On Wednesday, The Bank of Japan released its closely monitored business sentiment survey, the tankan, which showed an improvement from a record dip in March but still came in lower than expected and languished in negative territory. The quarterly index gauging large manufacturers' pessimism about the economy rose to minus 48 from minus 58 in March. Separately, household spending rose for the first time in 15 months, gaining 0.3 percent in May, although some attributed much of the improvement to an isolated event: the government’s 12,000 yen ($125) in cash handouts to each resident.

"Japan's output has bottomed out, thanks to progress made in inventory adjustments, but demand is still weak," said Maiko Noguchi, senior economist with Daiwa Securities SMBC in Tokyo. "[The] improvement in consumer sentiment seems to have been materialized largely by the Japanese government's stimulus measures. Income is likely to continue declining for the time being, and over the medium to long term, Japan’s economy is likely to make a low-level flight."

Consumers aren't likely to do much shopping as job cuts persist, Noguchi said. Japan's unemployment rate just clocked in at 5.2 percent, a five-year high. "We think deterioration in employment will continue to weigh on consumer spending for some time to come," she said. While fast-fashion players like H&M, Forever 21 and Fast Retailing's Uniqlo are thriving in such a price-sensitive climate, luxury goods companies and department stores continue to suffer. It's a scene dominated by early summer discounts, jam-packed sample sales and empty flagship stores along Omotesando Avenue.

Turlington most recently fronted the YSL campaign five years ago. The new photographs have been released in a week which also saw the original ‘waif”, Twiggy, announced as the returning “face” of Olay, more than two decades after she was first photographed for the brand.

Once a household name, Turlington was one of the original “supers” all known simply by their first names – Linda, Christy, Claudia (Schiffer) and Naomi (Campbell) et al; all of whom have begun building up their pension schemes with a return to the forefront of lucrative advertising contracts and magazine front covers.

"With the around-the-clock coverage and questions about his death, this story will keep going, with every development giving it a new bit of life," says Kerry Fly, vice president of purchasing and marketing at wholesaler Eurpac. Jackson's solo album sales in the United States skyrocketed from 10,000 copies in the week before his death to 422,000 in the week ended June 28, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

During the same period, U.S. track downloads surged from about 48,000 copies to 2.6 million. The week of his death, the best-selling track was "Thriller" at 167,000 copies, and the top-selling album was "Number Ones" at 108,000.

In the United Kingdom, Jackson held 11 of the top 200 album positions and 43 of the top 200 singles based on sales monitored by the Official Charts Co. for the week ended June 27. Despite the inclusion of only two full days of sales after Jackson's death, "Number Ones" topped the OCC album chart after selling 46,400 physical copies and 10,000 downloads. "Thriller" also reached the top 10 for album at No. 7, with combined physical and digital sales of 14,900.

Late blight occurs intermittently in the northeastern U.S., but this year's outbreak is more serious, as rainy weather has hastened the spores' airborne spread and infected plants have been widely distributed by large retail chains.

Although the disease, the same one responsible for the 1840s Irish Potato Famine, is not harmful to humans, it is highly contagious and likely spread on store shelves to nearby uninfected plants, experts say.

It can also spread after plants reach their final destination, further increasing the risk to other tomato and potato plants in commercial fields and home gardens.

Cornell University professor of plant pathology, Meg McGrath, said late blight was "worse than the Bubonic Plague for plants."

"People need to realize this is probably one of the worst diseases we have in the vegetable world," she told the Associated Press. "It's certain death for a tomato plant."