Two months into the real-life soap-opera surrounding Michael Jackson’s death, the pantomime villain of the piece has finally broken his silence.

Michael Jackson will be buried in a private ceremony on 29 August - the date he was due to celebrate his 51st birthday, a spokesman for his family said today.

'None of us," said Radiohead's singer Thom Yorke this week, "want to go into the creative hoo-ha of a long play record again... We've all said we can't possibly dive into that again. It'll kill us." When the coolest member of the coolest band around speaks, we listen.

He spent the last few years of his life on a globe-trotting odyssey, and now in death Michael Jackson still seems unable to find a permanent home.

Michael Jackson's family lawyer today rejected claims from child star Mark Lester that he could be the biological father of the pop legend's daughter Paris.

One of Michael Jackson's closest friends, the former child star Mark Lester, has claimed he is the real father of the singer's daughter and would willingly take a paternity test to prove it.

Michael Jackson's mother will become the permanent guardian of the star's three children, a court ruled last night.

Katherine Jackson will raise her son's children under an agreement with the King of Pop's ex-wife, who will have visitation rights under the supervision of a child psychologist, attorneys said.

You might say there are a myriad sorts of summers which make up our experience and linger in the memory – hot summers, wet summers, summers of awakening, summers of love, summers of cricket, summers on the beach, summers in the mountains, summers of unforgettable holidays, summers of dreadful holidays, summers of no holidays at all. And here we are celebrating yet another one.

Michael Jackson was the biological father of his three children, the pop star's brother said.

An estimated billion people watched Michael Jackson's funeral on TV last week, and I'd guess that for every single one of them the most poignant moment came when his 11-year-old daughter, Paris, spoke. Weighed down by grief, she managed only a couple of sentences before collapsing in tears. Jackson, she said, was "the best father you could ever imagine". She loved him, so much.

Michael Jackson's sister La Toya has claimed that the 50-year-old singer was effectively "murdered" by a manipulative entourage engaged in a conspiracy to get their hands on his money.