One million shoppers logged on to the new Woolworths.co.uk site in its first week of trading, the company said today.

The brand made its online comeback seven days ago and by the end of yesterday consumers had ordered more than a tonne of its pic 'n' mix sweets over the internet - with cola bottles proving the most popular.

Clothing from the Ladybird brand, back to school kit, party accessories and inflatables had also done well, Woolworths said.

Michael Jackson record sales topped the list at the Woolworths.co.uk entertainment store, accounting for nearly 70% of music sales.

But the company declined to provide any sales figures.

Nick Bubb, a retail analyst at Pali International, said: "Looking and buying are two different things.

"You can have tons of people looking in the shop windows in a shopping centre but it doesn't translate to money in the tills."

The high street chain collapsed into administration amid plunging sales and mounting debts more than six months ago.

New owner Shop Direct, which bought the brand name in February, has kept the recognisable red logo and many of the products Woolies was best known for, including CDs, DVDs, children's party and fancy dress, technology and toys.

independent.co.uk

Roaming text charges have not been capped in the EU before

The cost of sending text messages from your mobile phone when you are overseas in the European Union has come down.

The maximum charge for sending a text is now 11 euro cents ($0.15; 9.4p) plus sales tax.

It is the first time that text charges have been capped. The previous EU average was 28 cents.

The price of making a call is capped at 43 cents a minute, down from 46 cents, while the price of receiving a call is capped at 19 cents, down from 22 cents.

"The roaming-rip off is now coming to an end," said EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding.

The cost of transferring a megabyte of data is capped at one euro.

Also, mobile operators have been forced to charge for calls by the second after the first half minute, instead of rounding up to the nearest minute.

Many mobile operators have fought against the new caps, which are expected to significantly reduce their profits from roaming charges.

BBC.co.uk

Your pets need Rabies Antibody Test Certification for entry to your country
For the movement of cats and dogs into European Union member states from outside thailand

We appreciate for helping your request about moving animal into EU- Country.


More information please looking at http://www.antibodytest.pagetab.com/index.html

My e-mail address ..... antibodytest@yahoo.com

Bernard Madoff sentenced to 150 years for 'extraordinarily evil' fraud

Bernard Madoff has been sentenced to 150 years in prison for orchestrating an "extraordinarily evil" and "unprecedented" $65bn (£40bn) fraud that duped 13,500 investors out of their life savings and shocked the investment world.

Madoff, who ran a "staggering" Ponzi scheme that promised inflated investment returns but simply handed one investor's money to another, will die in prison as a result of being given the maximum possible sentenced for the 11 counts of fraud, mail fraud and money laundering he pleaded guilty to in March.

Judge Denny Chin, sentencing, told 71-year-old Madoff that although the sentence was in many ways "symbolic" it was designed to reflect the "scope, duration and enormity of the fraud" and that "symbolism is important to deter future crimes and as retribution."

He also expressed surprised at the lack of support for Madoff, revealing that "not a single letter" was submitted in his support, not even from his wife Ruth or sons Andrew and Mark.

The judge ignored last minute pleas from Madoff's lawyer Ira Sorkin to hand down a 12 year sentence, and ignored a pre-sentencing report prepared by the US Probation Service (USPS) which recommended he be given 50 years.

"Mr Madoff's crimes were extraordinarily evil. The breach of trust was massive," said Judge Chin, who also intimated that Madoff has not been as helpful with investigators as he might have been, saying: "I simply do not get the sense that Mr. Madoff has done all that he could or told all that he knows."

Madoff, who appeared in court dressed in an almost funereal grey suit, white shirt and black tie, remained silent as the 150 year sentence was read out to him, while dozens of his victims present in the courtroom cheered and applauded.

"I only hope that he lives long enough that his jail cell becomes his coffin," said Michael Schwartz, whose mentally disabled brother's trust fund was wiped out by Madoff. Victim Sheryl Weinstein, whose family knew Madoff, branded him a "beast" who walks among us, while Miriam Siegman explained she had resorted to using government-issued foodstamps and scavenging from shop's bins at the month-end when she has run out of money.

