:00:00. > :00:07.This is BBC World News Today, with me Philippa Thomas -
:00:08. > :00:10.it's the eve of decision day for Scotland - the momentous vote
:00:11. > :00:15.The Yes and No camps have been on the campaign trail for one last
:00:16. > :00:18.push - before the future of Scotland - and the United Kingdom -
:00:19. > :00:35.It is incredibly tense here in Scotland right now. The opinion
:00:36. > :00:41.polls say it is simply too close to call. That means that soon every
:00:42. > :00:43.single vote will count. And we'll be asking what lessons
:00:44. > :00:44.might an independent Scotland learn from
:00:45. > :00:47.the dissolution of Czechoslovakia President Obama says American troops
:00:48. > :00:50.will not have a combat mission against Islamic State in Iraq -
:00:51. > :01:05.despite a senior general suggesting I will not commit you and the rest
:01:06. > :01:09.of our Armed Forces to fighting another ground war in Iraq.
:01:10. > :01:13.An autopsy after more than five centuries - we'll tell you about new
:01:14. > :01:25.research revealing just how King Richard III was killed in battle.
:01:26. > :01:29.It's nearly decision time in Scotland where campaigners
:01:30. > :01:33.for and against independence are making their final pitches to
:01:34. > :01:37.Thursday will be an historic day with election
:01:38. > :01:41.organisers saying 97% of eligible Scots are registered to vote.
:01:42. > :01:54.As you'd expect, leading politicians on both sides are frantically busy.
:01:55. > :02:01.Alex Salmond says that this is the most empowering moment of voters
:02:02. > :02:06.there will ever have. Gordon Brown says the union is too important to
:02:07. > :02:08.lose. Nobody predicted even a few weeks ago that the polls would be
:02:09. > :02:08.very close. Lucy Hockings is in Edinburgh
:02:09. > :02:19.for us. Another remarkable day of what has
:02:20. > :02:25.been an incredible referendum campaign. They are: Tomorrow
:02:26. > :02:35.Scotland's date with destiny. -- they are calling it. Whether or not
:02:36. > :02:41.Scotland should be an independent country. The opinion polls are so
:02:42. > :02:48.close. It is simply too close to call. With campaigning today, really
:02:49. > :02:54.they are targeting those people who have not decided. The feeling people
:02:55. > :02:58.get in Scotland is that if you are adamantly yes or no, that won't
:02:59. > :03:03.change. But tens of thousands have still to make up their mind and that
:03:04. > :03:07.is who the politicians have in speaking to today, with messages
:03:08. > :03:14.about national identity, the future, and the economy. With the latest,
:03:15. > :03:19.here is James Cook in Glasgow. Scotland tonight is a nation
:03:20. > :03:25.divided. A country staring into its soul. For a after day, thousands of
:03:26. > :03:29.activists have poured onto the streets. Many have taken time off
:03:30. > :03:37.might work to fight for a vision of the future.
:03:38. > :03:42.We want to control education, taxes, most of the levers we need. We get
:03:43. > :03:46.pocket money from Westminster. We want control of our income and
:03:47. > :03:56.expenditure. Our intellect brought us to this place...
:03:57. > :04:00.Do not be confused. If you want real power, and you wanted to stay in
:04:01. > :04:04.Scotland, organising your own government, taxes, and future, vote
:04:05. > :04:08.yes. There is no doubt this campaign has
:04:09. > :04:13.been divisive but it has also breathe life into politics in
:04:14. > :04:18.Scotland. The place is crackling with energy as the country reaches
:04:19. > :04:23.the final hours of the campaign. And, for the hour,, the man. Those
:04:24. > :04:29.battling to keep Scotland in the UK have not always matched the passion
:04:30. > :04:36.of their opponents. What we have built together by
:04:37. > :04:44.sacrificing and sharing, let nobody split asunder. Tell them this is
:04:45. > :04:53.hours. This is not they are. Not their fly, not the country, not the
:04:54. > :04:58.streets. The man who more than anyone has
:04:59. > :05:03.brought Scotland to this place does not disagree. Alex Salmond insists
:05:04. > :05:08.he wants to build a new country for all. Is he standing on the eve of
:05:09. > :05:13.history? There have been fundamental
:05:14. > :05:19.changes. We have seen a campaign of grass-roots empowerment. A festival
:05:20. > :05:23.of democracy. Now it is in the hands of the Scottish people. There is no
:05:24. > :05:28.place I feel more secure than in the hands of the people Scotland. They
:05:29. > :05:31.know, and they sense and they sense an enormous opportunity to take
:05:32. > :05:36.Scotland's future into Scotland's Hants.
