Michael Jackson was due to make a “special announcement” at a London music venue this week - expected to be confirmation of his first live concerts in years. British media said Tuesday that the troubled King of Pop will announce a string of dates at the city’s O2 Arena.

Celena Aponte, spokeswoman for the venue’s operator, AEG Live, said Jackson had arrived in London on Tuesday and would appear at a press conference at the arena on Thursday afternoon.

The days of multimillion-selling albums like “Thriller” are long gone. Jackson has kept a low profile since he was acquitted of child molestation charges in California in 2005. There have been reports of financial woes, legal troubles and health problems.

Jackson’s last live performance in Britain was at the 2006 World Music Awards. He was scheduled to perform “We Are the World” but only managed a few lines before leaving the stage.

Jackson was due to appear in a London court in November to contest a libel action for breach of contract brought by a Bahraini prince. The dispute was settled out of court at the last minute and Jackson did not appear.

The O2, formerly the Millennium Dome, is becoming a venue of choice for comeback performers. Britney Spears plays there eight nights in June, and Prince did a 21-day series of shows in 2007.

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Cops are closing in on the person they believe shot actor Mark Ruffalo’s brother, Scott.

“We will be able to make an arrest,” Sgt. Michael Publicker, who is heading the investigation in Beverly Hills, told The News.

Publicker wouldn’t say when the arrest might come but confirmed that detectives are focusing on two people who were at Scott’s apartment on Dec. 1 when a bullet entered his brain.

Still considered “persons of interest,” according to Publicker, are Shaha Mishaal Adham, 27, and Kristian Muradaz, 29.

Adham, the daughter of a wealthy Saudi businessman, has told police that Scott, 39, shot himself in a game of Russian roulette while high on cocaine. But L.A.’s coroner later ruled the shooting a homicide — noting that the gun was fired at a 45-degree angle from above and in front of his head. The autopsy report also noted there was no gunpowder residue or “stippling” of the flesh around the wound, both of which often accompany a self-inflicted shot.

Lawyer Ron Richards, who represents Adham and Muradaz, insists that his clients are innocent.

The angle that the bullet entered “is consistent with someone playing with a gun and it accidentally discharging,” Richards told The News’ Nancy Dillon. The attorney argued that doctors trying to save Scott, who died seven days later, may have washed away the gunpowder soot and that the stippling could have healed by the time of the autopsy.

Richards said Adham had no gunpowder residue on her. Her fingerprints were on the gun, he said, only because “she had moved some of [Scott’s] guns off the table while she was hanging with him so they would not be near her.”

Scott, a top hairstylist, “had a severe cocaine problem,” said Richards. “He played with guns in the past in front of numerous witnesses.”

Asked whether either Adham or Muradaz had used coke on the night in question, he said: “I don’t know.”

Ruffalo’s stepfather, Jerry Hull, was delighted when we told him that cops intended to make an arrest.

“That’s wonderful,” said Hull. “I just want to see someone brought to justice. We’re going to be sad about this the rest of our lives. We want the perpetrator properly punished.”

A rep for Mark Ruffalo, who has starred in “You Can Count on Me” and “Zodiac,” had no comment by deadline.

Hull wouldn’t say whether Scott, who was not living with his wife, Lulu, had been depressed.

“All I’ll say is that his mother had recently spent three days with him, and they had a wonderful time together. She’s happy for that.”

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PUBLICITY-HUNGRY chef Gordon Ramsay is lying about having been a budding soccer star with the Glasgow Rangers, according to the News of the World. The British tabloid said that Ramsay “NEVER ’signed’ for the Glasgow [club] and NEVER played first-team games for them - despite saying so on radio, in his autobiography and in a series of interviews.” The paper said Ramsay even secretly confessed to chef Marco Pierre White that his Rangers career was nonsense, adding: “But it just came out of my mouth, and it was a good story at the time.” Rangers historian Robert McElroy also was quoted as saying, “[Ramsay] wasn’t offered any sort of contract.”

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GWYNETH Paltrow claims her Web site, Goop, pulls in 150,000 subscribers - but the leggy celebrity isn’t getting all those readers on her own. It turns out that Goop.com is a client of controversial advertising guru Peter Arnell.

Arnell - who recently took heat for tinkering with the Pepsi logo, and for replacing the iconic “orange and straw” Tropicana packaging with a bland new look - lists Goop.com as one of his clients on Arnellgroup.com. Krista Freibaum originally blogged about the connection on her “littlekhole” blog on Web host Tumblr.com.

Arnell Group, which has repped Chrysler, DKNY and Con Ed, is likely “handling all branding, logos and layout of [Paltrow’s] Web site, as well as her e-newsletter mailing,” an insider said. Goop.com also lists its address as 7 World Trade Center, which houses Arnell Group’s offices.

However, Arnell’s reputation as a hard-charging, aggressive ad man is a stark contrast to the Zen-like lifestyle Paltrow preaches.

On Wednesday night, the health nut chatted with Christy Turlington and Donna Karan (who showed up with her new, unidentified 25-year-old boyfriend) at the Bent on Learning charity event, hosted by alice + olivia fashionista Stacey Bendet. Paltrow, who’s opening a chic yoga studio in Greenwich Village, was there to support yoga programs in the city’s underserved public schools.

One guest overheard Paltrow say, “I don’t want to be the next Martha Stewart, I just want to share advice. Goop has 150,000 subscribers now.”

The snitch added, “Gwyneth was so happy and being friendly to everyone. She said that she and [husband] Chris Martin both love to do yoga, and that she missed the Oscars because her son, Moses, was sick.”

A spy at the event noted that guest Jennifer Connelly “spent the whole night frowning and barely got up from her table,” which she shared with husband Paul Bettany.

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Duffy was performing last night and she forgot to put something on before she went on stage…like pants or a skirt. Seriously what is up with that outfit?

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Katie Holmes is just back from NYC where she is filming her new movie and she looks like she needs to get some sleep as compared to going to dinner with Tom Cruise. Poor girl is 30 going 50 in the looks department.

BTW where is Suri? We haven’t seen her since they took her to Disney World a few weeks ago and she is the only Cruise we care about!

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Molly Ringwald is expecting twins, a boy and a girl, in August, was out and about with her daughter Mathilda and she is really showing. I think her baby bump looks so cute, but she looks like she is done with being pregnant.

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Poor little Kingston Rossdale is sad. He didn’t want to leave the park and he was upset. Seeing that cutie in bad mood, puts me in a bad mood. He is too cute to cry.

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