New Manchester United striker Michael Owen insists he is fighting fit and his injury-plagued past should not be a concern.

The 29-year-old signed a two-year deal on Friday after swift negotiations which lasted less than 48 hours. A chequered history with injuries was thought to have deterred most of England’s top clubs from considering signing the out-of-contract striker but United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had no hesitation.

“I’d like to think that everyone was quite surprised with my medical,” said Owen. “I passed my medical and I’ve obviously passed them before, and my fitness is high. A lot is made out of it but I certainly don’t feel like I’m injury prone.”

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Organisers of Michael Jackson’s public memorial have announced that British fans will be able to apply for tickets.

The clamour for tickets for the event in Los Angeles began as soon as details of how to register for the ballot were revealed.

British fans were disappointed to read on the Staples Centre website that only US residents could apply for a chance of securing a ticket before the information was later changed.

A spokesman for the memorial’s organiser said: “British fans can register for the memorial.”

Other fans of the King of Pop will be able to watch Tuesday’s event from their homes as organisers announced it will be broadcast around the world.

The stadium’s website temporarily crashed within moments of AEG Live president and chief executive Tim Leiweke announcing the opening of registration for the draw.

He said 17,500 free tickets will be available in pairs for Jackson’s fans - 11,000 of which will admit entrance to the Staples Centre itself with 6,500 places to watch on screens at the nearby Nokia theatre.

Registration will end at 6pm on Saturday evening (2am Sunday morning BST), with the 8,750 successful applicants drawn at random and then notified by email between 11am and 8pm on Sunday (7pm Sunday to 4am Monday BST).

Mr Leiweke said: “First off, our thoughts and our prayers are with the family, all of the Jackson family, and in particular with Michael Jackson’s fans.

“It is the family’s wish to create a service and a celebration that all of Michael’s fans around the world can be part of. Thus the family has made arrangements to provide a worldwide pool feed to every network for free.”

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Organisers of Michael Jackson’s public memorial have announced that British fans will be able to apply for tickets.

The clamour for tickets for the event in Los Angeles began as soon as details of how to register for the ballot were revealed.

British fans were disappointed to read on the Staples Centre website that only US residents could apply for a chance of securing a ticket but a spokesman for the memorial’s organiser later said: “British fans can register for the memorial.”

Other fans of the King of Pop will be able to watch Tuesday’s event from their homes as organisers announced it will be broadcast around the world.

The stadium’s website temporarily crashed within moments of AEG Live president and chief executive Tim Leiweke announcing the opening of registration for the draw.

He said 17,500 free tickets will be available in pairs for Jackson’s fans - 11,000 of which will admit entrance to the Staples Centre itself with 6,500 places to watch on screens at the nearby Nokia theatre.

Registration will end at 6pm on Saturday evening (2am Sunday morning BST), with the 8,750 successful applicants drawn at random and then notified by email between 11am and 8pm on Sunday (7pm Sunday to 4am Monday BST).

Mr Leiweke said: “First off, our thoughts and our prayers are with the family, all of the Jackson family, and in particular with Michael Jackson’s fans.

“It is the family’s wish to create a service and a celebration that all of Michael’s fans around the world can be part of.”

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Sree has become the latest contestant to be evicted from the Big Brother house.

The student was up against Freddie, aka Halfwit, but the latter avoided the boot for the fourth week in a row.

Sree - who got 85 per cent of the public vote - appeared happy to be leaving the house and told the remaining contestants: “Don’t worry.”

On saying goodbye to Noirin - who he claimed to be in love with earlier in the series - he said “good luck” and kissed her.

Marcus - who has argued with Sree of late, resulting in him receiving a formal warning for threatening behaviour - seemed non-plussed by the news, as did Halfwit, who had told Big Brother he was looking forward to not being in the same house as Sree since one of them was leaving.

Sree donned sunglasses and laughed to himself before heading towards the exit door.

He maintained his composure as he received a poor reception from the crowd, who were earlier chanting “get Sree out” in the first of two live shows, before being lead off by Davina for the eviction interview.

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Paul Ince has returned to MK Dons for his second spell as manager little more than a year after leaving for Blackburn, the club have announced.

The former Manchester United and England midfielder has signed a two-year deal with the Buckinghamshire club and he will be hoping to repeat the success of his previous one-year spell when he led them to the Coca-Cola League Two title as well as the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

The 41-year-old then moved to Blackburn where he experienced a turbulent six months in charge of the Premier League club and he was sacked after winning just six games to be replaced by Sam Allardyce.

