Jackson launches second charity

Michael Jackson waves to fans

Pop superstar Michael Jackson has launched a children's charity with the aim of "changing the world our children live in".

Jackson told fans at New York's Carnegie Hall that the charity, Heal the Kids, aimed to put more love in parent-child relationships.

Instead of loving our children more we installed metal detectors in our school

Michael Jackson

The 42-year-old was often interrupted by shouts of "I love you" and screams from fans, some of whom had travelled from Japan and Europe to see their idol.

They rushed on to the stage afterwards to give him gifts or to touch him.

'Surprise'

In a speech, he said: "Who among us would have believed that the sound of children at their playgrounds would be replaced by the sound of automatic machine gun fire at our schools, that the sound of little girls skipping rope would be overshadowed by the frantic shrills of children dodging bullets?

"Yet instead of loving our children more we installed metal detectors in our school."

The star founded another charity Heal the World last year with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the author of "Kosher Sex" and "Dating Secrets of the Ten Commandments".

He said more details of the charity would be revealed on 6 March in Britain in an address to Oxford University students.

"It's an address certain to surprise you," he said.

Jackson's turbulent family life has frequently hit the headlines.

In 1993, a 12-year-old boy accused Jackson of sexually molesting him.

The singer denied the accusations but settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.

Jackson has two children of his own by Deborah Rowe, who filed for divorce in 1999.

He also was married briefly to Elvis Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie Presley.