The luxury furniture Michael Jackson commissioned before his death will go under the hammer in June in Las Vegas along with other personal items from the King of Pop, Julien's Auctions announced Friday. The 22 pieces of furniture Jackson ordered from Italy's Colombostile Artisans to fill the home where he was to live during his "This is It" London concert series will be featured in the June 25 "Music Icons" auction at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino.

An art collection put together by British American Tobacco over five decades to liven up its factories and "inspire" workers was sold for a Dutch record 13. 6 million euros, Sotheby's said Tuesday. "The results represent the highest total ever achieved (18. 5 million dollars) in the Netherlands for a sale of fine art," the auction house said in a statement after Monday's sale in Amsterdam.

An art collection put together by British American Tobacco over the last 50 years to liven up its factories and "inspire" workers, will be auctioned in Amsterdam on Monday, Sotheby's said. The Peter Stuyvesant Collection is "the largest collection of post-war and contemporary art ever" to go on sale in the Netherlands, the auction house said in a statement.

A spacesuit worn by cosmonaut Anatoli Artsebarsky, pieces of Soyuz shuttles that rocketed into space and a Mir Space Station control panel are among dozens of Soviet space program items for sale this month in Canada. "The quantity of items associated with the Soviet space program, items that were used for research and ground testing and some that actually went into space that are to be sold at this auction is significant," said Sean Quinn of Canadian auction house Waddington's.

Sotheby's said Friday it would auction a rare 5. 16-carat blue diamond in Hong Kong to capitalise on the growing appetite for fine jewellery among buyers in China and other Asian countries. The auction house said the pear-shaped blue diamond from a private collector was expected to fetch up to 5. 8 million US dollars at its April sale in Hong Kong, which now rivals Geneva and New York as an international auction hub for rare gemstones.

Pow! Take that Superman! A copy of Batman's debut in a 1939 comic book has sold for 1. 075 million dollars, narrowly beating another huge auction this week for a Superman comic. Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas, Texas, said the copy of Detective Comics Number 27, which pictures Batman swooping on a villain, sold Thursday for 1,075,500 dollars.

An 86-year-old wooden hockey stick signed by Canada's original Olympic championship squad in 1924 is to be sold at auction in the coming weeks. "It's a very unique piece and a fantastic part of Canadian hockey history," Marc Juteau, president of Classic Auctions in Quebec, told AFP. With the Winter Games taking place now in Vancouver, Juteau said he expects a bidding frenzy at the March 16 auction that will also feature hundreds of items from a century of sport.

India invited mobile phone companies Thursday to take part in its long-delayed auction of third-generation (3G) bandwidth and said successful bidders could offer services from September. The auction set for April 9 and expected to reap the government billions of dollars has been postponed three times due to bitter discord between ministries over such issues as pricing and availability of airwaves.

Canadian ice hockey star Sidney Crosby is the top man at the Vancouver Winter Olympics when it comes to fan interest in purchasing memorabilia. In an on-line auction of items from Olympic athletes, his game-worn Canadian Olympic jersey with his name and number, 87, leads the way in all items at 2,850 dollars with more than two days remaining in the bidding process.

A hair-raising tale of drunken debauchery among officers and passengers on a ship taking them to settle in Australia in the 1830s has been revealed in a journal to be auctioned this month. The detailed account kept by James Bell, a junior officer on "Planter", reveals the ship's captain shared his bed with two daughters of a preacher and that a gang of prostitutes also made the voyage.