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In Record Turnout Demographics Shape Scotland's Emphatic No Vote

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The dream of Scottish independence died at 6:17 a.m. (GMT), when an exhausted Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and the moving force behind independence, conceded defeat.

"I accept the verdict of the people," he told a crowd of tearful supporters. "And I call on all the people of Scotland to follow suit."

The final tally, delivered by chief recording officer Mary Pitcaithly, was 55.4 percent for No and 44.6 for Yes.

It was the end of a boisterous and sometimes rancorous two-year campaign that engaged Scotland and the rest of the British Isles like no other political issue since the end of World War II.

"It's fantastic," said Hamish Macarthur, a retired chemical engineer, who spent the past month campaigning in his native Stirling. "But I'm not surprised. The Scottish people are not stupid, and what the nationalists offered was simply not credible."

"I Feel Very Emotional"

For the Yes camp, it meant heartbreak. "It's sad for the brave nation of Scotland to succumb to fear," sighed Audrey Gilles, a former care worker from Hawick, in the Border country. "I feel very emotional."

The first count came in Clackmannanshire, in central Scotland, with a 7 percent win for the Better Together campaign. From then on, defeat rained down like hammer blows on the head of Salmond, stuck at home in Aberdeen in heavy fog.

Inverclyde, an industrial area west of Glasgow, which the Yes campaign needed to win, went to No. So did East Renfrewshire, Midlothian, Perth and Kinross, and many others.

NG STAFF

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In Record Turnout Demographics Shape Scotland's Emphatic No Vote

Ocean-threatened Marshall's leader posts climate video plea

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AFP Ocean-threatened Marshall's leader posts climate video plea

Majuro (Marshall Islands) (AFP) - Marshall Islands President Christopher Loeak was forced to heighten the seawall protecting his home last year, but says the year-old defences are now barely enough to protect his family from a "climate emergency".

PRE Friday, ahead of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's climate summit in New York City next week.

Standing outside his home in the capital Majuro next to the heightened seawall, Loeak tells the camera that it is "barely enough to protect my family from the encroaching waves."

"For the Marshall Islands and our friends in the Pacific, this is already a full-blown climate emergency," Loeak said.

He will join more then 100 heads of state at the September 23 forum, which he hopes will galvanise support to build "the greatest climate change alliance" the world has seen.

The United Nations is seeking to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels, but scientists say current emission trends could hike temperatures to more than twice that level by century's end.

While US President Barack Obama is to outline his vision for reining in greenhouse gas emissions, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are among a number of prominent world leaders who will be no-shows at next week's meeting.

UN climate envoy Mary Robinson believes the summit will see the world begin to seriously tackle global warming ahead of a crucial conference in Paris next year.

"The message from the climate summit and the message going forward to Paris is that it's not business as usual with a little bit of green attached," Robinson said recently.

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Ocean-threatened Marshall's leader posts climate video plea

Independence referendum: Lifeboats on standby in Western Isles after fog threatens to delay count

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LIFEBOATS were on standby in the Western Isles tonight after thick fog threatened to ground planes taking ballot boxes to the count.

It was feared the plane being used to ferry ballot boxes around the islands might not be able to land at Stornoway - where all the isles' votes will be gathered.

It is the only plane that is being used to carry votes in the whole of Scotland.

Meanwhile, many postal votes were stuck on the mainland this morning as the mail plane - which was due in at Stornoway at 7.20am - could not land because of the fog, before eventually it did at 2pm.

The Western Isles is in the running to be the first of 32 regions in Scotland to declare the local result, looking at a 1.30am announcement

But the blanket of fog lying over the islands earlier today threatened plans to use a chartered plane to fly ballot boxes, containing around 4000 votes from the North and South Uist and Barra to the count centre in Stornoway.

Calmac Ferries and RNLI lifeboats around the islands were put on stand-by if fog left the planes unable to take off and land.

But this afternoon Keith Campbell, managing director of plane company Jet Logic, said he hoped flights would go ahead as planned.

The Britten Norman Islander will come from Oban and land at Benbecula before 9pm and is due to take off with the ballot boxes and an accompanying official at just before midnight. It should arrive in Stornoway about 45 minutes later.

"We are confident we can get the plane into Benbecula - the problem may be Stornoway. But the latest weather forecast suggests that it should be OK," said Mr Campbell from the Edinburgh-based firm.

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Independence referendum: Lifeboats on standby in Western Isles after fog threatens to delay count

Senkakus see rise in Chinas fishing forays

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News Desk

The Japan News

Publication Date : 18-09-2014

Japan claims that more Chinese fishing boats have intruded into its territory

The number of intrusions into Japanese territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture by Chinese fishing boats has been rapidly increasing since the start of this year, suggesting a change in Chinas strategy.

Two years have passed since Japans nationalisation of the Senkaku Islands. Chinese government vessels, which carry similar equipment to Japan Coast Guard (JCG) patrol vessels, have been less active.

But the number of intrusions into territorial waters by Chinese fishing boats in 2014 has increased more than 25-fold compared with that of 2011, before the nationalisation of the islands.

Japanese authorities assume that Beijing intends to make its insistence that the islands are part of Chinas territory an established fact, by continuing illegal fishing activities.

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Senkakus see rise in Chinas fishing forays


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