:05:37. > :05:40.Both Alex Salmond and his opponents have tried to use unemployment
:05:41. > :05:45.figures as a reason to vote their way.
:05:46. > :05:53.Everybody who cares about are united and, I get passionate about our
:05:54. > :05:58.United Kingdom, but I have set out how Scotland can have the best of
:05:59. > :06:05.both worlds. Scottish unemployment is actually lower than in London.
:06:06. > :06:11.The people of Scotland have one more night to ponder. One more night to
:06:12. > :06:16.weigh up what to do. Whatever happens, a myth has been dispelled.
:06:17. > :06:22.They say people do not care about politics. They are wrong.
:06:23. > :06:28.They are so wrong, those people who say there is not an engagement with
:06:29. > :06:31.politics. You can actually feel it in Scotland right now, everybody
:06:32. > :06:38.feels so passionate about the referendum and we expect a high
:06:39. > :06:41.turnout, possibly over 80%. Two men who have been involved since the
:06:42. > :06:48.very beginning, and who have written a book about it, join me now. Alan
:06:49. > :06:53.Cochrane, and George caravan. Can I start on the positive, the absolute
:06:54. > :06:58.engagement with the Scottish people? It is what you said earlier. The
:06:59. > :07:05.atmosphere is not like an election. It is a festival of politics. For
:07:06. > :07:09.the first day in the entire history of Scotland, ordinary people have a
:07:10. > :07:14.vote that counts. It feels like ringing politics back to the people.
:07:15. > :07:17.I have spoken to people all over the world who realise that Scotland is
:07:18. > :07:23.leading the way. Are you surprised that has come down
:07:24. > :07:28.to this? That we are so close? I am not sure the opinion polls will
:07:29. > :07:33.be correct. The interesting thing about engagement is that people are
:07:34. > :07:36.not engaging with the argument, the yes people are speaking to the yes
:07:37. > :07:39.people, they know people are speaking to the gnome people. I am
:07:40. > :07:44.not sure that there are many not sure that there are many
:07:45. > :07:48.undecided. I have just not sure that there are many
:07:49. > :07:53.interview with Chilean television. People around the world are
:07:54. > :07:57.fascinated. But what they ask is why on earth is Scotland trying to break
:07:58. > :08:01.away from the UK? You get that quite a bit, that
:08:02. > :08:06.people who are voting now are too scared to say so.
:08:07. > :08:14.I sense that people have made up their minds. No fighting, no
:08:15. > :08:17.rights... It has gotten a bit more
:08:18. > :08:22.acrimonious. Everybody says that, but we argue,
:08:23. > :08:28.we do not shoot each other. That is the lesson the world is taking. If
:08:29. > :08:31.you can settle different and seek self-government in a peaceful way,
:08:32. > :08:36.after that, there will be many more, other countries following us.
:08:37. > :08:41.The day of the countries is gone. That is what the campaign is about.
:08:42. > :08:45.I want to give you each a case to state your case.
:08:46. > :08:49.I cannot understand why Scotland would wish to break away from a
:08:50. > :08:58.successful country. A successful union. We have been together 300
:08:59. > :09:05.years. The UK is a brilliant growing economy. The envy of Europe. For all
:09:06. > :09:07.the wrong reasons a leap in the dark is being proposed. We should not do
:09:08. > :09:14.it. George?
:09:15. > :09:20.It is not about nationality. It is about taking over your own life.
:09:21. > :09:25.Ordinary people, organising things. Government is too far away.
