07/09/2014 BBC Weekend News

The Chancellor says plans to devolve more power to Scotland in the event

of a vote against independence will be unveiled within days.

The move comes in the last ten days of campaigning and

Wouldn't we have heard about this as hundreds of thousands of Scottish

people have already cast their votes by post?

We'll be exploring what the main Westminster parties can offer in the

The ceasefire holds in eastern Ukraine despite exchanges

of fire between government forces and pro-Russian rebels.

Eleven days after the missing teenager Alice

Gross was last seen - a man's being questioned on suspicion of murder.

COMMENTATOR: Mo Farah wins the Great North Run!

And Mo Farah becomes the first British man in 29 years to

Scotland's First Minister - Alex Salmond - has accused the

Westminster government of "panicky last minute measures", after

the Chancellor, George Osborne, said Scotland would be given

greater powers if voters decided to stay in the United Kingdom.

Mr Osborne was speaking after an opinion poll - by YouGov for The

Sunday Times - suggested a narrow majority in favour of independence.

Our Scotland correspondent Lorna Gordon is in Glasgow now, Lorna.

Two years of campaigning looks now to be coming down to the final two

weeks. This campaign is moving very fast with claims and counterclaims

by the politicians being scrutinised by an increasingly well-informed

electorate in Scotland. In less than two weeks Scotland's future will be

settled. Two small words, yes and no, reflecting the momentous

decision ahead. For those out campaigning no moment is wasted.

Both sides are all too aware that this race is increasingly too close

to call. Today for the first time one poll predicted the union is

about to end. It made headlines, set the political agenda, the Chancellor

offering this if the Scots vote no. You will see in the next few days a

plan of action to give more powers to Scotland, more tax powers, more

spending powers, more plans and powers over the welfare state. And

that will be put into effect, the timetable for delivering that will

be put into effect the moment there is a No vote. All three main

Unionist parties have already committed varying degrees, pledged

more powers to Scotland, so what example is if they are going to lay

on the table week? Downing Street tell me this is all about delivering

the next stage of devolution, giving a guaranteed to Scotland of more

powers and setting out a process through which those powers will be

delivered. Those campaigning for independence say the pro union offer

is a panicky bribe, which contains nothing new, and does not stand up

to scrutiny. If this was a significant new offer, as opposed to

a panic measure, because the Westminster elite are losing this

campaign, then wouldn't we have heard about it before hundreds of

thousands of people of Scotland have already cast their ballots by post?

This is a ridiculous position being put forward by the No campaign in

terminal trouble. Up until now the polls suggested a majority favoured

the union. Today's is the first to indicate more voters seem to want

independence. So is momentum shifting? It looks as though the yes

side is in a strong position as it has been at any point in this

campaign but whether there has been the kind of dramatic swing YouGov

suggests we need other polls to confirm or deny it. There are now

just ten full days of campaigning left. With so much at stake, both

sides are now pushing harder than ever to bring voters into their

fold. We can speak to Lorna live now. To

what extent do we know about the detail of these extra powers the

Chancellor has indicated would be on offer in the event of the No vote?

Is there any agreement in Westminster on this? We know that

all three prounion parties are keen to devolve more powers to Scotland,

at what they are offering varies greatly from party to party. It has

been a very confusing few hours. Watch the Chancellor appears to be

setting out is a timetable for devolving those additional powers to

Scotland, but it seems there are unlikely to be additional powers

beyond those that have already been promised. He seems to be talking

about the process of devolution, rather than the detail. The Yes

campaign say this points to a No campaign which is in disarray. They

have a spring in their step because of that and also because of this

poll, which for the first time shows them ahead. But of course caution is

needed when dealing with polls, and another poll today showed the pro

union side still ahead. I think we are in uncharted territory here when

it comes to this referendum. Both sides say there is no time for

complacency and they both working on getting their voters out and

converting more to their side. Lorna, thank you.

And for more on the Scottish independence referendum,

including the latest polling, follow our coverage at bbc.co.uk/news.

There have been more clashes between Ukrainian forces

and pro-Russia rebels in Eastern Ukraine, threatening

The agreement is still in place, despite fresh shelling today

That came after rebels bombarded government positions in the port

Our correspondent Fergal Keane reports from there.

A sustained barrage to break the cease-fire.

We felt the power of explosions rumble across the city.

And in the light of morning the bloody aftermath.

The civilians in this car were hit as they approached a checkpoint

This checkpoint is the closest to Mariupol city centre, it's

The fact that the rebels have been able to shell this area has

substantially increased people's nervousness and they feel

For the people of this area the cease-fire held out

the best prospect of peace, but it seems to be rapidly evaporating.

Reinforcements arrived, but Russian backing has given the

Ukraine says it has been promised weapons and military advisers

by some NATO countries, but the threat of attack is imminent.

Are you going to be able to hold them back?

If we are attacked we will react objectively, so we will defend

But as people fled past us, one woman was refusing to leave.

She is the aunt of two children killed by shellfire

Two days ago we told the story of how Carolyna, aged six, and

Now their aunt was trying to get home to

Last night when the bombing started, she told me,

She has been really affected by the death of her two cousins.

These are rebels besieging government troops at the main

Fighting here has breached the cease-fire.

Houses in rebel territory were hit by shellfire.

As the war flares again the people struggle

TRANSLATION: I don't know why this has happened.

There is no cease-fire and there never will be.

Despite the breaches neither side is willing to formally declare

And in parts of the east there is calm and some hope.

