Scotland will vote to stay in the United Kingdom after rejecting independence, the BBC has predicted. With 26 out of the country's 32 council areas having declared after Thursday's vote, the No side has a 54% of the vote, with the Yes campaign on 46%.
Campaign leaders clashed over Scotland's future in a lively final TV showdown on Monday, with the pro-independence side counting on a knock-out blow to vault a stubborn gap in the polls.
Oil giant BP boss Bob Dudley has warned there are big uncertainties for the company over the possibility of Scotland becoming independent. Mr Dudley told the BBC the question mark over which currency Scotland might adopt if there was a 'yes' vote in September's referendum was a concern.
First Minister Alex Salmond set a historical vote in motion announcing on Thursday the date for a referendum on Scottish independence, 18 September 2014 and promising to campaign hard for the “Yes” side. The simple question reads: “Should Scotland be an independent country?”
UK Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond suddenly quit on Tuesday over an interest rate-rigging scandal that threatens to drag in a dozen more major lenders but suggested the Bank of England had encouraged his bank to manipulate the figures
Less than a fortnight after the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition took power in Britain, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne outlined plans to cut £ 6.2 billion pounds (8.92 billion USD) from government spending to help reduce the budget deficit.