Infozone Breaking World News

Many who have won tickets through a lottery to the Michael Jackson Memorial service are trying to sell them through online auctions such as EBay. EBay told the BBC that they would not permit listings of the Jackson Memorial tickets on their site.  EBay has stated that they would try to remove any listings as soon as they appeared and think that such sales are “inappropriate”.

Some auctions for the tickets have already attracted offers of as much as £15,000 before being pulled by EBay. Fans that continually support Jackson have been outraged by the sale of the tickets online and have bid up the tickets to high level sums such as £62m.

Craigslist has also being targeted for ticket sales and advertisements were soon highlighted by users for removal.

The estimation is that over 1.6 million people made an application to the online lottery for the Michael Jackson Memorial Service which is taking place in the Staples Centre based in Los Angeles. Organisers of the Jackson event (AEG Live) put 17,500 free tickets online via email and people had until 6pm last night to pick up the passes.

The Jackson Memorial will be streamed live by the BBC in the UK and on the 5 main US television networks. The timing for the event is 10am Pacific Coast time and could be one of the largest events in Internet history.  Google news has already seen such huge numbers of enquiries about the Jackson Memorial Service at one point it thought it was under attack.

The top three US car manufacturers saw vehicle sales drop again in June, with General Motors reporting a 33.6% drop and Chrysler’s sales falling 42% from the previous year, but there was some stabilisation in the car market as Ford posted its smallest drop in a year at 10.7%.

Ford is the only car manufacturer not to have filed for bankruptcy during the economic crisis, with Chrysler filing for bankruptcy protection in April and General Motors joining them in June. Chrysler have subsequently emerged from its bankruptcy protection after Italian car manufacturer Fiat bought its top assets, but GM has been told that its financial support will be pulled if it does not get permission to sell its strongest assets by July the 10th.

General Motors is looking for court approval to sell its assets to a new company, which the US government will be the majority stake holder, but the deal has been opposed by GM’s bondholders, who do not want to sell.

US vehicle sales continue to drop despite large discounts being offered to car buyers. Analysts estimate that sales will increase over the next couple of months as the US introduces their ‘cash for clunkers’ scheme, which it hopes to encourage customers to trade in their old cars for newer models. Similar schemes have already been introduced in Germany and the UK.

US car manufacturer General Motors is widely expected to file for bankruptcy later today, which is set to become the largest failure of a US industrial company. General Motors has reportedly racked up losses exceeding $81 billion over the last 4 years, plunging the company to the verge of collapse.

President Obama is expected to give more detail at a press conference later today and is likely to announce further funding for GM in the region of $30 billion. As a part of the new funding, the federal government is reportedly receiving a 60% stake in a new, leaner company, which is due to be re-launched within 3 months.

The General Motors restructuring is set to be dramatic, with up to 20,000 workers likely to lose their jobs. GM’s European brands Vauxhall and Opel are likely to be spared though, as Canadian car part manufacturer Magna proposed to buy the brands.

One of the rarest forms of diamond, the blue diamond fetched a record breaking 10.5 million Swiss Francs (£6.2m) at an auction house in Geneva. The diamond, which weighs 7.03 carats, is so rare that there is only a handful in existence.

The diamond was mined in the South African Cullinan mine last year, and once inspected, was graded flawless; the highest grade given to a diamond. The rarity of these diamonds is down to the fact that there are only a few places in the world that mine for blue diamonds.

 World renowned auctioneer David Bennett said that: “It is a new world record price for a blue diamond.”

He also added, “For people who are looking to buy something that nobody else has, or somebody who wants something that is beyond beautiful, a blue diamond is going to be very difficult to find, so when they appear on the market, you have to have a go.”

The winning bidder will now get to name the diamond, which is mounted in a platinum ring, but has so far wished to remain anonymous.

Barclays Bank has released its pre-tax profit for the first quarter of 2009, showing a 15% increase compared to the same quarter of last year, despite the ongoing economic climate. Pre-tax profits were up to £1.37 billion, with total income rising to a record £8.15 billion due to a healthy performance from its investment banking group.

