Whether the expected declaration, later this year, that the black-browed albatross is officially a threatened species will make any difference remains to be seen.
An Israeli poll for The Peace Index found that 70% of Jews in Israel expect a popular uprising following the expected declaration of a Palestinian state in September and its possible recognition by the UN.
Some analysts suggested the union rushed to sign the accords to pre-empt a domino effect in Republika Srpska, the Serb-dominated part of Bosnia-Herzegovina, from the expected declaration of independence by Kosovo, the United Nations-administered province of Serbia.
The timing of the North Korean test also throws an indirect shadow over an expected declaration in the state of the union speech of Obama's plans for the US nuclear arsenal, which includes about 1,700 deployed strategic warheads.
All the councils, along with information on expected declaration times and current seat majority are listed at the foot of this post.
Expected declaration time: 4am; 4.4% of the electorate One of the areas to declare later, with results expected at 4am, and with an electorate of nearly 191,000, the Highlands have a mainly rural population, which is expected to strongly favour no, although the area includes Inverness where the yes campaign has been especially active.
Expected declaration time: 2am; 0.5% of the electorate The Western Isles island chain on the edge of the Atlantic is home to Scotland's largest Gaelic population and is distinctively Presbyterian in the north, where Sunday is still largely observed as a day of rest.
Expected declaration time: 2am; 2.8% of the electorate Expected to declare around 2am, this is a traditionally Conservative area with strong SNP representation in Holyrood from stalwarts Roseanna Cunningham and John Swinney.
Expected declaration time: 5am; 8.8% of the electorate Scotland's political and financial capital has the country's second-largest electorate, with 377,413 registered voters.
Expected declaration time: 3am; 4.8% of the electorate A largely rural, prosperous county which cuts into the Cairngorm mountains, with some of the UK's largest surviving fishing ports at Peterhead and Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire has 206,487 voters.
Expected declaration time: 6am; 4.2% of the electorate Made rich and secure by 40 years of North Sea oil production, Aberdeen dominates north-east Scotland, the original heartland for the SNP.
