Debbie Rowe was married to Jackson for three years
Debbie Rowe, the ex-wife of Michael Jackson, says she will fight for custody of the two children she had with the late pop icon.
“I want my children,” Ms Rowe said in an interview on Thursday with the NBC TV network in Los Angeles.
Ms Rowe is the mother of Prince Michael, 12, and Paris Michael Katherine, 11. A third child, Prince Michael II, 7, has a surrogate mother.
Jackson’s mother has been given temporary custody of the children.
The star, who was 50, died after suffering heart failure at his Los Angeles home last Thursday.
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 I am stepping up, I have to 
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In a 90-minute telephone interview, Ms Rowe said she was prepared to undergo DNA testing to prove she was the children’s biological mother.
She said she would also seek a restraining order to keep Jackson’s father, Joe, away from them, the channel’s website reported.
“I am stepping up, I have to,” she said.
Ms Rowe was left out of Jackson’s will, which was drawn up in 2002 and details of which were made public this week.
“I have intentionally omitted to provide for my former wife, Deborah Jean Rowe Jackson,” the document states.
Ms Rowe surrendered her parental rights in her divorce settlement with Jackson, but an appeals court later reversed the decision.
‘Gift’
In 2003, Ms Rowe appeared in footage released by Jackson in response to a controversial documentary which raised allegations of inappropriate behaviour with children by the star.
In it, Ms Rowe described her family as “non-traditional”, saying her children were her gift to Jackson.
“My kids don’t call me mom because I don’t want them to,” she said. “These are Michael’s children.”
US urges Russian break from past
President Barack Obama has said Russia must understand that “old Cold War approaches” to relations with the US belong in the past.
The president said he would convey this to Vladimir Putin during talks in Moscow next week.
Mr Obama said the former Russian president – now prime minister – “still has sway” in Russia.
Earlier Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he was hopeful of finding new ways to co-operate with the US.
Nuclear issues
In an interview with the Associated Press news agency, Mr Obama said Mr Putin was someone who has “one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new”.
The president said the US was developing a “very good relationship” with Mr Medvedev, who succeeded Mr Putin last year.
The issue of reducing both countries’ nuclear weapons will be high on the agenda during Mr Obama’s visit, which begins on Monday.
The president said he was looking for progress on this, AP said.
Senior Russian and US officials held talks in May on a new treaty on cutting their stockpiles, paving the way for Mr Obama’s trip.
The president told AP he did not regard Russia as an obstacle in dealing with North Korea and Iran. The US is trying to prevent both from possessing nuclear arms.
Mr Obama said there had been “good co-operation” from Russia in this regard, while warning that a nuclear-armed Iran might trigger an arms race in the Middle East.
Such a scenario would be a “recipe for potential disaster”, he said.
‘Common values’
Earlier, President Medvedev struck an upbeat tone on the forthcoming summit.
In a video on his website, he said the new US administration had demonstrated a willingness to build “effective, reliable and ultimately more modern relations”.
“We are ready to play our part,” he said.
He said the US and Russia were “united by the values of our civilisation, the values of respect for human life and human rights and freedoms”.
Donovan takes over as captain of LA Galaxy when Beckham is not there
David Beckham’s LA Galaxy team-mate Landon Donovan has launched a stinging attack on the England star, accusing him of a lack of commitment.
Beckham, 33, spent a spell on loan at AC Milan last season, and Donovan believes he has let Galaxy down.
Donovan said: “All that we care about is that he committed to us. As time has gone on, that has not been the case on the field or off the field.”
Beckham’s spokesman told the BBC he had no comment to make in response.
Speaking in a new book called ‘The Beckham Experiment’, USA captain Donovan – who himself has just come back from a five-month loan spell with Bayern Munich – added: “Does the fact that he earns that much more money come into it? Yeah.
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Somewhere along the way he flipped a switch and said ‘I’m not doing it anymore’
Landon Donovan on Beckham
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“If someone’s paying you more than anybody in the league, more than double anybody in the league, the least we expect is that you show up to every game, whether you are suspended or not. Show up and train hard, show up and play hard.
“Maybe he’s not a leader, maybe he’s not a captain. Fair enough. But at a minimum, you should bust your ass every day and that hasn’t happened.
“I don’t think that’s too much for us to expect. Especially when he’s brought all this on us.”
Beckham, who joined Galaxy in 2007, suffered a miserable first season as the team missed out on the MLS play-offs and manager Ruud Gullit quit before the end of the campaign.