Police trying to find the missing schoolgirl, Alice Gross,

have expanded the area they are searching.

Specialist divers have been brought in to search a canal in Hanwell,

where the 14 year-old was seen before she disappeared eleven

Detectives are continuing to question a man on suspicion

Described as an exceptional singer and gifted student, Alice Gross

Her disappearance has sparked a major police search.

Alice was last seen by her family at their home in Hanwell.

These CCTV images show her just over an hour later, walking along

Today the police search has been expanded but the focus remains

Divers and specialist dog teams have been brought in to help.

Police say they have arrested a 25-year-old man on suspicion

of murder - he is currently in custody and is being questioned

But officers insist all lines of enquiry are still open

and this is still being treated as a missing persons investigation.

Detectives have released these CCTV images showing five cyclists riding

past the spot where Alice was last seen.

More than 13,000 people have now supported a Facebook page,

set up to raise awareness about Alice's disappearance.

Her family say they miss her and they want her home.

President Obama says he'll be setting out his strategy to defeat

the Islamic State group in a speech on Wednesday.

He says he wants to explain to the American people the threat from IS.

Earlier the US carried out air-strikes on IS

targets in western Iraq for the first time, near the Haditha dam.

Unions are promising to step up their campaign over public sector

pay. The Trades Union Congress got

underway today in Liverpool with It comes as the body in charge of

MPs' pay today recommended that they Our industry correspondent John

Moylan reports. Liverpool played host to the opening

stage of the Tour of Britain bike race today. It is also hosting the

annual meeting of trade unions. Top of their agenda is pay, which for

millions of workers has been lagging behind rises in the cost of living.

Many ordinary working families feel at the end of their tether. They

have been taking real pay cuts week in and week out. The government says

the economy is recovering, and yet they are not feeling the benefit.

They want fair shares and they need a pay rise. Hundreds of thousands of

health workers like Eleanor Smith are now being balloted for

industrial action on the back of four years of pay restraint. A

theatre nurse with two children, she is finding it increasingly hard to

make ends meet. You are struggling all the time, electric and gas going

up, and everything else, the food, as much as they like to say there is

a price war there isn't, and we are feeling it and it is a complete

struggle. During the downturn workers in the private sector saw

pay settlements fall but they have since picked up to around 2.5%. But

pay deals in the public sector fell much lower. They are now capped at

1%. That has kept them below inflation for years, despite the

fact that many more people are in work. The people in the country are

only as rich as the country and if your economy is shrinking and

failing people get poorer as they did in the great recession and as

your economy starts to grow the people in that country start to get

richer. Union bosses here know that many of their members may be in line

for pay increases this year of as little as 1%. The mood on pay has

not been helped by the news that MPs may be in line for a pay increase of

as much as 9%. Tomorrow Congress will back calls for a coordinated

industrial action, with strikes by council and health workers likely by

the middle of October. But all that may not be enough for some. John

Moylan, BBC News, Liverpool. With all the sport -

here's Katherine Downes at the Lewis Hamilton recovered

from a poor start to win the Italian Grand Prix, finishing ahead of his

Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg. The pair collided

in Belgium two weeks ago - and today The Mercedes fallout from Belgium

dominated the weekend Would that be the case at Italy's

temple of speed? Hamilton's pole advantage

evaporated in seconds. His poor start was due to

another mechanical failure. The 2008 world champion found his

focus as his car regained its speed. A brave manoeuvre on Felipe Massa

rewarded him with a chance to attack The Briton's pace and consistent

pressure may have broken Rosberg's nerve. He has gone straight on! It

is Hamilton's chance to take the lead of the Grand Prix! For Hamilton

his win was particularly satisfying. Today I still had a problem but to

still be successful with that problem is even more empowering than

starting from pole position and just winning. With six races remaining

Hamilton is back in the title race but he still needs to claw back 22

points. This win will at least make him believe this is possible.

Football and all the Home Nations begin their qualifying campaigns

for the 2016 European Championship in France over the next few days.

Scotland play Germany later, but right now Northern Ireland are

The match has come to life in the closing quarter, Nile McGinley

equalising before Kyle Lafferty gave Northern Ireland a 2-1 lead.

Mo Farah has become the first British man to win

The double Olympic champion took the half-marathon title in a new

In the early September sunshine they came, as ever, in their thousands.

To beat personal bests, run to raise cash, and ultimately have some fun.

Yet again, though, the serious stuff was just as entertaining. The race

start Mo Farah was in the mood and little wonder, no British man had

taken the title in 29 years. Fresh from his double gold at the European

Championships he was feeling good will stop last year he just lost out

to the Ethiopian. This year it was the Kenyan who would push him all

the way. 200 to go and there goes Mo Farah. But Mo Farah fought hardest

and half of Tyneside cheered him over the line. I just had to dig

deep. He is a great athlete and I had to keep pushing and pushing so I

just had to hang in and hang in and at the end I knew I had a bit more

speed. In the women's race Gemma Steele of Britain did her best to

make it a British 1-2 but had to settle for second. Mary Khatami took

the honours and with it and other course record. -- Mary Khatami.

Cricket and England's women completed a T20 series whitewash

of South Africa earlier - they won the third match by eight

runs, before England's men won their Twenty20 match against India.

It came down to the last ball - India chasing 181 to win,

needed a six - but MS Dhoni's effort didn't quite get there -

That is all of the sport. Thank you. That's it from us, we are back with