:09:26. > :09:30.Everybody knows that people have turned off politics and politicians.
:09:31. > :09:34.It is too far away. We want to bring it back to the people.
:09:35. > :09:41.What is this about them? Exactly. We want to make the
:09:42. > :09:46.decisions here, not Westminster. How do Scots feel differently from
:09:47. > :09:49.other people in the United Kingdom? Can I ask you, if there is a
:09:50. > :09:54.difference, if the values are different?
:09:55. > :09:59.It is not an ethnic thing, let's be clear for anybody watching. My wife
:10:00. > :10:04.is English, my father was born there, my sister lives there,
:10:05. > :10:11.500,000 people will vote in Scotland tomorrow who come from the rest of
:10:12. > :10:16.the UK. It is not about ethnicity. 160,000 EU citizens here have the
:10:17. > :10:21.vote tomorrow. What they are voting for his inclusive politics, seeking
:10:22. > :10:26.social justice, we do not want to be thrown out of the EU, the way the
:10:27. > :10:31.Tories want to throw us out. Similarly I am a British mongrel.
:10:32. > :10:38.And English wife, an Irish granny, children living in England, two
:10:39. > :10:46.grandson exactly! But I don't want them to be
:10:47. > :10:55.foreigners to one another. I want them all to be hits. If his will
:10:56. > :11:02.when -- I want them all to be British. If his lot win, I cannot be
:11:03. > :11:07.British anymore. We'll get you a special passport!
:11:08. > :11:10.The undecideds will be crucial tomorrow and the opinion polls are
:11:11. > :11:14.saying it will be too close to call. A momentous, historic day ahead.
:11:15. > :11:16.Thank you very much. Spain's Prime Minister,
:11:17. > :11:19.Mariano Rajoy, has said independence referendums
:11:20. > :11:22.are bad for the European Union. He told the Spanish parliament
:11:23. > :11:26.the EU had been built to integrate His remarks come as the Catalan
:11:27. > :11:33.regional parliament prepares to vote on a resolution calling
:11:34. > :11:35.for a Scottish-style referendum Mr Rajoy also warned that it could
:11:36. > :11:41.take years for an independent Let's pick up that point with
:11:42. > :11:58.Independent EU analyst Geoff Meade - Alex Salmond likes to say it is a
:11:59. > :12:06.given that an independent Scotland would be part of the European Union.
:12:07. > :12:14.How does it look to you? From the day this referendum date
:12:15. > :12:21.was known, leaders of the EU have said, it is just not that simple.
:12:22. > :12:23.You might think it should be. Scotland is obviously an active
:12:24. > :12:29.member already so would not have to go through all the services you
:12:30. > :12:32.might think. It is not just the Spanish prime minister who is
:12:33. > :12:36.indicating it could take years to renegotiate. Lots of officials are
:12:37. > :12:44.not turn their heads above the parapet publicly, they do not. But
:12:45. > :12:49.behind the scenes, they say, it will take years. Scotland will need to
:12:50. > :12:53.reapply. There is the complicated relationship already Scotland
:12:54. > :13:00.believes the UK, because of course soon we will come up against a UK
:13:01. > :13:06.referendum on EU membership, and there is a wonderful irony. The odds
:13:07. > :13:15.are that if Scotland is out of the UK in Britain, the residual Britain,
:13:16. > :13:19.microphone to leave -- might vote. But let's say that the UK stayed in.
:13:20. > :13:24.And took Scotland years for membership. What Scotland wants more
:13:25. > :13:28.than Westminster is EU membership and it would be a wonderful irony if
:13:29. > :13:35.the romp was in the EU and Scotland had to wait. All we are getting here
:13:36. > :13:39.is noises from the EU, the parliament, the commission, saying,
:13:40. > :13:47.this will be a bureaucratic nightmare. To use the cliche, it is
:13:48. > :13:55.uncharted territory. And yet, the SNP would say, hang on,
:13:56. > :14:01.the Scots are keen Europeans. We provide a huge amount of the EU
:14:02. > :14:07.energy. Oil. Fish stocks. How could you do without them?
