2nd lead

Leaders of the three main parties pledged their support to the devolution of greater powers in an effort to bolster the pro-unionist campaign ahead of Scotland's referendum on independence on September 18.

In a joint statement made Tuesday in Edinburgh, Scotland's Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, Labour leader Johann Lamont, and the Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie, urged voters to back the call for more powers, instead of independence.

"It is possible to vote 'No' on 18 September and also say you are voting for change, for more powers for the Scottish Parliament," said Lamont. 

Labour leader Ed Miliband urged people across the UK to fly the Scottish flag, the Saltire, as a mark of support for keeping Scotland within the British union.

“Over the next few days we want cities, towns and villages across the UK to send a message to Scotland: stay with us,” he said.

The frantic moves by unionist parties come after polls put the Yes campaign ahead, two weeks before the vote.

Buckingham Palace meanwhile put an end to speculation the Queen will get involved in the debate in the run up to the referendum, after press reports that suggested she was concerned about the breakup of the union.

Troops from the African Union raped women and girls in Mogadishu, a new report by Human Rights Watch says.

The forces are said to have raped women seeking medical aid or water from their bases, with one 15 year old girl having her headscarf ripped off before being raped, the human rights group said.

"The sanctions package can be extended or stopped, depending on developments in the field."

"We highly welcome the ruling by the Norway court and this gives us hope that justice will prevail. We lost our loved ones and relatives to beasts like Nkuranyabahizi now it's time for them to face the law."

Bosnian officials have arrested 13 former Serb soldiers and policemen for war crimes committed during the country's war in the nineties.

Riot police were called in to quell protests by angry refugees, detained in an immigration removal centre in Lincolnshire, after the death of a 26 year old Bangladeshi man.

Rubel Ahmed died on Friday night and the Home Office told the family he committed suicide, however fellow detainees told reporters that he had been complaining of chest pains for over an hour, without receiving medical attention. His family have called for an independent inquiry into his death.

The Home Office is said to be investigating the disturbances at Morton Hall, which saw guards withdrawing to a "place of safety", after around 30 men refused to go into their rooms.

The Syrian regime struck the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa on Saturday, killing at least 29 people, most of whom died in a crowded bakery hit by air strikes, reported AP.

At least 20 civilians were among the dead in the northern Syrian city, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, who said that the death toll was likely to rise.

A day after US President Barack Obama announced a global coalition to fight IS, Canada announced that it will send “several dozen” members of its armed forces to work in Iraq, according to Premier Stephen Harper.

A spokesman for Harper described the broader Canadian mission as one that provides "strategic and tactical counsel to Iraqi forces before they start tactical operations" against the Islamic State.