:00:21. > :00:25.Good evening. Scotland's First Minister has urged voters to set
:00:26. > :00:32.aside party differences and back independence. Addressing his party's
:00:33. > :00:34.final conference before the referendum on independence, Alex
:00:35. > :00:39.Salmond said the momentum was with those campaigning to leave the
:00:40. > :00:42.United Kingdom. Five months ahead of the crucial vote, the SNP leader
:00:43. > :00:47.said it would be what he called "our moment to be a beacon of hope". Our
:00:48. > :00:57.special correspondent, Allan Little, is in Aberdeen now.
:00:58. > :01:02.This was the last big gathering of the party faithful ahead of that
:01:03. > :01:05.historic referendum in September . It had more of the character of a
:01:06. > :01:09.campaign rally than a party political conference. Do were not
:01:10. > :01:12.debating policy or making key decisions, they were here to have
:01:13. > :01:17.their morale boosted ahead of those five crucial months of campaigning.
:01:18. > :01:20.We saw today the kind of ecumenical Alex Salmond, and Alex Salmond
:01:21. > :01:23.reaching out and breaking through, or trying to break through
:01:24. > :01:29.traditional party political boundaries, and appealing in
:01:30. > :01:32.particular not to be converted in the hall, but to those outside in
:01:33. > :01:37.the country and in particular to people who don't normally vote for
:01:38. > :01:41.the SNP. He turned the SNP from a party of
:01:42. > :01:45.protest into a party of government, and now they believe he is about to
:01:46. > :01:49.lead them to an independent Scotland in little more than 100 days from
:01:50. > :01:53.now . But to win in September, he needs to persuade hundreds of
:01:54. > :01:56.thousands of Labour voters in particular to vote yes, so an
:01:57. > :02:02.independent Scotland would be more just, he said, a fairer, more equal
:02:03. > :02:06.society. This was a speech aimed not at the party faithful, but at the
:02:07. > :02:10.SNP's old foes, disaffected Labour supporters now tempted to vote yes.
:02:11. > :02:15.Independence would be good for Scottish Labour. A Labour Party
:02:16. > :02:18.freed from Westminster control would have the chance to return to core
:02:19. > :02:23.values, many of which we in this party agree with, indeed, many of
:02:24. > :02:26.which we share. And this is the difference. The Westminster
:02:27. > :02:33.establishment, telling Scots what we can't do, running Scotland down. A
:02:34. > :02:38.Scottish National Party, stressing what Scotland can do, building
:02:39. > :02:43.Scotland up. It has been a recurring theme of this conference. He
:02:44. > :02:48.appealed to voters outside the traditional SNP support base. Alex
:02:49. > :02:50.Salmond was characterising the yes campaign as a broad-based
:02:51. > :02:55.coalition, drawing support from across the political spec from all
:02:56. > :03:00.stop Alex Salmond's opponents say most Scots want to keep their
:03:01. > :03:03.devolved parliament inside the UK. The majority of Scots want to
:03:04. > :03:08.continue with devolution. We think it gives us the best of both worlds,
:03:09. > :03:11.the strength and security of been part of something bigger, alongside
:03:12. > :03:14.more decisions being made in Scotland on schools and hospitals.
:03:15. > :03:19.At is what the people of Scotland want. The faithful are undeterred.
:03:20. > :03:23.Some here have been campaigning for independence for 50 years or more,
:03:24. > :03:27.and fervently believe their day, at last, is coming. Allan Little, BBC
:03:28. > :03:30.News, Aberdeen. Concerns have been expressed about
:03:31. > :03:33.plans by the chancellor, George Osborne, to clamp down on people who
:03:34. > :03:36.hide their money abroad. Under the proposed laws, it would no longer be
:03:37. > :03:40.necessary to prove intention to cheat the system. But a former
:03:41. > :03:43.senior figure in Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs said the
:03:44. > :03:48.proposed laws would probably have a limited impact. Here is our business
:03:49. > :03:51.correspondent, Joe Lynam. Most ordinary people can't avoid
:03:52. > :03:56.paying tax, but some very wealthy people have been able to hide their
:03:57. > :04:00.money away in offshore tax havens. Now the Government wants to tilt the
:04:01. > :04:04.law in favour of the taxman. We have already done a lot to crack down on
:04:05. > :04:07.those who don't pay their taxes. Now we are introducing a new criminal
:04:08. > :04:11.offence for people who hide their money offshore. The message is
:04:12. > :04:15.simple. If you are hiding your money offshore, we are coming to get you
:04:16. > :04:18.and the criminal law is going to come and find you. The recent slew
:04:19. > :04:22.of clamp-downs on tax evasion has not yielded as much as hoped for.
:04:23. > :04:25.The Government had expected over ?3 billion from undeclared income in
:04:26. > :04:32.Switzerland, but ended up with only a fraction of that. Labour said that
:04:33. > :04:35.the failure to raise the expected money from tax clamp-downs simply
:04:36. > :04:38.wasn't good enough. The Government has made a big play about pursuing
:04:39. > :04:42.aggressive tax avoidance and tax evasion at an international level.
