Cities at war to attract more Christmas shoppers

The Christmas season has arrived! And a 'war' has broken out between two of Britain's historic cathedral cities accusing each other of trying to "steal' Christmas shoppers.The "shopping war" is between Salisbury and Winchester known as most genteel cathedral cities.It all started when Winchester put up a billboard in the city centre advertising a festive market there. This made traders in Salisbury,Wiltshire fume and they feared the poster which described Winchester, 30 miles away in Hampshire, as" England's Christmas capital" would lose them a fortune in business. So with millions of pounds at stake, they have hit back with their own billboard, placing it in full view of thousands of commuters near Winchester's railway station.

Salisbury hopes to attract some of the 400,000 people that spend around 1.5 million pounds at the German-style market in Winchester each year.

The two cities are already tourism rivals. Salisbury boasts one of the finest medieval cathedrals in Britain. Winchester's own cathedral dates back 1,000 years.

Now Salisbury hopes to attract some of the 400,000 people who spend £1.5million at the German-style market in Winchester each year. The annual event has been running in the picturesque grounds of the cathedral for six years.

An open-air ice rink, live music, and wooden chalets selling a range of food and handmade gifts are said to boost sales in nearby shops by 25 percent.

Ian Newman, chairman of Salisbury City Centre Management said: "A lot of traders in Salisbury were angry when Winchester tried to steal our customers by placing an advert in our city centre. They first did it last year and have done so again this year.

"In the current economic climate every customer is crucial and we cannot afford to lose them to other cities.

"If shoppers go to Winchester and don't spend their money here it could force our traders out of business. "We have wanted a Christmas market in Salisbury for many years and Winchester's poster spurred us on to launch one this year".

"As part of our marketing we have placed a billboard poster in Winchester and are now taking them on on their own turf." Charlotte Barnaville, from Winchester Christmas Market, welcomed the competition.

She said: "The advert in Salisbury formed part of our wider marketing campaign and was not targeted specifically at them.However, our poster does seem to have spurred them on and it is nice to have a bit of friendly competition between two great historic cities. Our advert in Salisbury was so successful last year we have got one there again in exactly the same spot." The Salisbury Christmas market runs from November 29 to December 16 and the Winchester market is on from now until December 23.

Love birds: They have stayed together for a record 16 years

We have heard of famous love storie such as "Romeo Juliet," Antony Cleopatra", and Anarkali Salim from the world of humans.

But here's a love story from the world of birds to melt the iciest of hearts - a pair of - penguins that have stayed - together for 16 years.

The love birds have been side by side for most of their breeding lives.

P-p-p pick up a penguin: Magellanic penguins on beach

Forced to migrate thousands of miles every winter, every summer they return to their nest - and to each other.

Their happy feat has astonished experts. Dr Pablo Garcia Borboroglu, who has been leading a long-term study on the couple's Magellanic penguin colony, said: "The bond they have is incredible.

"They are a very loyal couple. Each breeding season they come back to the same nest and to the same partner. It is a beautiful story."

Magellanic penguins usually only stay together for five to 10 years. The birds search for a new partner if their mate dies or have a penguin "divorce" if they failing to breed and go off to find a new partner.

The study has monitored the 100,000-strong colony on the Patagonian coast of Argentina for 30 years, putting metal identity bands on the flippers of half the birds to follow their progress.

The flightless birds have to migrate to warmer waters for six months every winter, swimming tens of thousands of miles. It is not yet known whether the couples journey together or separately.

But every summer for the past 16 years this male has returned to reclaim his burrow and waited patiently to reconnect with his partner.

The amazing loyalty of these two is in stark contrast to Emperor penguins, which featured in the 2005 documentary March of the Penguins narrated by Morgan Freeman. Emperors are known for being serial monogamists - faithful for only one breeding season.

Once the female penguin has laid her egg she carefully transfers it to her mate who then keeps the egg warm by tucking it under his skin until it hatches.

The female then returns to the sea where she spends two months feeding before going back to take over.

There are 18 penguin species in the world - five of which are deemed to be endangered while six are classed as vulnerable.

Numbers of Magellanic penguins have dropped dramatically since the turn of the century, with some colonies having halved in the past15 years due to threats from oil spills and falling fish numbers. There are thought to be around 1.2 million left in the world, all living on the coasts of Argentina and Chile, but little has been known about them - until now.

Hey! It's a parachuting cat

If you see a cat falling from the sky you might be reminded the saying "raining cats and dogs", and wonder whether it is going to rain, maybe.

But don't worry the above picture is from promotional video advert.

But before animal lovers start to get hot under the collar, the Swedish insurance company who made the ad has promised no felines were harmed in its production.

Feline free-fall: Video opens with one brave cat flying through the skies

This is because while it may look like the cats are plunging thousands of feet, the commercial was produced using green screen trick shots,reports The Mirror.

So in the original film people were actually shot skydiving, but they were then replaced with cats through the magic of technology.

The advert was produced for Swedish insurance company Folksam after the firm asked its customers to suggest web ads.

One customer Eva Leijonmark, who insures her cat with the company, suggested skydiving cats spelling out her name and putting it to R Kelly's song "I Believe I Can Fly."

Amazingly Folksam went for the wacky concept and set about making the idea into a video.

The recording shows the cats appearing to freefall with squinted eyes and the wind rushing through their fur.

In another scene, the flying cats then join up in formation linking paws in an attempt to spell out the word Eva across the sky.

The ad then shows the furry skydivers' parachutes opening as they begin the slow descent back down to earth. Produced by advertising agency Akestam Holst, the 40 second video has gone viral with almost 500,000 hits on YouTube.

While most viewers appear to see the funny side of the clip, some cat lovers have been disturbed by what they saw.

"This is not funny or cute," one wrote, while another commented: "Wrong on so many levels."

The company has said that it followed animal welfare laws to ensure that the animals were unhurt during the filming.