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The clamour for tickets for Michael Jackson’s public memorial has started, but the singer’s British fans will be left disappointed.

Only US residents with tickets secured through an online ballot will be allowed in to the Staples Centre in Los Angeles.

Other fans of the King of Pop will be able to watch Tuesday’s event from their homes as organisers announced it will be broadcast around the world.

The stadium’s website temporarily crashed within moments of AEG Live president and chief executive Tim Leiweke announcing the opening of registration for the draw. He said 17,500 free tickets will be available in pairs for Jackson’s fans - 11,000 of which will admit entrance to the Staples Centre itself with 6,500 places to watch on screens at the nearby Nokia theatre.

Mr Leiweke said: “First off, our thoughts and our prayers are with the family, all of the Jackson family, and in particular with Michael Jackson’s fans. It is the family’s wish to create a service and a celebration that all of Michael’s fans around the world can be part of.

“Thus the family has made arrangements to provide a worldwide pool feed to every network for free. The family has also made available 17,500 tickets for Michael’s fans to be part of this service.”

No information was given about what the memorial service will involve or celebrities who might appear. Jackson’s legion of fans have been descending on Los Angeles since his sudden death at the age of 50.

City officials told the press conference that they were encouraging people to stay away unless they had tickets for the memorial as strict checks would be in place.

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Michael Owen has sealed his shock move to Manchester United.

The former Liverpool and Real Madrid striker completed a series of stringent medical tests on Friday evening and has signed a two-year deal with the Barclays Premier League champions.

Owen, 29, had earlier spent the day at United’s Carrington training complex as the terms of his free transfer were thrashed out, after he lapsed out of contract with Newcastle at the end of last month.

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Take That, Queen and Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson all received honours at the O2 Silver Clef Awards.

Boy band Take That scooped the O2 Silver Clef Award while Queen were handed the Ambassadors of Rock gong.

Wilson made a special appearance at the ceremony in London to pick up the Best International Act award.

Take That’s Gary Barlow raised laughter when there was a mix up over who was meant to be presenting the award to the group. It turned out to be their Relight My Fire collaborator Lulu.

In a reference to the hit by their ex-bandmate Robbie Williams, Barlow joked: “They messed that up, didn’t they? … They won’t be playing Angels before I come on.”

Picking up his accolade, Wilson shouted excitedly: “We all know music is a very, very, very big force in life.”

He said he was “really sad” about Michael Jackson’s death.

Madness received the Icon Award and the Stereophonics were named British Band Of 2009. Breakthrough electropop act La Roux picked up Best Newcomer, while chart-toppers N-Dubz picked up the Digital Award. Britain’s Got Talent schoolgirl star Faryl Smith received the Classical Award.

Peter Andre, whose split with wife Katie Price has constantly been in the headlines, attended and was asked if he was now paying for living his life in the public eye. He said: “I think anyone that complains about it should get out of it. People have been really nice. You can’t complain about it. You could always go to a country that doesn’t have any TV.”

Now in its 34th year, the O2 Silver Clef Awards lunch, hosted this year by Denise van Outen, has raised more than £7.5 million for the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy charity.

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Smash Hits is to be revived for a one-off special to celebrate the life of Michael Jackson.

Former editor Barry McIlheney has been brought in to produce the 52-page issue of the well-loved teen pop mag, which was axed in 2006.

The magazine, which will go on sale on Tuesday, features a 1982 interview with the King of Pop which was carried out by then editor Mark Ellen.

It also features reports from Jackson’s live shows, along with posters, song words and the story of Bubbles.

A compilation of archive Smash Hits features and interviews provided a novelty Christmas hit book when it was published in 2006.

“We will be paying tribute to Michael in classic Smash Hits style,” said McIlheney, of the BauerMedia magazine.

Earlier this week rival publisher NatMag issued a 132-page one-off tribute to the singer.

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Administrators in charge of Southampton are confident of concluding the sale of the stricken club imminently.

A Swiss consortium are believed to be the front-runners to complete a takeover at St Mary’s after the Matt Le Tissier-backed Pinnacle group pulled out of the running earlier this week.

Joint-administrator Mark Fry has received offers from other parties, including a reported £12.5million bid from an English-based company named Gillico.

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