IT'S LIKE THEY'RE FIGHTING OVER HIM

We know that Michael Jackson is very close to the ruling family in Bahrain - and they, we understand, see him as a perfectly acceptable houseguest until Mariah Carey comes up for hire - so we wonder if the rushing to deny rumours of a house-buying in nearby Dubai:

"He hasn't purchased any property and he hasn't even been back in Bahrain since he went to London to record his new song," he said. "He's been in Dubai for the past month, but still considers Bahrain to be his home. He will be back here soon."

Meanwhile, we love the Gulf Daily News' vagueness on the whole Katrina single thing:

He is expected to release a song in support of victims of natural disaster which will feature an all-star cast.

We bet that started out as "Jackson will soon release a single in aid of victims of Hurricane Katrina featuring James Brown, Mary J Blige and other top celebrities" until the facts failed to stack up, one-by-one. We bet that as press time loomed they were going "what... even 'soon' has to come out?"

music michael jackson dubai bahrain