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Scotland gears up for 2014 breakaway vote
Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond (L) and British PM David Cameron ink deal in Edinburgh on Monday. Edinburgh, October 15
Scotland set up a historic independence referendum on Monday after its leader and Britain's PM finalised arrangements for a vote that could lead to the demise of its three-centuries-old union with England.
Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond (L) and British PM David Cameron ink deal in Edinburgh on Monday. — AFP

Pak teen activist sent to UK for treatment
Islamabad, October 15
Pakistani teenage rights activist Malala Yousufzai, in a serious condition after being shot in the head during an assassination attempt by the Taliban, was flown to Britain today following an offer of help from the British Government.
An Army medical team wheels away child activist Malala Yousufzai to an air ambulance in Rawalpindi. An Army medical team wheels away child activist Malala Yousufzai to an air ambulance in Rawalpindi. — AFP





EARLIER STORIES

Alvin Roth (L) and Lloyd Shapley won the Economics Nobel for research on how to match different economic agents, such as students for schools or even organ donors with patients. US economists win Nobel for applying match-making
Stockholm, October 15
Life-saving kidney exchange programmes are just one of the practical applications of the market-matching theories for which American economists Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shapley won the 2012 Nobel Prize for economics on Monday.
Alvin Roth (L) and Lloyd Shapley won the Economics Nobel for research on how to match different economic agents, such as students for schools or even organ donors with patients. — Reuters

Barack Obama makes calls from a campaign office in Virginia with campaign volunteer Suzanne Stern. Aggressive Obama looks to regain lost ground
Washington, October 15
As the US election race enters its final lap with President Barack Obama and his challenger Mitt Romney almost tied in latest opinion polls, the two are pinning on the second presidential debate to gain a decisive edge.

Barack Obama makes calls from a campaign office in Virginia with campaign volunteer Suzanne Stern. — Reuters





 

 

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Scotland gears up for 2014 breakaway vote
Seals terms with UK on historic independence vote

Edinburgh, October 15
Scotland set up a historic independence referendum on Monday after its leader and Britain's PM finalised arrangements for a vote that could lead to the demise of its three-centuries-old union with England.

Scotland's drive for sovereignty, led by its nationalist leader Alex Salmond, echoes separatist moves by other European regions such as Catalonia and Flanders which feel they could prosper as separate entities inside the European Union.

Signed in the Scottish capital Edinburgh, the referendum agreement allows Scotland to ask its people in a 2014 vote whether their homeland should become an independent country or stay within the United Kingdom.

"It's a historic day for Scotland," a visibly excited Salmond said after signing the deal with Prime Minister David Cameron. "Do I think we can win this campaign? Yes, I do."

One of the most contentious issues at stake is the ownership of an estimated 20 billion barrels of recoverable oil and gas reserves beneath the UK-controlled part of the North Sea.

Britain is also worried about the future of its nuclear submarine fleet based in Scotland as Salmond says there would be no place for nuclear arms on Scotland's soil after independence.

Moving the fleet elsewhere would be costly and time-consuming. Cameron, who did not address reporters alongside Salmond, opposes Scotland's push for independence but agrees it is up to its people to determine their future in a vote.

Many Scots themselves are unconvinced. Opinion polls show only between 30 and 40 percent of them are in favour - a range that has changed little as negotiations have intensified.

To convince doubters, Salmond is banking on his skill as an orator to tap into a centuries-old rivalry with England and show that independence would allow his country to pursue a more distinct left-leaning agenda than its southern neighbour.

He has also won a major concession from London to allow Scotland to lower the voting age to 16 from Britain's countrywide 18 — a coup for Salmond who believes that young people are more likely to vote in favour of independence. — Reuters

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Pak teen activist sent to UK for treatment

Islamabad, October 15
Pakistani teenage rights activist Malala Yousufzai, in a serious condition after being shot in the head during an assassination attempt by the Taliban, was flown to Britain today following an offer of help from the British Government.

"The evacuation was arranged by the Pakistani authorities after an assessment by the medical team treating Malala. It follows an offer by the UK government to assist Malala in any way that we could," said a statement issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Fourteen-year-old Malala will be provided specialist medical care at an NHS hospital. The details of the hospital were not being released for "reasons of patient confidentiality", the statement said.

"The hospital chosen has the capacity for Malala to be treated without affecting the normal operations of the hospital. Full costs of the medical evacuation, NHS care and any ongoing rehabilitation will be met by the Pakistani government," the statement said.

The transfer was kept "top secret" in view of threats to her life, including a warning from the Taliban that its fighters would target her again. — PTI

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US economists win Nobel for applying match-making

Stockholm, October 15
Life-saving kidney exchange programmes are just one of the practical applications of the market-matching theories for which American economists Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shapley won the 2012 Nobel Prize for economics on Monday.

Pairing up students with schools and employers with job seekers - for instance doctors and lawyers taking up their first appointments - are among other examples of how Roth, 60, and Shapley, 89, have separately applied game theory to daily life.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awards the 8 million crown ($1.2 million) prize, called their work an outstanding example of economic engineering.

