11/09/2014 BBC News at One

Scotland's First Minister says he is confident that people will vote

next week to break away from the United Kingdom.

Alex Salmond said Scotland had become a better place

since devolution and he invited people to take the next step towards

A yes vote next Thursday is not the end of something.

It's the beginning of something really special.

Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One.

Alex Salmond says he's confident that people will vote next week to

In a speech in Edinburgh this morning, he said Scotland had become

a better place since it voted for devolution, and he invited people to

take the next step on what he called a journey towards "home rule."

Mr Salmond also accused the Treasury of deliberately leaking

market-sensitive information about Royal Bank of Scotland's

decision to relocate its registered headquarters to London if Scotland

Mr Salmond says he is writing to the Cabinet Secretary to demand

Our political correspondent Tim Reid reports.

17 years ago, Scotland voted for a new parliament in Edinburgh. It was

the start of the devolution experiment and it made headlines

across the UK. Independence was the next step. It is what Alex Salmond

advocates, and he says Scotland is on the cusp of making history.

Scotland will vote yes next Thursday. They will do so because

last-minute, cobbled up promises from the no campaign, which I'll

travel at the slightest scrutiny, will not fool anyone in this

country, and neither will the blatant bullying and intimidation of

the Westminster government. Scores of Labour MPs travelled north this

morning to try to assist the no campaign. Just a narrow gap between

the 2 sides in the race for undecided voters is on. We have to

level with people, there are uncertainties about jobs, pensions,

mortgages, you have to look at those, but also, the certainties

which are being offered, which could come with a no vote, which would

mean more devolution. Over the past 24 hours, doubts from some in the

business community about the impact of a yes vote. Standard life have

confirmed contingency plans to transfer some funds to England. RBS

and Lloyds would register their head offices in London. Today, John Lewis

and suggested independence would lead to price increases. There will

be risks to businesses, one of which is what happens in terms of the

economic uncertainty and what effect it will have on confidence, markets

etc. The second is what happens to higher costs. But concerns about the

impact of a referendum have been dismissed by some influential

figures in the financial world. I have said many times, I think

Scotland will be a success, whatever the vote is. It is really now up to

the people of Scotland to decide which way they want to go. Alex

Salmond has also called for an inquiry over the leak of yesterday's

story about RBS, claiming the Treasury is responsible. He has also

criticised the BBC's coverage. Labour's campaign back-up arrived in

Glasgow this lunch time. Whether they will make any difference, the

voters will decide a week today. We can speak to Norman Smith now. Good

afternoon to you. There has been a strong focus today on the economy,

on the business aspect of the referendum - how do you think all of

this will play with voters, particularly those who are

undecided? Well, it has to be one of the key issues. The financial sector

is such a big part of the Scottish economy. Mr Salmond has dismissed

the notion that any move by RBS or anybody else to relocate their

headquarters will have any impact on jobs of revenue. But they say attack

is often the best form of defence, and that is what we have seen from

Mr Salmond. He is now accusing the Treasury of deliberately leaking the

news about the RBS announcement to the BBC and other media outlets last

night in breach of City rules, he says, which say that the markets

should be told first, and he is demanding an official inquiry, an

inquiry which he insists the BBC should co-operate with. To cheers

from the audience, he rounded on what he called the metropolitan

media, and so-called scare stories. As we get closer to the vote, this

campaign is becoming increasingly tense and charged. Alex Salmond is

trying to present himself almost as the underdog, standing up to the

Westminster political establishment, and also standing up

to what he regards as the over mighty London media.

We can now find out what the no campaign, the pro-union campaign, is

doing today. We can go over to Christian Fraser in Glasgow, where

scores of Labour MPs have arrived? That's right. If yesterday was the

day when the leaders came to Scotland, then Labour is trying to

spread a bit more of that love today. Two coachloads arrived at

Euston this morning, coming up here by train, walking through the centre

of Glasgow. Here is a statue of Donald Dewar, who was the First

Minister of Scotland, a staunch advocate of devolution. I wonder

what he might have made of it. He might have thought he would have put

a nail in the coffin of independence, but far from it.

Today, you could hardly hear Ed Miliband speak. He was here with all

of the grandees, Gordon Brown, Jim Murphy, who has been up and down the

country, trying to shore up the Labour vote. It is important for

Labour that they get their voters to come out in favour of the no

campaign. So, with exactly one week to go, the

2 campaigns are intensifying, getting increasingly bitter, even.

The latest polls are suggesting that 10% of voters here are undecided, so

there are clearly plenty of hearts and minds to be won.

The judge in the trial of the South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has

cleared him of murder charges, but she is expected to rule shortly on

whether he was guilty of culpable homicide - or manslaughter - when he

shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp last year.

