The new edition of UK magazine heat (04-10 November 2006 issue) featuring a nice article focusing on the Ritchie's new family - click on the article to enlarge.

Madonna is to appear on BBC2's Newsnight programme to discuss her adoption controversy.
The pop star will speak to presenter Kirsty Wark in her first British interview since adopting 13-month-old David Banda from Malawi.
It follows her appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show in the US last week.
The Newsnight interview will be broadcast on Wednesday (01 November) night.
Madonna will also use the chat to publicise her new children's book The English Roses: Too Good To Be True.
The interview will be recorded tonight in the US where the singer has scheduled several other TV appearances.
She flew there at the beginning of the week with David and her other children Lourdes, nine, and Rocco, five.

UK newspaper the Daily Express also reported on baby David joining Madonna, Lourdes and Rocco as they jetted off to New York City yesterday.

Jump debuted on the HIT40UK Chart yesterday at #38 on UK radio airplay alone!

Check out www.hit40uk.com/chart

Madonna, Lourdes, Rocco and David left the UK yesterday evening for a few days in New York City for Madonna's promotional TV interviews. UK newspaper the Daily Mirror reported on this news today, and pictured Madonna carrying David in her arms through Heathrow Airport. Click on the article to enlarge.

Get ready to JUMP for The Queen of Pop's latest new dance single....exclusively at The Lounge!

DIVA: Diverse and Inclusive Visionary Artists and Warner Bros Records in collaboration with Paul Nicholls The Lounge Thursdays cordially invite you to the CD release party for MADONNA: JUMP The new single from Confessions On A Dance Floor.

THURSDAY 09 NOVEMBER
9:00pm
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No cover. 21 and over.

Don't miss an amazing performance by our gravity-defying acrobats and dancers ready to JUMP for your visual pleasure! Celebrity guests and surprises! JUMP CD giveaways courtesy of Warner Bros Records.

EARLY ARRIVAL STRONGLY SUGGESTED. RSVP REQUIRED BY WEDNESDAY 08 NOVEMBER: QUEERDIVA@gmail.com

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The UK edition of Hello! magazine (31 October 2006 issue 942) has a five page article on Madonna's adoption of David from Malawi. The article also features two new pictures of Madonna out and about in London during the last week.

Madonna's new single Jump rocketed to #1 with only airplay in Hong Kong Radio (Hong Kong official chart) last week www.rthk.org.hk/rthk/radio2/intlpopchart

Jump is the third #1 single in Hong Kong from Confessions On A Dance Floor.

The latest issue of UK magazine New! (30 October 2006 issue 187) features this one page article about David's arrival in London and Madonna's open letter to the press about the adoption. Click on the article to enlarge.

Jump jumps from #6 to #1 on Mediabase Dance Radio Airplay Chart with an increase of 94 spins to 272 spins. Check out the Top 25 chart for the week ending October 22 at www.fmqbproductions.com/dance

Jumping up to the top: Madonna has her fourth #1 from her CD Confessions On The Dance Floor, as 'Jump' (Warner Bros.) moves from 6*-1* this week on the Dance Radio Airplay chart. It also posts the biggest increase in spins for the week at the format. With Music Choice Dance putting the record into rotation this week, everyone at Dance Radio is on this one and its got alot of room to grow. How long will it stay at the top and which record might be able to catch it? Only time will tell.

UK magazine Star (30 October 2006 issue) features a two page article about Madonna's open letter to the media about the adoption of baby David.

The nominations for the NRJ Music Awards 2007 have been announced on the NRJ website. Madonna has been nominated in the Best International Female category as well as in the Best International Album with Confessions On A Dance Floor.

Best International Female
Beyonce
Christina Aguilera
Madonna
Pink
Shakira

Best International Album
'Back To Basics' - Christina Aguilera
'Confessions On A Dance Floor' - Madonna
'Future Sex/Love Song' - Justin Timberlake
'Stadium Arcadium' - Red Hot Chili Peppers
'The Open Door' - Evanescence

Fans will be able to vote online at www.nrj.fr from Monday 20 November 2006 with the awards ceremony taking place in January 2007.

The current edition of UK magazine Closer (28 October - 03 November 2006) features a two page article on the adoption story. Click to enlarge.

VH1 are running an end of year poll Big In 06 and one of the questions they are asking is Big Mama - Vote for the celeb with the best maternal instincts.

To vote for Madonna in this poll visit big.vh1.com/dp/BIG_MAMA

Here is how some of the German press have been covering the adoption of David by the Ritchies - below are scans from Bild newspaper and the the latest edition of In Touch (issue 44) magazine. Click on the images to enlarge.

