This that and everything

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Torture investigation

The police chief who headed the Tony Blair ‘cash for honours’ inquiry is to lead the investigation into the torturing of Binyam Mohamed.
Metropolitan Assistant Commissioner John Yates, 49, has been handed the politically-sensitive inquiry after Attorney-General Baroness Scotland ordered police to investigate last week. The ‘cash for honours’ allegations did not lead to any prosecutions.
But Mr Yates also led the investigation that enabled a successful perjury case to be brought against Lord Archer.
MI5 and MI6 carried out a review of files after the launch of an unprecedented police investigation into claims by the former Guantanamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed that British intelligence services knew he was being tortured.
The review has uncovered 15 cases in which the intelligence services carried out interrogations of suspects in US custody. Most of the cases relate to a period between 2002 and 2004 at American facilities in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.
Shami Chakrabarti, of the human rights organisation Liberty, said that the Government could no longer avoid an independent judicial inquiry headed by a senior judge with powers to call ministers at the highest level.
The problem arises, however, when British officers are obliged to deal with foreign countries who adopt a different approach, and where suspects are routinely tortured to extract information.
According to the guidelines adopted by MI6 and MI5 in the wake of the Abu Ghraib torture scandal in Iraq in 2004, British officers are already required to seek guidance from London if they believe a suspect has been mal-treated. If senior officers believe that, in the interests of national security, it is still necessary to proceed with an interview, the matter is passed to the relevant minister.
In the five years that these guidelines have been in operation, ministers have always put the interests of national security above all else.
And even though the British government has been highly critical of some of the more extreme tactics used by the U.S. to extract information from detainees, they nevertheless point out that at least two major terrorist attacks planned against Britain have been thwarted by information provided by detainees.
But British intelligence and security officials are becoming increasingly concerned that the fall-out from the Binyam Mohamed affair could seriously compromise national security, as British officers will not be allowed access to information from any suspect who claims mal-treatment, irrespective of how important it might be to preventing a major terrorist attack

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Car Free West End

London's West End saw shoppers queuing outside stores as the area held its annual traffic-free day.

Organisers say the move to close both Oxford Street and Regent Street proved popular with Christmas shoppers again this year.

West End shoppers spend more than £1bn in the six weeks before Christmas.

Shops offered entertainment, fashion shows, face painting, a concert by Jamie Cullum and even free massages for weary shoppers.

There were queues outside of some stores on Oxford Street several hours before opening time.

Foreign currency

The New West End Company, which represents businesses in the shopping area, hopes this year's event will give a boost to shops despite the tough economic climate and top last year's takings of £100m.

A spokesman for the umbrella organisation said foreign visitors were out in force, armed with stronger Euro and American dollar currencies

Computer Accessories List at BG Stores

Computer

Accessories

Sunday, June 8, 2008

John Lewis sales slip while the UK,'s Fastest Growing Online Stores Keeps Growing

Sales at the high-street bellwether John Lewis show no sign of improving after it posted a fourth consecutive week of falling numbers.

The department store's sales tumbled by 4.7 per cent to £48.5m for the week to 31 May. Only two of its 24 stores open for more than a year delivered an increase in sales.

The worst performer was its Peterborough store, which posted sales down 20.4 per cent, while Cribbs Causeway's were down 15.6 per cent.

The Blue Oar analyst Greg Lawless said these were "poor numbers" for John Lewis, which is a barometer for the UK high street. "The only bright star is that it looks like clothing sales are holding up, but everything is going backwards at a significant rate. If John Lewis is finding life tough, so too will other department stores, together with the electricals boys," said Mr Lawless.

He pointed out that the department store's dotcom site grew sales by only 22 per cent, against a year-to-date run rate of 34 per cent.

For the week to 31 May, John Lewis said its electrical and home technology sales fell by 10.8 per cent. However, John Lewis posted fashion sales up by 5.6 per cent for the week, with womenswear, childrenswear and beauty departments performing strongly.

Next week, John Lewis, which has 26 stores, will launch a £2m advertising campaign that highlights different elements of its shopping experience.

The John Lewis Partnership supermarket chain Waitrose posted sales up 4.1 per cent for the week to 31 May, despite torrential rain across much of the country for the bank holiday

In contrast BG Stores, the UK's fastest growing online shopping site is reaching new heights, with record sales in the last 2 months, and this week announced the launch a new Site BG Watches, this is the first of many they hope to launch in the next few months, making it easier for customers to find what they are looking for more easily.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Online shoppers spend third more in '07

Shoppers shrugged off fears about the economy to spend more than ever on the internet last year, with the total sum up by more than a third on 2006. Consumers splashed out £14.7bn online in 2007, 35% higher than the previous year, according to a survey by retail analysts Verdict Research. That’s the fastest rate of growth in six years and is 10 times the figure enjoyed by the UK retail sector as a whole. Verdict reckons the internet will account for almost 14% of spending by 2012 when online sales are predicted to hit £44.9bn. "The internet is widely perceived as a cheaper and easier way of finding lower prices and bargains in most sectors,” said Malcolm Pinkerton, a senior analyst at Verdict. "As the cost of broadband falls, consumers become accustomed to internet shopping and retailers continue to enhance their online propositions, the channel will find itself extremely well-placed to capitalise on the falling consumer confidence and lower levels of disposable income currently impacting the retail market."

Sunday, May 18, 2008

US Ship barred from Burma are the US really this Stupid

The US amphibious assault ship, USS Essex, is moored off the coast of Burma, prohibited by the military government from swinging into action to help cyclone victims.
Is this really a surprise do they really expect to be let in.
I look at it like this if some one had been telling me I was evil and they wanted me thrown out of my house, I would not let them in the door no matter what.
But this is just what the USA has done it shouts how evil Burma is, it makes it very clear it wants the government out of power, yet now they want Burma to let Americans run all over the country.
We all know the US and the things they have done in the past assignation attempts on other countries leaders burning sugar plantations in Cuba etc, so I am 100% sure they would use this as a excuse to get the CIA into the country and stir up trouble.
The truth is also they have let in international aid from countries such as China, it is just the countries that have made it clear they would like to see them overthrown that they have stopped.
OH and the US is free to send as much aid as they want it is just they can not be the ones that distribute it, the US is making a lot of fuss about that and don't really want it that way, probably because they can't put CIA agents in boxes, a clear sign that the US is not doing this out of the goodness of their hearts but a way of getting a foot in the door.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Shock internet fraud figures released.

Today the UK,s fastest growing online shopping site released its figures for attempted fraud on its site, and it is quite a shock most of us think of most fraud coming from countries in Africa or Asia, but their figures show that a huge 93% of attempted fraud comes from the United States of America, they in fact report that a shocking 1 out of 3 attempted transactions from the USA are in fact fraud attempts.The company have in the past blocked buyers from some of the countries normally associated with fraud, but removed all blocks for a one year trial. As a result of the one year trail all the countries that we all associate with fraud will still be free to shop with them, but transactions will be closely monitored.But have decided to no longer except orders from the USA.

ATTEMPTED ONLINE FRAUD BY COUNTRY.
1) USA 93%
2) Singapore 3%
3) Germany 2%
4) Rest of world 2%