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

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

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