nominate Paul Ryan as next House speaker

House Republicans on Wednesday nominated Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to be the next speaker of the House. Ryan got 200 votes in a closed-door meeting of the 247-member Republican conference, while his only competitor, Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.), got 43 votes. Ryan still has to clear a public vote in the full House on Thursday, but, if all are present, he will need only 218 votes to be elected to succeed outgoing Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

USA Today

4. House approves two-year budget deal

The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a two-year budget deal that would eliminate the threat of a government shutdown for the rest of President Obama's term. The agreement will raise the debt limit and ease automatic military and social spending cuts imposed in 2011. Hardline conservatives have blasted the deal, saying their fellow Republicans caved to Obama. Senate leaders hope to pass the bill this week. The Treasury Department calculates the deadline to keep government agencies funded is Nov. 3.

The Washington Post

5. Hastert pleads guilty in hush money case

Dennis Hastert, a Republican who served as speaker of the House from 1999 to 2007, pleaded guilty Tuesday to evading financial rules to hide hush-money payments stemming from old sexual misconduct allegations. Hastert admitted to paying someone $1.7 million out of a promised $3.5 million for the person's silence, and as compensation for misconduct during Hastert's years as a high school wrestling coach before going to Congress. Prosecutors recommended zero to six months in prison, although Hastert could get up to five years and a $250,000 fine.

Reuters

6. School officer fired over violent arrest in South Carolina classroom

A South Carolina sheriff, Leon Lott, fired a white deputy, Ben Fields, on Wednesday for flipping an African-American girl out of her chair and hurling her across a high school classroom this week. The confrontation was caught on video, and sparked widespread outrage. Lott said the student was "wrong for disturbing the class" and refusing to leave, but he was focusing on what Fields did. "Deputy Ben Fields did wrong this past Monday," Lott said, "so we're taking responsibility for that."

The New York Times

7. Fed keeps interest rates at historic lows

The Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee voted Wednesday to leave interest rates unchanged for a bit longer. The Fed's statement said that with slowing job gains and inflation remaining low, it is wise to keep the target rate below normal, for now, to boost the economy. The rates have been between 0 and 0.25 percent since the financial crisis hit in 2008, and have become a point of growing contention. The Fed's next meeting will be in December.

ABC News The Federal Reserve

8. Low-polling candidates meet in GOP undercard debate

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), former New York Gov. George Pataki, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal faced off Wednesday evening during the CNBC Republican debate for low-polling candidates. Graham accused President Obama of having a weak foreign policy, and said, "Make me commander in chief and this crap stops." Pataki touted his record on cutting taxes. Santorum called for strengthening families, and Jindal criticized social programs for pushing the U.S. on a "path toward socialism."

CNBC

9. Unmanned Army blimp escapes its mooring

A 242-foot-long, unmanned Army surveillance blimp designed to detect a missile attack broke away from its tether in Maryland on Wednesday and floated over Pennsylvania. Two F-16 fighter jets kept watch on it to make sure it did not threaten air traffic safety. The blimp, dragging a mile of cable, stayed aloft for three hours, downing power lines and leaving tens of thousands of people without electricity. The dirigible apparently deflated on its own, running out of helium.

The Washington Post

10. Nepal elects first female president

Bidhya Devi Bhandari, a women's rights activist and former defense minister, has been elected the first female president of Nepal. She is the second person to serve in the mostly ceremonial role since Nepal abolished the monarchy in 2008. The 54-year-old vice-chairwoman of the ruling Communisty Party is a longtime political activist in a male-dominated society, and plans to champion minority and women's rights.

BBC