Scotland rejects independence

EDINBURGH, Sept 19 (Agencies): Scotland has voted to stay in the United Kingdom after voters decisively rejected independence.
Despite a surge in nationalist support in the final fortnight of the campaign, the "No" secured 55.30 per cent of the vote against 44.70 per cent for the pro-independence "Yes" camp.
Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond called for unity and urged the unionist parties to deliver on more powers.
"No" campaigners across Scotland cheered, hugged and danced as the results came in the early morning and British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was "delighted"
Cameron also said the commitments on extra powers would be honoured.
Mr Cameron said the three main unionist parties at Westminster would now follow through with their pledge of more powers for the Scottish Parliament.
US President Barack Obama congratulated Scotland Friday on its "full and energetic exercise of democracy," as he welcomed the result of its historic referendum rejecting independence from the UK.
Many "Yes" activists watched dejected and in tears in the streets of the Scottish capital Edinburgh, although First Minister Alex Salmond urged them to take heart from the huge numbers -- 1.6 million -- who backed independence.
"I don't think any of us, whenever we entered politics, would have thought such a thing to be either credible or possible," the Scottish National Party (SNP) leader, who will continue to head the regional government, told supporters in Edinburgh.
The result reassured investors worried about the economic risks of a break-up and the pound reached a two-year high against the euro while European stock markets rallied.