The man himself, who sat listlessly as nine victims described the impact of the fraud on their lives, spoke briefly to apologise for his crimes, and at one point turned to face his victims, albeit momentarily. "I live in a tormented state knowing the pain and suffering I have created. I cannot offer you an excuse for my behaviour," he said. "I don't ask for any forgiveness."

Madoff also used his final public appearance – unless he is successful on appeal, which he has ten days to file – to attempt to shield his family from any suggestions of wrongdoing, saying that he had lied to his wife and two sons for decades.

After the 90 minute sentencing, Ruth Madoff finally broke her six-month silence, saying she was "embarrassed and ashamed" by her husband's actions. Since learning of his crimes following his December confession she has had "two thoughts - first, that so many people who trusted him would be ruined financially and emotionally, and second, that my life with the man I have known for over 50 years was over."

The US Attorney's office on Monday stressed that its investigations continue into the fraud, and that it will pursue any individuals who are found to have assisted him.

Telegraph.co.uk

Jaguar Land Rover has lost £281m in the 10 months to March, helping its parent company, Tata Motors, to its first loss in eight years and prompting it to warn there could be further job losses at its British subsidiary.

The Indian group, which paid £1.15bn for JLR in March 2008, recorded an annual loss of 15.1 billion rupees (£189m), compared with 21.7 billion rupees profit in the previous year, as the global automotive industry has been devastated by recession.

In the UK, JLR has been hit hard by collapsing demand for new cars. Global sales are down by 28 per cent compared with June last year. Although sales of Jaguars are slightly up – by 1 per cent – thanks to the introduction of the new XF model, some 35 per cent fewer Land Rovers have been sold.

The company has been asking for government help since before Christmas, claiming its position as a major investor in research and development justifies support. But Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, maintains it is up to Tata Motors to provide any help its subsidiary needs. Even JLR’s attempts to secure the necessary government guarantees for loans for green research from the European Investment Bank have stalled. The company says the conditions attached to the guarantees are too onerous to be commercially viable.

Independent.co.uk

A RETAIL ANALYST with NPD Group, Stephen Baker, has said that Microsoft's pricing for Windows 7 is "way too much for the software."

Microsoft's least expensive Windows 7 upgrade will be for the Home Premium version and will cost £79.99 in the UK, $119.99 in the US. "That $120 is a pretty big nut," said Baker, "especially when you can buy a new PC for around $300."

In a post to the company blog, Baker said that the Vole's Windows 7 upgrade prices, along with the pain of having to perform an incremental software upgrade, could deter punters from moving off Vista, with all of its problems, in order to "erase all vestiges of Vista from consumers’ homes" and "move to a far superior platform with a better user experience."

Baker also criticised Microsoft for not offering a multi-licence family upgrade package for Windows 7, saying "In a world, at least in the US, where most homes are moving into a multiple PC environment, it would enhance the consumer home experience if they could upgrade all their home PCs at a single low price with a single boxed purchase."

He noted that Apple will be offering its Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard release for just $29 for a single-licence upgrade and only $49 for a five-licence family upgrade bundle. "This is a direction I would have much preferred to see Microsoft head," he said.

To that we would add that Microsoft's relatively high prices for its Windows 7 full system installation packages will discourage users from upgrading their older PCs that are still running Windows XP. The least expensive full package of Windows 7, the Home Premium version, will be priced at £149.99 in the UK and $199.99 in the US.

Sure, additional memory is relatively inexpensive now, but many people will likely hesitate to pay a hundred-fifty to two hundred more clams on top of that just to acquire the Vole's latest OS.