Donovan believes the Dutchman’s exit had a negative impact on Beckham.
“When David first came, I believed he was committed to what he was doing,” said Donovan. “He cared. He wanted to do well. He wanted the team and the league to do well.
“Somewhere along the way – and in my mind it coincides with Ruud going – he just flipped a switch and said, ‘Uh-huh, I’m not doing it anymore’.”
Meanwhile, the president of the United States Soccer Federation has warned Beckham to expect a hostile reception when he returns to Galaxy.
Sunil Gulati told Bloomberg the ‘timeshare’ deal that saw him spend five months at Milan will have upset some MLS fans.
“That is inevitable, but in the end he is a good player and a soccer icon, and I think he’ll help his team,” said Gulati.
“But are there going to be some people that are upset? Sure.”
Beckham is due to return to action against the New York Red Bulls on 16 July.
Flutey played for Wellington against the Lions in 2005
Riki Flutey and Joe Worsley will start against South Africa on Saturday as the injury-hit British and Irish Lions make a host of changes for the third Test.
With Jamie Roberts and Brian O’Driscoll ruled out, Flutey forms a centre partnership with Ireland’s Tommy Bowe – who moves in from the wing.
Ugo Monye and Shane Williams start out wide, while Andrew Sheridan and Phil Vickery are named in the front row.
Worsley and Martyn Williams are both named in a new-look back-row.
In total there are eight changes, including one positional, from the side that suffered a decisive loss in the second Test last weekend.
Four players were ruled out for the rest of the tour following the ferocious contest in Pretoria, props Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones as well as O’Driscoll and Roberts, forcing head coach Ian McGeechan to make changes.
“This is a new Test match in many respects because the players out there will want to respond very positively and if we play well enough to win it will be a very sweet victory,” said McGeechan.
“We gave the players a break this week but we are back to it now and we are keen to finish off with a win.
“We could be sitting here with two wins under our belt. We had two fantastic games of rugby and I hope it will be the same again.”
The selection of Vickery gives the Englishman a chance to eradicate the painful memories of the first Test in Durban.
The Wasps tight-head prop had a torrid time at the hands of the Springboks loose-head Tendai “The Beast” Mtawarira and was subsequently dropped for the second Test.
McGeechan said he has no qualms about naming Vickery in the starting line-up, insisting the problems the Lions had with the refereeing of the scrum had been ironed out.
“I am very confident,” added McGeechan. “Phil is a world-class prop.
“He is an outstanding tourist and after the first Test he put all of his efforts into supporting Adam Jones when he got the position. You could not have asked for anymore.”
Worsley and Flutey make their full Test debuts for the Lions while England’s Sheridan and Martyn Williams of Wales both earn their first Lions Test starts.
Flutey, who played for Wellington against the Lions in 2005, starts alongside Ireland and Ospreys wing Bowe in midfield.
“Tommy has had a strong tour,” said McGeechan. “He is a strong runner and having the two of them gives us a slightly different balance. Hopefully they will bring the best rugby out of each other.”
On the bench, the Lions have opted to name five forwards with scrum-half Harry Ellis and fly-half/centre James Hook covering the backs.
Hook has taken over from last week’s replacement fly-half Ronan O’Gara while wing Luke Fitzgerald, who started the second Test, drops out of the squad completely.
Veteran Ireland prop John Hayes is poised to make his Lions Test debut after being drafted onto the bench.
Flankers David Wallace and Tom Croft, who started the first two Tests, are also among the replacements.
“It was nip and tuck between Martyn Williams and David Wallace, having fresh legs was important,” said McGeechan.
“Joe Worsley has had a big tour and he has not always had the best opportunities in some of the conditions he has found himself under. I feel he deserves that start.”
The selection means just four players will have started all three Tests – fly-half Stephen Jones, scrum-half Mike Phillips, skipper Paul O’Connell and number eight Jamie Heaslip.
South Africa’s win on Saturday gave them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series and the Lions must win at Ellis Park to avoid suffering a Test series whitewash for the first time in 118 years of fixtures between the sides.
Lions: Kearney; Monye, Bowe, Flutey, S Williams; S Jones, Phillips; Sheridan, Rees, Vickery, Shaw, O’Connell, Worsley, M Williams, Heaslip.
Replacements: Ford, Hayes, Alun-Wyn Jones, Wallace, Croft, Ellis, Hook.