Oscar Pistorius has claimed he mistook the model for a burglar.

Our correspondent Nomsa Maseko is outside the court in Pretoria.

Well, I can tell you that the court has adjourned for lunch, and we

understand that the judge and the prosecution team, and the

representative of Oscar Pistorius, are in chambers, talking to the

judge. We do not know yet what they are talking about. But the judge has

already said that Oscar Pistorius is not guilty of premeditated murder,

which was the main charge of the state. They were trying to prove

that there was an argument on the night of Valentine's Day, which led

to the shooting which killed Reeva Steenkamp. At that charge now, says

the judge, is not guilty at all. There is only one charge left now.

Shortly after the adjournment for lunch, we will be going back into

the court to find out exactly what the judge will be saying.

Judgments day for Oscar Pistorius. He arrived for the verdict in his

murder trial early this morning. Orderly chaos followed. A giant

media scrum was waiting for him. In the early morning hours, the

accused shot and killed Steenkamp... This time around, the

judge took centre stage. She wasted no time, dismissed that of the

evidence prosecution relied on to show there was an argument between

Mr Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp, which led to the shooting. Then, she

turned her attention on the defence's case. The judge was not

short of criticism of Oscar Pistorius's performance on stand.

The accused was a very poor witness. During evidence, he seemed composed

and logical, with the result that his evidence flowed and made sense.

While giving his version and the cross-examination, he lost his

composure. But despite the inconsistencies that she raised, the

judge moved quickly and methodically through the most serious of the

charges laid against him, dismissing each option in turn. The parents of

Reeva Steenkamp were in court to hear the verdict. Her mother talked

to the BBC before it was announced. She said she was at peace and had

come to terms with her grief. I have got no revengeful feelings, and I

have four given Oscar for what he has done. But I mean, he has killed

her, and even if you made a mistake, it is a huge mistake, it has cost

her her life, and us, cost us Reeva's life. Now, the court is

still not back in session, but the way in which the judge has been

going very fast in summarising the evidence, the evidence of the 37

witnesses who testified on behalf of the state, and on behalf of the

prosecution, it is likely that the judge will finalise her judgment

later today. President Obama has set out plans to

"destroy and degrade" Islamic State militants who have seized large

areas of Syria and Iraq. In a televised address,

Mr Obama revealed that he had authorised air strikes in Syria,

saying that America would hunt down There was also a promise

of more American troops to help The US Secretary of State,

John Kerry, is visiting Arab leaders Our correspondent Paul Wood

sent this report from Beirut. This is one of several battlefronts

against the Islamic state. These are Kurds in northern Syria, who have

just made common cause with Syrian Arab rebels. It is just one part of

what President Obama hopes will be a regional coalition against the

jihadi is, backed by American air power. Mr Obama promised a

systematic campaign of air strikes against what he called these

terrorists. We will fight down terrorists who threaten our country

wherever they are. I will not hesitate to take action against ISIL

in Syria as well as Iraq. This is a core principle of my presidency. If

you threaten America, you will find no safe haven.

We are taking you straight to the court in Pretoria, where the judge

is going to be delivering her next verdict in the case of Oscar

Pistorius. She cleared him earlier of all murder charges. She said he

could not have foreseen that he could kill anyone on the night he

shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. However, she is now considering the

charge of culpable homicide or manslaughter, and by that, she is

considering whether there was no intention to kill, taking into

account his disability, but that his actions were negligent and not in

keeping with a reasonable person. 30 troops taken hostage. This is the

morning for a second soldier. Many in Lebanon fear this could cause a

new sectarian civil war. Sunni Muslim against Shia Muslim.

President Obama promised a mixture of bombing and politics. The

politics are needed to try to win back Sunni Muslims, who have sworn

allegiance to the Islamic state. The risk of bombing is that any civilian

casualties could drive more Sunnis macro into the arms of the jihadis.

What has been the immediate reaction to what President Obama had to say?