If users with older PCs can't afford to shell out the better part of a grand to buy a new PC and monitor, they'll likely consider installing some user friendly flavour of Linux for free instead of ponying up the substantial wad of dosh needed to get Windows ME II SP7.

theinquirer.net

Farrah Fawcett, the actress and model, who died on June 25 aged 62, achieved celebrity in 1976 in Charlie’s Angels, a soft-focus television series in which three highly attractive women were special agents guided by the eponymous Charlie, an unseen private detective.

An all-American girl with cascading blonde hair and a toothsome, dazzling smile, Farrah Fawcett’s character was the poker-playing Jill Munroe, who enlivened the programmes with her athleticism and derring-do. If the plots were wafer-thin, the visuals — particularly the three scantily-clad heroines — were outstanding, and the show quickly gained huge audiences.

Described by one reviewer as “family-style porn”, the series attracted criticism from those who felt that the format exploited women. But their voices were lost amidst the praise for its “good-natured and intentional teasing” and for its delicate poise “between sexism and sexiness”. Farrah Fawcett considered that people wanted to “see some glamour, some clothes, some hairstyles”, and in the bouncing Jill Munroe even the most gluttonous were surely sated.

The show propelled its three wholesome stars — and particularly Farrah Fawcett — on to the cover of almost every magazine in America. Its success was reflected in a famous poster of her clad in a wet red swimsuit; it sold eight million copies and became one of the best-known images of the age.

Farrah Fawcett left the show after a single series, intent on making her name as a serious actress in Hollywood. Although she performed creditably in several films, and was clearly eager to shed her lightweight image, never again could she attain the success she had achieved with her kooky detective. In a life lived out in the tabloids, she increasingly became more famous for off-screen adventures that offered an unfortunate counterpoint to her image as a sun-kissed cheerleader.

She was born Ferrah Leni Fawcett on February 2 1947 in Corpus Christi, Texas, where her father was a pipe fitter in the oil industry; her name, later altered to Farrah, means “joy” in Arabic. She was educated at WB Ray High School and the University of Texas, where she switched from Microbiology to Sculpture and dated the star quarterback. A natural beauty, it was rumoured that some male students memorised her timetable in order to meet her between classes. Female students were less enamoured, one recalling: “We were marching for peace, and Farrah was sitting there just smiling and looking pretty.”

After being spotted by a talent agent who had seen her photograph, Farrah Fawcett dropped out of university in her first year. In Hollywood she studied acting, but was unimpressed by the prevailing “Method” style and concentrated on modelling products ranging from Wella shampoo to Ultra Brite, “the toothpaste with sex appeal”.

She made her film debut in Myra Breckenridge (1970), playing a lesbian love scene with Raquel Welch. A small part in Love Is A Funny Thing (also 1970) opened no doors, and she returned to the small screen until her two-scene role in the clunking science fiction fantasy Logan’s Run (1976).

Despite her lack of Hollywood recognition, Farrah Fawcett became a regular on television, appearing in various series, including ABC’s Owen Marshall: Counsellor at Law; her husband Lee Majors’s internationally-successful The Six Million Dollar Man; and Harry O, opposite David Janssen.

Telegraph.co.uk

LOS ANGELES — Michael Jackson, the moonwalking former child star who became known the world over as the "King of Pop" before his life and career deteriorated in a freakish series of scandals, died Thursday, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. He was 50. The person said Jackson died in a Los Angeles hospital. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.

The circumstances of his death were not immediately clear. Jackson was not breathing when Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to a call at his Los Angeles home about 12:30 p.m., Capt. Steve Ruda told the Los Angeles Times. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to UCLA Medical Center, Ruda told the newspaper.

Jackson's death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music's premier all-around performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage.

He was perhaps the most exciting performer of his generation, known for his feverish, crotch-grabbing dance moves, his high-pitched voice punctuated with squeals and titters. His single sequined glove and tight, military-style jacket were trademarks second only to his ever-changing, surgically altered appearance. Over the years, his skin became lighter and his nose narrower.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/25...21104.html