8 posts tagged “madonna”

BLANTYRE (Reuters) - Madonna has asked a Malawian court to delay a hearing to finalize her adoption of a boy from the southern African nation, a lawyer close to the case said.The singer's law firm in Malawi filed an application requesting the High Court in Lilongwe to hear her adoption of David Banda on May 15 instead of April 22, as originally scheduled, the lawyer said, speaking on condition of anonymity.Madonna's need to travel to the United States for business reasons was cited as the reason for the delay, the lawyer said.Court officials refused to confirm the application."Adoption is a confidential matter and we separate adoption files from the regular case files," Thomson Ligowe, assistant registrar in the High Court, told Reuters.Malawi's government recommended earlier this month that the court approve the adoption of Banda.The pop diva met the boy in an orphanage in 2006 and began adoption proceedings soon after. He has been living with Madonna and her film director husband Guy Ritchie in London since shortly after the adoption process began.The adoption has been controversial, with critics accusing the government of skirting laws that ban non-residents from adopting children in Malawi, one of the countries in Africa hardest hit by AIDS.The epidemic has left an estimated one million orphans in the country.Source: Reuters

LONDON (AFP) - US pop queen Madonna, Canadian crooner Celine Dion and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall are all descended from the same French carpenter, according to a records archive launched Wednesday.Canadian records spanning more than 300 years from 1621 were published on the family and social history website ancestry.co.uk and revealed the unlikely link between the three women.Camilla -- the second wife of Prince Charles, Britain's heir to the throne -- Madonna and Dion are all descended from French carpenter Zacharie Cloutier, according to the website."The fact that Camilla and Madonna are related, however distantly, highlights the truly unpredictable and entertaining nature of family history research," said ancestry.co.uk spokesman Simon Harper.The ancestors of some of Canada's most famous Quebecois, including former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, are included in the archive.Source: AFP

BLANTYRE (AFP) - Tough conditions should be attached to pop star Madonna's adoption of a Malawi boy, a human rights group said Friday, warning unscrupulous traffickers may use the case to justify illegal adoption.Maxwell Matewere, a spokesman for the Human Rights Consultative Committee, which attempted to legally challenge the controversial adoption, said a Malawi court should attach "tough guidelines" if it grants Madonna permanent custody.Matewere warned Madonna's controversial adoption of toddler David Banda could allow others to take advantage of Malawi's lack of inter-country adoption laws."Others might apply to adopt and use the Madonna case to justify adoption and yet they could be illegal adoptions for trafficking, organs and sexual exploitation," he warned.The high court is expected to set a date next week to rule on whether Madonna can officially adopt David, who has been living in London with the star and her filmmaker husband Guy Ritchie under an interim custody order.The granting of the temporary order ignited a storm of protest from the local rights group and heated debate about adoption laws in the poor southern African nation.The Malawi government is widely expected to back permanent adoption of David by Madonna and her filmmaker husband Guy Ritchie.It was not clear whether Madonna would appear in court, which her lawyer has said she is not compelled to do when the ruling is made.Malawi, where the number of orphans has peaked to one million as a result of AIDS, is reforming its laws to allow easier adoptions by foreigners.David was brought to an orphanage in Mchinji, 110 kilometres (70 miles) from Lilongwe, by his father Yohane Banda after his mother died shortly after birth.His father, who ekes out a living as a peasant farmer, said he let his son be adopted by Madonna to escape grinding poverty rampant in the southern African nation.Source: AFP

BAY CITY, Mich. - A city that more than two decades ago declined to honor Madonna with a key to the city wants the singer to give it a second chance.Mayor Charles M. Brunner has written a letter inviting Madonna, who grew up in Bay City and the Detroit suburb of Rochester Hills, to accept a key to the city, The Bay City Times reported."We have always been proud of your accomplishments but recently your induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame reminded us that we need to honor you with the highest honor that Bay City can offer," the letter says.The Associated Press sent an e-mail Saturday seeking comment from a publicist for the 49-year-old singer.Madonna was considered for the honor in 1985, but some thought she was too risque, the newspaper said. It also said the city in the late 1980s refused to accept a sculpture of Madonna from an Italian artist, citing a belief that her popularity would fade in time.Now, Guy Greve, president of the Bay Arts Council, wants to commission an artist to sculpt a statue of Madonna."The local arts council would like to pay homage for her artistic contributions," he said. "I could see a sculpture of her in Bay City. One of Madonna's famous poses could be made into a sculpture."City Commissioner Christopher J. Shannon, who fronts a local rock band, is planning a Madonna tribute album. He hopes to recruit local musicians to cover hits such as "Like a Virgin" and "Express Yourself."Madonna's new album, "Hard Candy," will be released April 29.Source: AP

