Jackson 'to pay up'

Michael Jackson is close to a financial settlement of a civil suit accusing him of child molestation, according to reports in the New York Times and Time magazine, Reuter reports from New York.

The reports state that Jackson's 13-year-old accuser will receive about dollars 5m ( pounds 3.3m), although Jackson associates said the amount would not be disclosed. In return, the boy is to drop his civil suit against Jackson and refuse to testify in a criminal case.