Tore Ellingsen, a Nobel committee member and a professor at the Stockholm School of Economics, said the central question when resources are scarce is who gets what.

"Which worker gets which job? Which student gets to go to which school? Which patient gets access to which transplantable organ. Matching theory explains how outcomes depend on the chosen matching procedure," Ellingsen said.

The award citation said Shapley, an emeritus professor at the University of California Los Angeles, had used game theory to compare various matching methods and make sure the matches were acceptable to all counterparts. Roth followed up on Shapley's results in a series of empirical studies.

"I am sure when I go to class this morning, my students will pay more attention," Roth, who teaches at Stanford and Harvard, said.

Roth described his work as studying "courtship" of many kinds: "Matching ... is about how you get all the things that you can't just choose but you also have to be chosen - so getting into university, getting married, getting jobs," he said. — Reuters

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Aggressive Obama looks to regain lost ground
Second debate Takes on resurgent Romney in NY today

Washington, October 15
As the US election race enters its final lap with President Barack Obama and his challenger Mitt Romney almost tied in latest opinion polls, the two are pinning on the second presidential debate to gain a decisive edge.

After an uncharacteristically 'bad night' saw him squander his lead over his Republican rival in their last face off, Obama is prepared to put a more aggressive fight this time to regain his lost ground.

"It is going great!" Obama said in Williamsburg, Virginia where he landed on Saturday for his three-day debate preparations.

The next verbal dual between the incumbent and his challenger will be fought tomorrow in New York, with just three weeks to go for the polls.

A normally eloquent Obama had a lacklustre outing against Romney during the first debate on October 3, following which the Republican eroded much of his national lead in all the latest opinion polls.

In an interview later, Obama termed the debate as a 'bad night' as his aides said he would be more aggressive this time. "I think he's going to be aggressive in making the case for his view of where we should go as a country," David Axelrod, the Obama Campaign Senior Strategist, told Fox News in an interview.

In the upcoming debate, Obama would be very forward looking, said Robert Gibbs, a senior adviser to the Obama Campaign.

"I think the president will be very forward-looking, will be very conscious of making sure people understand the choice in this election," he told the CNN.

"I think you'll see somebody who is very passionate about the choice that our country faces, and putting that choice in front of voters. Are we going to build this economy from the middle out? Are we going to give people opportunity and make the needed investments to give them that opportunity, or are we going to do this from the top down, the perspective that the Romney campaign brings?" Gibbs said.

The Romney Campaign shot back by asserting the Republican candidate was ready to meet any challenge.

Romney is in Boston preparing for the debate with Senator Rob Portman and longtime aide Peter Flaherty.

"The President can change his style. He can change his tactics. He can't change his record," Ed Gillespie, senior adviser to the Romney Campaign, told the CNN. — PTI

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BRIEFLY

Zubin Mehta honoured with Israeli Presidential award
Jerusalem:
Renowned India-born music conductor Zubin Mehta was honoured with the Israeli Presidential Award of Distinction for his unique contribution to the society through the language of music. Mumbai-born Mehta, 76, the first non-Jew to receive such an award, joins an elite group of people including the likes of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. "Zubin you came here to conduct an orchestra but you became the conductor of our hearts," said Israeli President Shimon Peres conferring the award on the music conductor at a ceremony organised at his official residence. — PTI

Skydiver sets YouTube live view record
London:
Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner, who broke the sound barrier during his jump from the edge of space, has smashed the YouTube live view record with more than eight million people tuning in to watch the daredevil's leap. It is the largest number of concurrent live streams in the website's history, Google UK was quoted by the BBC as saying. More than eight million people flocked to their devices to watch the 43-year-old break the speed of sound live on YouTube site. — PTI

Cambodia’s ex-king Sihanouk dead
Beijing:
Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodia's former king and independence hero who was twice exiled and twice returned to the throne, navigating his country during turbulent times, died here on Monday. He was 89. Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni and Prime Minister Hun Sen arrived in Beijing this afternoon to bring home the body of King-Father Norodom Sihanouk. Sihanouk ascended the throne in 1941 and led Cambodia to independence from France in 1953. — PTI

‘Prez Obama is now anti-India’
Jackson:
Citing US President Barack Obama's stance on outsourcing of jobs to India and work visas for IT firms, a leading Indian-American Republican has said that Mitt Romney, not the incumbent, is the best bet for strong and enduring Indo-US relations. Dr Sampat Shivangi, who was one of the three Indian-American delegates to the Republican National Convention and a major fund raiser in Mississippi state, said the Democrats' India-friendly image is but just a myth. — PTI

5 NRIs honoured for promoting Hindi
London:
Five NRIs have been honoured here for promoting Hindi in the UK on the occasion of ‘Hindi Diwas’ organised by the International Hindi Society. Lord Gulam Noon presented the award to Deepak Dogra, Managing Editor of Mayanewspaper, and four others at the Indian Gymkhana here. Others are CB Patel, editor/publisher of Asian Voice, Dhruv Gadvi of Zee TV, editor/publisher of Pardes Weekly Jaskaran Singh and patron of the International Hindi Society Rajendra Joshi. — PTI

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