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BBC news 2014-09-16

BBC News with Sue Montgomery.

The British Prime Minister David Cameron has visited Scotland for the last time before voters there cast their ballots in Thursday's referendum on independence. In a passionate speech, Mr. Cameron appealed to Scots not to leave the United Kingdom, saying it was not just a vote for them but for their children, grandchildren and the generations beyond. Norman Smith reports from Aberdeen.

David Cameron came to Aberdeen today to issue one last emotional appeal to the people of Scotland. The breakup of the United Kingdom, he said, would mark the end of the greatest example of democracy the world has ever seen. He's plead voters do not think there can be any way back from a vote for independence. This is a final irrevocable step with ramifications for generations to come. The Prime Minister's message: Do not use this referendum as a protest vote; governments and policies may come and go, this is forever.

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond campaigning for independence argued that a Yes vote would boost the Scottish economy.

A murderer and rapist who is serving a life sentence in Belgium will be allowed to have doctors end his life, following a groundbreaking ruling. He'd argued that he had no prospect to release since he could not overcome his violent sexual impulses and wanted to exercise his right to medically assisted suicide. From Brussels, Piers Scholfield.

Frank Van Den Bleeken will soon be transferred to a hospital where doctors will end his life. His lawyer told the BBC that precisely where and when this would happen was unclear and would be decided by doctors. He will go to hospital 48 hours before the procedure to allow him time to say goodbye to his family. Convicted of multiple rapes and murder in the 1980s, the courts committed Mr. Van Den Bleeken to a psychiatric institution. In a television interview last year, he said a lack of suitable treatment meant his could not control his violent sexual urges and he would continue to be a danger to society.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has warned that the weakness of the Euro Zone remains a major concern. The OECD growth forecast for the region is now less than 1% for this year. Here is Andrew Walker.

The OECD described slow growth in the Euro Zone is the most worrying feature of its forecast. It says the recovery has been disappointing, notably in the larger countries, Germany, France and Italy. The OECD says the Euro Zone could face prolonged stagnation. It calls for the European Central Bank to do more to stimulate demand for goods and services including the policy called quantitative easing, creating new money to buy financial assets. The OECD says growth in India is likely to strengthen while Brazil is expected to make only a slow recovery from recession.

BBC News.

A court in Egypt has sentenced the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood Muhammad Badie to life imprisonment along with 14 other defendants. Mr. Badie was charged with murder and inciting violence in Giza in 2013. He is already serving a life sentence after being convicted over violent protests against the overthrow of the Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

Several hundred migrants from Africa and the Middle East who were trying to reach Europe are feared to have died over the past few days. The International Organization for Migration says up to 500 people trying to reach Italy are believed to have lost their lives when their boat sank near Malta on Thursday. Our correspondent Caroline Holly reports.

Details of exactly what happened in the middle of the Mediterranean last week is sketchy. But two Palestinian survivors said they were among a group of around 500 migrants who'd set sail from the Egyptian port of Damietta heading for Italy. They said that a row broke out after traffickers tried to force them onto a smaller, less stable boat and that their vessel had then been deliberately rammed. One of the survivors said the vast majority of those on board drowned, including a young child who'd been clinging with him to a lifebuoy. The dead migrants are said to include Palestinians, Egyptians and Syrians.

The United Nations has relocated several hundreds of its peacekeepers in Syria to the sector of the Golan Heights controlled by Israel. The move comes two weeks after fighters from the al-Nusra Front, a Syrian rebel group affiliated with al-Quada, kidnapped more than 40 members of the UN force. They were released last week.

The Bangladesh cabinet has proposed measures lowering the marriageable age for young men and women, but significantly toughing the penalty for violating the limits. Observers say the measures are in at combating child marriage which is widespread in rural Bangladesh.

BBC News.