Barclays had avoided being given government help during the financial crisis, choosing to raise extra money privately. The bank recently sold its iShare fund management business to raise an estimated £3bn and last year raised £7bn from Middle Eastern investors.

In a statement released by Barclays chief executive John Varley, he said: “We generated strong income growth across most business lines driven by the investments we have made in expanding our international network”.

Informational leaflets about swine flu have started to be sent out to all UK households today as a countrywide campaign begins to help prevent the spread of the virus after the number of confirmed cases reached 27. The leaflets will provide people with information about the virus and recommend good hygiene practises to prevent the spread of swine flu.

The leaflet will also give details on setting up a network of friends, family or neighbours who can pick up medication and essential supplies in case someone has to stay at home due to the flu.

In a statement, the chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson said that, “It reinforces the basic hygiene principles that can play a very important part in halting the spread and reducing the risk to individuals,”

He also added that the last time a mass leaflet was sent out to UK households, was during an outbreak of the HIV virus in the 1980’s.

With the current economic downturn, coupled with consumers cutting costs, Marks and Spencer has announced today that its sales were down for the fourth consecutive quarter and that the outlook remains unsteady.

Marks and Spencer’s announced the latest figures, which do not take into account store openings and closures, shows a 4.2% fall in like-for-like sales in the UK for the first 13 weeks of the year. Sir Stuart Rose, M&S’s executive chairman said that he believed the company was undertaking, “the right things for our customers”.

The latest figures come after Marks and Spencer’s announced in January, that it would be closing 25 of its Simply Food outlets and two of its regular stores, with 1,200 job losses.

The fall in sales was not as much as previously expected, and better than the 7.1% fall in the fourth quarter of 2008. Food sales were down 3.7%, with general merchandise seeing a 4.2% fall, but overall sales were 1.9% up, with a significant increase in international and online sales.

Official figures released by the Office of National Statistics, shows that UK unemployment rose to above 2 million for the first time in 12 years. The rate of unemployment was up 165,000 from November to January taking the total figure to 2.03 million.

The number of individuals claiming jobseekers allowance also shot up by a record 138,000 taking it to 1.39 million. This news comes after the TUC (Trades Union Congress) stated that there are now 10 people chasing every vacancy in UK jobcentres.

The ONS also said that the unemployment rate jumped to 6.5% in the three months to January, with many analysts suggesting that the figure could reach over 3 million by next year.

On Wednesday, the International Monetary Fund predicted that the recession in the UK would last longer than any of the other major economies, warning that the economy would continue to contract into 2010.

Online retail research group IMRG, has released figures that show that online shopping has seen a 13% annual sales rise in February, compared to the same time last year; bucking the downward trend on the High Street. But despite the annual sales increase, online shopping in February fell by 11% from January, although this is due to extended January sales.

Head of consulting for retail at IMRG, Mike Petevinos said: “These results show that the strong post-Christmas sales push and a toughening retail market have indeed led to a drop in spending from January to February”.

The figures also see the online sale of alcohol including beer, wine and spirits up 30% on January. There was also an increase in sales before Valentine’s Day on the 14th of February, with gifts and lingerie sales up, but electrical, clothing and health and beauty products all showed a drop in sales.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC), which represents 58 trade unions in the UK, has warned that for every job vacancy there is an average of 10 jobseekers wanting the position. The TUC’s research indicates that the problem is hitting the South East of England hardest, with up to 60 people chasing each job.

The most recent data shows that the unemployment figures hit 1.97 million during Q3 of 2008, and figures due to be published on Wednesday by the Office of National Statistics is set to top the 2 million mark.

General Secretary for the TUC, Brendan Barber told the press that the figures were shocking, stating that they “blow out of the water the government’s claim that there are plenty of jobs available for people who are prepared to look”.

The news comes after the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) estimated that the level of UK unemployment would reach 3.2 million (around 10% of the workforce) by the middle of 2010.