>> you are watching france 24. we are going to bring you up-to-date with all of the latest news. in a last-minute drive to persuade scots not to -- david cameron is in style and today as are the leaders of the major opposition parties. troops of them pulled back from eastern ukraine, saying 70% of russian soldiers have left. moscow has denied sending troops there. obama is gearing up to announces

expanded chatterjee to fight against the islamic state group. u.s. officials say the president could authorize airstrikes inside syrian territory. thank you for being with us on "france 24." coming up in the next hour of live from paris, and historic discovery after more than 160 years. a legendary shipwreck has been discovered in the arctic. one of two vessels that disappeared back in 1845. seeing red in the netherlands. thousands of ginger haired people from around the world have flocked to the annual redhead day festival.

first, british prime minister david cameron has cleared his diary and headed up to scotland wednesday in a boost for the anti-independence campaign. there are just eight days to go until the vote. while the prime minister is meeting voters, there are leaders of britain's main opposition parties in scotland today, to try to prevent the breakup of the united kingdom. let's get more with "france 24" reporter. they are caught offguard over this referendum. >> that is the view of the first mentor mr. -- the first minister.

as they are dashing up to scotland heading up to north they are panicking. for the first time, there have been two polls that have normally put the sn neck and neck, but two polls who have indicated the yes have a marginal lead. that is like putting a rocket on the backside of the three main leaders. you have prime minister david cameron, his deputy prime minister and you have the head of the opposition ed miliband who has canceled, answering at the house of commons half an hour of questions, normally what he does when he is in the country.

he has canceled that with the other two leaders. he is trying to convince the floating voters -- we think they number about 23% to vote no. they believe scotland must stay within the united kingdom. >> why has it become so tight in this last strength? >> the blame game has already begun. the consensus seems to be there has been a complacency, that there was a margin of about 15% 17% or 18% consistencies in the poll and this was not a problem.

it could backfire. there could be protest. it will not be as easy. there will be accusations from the -- --. if the yes wins next thursday more calls for the resignation of david cameron, the possible delaying of the election due next may. the possible last days of the united u.k.. >> petro poroshenko has said --

has said russia pull back most of the troops it sent into ukraine. moscow has denied it sent troops into the ukraine in the first place. they are planning laws to grant more autonomy to separatist regions. i asked goal of her crack if people were optimistic about that peace process. >> not at all. i went to my local shop and there was a leaflet for the council to: people to volunteer and come to the local military recruitment center to start training for preparing for the possibility that the aggressor might target kiev.

trying to talk up the prospect of the cease-fire, but we are clearly much more in a mindset that they were preparing for this conflict to continue. that is very much the mentality here and kiev. these reports of the russian army leaving ukraine, saying 70% of the russian troops and ukraine have crossed the border into russia, it is hard to know how that can be verified. ukrainian intelligence services do not provide photographic evidence. russians deny they were there at all. these figures are something that are hard to verify a. -- verify it. the ukrainian side is completely unwilling to concede. >> barack obama is due to

deliver his key speech on the fight against the islamic state organization, details are emerging of what the u.s. president could have in store. senior administration officials say he is prepared to authorize airstrikes in iraq and inside syrian territory. obama has been meeting members of congress ahead of his keynote speech later this wednesday. >> during a one-hour meeting barack obama told congressional leaders he already has the authority to act against the islamic state but that congress would help with the plan, a plan he will unveil on wednesday night. >> there is a serious threat that has to be dealt with on many levels. i am hoping the president will align -- will outline his strategy. >> obama will deliver his plan in a televised speech.

obama reportedly wants to expand and operation to syria. it could prove tricky. obama is expected to back a plan to arm the moderate element of the syrian opposition. a similar train stalled on capitol hill. the u.s. president who campaigned on ending the war in iraq has assured that no ground troops will be sent to a rack or area. -- two iraqi -- to iraq or s yria. his speech comes one day before the united states commemorates the 9/11 attacks of 2001, which have led to the war on iraq and afghanistan.

>> the leader of a powerful islamist group has been killed in an explosion. the leader died in a blast in northwest syria. he was alongside 12 other members killed during a meeting. he is a hard-line islamist -- he is part of a hard-line islamist group and part of a group that has the fighting against the islamic state group in northern syria. a huge flood in pakistan. it has killed more than 440 people. pakistan authorities have deployed rescue teams in helicopters and boats to help thousands of people who have been stranded. some 700,000 people in pakistan have been told to evacuate their homes as the floods are spreading to other areas.

>> knee-deep in flood water, trying to make the escape, the death toll continues to rise. armies are scrambling to help victims. rescue operations -- and communications networks. >> our women are in trouble. we are short of food and we do not have enough money to get to a safe spot. >> the government should have spent -- should have sent boats to rescue us. there is no food, water, or medical provision. >> according to authorities, the raging floods are the worst the region has seen since 2010. for now, makeshift relief forces are overwhelmed by people trying to seek shelter.

a pledge comes from the pakistani prime minister. >> the government will give you support in rebuilding your houses and settling your problems. we will stand by you and not hold back. we will spend whatever is required, no matter how big. >> india a prime minister has declared a state of emergency and said that his government would provide 140 million euro aid package. >> ebola is threatening the existence of liberia. that is according to the liberian defense minister. he has warned that ebola is spreading like wildfire. liberia is the hardest hit country by ebola. take a listen. >> we are meeting at a time when we are facing a serious threat to national existence.

