British PM
implores Scots
not to leave the UK ADVERTISING British PM
implores Scots
not to leave the UK GLASGOW, Scotland — The British political establishment descended on Scotland on Wednesday to plead for a united United Kingdom, after polls
British PM
implores Scots
not to leave the UK
GLASGOW, Scotland — The British political establishment descended on Scotland on Wednesday to plead for a united United Kingdom, after polls suggested the once-fanciful notion of Scots voting to break from Britain has become a real possibility in next week’s referendum.
The leaders of the three main London-based parties — all of them unpopular in Scotland — wooed skeptical Scottish voters with the fervor of a rejected lover. But some Scots seemed unmoved, and increasingly confident independence leader Alex Salmond accused his opponents of succumbing to panic.
In a rare display of cross-party unity, Prime Minister David Cameron, Labour leader Ed Miliband and Liberal Democrat chief Nick Clegg all pulled out of a weekly House of Commons question session to make a campaign dash to Scotland, as polls indicated the two sides are neck-and-neck ahead of the Sept. 18 referendum.
Cameron said Scottish independence would break his heart, in a personal plea aimed at preserving the 307-year-old Anglo-Scottish union — and preventing himself from going down in history as the last prime minister of Great Britain. He is likely to face pressure from his Conservative Party to step down if Scots vote to secede.
Case of 5 slain kids unfolds over
2 weeks, 500 miles
PINE APPLE, Ala. — Their little bodies shrouded in plastic bags, the five children of Timothy Ray Jones Jr. had been dead for days by the time he led investigators to the spot where they had been dumped among dead trees and scrub brush.
The children’s journey to that isolated hilltop in central Alabama covered hundreds of miles and crisscrossed several Southeastern states as Jones drove his Cadillac Escalade around for days, using bleach to try to mask the smell of the decomposing bodies, authorities said Wednesday.
Jones was arrested Saturday at a DUI checkpoint in Mississippi, about 500 miles from his hometown of Lexington, South Carolina. An officer said he “smelled the stench of death” along with chemicals used to make methamphetamine and synthetic marijuana. Jones was acting strangely and appeared “somewhat disoriented,” said Lewis McCarty, the acting sheriff in Lexington.
US stocks end higher as Apple shares jump
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks broke two days of losses on Wednesday as a jump in Apple shares helped push indexes higher.
Apple rose 3.1 percent, its biggest gain since April, a day after announcing updated versions of the iPhone, a new smartwatch and a mobile payment system. The company is the largest component of both the Standard &Poor’s 500 and Nasdaq composite indexes.
Gains in the broad market were muted as investors fretted over the timing and pace of Federal Reserve increases in interest rates, which are widely expected next year.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended the day up 54.84 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,068.71. The S&P 500 rose 7.25 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,995.69.
The Nasdaq rose 34.24 points, or 0.8 percent, to 4,586.52.
By local and wire sources
