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Christmas sales at John Lewis break records

 
John Lewis has had a record breaking Christmas according to figures from its festive trading statement with total sales up 15.8% compared to the same period last year.
During four separate weeks, sales reached more than £100 million, beating its biggest ever week from 2007.
For the five weeks to 2 January 2010, like-for-like sales were up 12.7%. Fashion sales, including beauty saw the biggest increase with sales up 22% and home product sales were up by 19.4%.
Managing Director of John Lewis, Andy Street, attributed the company’s outstanding performance on its great line of products, at great value as well as John Lewis’ consistently exceptional service.
“We have seen excellent sales during Christmas and Clearance. The five-week period has seen a number of records broken.”
However Mr Street warned that 2010 will continue to see a long, slow recovery in the retail market, and says the winners will be those stores that focus on the customer.
John Lewis’ sister company Waitrose also recorded exceptional results over the Christmas trading period with an increase in sales of more than 20% for the week ending 26 December.
Despite VAT returning to 17.5% on 1 January 2010, some retailers have opted to cushion the blow for customers by temporarily freezing VAT at 15%. John Lewis, together with Argos, Dorothy Perkins and Topshop are some of those UK high street favourites to do so.
John Lewis is not the only retailer to buck the downward trend. Next said its total sales for the 22 weeks to 24 December 2009 were up 4.6% and as a consequence has raised its yearly profit forecast to between £490 - £500m – up from its previous estimate of £472m.

U.S. reopens embassy in Yemen

The U.S. Embassy in Yemen reopened Tuesday after closing for two days over threats of an imminent al-Qaeda attack in the country’s capital.
The embassy website said “successful counter-terrorism operations” conducted by the Yemen government have “addressed a specific area of concern” that contributed to the decision to resume operations.
The statement did not provide more details but thanked the government for its efforts to disrupt al-Qaeda in the region.
It said the threat of terrorist attacks against American interests remains high and warned U.S. citizens in the country to be vigilant.
The U.S. and U.K. embassies in the country closed on Sunday. France's embassy is not open to the public, but staff are working. Spain's embassy in the Yemeni capital of San'a also has restricted public access.
The U.S. embassy closure was prompted by “credible information that pointed to the likelihood of imminent terrorist attacks,” its website said.

Militants killed

On Monday, two al-Qaeda militants were reported killed by security forces in Yemen although officials said the raid was not linked to threats that prompted the embassies' closure.
Although the government of impoverished Yemen is weak outside of the capital, it has staged several recent raids against militants who have set up strongholds in the country. The U.S. has backed the raids.
U.S. and U.K. counterterrorism support in Yemen has gone up quickly, as special units are funded and trained to fight al-Qaeda.
U.S. President Barack Obama said an al-Qaeda-related group in Yemen was behind a failed Christmas Day attempt to bomb a U.S. passenger jet flying from Amsterdam to Detroit.

A tribute to Steve Irwin

Steve Irwin

Steve Irwin , the popular television presenter better known as the 'Crocodile Hunter', has passed away following a marine accident.

The 44-year old was filming an underwater documentary on Monday morning, and police sources in Cairns, north Australia, say he was killed by a stingray barb.

Only the second known Australian fatality from a stingray attack, Irwin seemed to have been stung either through his heart or the left side of his chest, following which he immediately suffered a cardiac arrest. He is survived by wife Terri and their two children, Bindi Sue, 8, and Robert, 3.

Also aiding his global following were his pro-conservation, environmentalist approach and his encyclopaedic knowledge and love of crocodiles.

 

 

 

Australian naturalist and animal-lover Steve Irwin has died after being struck in the chest by a stingray's barb.

 

 

Irwin had been filming a documentary on his boat Croc One in Queensland's Great Barrier Reef on the day of his death. Paramedics were unable to save his life.

 

 

The 44-year-old was famous around the world for handling dangerous animals, including an anaconda during a TV appearance on the Jay Leno Show.

 

 

Mr Irwin's wife Terri was often at his side, to help deal with animals such as the albino Burmese python.

 

 

Father-of-two Mr Irwin grew up on his parents' reptile park and became fascinated with animals after receiving a python as a present on his sixth birthday.

 

 

He was also a passionate conservationist and was pictured with a variety of animals, such as Kimberly the camel in 2003.

 

 

There was outrage in 2004 when Mr Irwin held his one-month-old son near a crocodile during a show. He said his children, including daughter Bindi, had to grow up to be "croc savvy".

 

 

Mr Irwin, who handled dangerous animals such as the taipan snake, turned a small reptile park in Queensland into Australia Zoo. It has now become a major wildlife centre.

 

 

And Mr Irwin emphasised his dedication to saving endangered species by creating the Steve Irwin Conservation Foundation.

 

 

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he was "fond" of Mr Irwin and "very, very appreciative" of his work in promoting Australia overseas.

 

 

Fans left flowers at Australia Zoo after news of Mr Irwin's death was confirmed on Monday.

 

Stingray Pic