it has caused the disruption of the normal functioning of our state. it has reached urban centers, including the capital of monrovia. >> the top jobs in europe have been handed out. the new heads of the eu commission have named his new team. britain and france have secured key jobs. the former french finance minister has been named the new you commissioner for economic affairs. the -- is speaking out about the task ahead. >> we are at the beginning of a new commission. we have an opportunity and an

obligation to make the first start and get down to work to strengthen the economic recovery . >> here in france, government has admitted it will miss a target set by the european union to reduce its budget deficit. the finance minister says the limit of 3% to gdp will not be reached until 2017. that is two years later than planned. they downgraded the forecast, saying it would only expand by --. on a lighter note, it is always a striking event. redhaired people from some 80 countries around the world has taken over a town in the

netherlands. more than 2000 people flocked to the redhead days festival. it is the largest gathering of ginger-haired people in the world. >> ginger. thousands of redheads came to the netherlands to socialize and celebrate their unique haircolor. the festival has been uniting those with distinctive colored hair. it is more than an opportunity to meet fellow redheads, it is also a chance to celebrate their appearance. >> originally, disappointed. a lot of people know. i should appreciate it. >> redheads are not traditionally seen as desirable, but there is an appetite for the unsexy ginger stereotype.

>> men in the media have always been the ugly redhead or the outcast. it is time to change that. >> the rarity of redheads could help the rebranding exercise. redhaired people are a declining breed. less than 2% of the world's population has natural red hair. the scarcer the commodity, the more desirable it becomes. >> a reminder of our headlines. in a last-minute drive to persuade scots not to vote for independence, david cameron is in scotland today, as is the leader of the main opposition. ukraine's president says russia has pulled most of his troops back from eastern ukraine saying 70% of the russian soldiers have now left.

barack obama is gearing up to announce his expanded strategy to fight against the islamic state group he could authorize airstrikes inside syrian territory. it is time for our international press review. you have been looking at what is making newspaper headlines today. a lot of focus on the ebola crisis harrowing reports from liberia. >> look at the front page. it talks about welcome to hell. they followed a team from doctors without borders in monrovia and they describe a chaotic situation. they are turning patients away from their clinic, which is overflowing.

it is treating the ebola epidemic like a following monsoon or a volcano. this complacency is unacceptable. >> harrowing reports. let's move it to here in france. papers are focusing on -- this is an on running story. it is on the socialist mp. >> he is at the heart of the latest political scandal. they call him the man whose shocking and our aging france. he has been in the spotlight for a couple of days. it takes a closer look at his rise and fall.

he resigned after nine days on the job because of problems with his taxes. it prompted that he had not paid taxes in three years. he was kicked out of the socialist party and had to leave the government. >> things are likely to get worse. >> a weekly comes out today. looking at it, not only was he not paying taxes for three years, he was not paying his rent. >> how did he get away with it? he has a great excuse for all the negligence.

he says he suffers from administrative phobia. it is a real pathology. the real psychological problem is he is overly self-confident and has made him believe he is above the law. >> they are being very critical. >> let's take a look at the front page of this paper. they call him unpatriotic. it is interesting. this is a great article. they compare what is happening here in france to what is happening in sweden, where things are more transparent. ever since 1766, when sweden established the of transparency

everybody has the right to access any public document. this means swedes have information to a lot of information that is considered private, for instance, the tax return of a high-profile minister. one deputy prime minister had to step down after it emerged she charged private expense of two -- private expenses. it highlights how different things are between france and sweden. >> let's go to the guardian. they are reporting on an unlikely fundraising campaign. >> this is the vatican's first cricket team.

eat-in see a photo of them here with -- you can see a photo of them here with pope francis. this maiden tour is sending them to england. they will have a lot of warm up matches, but the point is when they're going to face the church of england's team. that game is going to take place on september 19. it will be interesting to see who wins and whether or not there is divine intervention. >> thank you very much, indeed. right now, time to catch up with the latest sports news. >> michael schumacher has left a swiss hospital to continue recovery at home. he suffered a head injury in a

skiing accident in france in december of last year and was transferred to a swiss hospital in june. at the basketball world cup, defending champions crushed 119-76. the americans play lithuania in the semifinal. the top score with 19 points. france hosts spain in the quarterfinals. both see a spanish win all five of the games. the french when asked third. -- the french finished third. quarterfinals of the world cup that home is not easy. under pressure. the pressure is on them, not us. we will have to be more hungry. we will have to remember what we

have done. there is a small window to win the game and i will -- and we will have to take it. spain knows how to build a victory from the start of their game. we avoid this in our latch my last -- in our match last wednesday. spain will try to shut down our team immediately, but if we stay in the game, they might feel the pressure. they have to stay close at ortiz six and 37 minutes and that will be tough. nicola button, who is a trailblazer, expects a tough game. you cannot defend against --. it would be five against one.

when you play against a great team, you sometimes collapse and sometimes you raise your game. you know you are playing against an opponent who is better than you are. you never know what can happen. i hope we will be able to play that way. one player the french will have to be wary of,. the quarterfinal match is different. they will try to take it all. we have to do the same. understanding they are a very dangerous team. we want to play this game and hopefully our fans will support us and help us win. with the hot favorite, the usa fighting on the other side, this could represent the toughest test for the teams on route to

the final. a big shopping group is the check --

up, doctors and traditional healers join forces to fight malaria. and one father in ghana chooses a different life for his daughter. what happens when tradition and progress collide? see two stories in search of that balance. >> "view change" is about people making real progress and tackling the world's toughest issues. can a story change the world? see for yourself in "view change: balancing act." >> this is elizabeth, she's 12 years old, and she wants to go to school. she lives in rural ghana where