:14:08. > :14:12.It is a good question. But going back to the Catalan experience there
:14:13. > :14:16.is no appetite in Spain to usher Scotland in quickly as an
:14:17. > :14:21.independent member because what signal would that send to Catalunya?
:14:22. > :14:26.It is chomping at the bit for a referendum. It has been denied. If
:14:27. > :14:32.Scotland simply signed a bit of paper and came into the EU, or
:14:33. > :14:40.stayed in the EU, and an independent and, Catalunya would say, if they
:14:41. > :14:43.can, we can. There are movements in Italy, Flemish movements here in
:14:44. > :14:48.Belgium, if they see that this is easy they will want to do it too.
:14:49. > :14:54.That is one reason why some member states. Want to make it easy. And
:14:55. > :14:59.also it has to be, any formal application, to join separately, it
:15:00. > :15:05.has to be ratified by all countries. That process alone, even
:15:06. > :15:11.if they are willing, can take years. As I say, countries like Italy,
:15:12. > :15:15.Belgium, France, certainly Spain, will not necessarily vote. If you
:15:16. > :15:22.don't have all member states including the residual UK saying yes
:15:23. > :15:26.they're never happen. Thank you very much.
:15:27. > :15:30.Later on, we will hear how Czechoslovakia coped with its
:15:31. > :15:34.separation into two halves. President Barack Obama has said
:15:35. > :15:36.emphatically that he will not commit US troops to another ground war
:15:37. > :15:38.in Iraq. Speaking after a military briefing,
:15:39. > :15:41.Obama said the battle against Islamic State militants in Iraq and
:15:42. > :15:43.Syria requires a broad coalition, with some nations assisting the US
:15:44. > :15:57.with airstrikes, while others focus The American forces that have been
:15:58. > :16:05.deployed to Iraq do not and will not have a combat mission. They will
:16:06. > :16:12.support Iraqi forces on the ground. As they fight for their own country
:16:13. > :16:17.against these terrorists. As your commander and chief, I will not
:16:18. > :16:21.commit you and the rest of our armed forces to fighting another ground
:16:22. > :16:27.war in Iraq. After a decade of massive ground deployments, it is
:16:28. > :16:31.more effective to use our unique capabilities in support of partners
:16:32. > :16:39.on the ground so they can secure their own countries' futures. That
:16:40. > :16:41.is the only solution that will succeed over the long-term.
:16:42. > :16:42.The BBC's Barbara Plett-Usher is in Washington.
:16:43. > :16:44.Barbara, only yesterday the most senior military officer
:16:45. > :16:47.there General Martin Dempsey said he might recommend ground troops,
:16:48. > :16:52.are there differences of opinion at the highest level about
:16:53. > :17:03.Not necessarily. What General Dempsey said is that he believed the
:17:04. > :17:06.coalition that President Obama is assembling will be sufficient to
:17:07. > :17:13.take on Islamic State but he also said that the president had asked to
:17:14. > :17:19.be advised on a case-by-case basis and if he felt the coalition was not
:17:20. > :17:23.adequate to the task he would make recommendations which might include
:17:24. > :17:27.ground forces. That might be the Army signalling it should be on the
:17:28. > :17:30.ground or it might not. One thing can be said, ground forces are the
:17:31. > :17:34.weakest part of the strategy which is, for the Americans, to bomb
:17:35. > :17:37.Islamic State from the air and for the
:17:38. > :17:43.Islamic State from the air and for Iraqi forces to be fighting them on
:17:44. > :17:46.the ground. They need to be built up. General Dempsey said only half
:17:47. > :17:50.the brigades are in a position to partner effectively with US troops.