He has warned the American people that this will be a sustained

military campaign to destroy Islam estate. It will not be over in a

matter of months. The US is in this for the long haul. -- the Islamic

state. The president who said he did not have a strategy now says he has

one, and it is one which some of his fiercest attics welcome. They say he

has been too cautious and reluctant in the past on this. It is also one

which the American public is likely to welcome as well. In recent weeks,

since the brutal beheadings of two American journalists, there has been

a dramatic shift in public opinion, with more than two thirds of the

American people now backing air strikes against IAS targets in Iraq,

and even Syria. There is also concern that the threat could spread

to the homeland. That is something which President Obama said was

possible if Islamic State was left unchecked. All of this is so bring

on the anniversary of the 911 attacks, that the US is still

fighting new terror threats, in a battle which could go on well after

Mr Obama leaves office. Here, two week since 14-year-old

Alice Gross disappeared from her home in west London, police say her

missing mobile phone may hold key information that could help find

her. They say her father received a text from her on the day she

vanished, saying she had forgotten her keys and asking if someone would

be home at six o'clock. 14-year-old Alice Gross love

songwriting. This is one of her own. But it is now two weeks since she

was last seen in fuzzy CCTV pictures, crossing a bridge over a

quiet stretch of river in West London. What has happened to her? 32

detectives and 170 police officers and staff including divers are

trying to find out. They know she left home for a walk at lunch time,

with some food and the promise of returning that evening. She walked

along these towpaths, appeared to turn back towards home. More murky

pictures capture the cyclists she walked past at around 4:30pm that

afternoon. The least want to speak to them. But most of all, they want

her white iPhone with a cracked case. She decorated it with pens to

hide the damage. It went off-line at five and has not been switched on

since. Anyone who has that will hopefully know now that they have

Alice's phone. You are not in trouble if you found it and picked

it up. I'm not interested in making arrests in respect to anyone who has

that phone now, I just need the phone. These give it to police and

identify yourself. One piece in the jigsaw worries detectives here. At

dusk on three o'clock, Alice texted her father. Was he going to be home?

She did not have her keys and wanted to know she could get in. He said he

would be back by six. It all suggests that she did intend to

return home that evening. Police found her rucksack last week in

undergrowth, containing her shoes. They believe she may have shopping

and was wearing a new pair. They downplayed suggestions that she was

being bullied online or that she had argued with her family, who were

helping her get treatment for anorexia. Her mother and father said

today that they were desperately worried about her. Tom Symons, BBC

News, Scotland Yard. Alex Salmond says Scotland had

become a better place since devolution, and he invited

people to take the next step towards as the finishing line approaches, we

ask whether Scotland's athletes will Tickets go on sale tomorrow

for Rugby World Cup games here in London - we'll tell you how to

apply and how much it will cost. And going solo -

we talk to singer Chrissie Hynde The inquest has resumed

into the death of a nurse who answered a hoax call

for the Duchess of Cambridge when Jacintha Saldanha was found hanged

three days after she put through the call from

two Australian DJs - one of whom is Our royal correspondent Nicholas

Witchell is at the High Court. Yes, this tragic case of the nurse

at the King Edward VII Hospital in December 2012, when the Duchess of

Kent was admitted with acute sickness during her first pregnancy

and who took this hoax call from two Australian disc jockeys, pretending

to be the Queen and the Prince of Wales. Jacintha Saldanha's husband

and children are attending the inquest, an inquest which has been

postponed several times since she was found dead in the nursess'

accommodation at the hospital several days after the hoax call was

made. The inquest is also being attended by one of the Australian

disc jockeys, Mel Greig, who said she is honouring a promise she made

to the family to attend to try to help in any way she can and to

answer any questions. Mel Greig will not, the coroner has ruled, be

giving formal evidence from the witness box. The first witness a few

moments ago, Mrs Saldanha's husband, read a prepared statement. He

struggled with his words and wiped his eyes several times. He spoke

about, my beloved wife, a loving mother, one of the best nurses. We

miss her every moment and will do so for the rest of our lives. He was

then asked by the coroner, Dr Fiona Wilcox, have his wife suffered any

psychological issues? No, he said. Had there been any attempt to harm

herself or take her own life previously? Not at all, he said. He

said he had spoken to her last on the telephone on the night of

Wednesday the 5th of December, at about ten in the evening. She seemed

quite casual, entirely normal, he said. He said he had been unaware of

this hoax call and was unaware of any particular stress or cause of

discomfort in her life. The inquest continues this afternoon.

A record 10,500 people were prosecuted in England and Wales last

year for harassment and stalking after a new law was introduced that

Our correspondent Daniel Boettcher has more.

I've manage to change the place where I work,

where I live. Everything in my life has had to change.

Mandy, not her real name, left her abusive husband four years ago and

He's not in prison at the moment, but if he approaches her again,

I'm in more of a prison than he will ever be.

I have to watch where my children go.

I have to watch absolutely everything I do.

In response to growing pressure for tougher measures against stalkers,

the laws on harassment were widened in 2012 to include two new specific

Now the first annual figures have been released since those changes.

From April last year to March this year, there were 743 prosecutions

In more than 200 cases, victims said they were seriously

alarmed or feared that the stalkers would turn violent.

The number of prosecutions under the old and new laws combined

reached a record level, more than 10,500, an increase of 20%.

It shows that people are more confident

It also means we and the police are producing stronger

cases to take before the court, and that is reflected in the number of

Meanwhile, new guidance has been set out for police and prosecutors

to make further improvements to the way stalking cases are dealt with.