:04:43. > :04:46.It was the mainstay of last year's G8 summit in Enniskillen. It is
:04:47. > :04:51.doing so because on its own, Britain cannot pursue these very wealthy and
:04:52. > :04:54.highly mobile individuals. But will they get the money in from these
:04:55. > :04:58.clamp-downs as much as they hope they will? The Revenue will be keen,
:04:59. > :05:01.if these do become law, to have a few example cases within a short
:05:02. > :05:05.period of time, just to justify to the minister that they are taking it
:05:06. > :05:08.seriously. But I don't anticipate large queues of people outside the
:05:09. > :05:11.Old Bailey, waiting to be tried under this new offence. These
:05:12. > :05:13.proposals will only affect individuals and not large
:05:14. > :05:20.multinational companies, who have also been accused of aggressively
:05:21. > :05:23.avoiding tax. Joe Lynam, BBC News. The Ukrainian government has again
:05:24. > :05:26.called on Moscow to stop what it is calling "provocative actions" in the
:05:27. > :05:31.east of the country after pro-Russian activists seized police
:05:32. > :05:34.and government buildings there. In Sloviansk, armed men stormed a
:05:35. > :05:37.police station and a state security office, while in Donetsk, the police
:05:38. > :05:42.chief was forced to resign after hundreds of protesters marched on
:05:43. > :05:47.the police headquarters. Russia denies supporting them.
:05:48. > :05:50.The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, has criticised the growth of Israeli
:05:51. > :05:55.settlements while on a visit to the West bank.
:05:56. > :05:59.Police have revealed that a woman who was injured in a hammer attack
:06:00. > :06:02.at a hotel in London has been left blind in one eye and badly
:06:03. > :06:05.brain-damaged. The woman, a tourist from the United Arab Emirates, was
:06:06. > :06:08.attacked together with her two sisters in the early hours of last
:06:09. > :06:10.Sunday. A 32-year-old man has been remanded in custody, accused of
:06:11. > :06:14.three counts of attempted murder. Our correspondent, Ben Moore, is at
:06:15. > :06:19.St Mary's Hospital now. What more do we know about this woman's
:06:20. > :06:22.condition? The three sisters were just on holiday on a shopping and
:06:23. > :06:27.sightseeing tour. One remains seriously ill in hospital tonight.
:06:28. > :06:30.It is a lounged at Philip Spencer attacked them with a hammer as they
:06:31. > :06:34.were at the Cumberland Hotel in Marble Arch. One of the women has
:06:35. > :06:39.severe head injuries and has lost the sight in one eye. Doctors say
:06:40. > :06:44.she has only 5% of her brain function remaining. The 32-year-old
:06:45. > :06:47.Spencer was remanded in custody after appearing at a West London
:06:48. > :06:52.magistrates Court. He is charged with three counts of attempted
:06:53. > :06:55.murder. All today's Premier League matches
:06:56. > :06:58.kicked off late this afternoon as they observed a minute's silence to
:06:59. > :07:06.mark the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough stadium tragedy. 96
:07:07. > :07:14.fans died at the FA Cup semifinal between Liverpool and Nottingham
:07:15. > :07:17.Forest on 15 April 1989. All games in England this weekend will observe
:07:18. > :07:20.the silence, including both FA Cup semifinals at Wembley.
:07:21. > :07:23.The first of those two FA Cup semi-finals is underway, with cup
:07:24. > :07:33.holders Wigan taking on Premier League Arsenal. The match is midway
:07:34. > :07:37.through the second half at Wembley and the score is currently 1-0 to
:07:38. > :07:40.Wigan, Jordi Gomez scoring for the Championship side with a penalty.
:07:41. > :07:43.A Pakistani court has dismissed a case against a nine-month-old baby
:07:44. > :07:48.who had appeared in court last week for attempted murder. Musa Khan was
:07:49. > :07:50.today again brought before a judge. Our World Affairs correspondent,
:07:51. > :07:57.Mike Wooldridge, sent this report from Lahore.
:07:58. > :08:00.If he looks a little bewildered as he waits at a lawyer's offers to
:08:01. > :08:06.make his second appearance in court, Musa carnies after all here for
:08:07. > :08:17.attempted murder. Back after a week on bail. That is what an affray in
:08:18. > :08:20.Lahore led to. But the minimum age of criminal responsible at it in
:08:21. > :08:23.Pakistan is seven, and Musa is just nine months. Last time, he cried
:08:24. > :08:29.when police tried to take his fingerprints. Today, he seemed
:08:30. > :08:32.calmer. Under an intense media spotlight, the case against Musa was
:08:33. > :08:36.dealt with swiftly inside the courtroom after the police said they
:08:37. > :08:40.had no interest in investigating or arresting him . The judge ordered
:08:41. > :08:45.action to be taken against the officer who had handled the case
:08:46. > :08:52.initially. Afterwards, Musa appeared to feel the need for a celebratory
:08:53. > :08:57.drink. His grandfather, meanwhile, accused the police of pressurising
:08:58. > :09:02.and threatening him. An extraordinary affair is now over, at
:09:03. > :09:06.least as far as little Musa Khan is concerned. But it has left many
:09:07. > :09:10.questions about how he ended up here in court and was then put on bail at
:09:11. > :09:14.all. His lawyers are saying that if a toddler can be implicated in a
:09:15. > :09:21.case like this, what does that say for other people? And so, Musa was
:09:22. > :09:24.on his way. Adult members of the family continue to face charges over
:09:25. > :09:27.the January confrontation with the police. It is not the first time
:09:28. > :09:35.flaws in Pakistan's judicial system have been highlighted. Perhaps never
:09:36. > :09:40.before, though, by a babe in arms. Mike Wooldridge, BBC News, Lahore.
:09:41. > :09:41.There's more throughout the evening on the BBC News Channel.