:17:51. > :17:54.There is a plan to train and equip them. Hundreds of advisers from the
:17:55. > :17:56.US have been sent to Iraq to do that. No one can say for certain how
:17:57. > :17:58.the war is going to evolve. Now a look at some
:17:59. > :18:01.of the day's other news. Gunmen in northern Nigeria
:18:02. > :18:03.have stormed a teacher training One student told the BBC that
:18:04. > :18:08.he'd counted 17 dead bodies. The gunmen set off an explosion
:18:09. > :18:11.and fired repeatedly on students. The Islamist militant group
:18:12. > :18:14.Boko Haram has carried out similar Reports from Kosovo say that police
:18:15. > :18:20.have arrested 15 people on suspicion of recruiting fighters for
:18:21. > :18:23.the militant group Islamic State. Local media say that among those
:18:24. > :18:27.arrested are prominent clerics. They were arrested
:18:28. > :18:30.in a police operation spread Ukraine's prime minister has told
:18:31. > :18:36.a cabinet meeting that one million civil servants will be screened
:18:37. > :18:40.for loyalty under a new law which The government blames
:18:41. > :18:44.the previous administration for fostering corruption
:18:45. > :18:52.and serving Russia's interests. A new experimental vaccine for Ebola
:18:53. > :18:55.is to be tested on humans Trials of the vaccine have been
:18:56. > :18:59.fast-tracked to help stem the Ebola Results from animal trials are said
:19:00. > :19:04.to have been promising and the drug will now be given to 60
:19:05. > :19:09.healthy volunteers in Oxford. Our Medical correspondent,
:19:10. > :19:14.Fergus Walsh reports. Could this be what
:19:15. > :19:17.finally stops Ebola? This vaccine has never been
:19:18. > :19:23.tested on humans until today. Ruth Atkins heard the call
:19:24. > :19:27.for volunteers on the radio while driving home from work
:19:28. > :19:31.and became the first of 60 people It's that one step and I'm part
:19:32. > :19:40.of that first step, and it gets that vaccine,
:19:41. > :19:43.they know they've got the right And that's going to make
:19:44. > :19:47.a difference to people's lives, That will become clear
:19:48. > :19:57.in just a few weeks. Normally it would take years
:19:58. > :20:02.of human trials before a completely But the research here
:20:03. > :20:09.in Oxford is being fast tracked And all being well, by the end of
:20:10. > :20:15.the year, around 10,000 doses of the jab will be available to immunise
:20:16. > :20:23.health workers in West Africa. This is why the vaccine is
:20:24. > :20:26.so desperately needed. In Liberia, the health service
:20:27. > :20:30.has been overwhelmed. Men, women, children, the virus
:20:31. > :20:38.has claimed the lives of all ages. A key question
:20:39. > :20:40.for the scientist heading the Oxford There is absolutely no risk of
:20:41. > :20:47.this vaccine giving anyone Ebola. Because nothing came out
:20:48. > :20:50.of the Ebola virus and went We've used modern technology, we use
:20:51. > :20:56.a carrier, that is another virus which is safe and has been used for
:20:57. > :21:00.lots of vaccine types, and just put one DNA sequence, a tiny fraction
:21:01. > :21:06.of the Ebola genome, into it. The vaccine can't come a moment
:21:07. > :21:10.too soon for West Africa where communities and whole economies
:21:11. > :21:17.are threatened with collapse. Let's return to our top story
:21:18. > :21:20.about the Scottish voting Some may be looking to
:21:21. > :21:23.the former Czechoslovakia as a modern example of a single
:21:24. > :21:26.country that has fairly recently It's now 21 years
:21:27. > :21:31.since Czechoslovakia divided, in Our correspondent Rob Cameron
:21:32. > :21:39.reports from Prague on what lessons Prague, seat of Kings, emperors
:21:40. > :21:48.and presidents for ten centuries. A baroque stage set for many
:21:49. > :21:52.a historical drama and a meeting But since 1993, also the capital
:21:53. > :22:03.of a much reduced country. At the stroke of midnight on
:22:04. > :22:07.December 31, 1992, Czechoslovakia And astonishingly the decision to
:22:08. > :22:16.divide it without a referendum had Leading the talks for
:22:17. > :22:22.the Czech side was Prime Minister, There was
:22:23. > :22:34.a dispute over gold reserves. You are now using
:22:35. > :22:41.the wrong argument. It is very easy to divide
:22:42. > :22:45.the country. The number of people in the
:22:46. > :22:49.Czech Republic and the That simple equation couldn't
:22:50. > :23:03.be applied everywhere. A temporary currency union
:23:04. > :23:06.collapsed after six weeks. The Slovak currency
:23:07. > :23:10.devalued massively. But in Bratislava, despite a rocky
:23:11. > :23:19.start, the Slovaks have caught up. The Slovak GDP per capita was
:23:20. > :23:24.62% the Czech GDP per capita. Just now, a few days ago,
:23:25. > :23:29.Eurostat announced that Slovakia has the same GDP per capita as the
:23:30. > :23:37.Czech Republic now. Today, Czechs and Slovaks regard
:23:38. > :23:41.their Velvet Divorce as a success, but that does not mean that there
:23:42. > :23:46.is not nostalgia for Czechoslovakia. Of course, today everybody is
:23:47. > :23:50.happy that it happened that way with no war or something.