The court of law will give the victim more say and allow real

Most importantly, it asks prosecutors and police to use

A support group has welcomed the new guidance,

but says lack of investment so far in prosecutors' training

has left many victims let down and put at further risk.

The supermarket chain Morrisons has reported a fall in half year

Morrisons is one of the "Big Four" supermarkets squeezed

between the higher end of the market and discount stores,

Our business correspondent Emma Simpson reports.

In the aisles, the message from Morrisons is clear.

After months of falling sales, this supermarket pressed

the reset button on its business earlier this year. So what is

Well, today it took a big change in direction.

It's going to aggressively cut prices.

I'm back at the same store today - the jacket's changed.

You can see that Morrisons has been closing the price gap with

Over the last few months, it has been throwing everything

at trying to win shoppers back, including big promotions.

It's paying a high price on its profits.

Today's figures were the worst in eight years.

The big, long term risk is that having lowered their prices,

lowered their sales, lowered their profits to win back customers,

that even though customers do come back, not enough come back and there

Morrisons insists that their strategy is right

and progress is being made, but here is what they are up against.

This is Leeds, their heartland, and across the road, a discounter is

They have got good deals in Morrisons. But you tend to get

Bits and bobs, Lidl wins over for me at the moment.

But for a bigger shop, a monthly shop, it would be Morrisons.

Today's slump in profits was expected, but it is yet another sign

of just how much pressure our big supermarkets are under.

More now on our main story - the referendum in Scotland.

Well, sport has provided Scotland with an outlet to celebrate national

But Scottish athletes, many of whom train in England and receive UK

funding, could be forced to decide where their sporting future lies

Our sports correspondent Chris McLaughlin reports.

Scotland fans in Germany this week, proving that sometimes,

The debate is everywhere, including the locker room.

If it's Yes, the Scot who grabbed gold for Team GB in London 2012

If Scotland became independent, I imagine I would be playing

I haven't thought that much about that yet, because I don't

That was last week, and the polls now suggest it could be close.

It is here on the track and in other Olympic disciplines where

And it's an issue being taken very seriously in Scotland.

Sport is unlikely to polarise opinion the way other issues have

in this debate, but historically, it's provided a platform

for Scotland to celebrate national identity, a point underlined

Scotland hailed new heroes, but could they keep them if the vote is

For some who train in England as part of a UK programme,

switching to a Scottish setup would be too much of a gamble.

Scotland isn't able to provide us with the facilities and funding that

think they are able to do that, why haven't they done it up until now?

But one man who has plied his trade in England and Scotland

doesn't think the funding facilities argument is valid.

Nobody talks about the fact that Mo Farah trains in America.

We already pay for these things through the National Lottery,

and there is no reason why athletes would not be able to continue using

Britain's greatest ever Olympian, Sir Chris Hoy,

If the country votes Yes, Scotland's new heroes will have to

Now the weather. Our spell of settled September weather continues.

This afternoon is no exception. We are set to stay dry across the

country today, with the since buzz of sunshine for many places. The

best of the bright weather for the rest of today will be across

northern and western parts of the UK. You can see there is sunshine

for Scotland, Northern Ireland and much of northern England and Wales.

There is a lot of cloud over the south-east, although it is thinning

and breaking all the time. If you are heading to the Invictus Games in

East London today, the sunshine will break through the cloud. A little

more club tomorrow. For the rest of this afternoon, we will see the

cloud in the South and East pushing further northwards and westwards,

but it is thinning and breaking up. We will see sunny spells persisting

in Scotland and Northern Ireland. A bit of that she cloud across

northern England, but still feeling very pleasant. Across Wales and the

south-west of England, a bit of Fairweather cloud, so things may

turn hazy. We still have that cloud in central and southern England and

towards the south-east. But the cloud will allow some sunshine to

break through. This evening, the cloud works further northwards and

westwards across the country. Still some clear spells, particularly for

Northern Ireland and Scotland. In the cities, temperatures stay in

double figures, but in the countryside, they will be quite a

bit lower than this. It is a chilly start to Friday, but a similar dated

today. The variable amounts of cloud, but some sunshine. The best

of the brightness will be in the afternoon. Perhaps a bit cooler

around the east of Scotland, with the breeze coming in from the north

sea. But here is the area of high pressure in charge of our weather.

It is not moving far, just shifting towards the north and east for the

weekend. So not a huge amount of change for the weekend. Large

amounts of cloud through Saturday and Sunday. It could be a bit breezy

through the course of Saturday and Sunday. With the high pressure still

in charge, mainly dry for all of us through the weekend. All in all,

things are looking dry and settled for the next couple of days.

The reminder of our top story: Alex Salmond says Scotland has become a

better place since evolution and he invites people to take the next act

towards what he calls home-rule. That