LONDON: Around 40 percent of Scots plan to vote for independence in this year’s referendum, according to a poll yesterday which showed a three-point rise in support for an end to the country’s 307-year-old-union with England. The poll, carried out by Panelbase, showed that 45 percent of those questioned intended to vote against Scottish independence, a decline of two points from the last equivalent survey. Scotland, which has a population of just over 5 million and whose territorial waters are the source of much of the North Sea’s oil and gas, will vote on September 18 on whether to leave the UK. Fifteen percent of the respondents said they were still undecided. Support for Scottish independence appears to have gathered pace over the last month. Last month the British government warned that Scots could lose the pound if they vote to leave the UK, and high-profile business leaders including the bosses of oil giants BP and Shell have expressed concern about Scotland going it alone. All Scottish residents aged 16 or over can vote in the referendum and if a majority vote in favour of the move, Scotland will become an independent country on March 24, 2016.
Senate leader orders probe into alleged CIA computer hacking
WASHINGTON: The leader of the US Senate yesterday ordered an investigation into what he called an “indefensible” breach of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s computers by the CIA. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said accusations that the Central Intelligence Agency spied on the panel’s computers as it investigated the use of harsh interrogation techniques raised concerns about possible violations of the Constitution. “The CIA has not only interfered with the lawful congressional oversight of its activities, but has also seemingly attempted to intimidate its overseers by subjecting them to criminal investigation,” Reid said in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder obtained by Reuters.
William, Kate hire Spanish nanny
LONDON: Britain’s Prince William and his wife Catherine have hired a Spanish nanny to look after their baby son Prince George, palace officials said yesterday. Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo will travel with the royals on their tour of New Zealand and Australia next month, Kensington Palace said. “The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are delighted,” a spokesman for Kensington Palace said. “Maria is a full-time nanny, who started work with us recently, and will be accompanying the Duke and Duchess and Prince George to New Zealand and Australia. “When they’re out and about she will be looking after Prince George as she’s been doing for the last couple of weeks.” Spanish-born Borrallo trained at Norland College, a childminders’ training school in Bath, western England. Prince George, the third in line to the throne, was born on July 22, 2013.
Sarkozy rejects graft allegations
PARIS: Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday angrily rejected allegations of corruption that have threatened his political career, in his first public reaction to a phone-tap scandal that has gripped France. “I think it is now my duty to break... (my) silence. If I do this, it is because the sacred principles of our Republic are trampled on with unheard of violence and with an unprecedented absence of qualms,” the 59-year-old wrote in the Le Figaro daily. Sarkozy has been implicated in a series of corruption cases, culminating with revelations in the press this month that he allegedly attempted to pervert the course of justice — information reportedly gleaned from excerpts of tapped phone conversations with his lawyer. Agencies