:23:51. > :23:54.A gentle way. Still,
:23:55. > :23:57.there are a few things which are in Well, unlike the Czechs and Slovaks,
:23:58. > :24:08.the voice of Scientists here in the UK have
:24:09. > :24:20.discovered that King Richard III died in the thick of battle after
:24:21. > :24:22.losing his helmet and receiving Richard III was the last English
:24:23. > :24:28.monarch to die fighting, in the Battle of Bosworth more than
:24:29. > :24:31.500 years ago. Scans of his bones suggest that
:24:32. > :24:34.nine of 11 wounds, which were clearly inflicted in combat, were
:24:35. > :24:39.directed to the sovereign's skull. His remains were found under a car
:24:40. > :24:58.park in Leicester two years ago. The golden era of America's space
:24:59. > :25:03.age may seem consigned to history but NASA is giving up to send rocket
:25:04. > :25:10.into space. July 2011, and a moment in history.
:25:11. > :25:15.The space shuttle Atlantis makes its final landing at the Kennedy space
:25:16. > :25:19.Centre in Florida. The USA's manned missions to the stars comes to a
:25:20. > :25:28.halt. At least for a while. Three, two, one. Zero. But now it is lived
:25:29. > :25:32.off once again, and in a very American touch, it is the private
:25:33. > :25:39.sector that is leading the way. NASA is signing a deal with Boeing to
:25:40. > :25:44.build a new generation of craft, effectively space taxis, to carry
:25:45. > :25:49.astronauts to the International space Station. They's announcement
:25:50. > :25:53.sets the stage for what promises to be the most ambitious and exciting
:25:54. > :25:57.chapter in the history of NASA and human space flight. From day one,
:25:58. > :26:00.the Obama administration has made it very clear that the greatest nation
:26:01. > :26:05.on earth should not be dependent on any other nation to get into space.
:26:06. > :26:09.Particularly when that nation is Russia, hardly America's best friend
:26:10. > :26:14.at the moment, even if the astronauts to get along. It costs
:26:15. > :26:18.the US around $70 million per astronauts for a trip to the
:26:19. > :26:26.International space Station. This new deal may make quite a
:26:27. > :26:30.difference. We will have so who knows how many orbiting facilities
:26:31. > :26:32.which will be visited not only by government astronauts of every
:26:33. > :26:41.country, but Private citizens or foreign sovereign nations or mixes
:26:42. > :26:48.thereof. NASA planes the first -- planning the first mission to 2017,
:26:49. > :26:51.and hope it is the first step to the next giant leap, a mission to Mars.
:26:52. > :27:00.That is all from us, thank you for watching.
:27:01. > :27:05.So far, September has been exceptionally dry. For Wales, less
:27:06. > :27:09.than one millimetre of rain recorded. Most places will stay dry
:27:10. > :27:12.but we have still got a problem with mist and fog in the morning and
:27:13. > :27:16.persistent cloud in the east. There is the risk of some showers in the
:27:17. > :27:20.next few days, the low in the Bay of Biscay is throwing up more moisture.
:27:21. > :27:22.We could see some showers to south-west England