LILONGWE, Malawi (Reuters) - Malawi's government has recommended that its High Court formally approve pop star Madonna's adoption of David Banda, the child she met in a Malawian orphanage a year and a half ago.Madonna began adoption proceedings in 2006, and the 2-year-old boy has been living with the singer and her film director husband, Guy Ritchie, in their London home since then.The adoption has been controversial, with critics accusing the government of skirting laws that ban non-residents from adopting children in the southern African country, where an AIDS epidemic has left more than 1 million children orphaned.But in a confidential report dated March 25, 2008, signed by probation officer S. Chisale at the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the government said Madonna and Ritchie had proved to be suitable parents for the Malawian boy."In the best interest of the child, I do recommend the petitioners to your lordship for your consideration that they be granted an adoption order having proved that they are suitable parents and satisfied the conditions in the interim adoption order," the report said.In February, Malawian Information Minister Patricia Kaliati praised Madonna's efforts to rally support for orphans in the impoverished country and said it would be wrong for the government to deny the pop star's adoption of a child there.Meanwhile, Madonna's lawyers have asked the courts to delay the entertainer's appearance in court for the adoption hearing from next week to the end of April, because she has another engagement in the United States."They have made that application at (the) High Court today, and the judge is expected to respond this afternoon," a court official said.Source: Reuters/Nielsen

LILONGWE (Reuters) - American pop star Madonna is due back in Malawi next week for what is expected to be a final court ruling on whether she can adopt a child from the southern African country, airport officials said on Tuesday.A senior official at Lilongwe International Airport told Reuters her jet was cleared for landing from April 8 and she was expected around that time.In February, Malawian Information Minister Patricia Kaliati praised Madonna's efforts to rally support for orphans in the impoverished country and said it would be wrong for the government to deny the pop star's adoption of a child there.Madonna is in the process of adopting a Malawian boy, David Banda.She began adoption proceedings in 2006 after meeting the boy in a local orphanage. The toddler is living with Madonna and her film director husband Guy Ritchie in London.The adoption has been controversial, with critics accusing the government of skirting laws that ban non-residents from adopting children in Malawi, which has been badly hit by the AIDS epidemic and is one of the poorest in the world.There are an estimated 1 million orphans in the country, many of whom are infected with the HIV virus. Malawi's government is amending its adoption laws.Source: Reuters

NEW YORK - Madonna wants the media to leave Britney Spears alone. "They need to step off," she told the "Yo on E!" satellite radio show. "For real ... Let's go save her." Madonna, 49, said her daughter, Lourdes, 11, feels the same way."She knows Britney, (but) she doesn't really watch TV or read gossip stuff," the pop star said in the interview. "I think she sort of gets the drift of what's going on, and I think she feels very protective of Britney."Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie have a son, Rocco, 7, and are raising a Malawian boy they want to adopt."He's the life of the party," she said of David, who she brought home from Africa in 2006. "He loves music, he's an amazing dancer. ... He's a character."She said caring for David is no different from her raising her biological children: "I thought it was gonna be, but it feels the same to tell you the truth."As for speculation that her marriage is on the rocks, Madonna said: "It is ridiculous. ... I don't pay much attention to it."The singer's spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg recently dismissed media reports that the Ritchies have split up, saying they "remain happily married." Rosenberg said that Madonna and filmmaker Ritchie, 39, were "joyfully back together at home in London" after living in separate countries for work purposes.Madonna, whose new album "Hard Candy" arrives April 29, told "Yo on E!" that she plans to spend the summer in New York, and that she might kick off a tour this fall.Source: AP

LONDON (AFP) - Madonna, one of London's most famous ex-pat residents, will not vote for the current mayor at forthcoming elections because of his record on cutting traffic jams, according to comments released Thursday."Will Ken Livingstone get my vote? No. The traffic in London is worse than ever now. All Red Ken wants is roadworks going on everywhere," the US singer said in extracts released of an interview with British music magazine Q.Livingstone -- who earned the nickname "Red Ken" in the 1980s because of his fervent socialist views and opposition to former prime minister Margaret Thatcher's free market reforms -- is seeking a third straight term on May 1.He introduced a controversial road charging scheme in 2003 to cut congestion in central London, later widening it to west London, the area in which Madonna lives with her British film director husband, Guy Ritchie.In February this year, he also introduced a London-wide low emission zone, charging the most polluting lorries 200 pounds (254 euros, 401 dollars) a day to enter the capital to reduce air pollution.The 49-year-old Madonna, who is often spotted cycling around London or being driven by chauffeur, also complained about the underground network -- where high fares remain a bugbear -- and offered the next mayor a suggestion."I would make it so that young musicians, aspiring musicians wouldn't have to pay the congestion charge or pay taxes. They would be exempt from those kind of things so they would have more money to do other things," she said.Madonna has previously criticised various aspects of British life since moving here, including lazy builders, officious parking wardens, high fuel prices, old-fashioned hospitals and the weather.Environmentalists and the mayor's office hit back, arguing that the congestion charge had held cut traffic and carbon emissions.It was not clear whether Madonna had endorsed any other candidate for the mayoral election. A total of 13 candidates, including Livingstone, have...