A coalition of rights groups desperate to stop Madonna's adoption of Malawian tot David Banda will have to wait until next month (13 November 2006) to have their case heard after today's hearing in the country was adjourned.
An alliance of 67 groups are challenging the interim adoption order granted to the singer last week and met in Lilongwe to protest the alleged rule-breaking which saw non-resident Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie fly David out of the country to their London home.
But Madonna's Malawian lawyer Alan Chinula reports, 'The hearing has been adjourned....for the judge to hear other parties involved.'
Yohane Banda, the biological father of one-year-old David, was present at the hearing to protest movies to halt the adoption. He fears the groups' outrage may prompt the Material Girl to return the child to Malawi, where he warns he'd die from lack of food and medicine.

Fans can download Madonna's full appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show that aired in the US yesterday.
Madonna talks emotionally to Oprah about the adoption of David and why she chose him, and her thoughts on the media outcry surrounding it all.

Madonna has three upcoming US TV appearances due next week, she will appear on NBC's The Today Show and Dateline and is also due to be interviewed on Live With Regis and Kelly on Wednesday 01 November.

Interestingly the NBC The Today Show is listed as a Live In Studio appearance - this was probably previously arranged as part of her childrens book launch schedule and before the adoption of baby David - so we are unsure at the moment as to whether Madonna will be travelling to the US or not for these appearances.

UK newspaper the Daily Mirror ran with the Madonna family picture as it's front cover story today - the article inside looked at Madonna's interview with Oprah Winfrey and the family pictures she shared with viewers.

Fans have voted Madonna's Jump to #1 on the MuchMoreMusic chart in Canada!

Keep Madonna at the top by voting at www.muchmoremusic.com/top10

UK newspapers the Daily Express and Daily Mail both feature large stories today about Madonna's defence of her adoption of David on The Oprah Winfrey Show yesterday - of course illustrated with the wonderful family pictures.

The father of the African baby Madonna wants to mother has appealed for an end to legal challenge to her adoption bid, fearing the singer could react by sending the boy back to his impoverished homeland.
Speaking on the eve of a hearing in Malawi's adminstrative capital Lilongwe, when rights groups will challenge an interim adoption order, Yohane Banda said Thursday the case should be dropped 'for the sake of my child's future and health'.
'I appeal to them to stop it because I don't want Madonna to get annoyed to the point of wanting to send back my David,' 32-year-old Banda told AFP.
Banda said local rights groups were 'on my neck every day to support the court action....I am afraid if this is successful Madonna may send David back and I will have nowhere to go to fend for him..
The high court in Lilongwe will begin hearing the case, brought by a coalition of 67 rights groups, on Friday.
The groups say the government fast-tracked the process and broke its own laws by allowing 13-month-old David to be flown to the singer's London home before the adoption - which usually takes 18 months - gets final approval.
However Banda said that the court case was unhelpful.
'I am confused as to whose interests these human rights organisations are serving,' he said. 'Tell Madonna not to be angry with what they are doing.'
'Madonna is helping to take David out of poverty and possible death from diseases, and yet these people want to spoil everything,' he added.
In an interview with US talk show 'Oprah' on Wednesday, Madonna insisted the adoption process had been conducted properly and she had not used her vast wealth to fast-track the process.
She also refuted earlier comments by Yohane Banda that he didn't realise he was giving up his son for good and would not have allowed the adoption if he had.
'I believe that the press is manipulating this information out of him,' she said. 'I do not believe that is true.'
The 48-year-old Madonna was granted an interim order to adopt David by the high court earlier this month after spending a week in the southeast African country to assess AIDS projects she had funded.
David flew to London several days after Madonna had jetted back home after passport and visa issues were resolved.

Madonna's official merchandiser www.fanfire.com have added a Madonna Christmas Tree bauble for fans to buy for the upcoming festive season.

The father of a Malawian baby adopted by American singer Madonna has urged human rights groups challenging the adoption to leave the child alone.
Yohane Banda told the BBC he feared the controversy stirred by the groups could prompt Madonna to return the child.
Malawian rights groups have begun a legal challenge, accusing Madonna of bending the law to adopt the baby.
David Banda is now at Madonna's London home after a Malawi judge granted her a temporary custody order.
The Malawian activists say Madonna has used her wealth and prestige to sidestep a law requiring foreign adoptive parents to live in the country for 18 months.
Yohane Banda had earlier told the AP news agency he would not have consented to the adoption if he had known it meant giving up his son.
He initially thought Madonna would just 'educate and take care of our son'.
'I was never told that adoption means that David will no longer be my son - if I was told this, I would not have allowed the adoption.'
However, he later told Time magazine he did not want to challenge the adoption.
'I don't want my child, who is already gone, to come back. I will be killing his future,' he was quoted as saying.
He has now told the BBC he wants rights groups to leave the child alone, for fear that they may anger Madonna and prompt her to return the child.
He said he was unable to look after David.
Madonna has meanwhile said she is 'disappointed' by media coverage of her bid to adopt the baby, saying it will discourage others from doing the same.
'The media is doing a great disservice to all the orphans of Africa by turning it into such a negative thing,' she said on Oprah Winfrey's chat show.
The pop star said her children had 'embraced' the one-year-old's arrival.
The singer was giving her first public interview on the planned adoption that has created headlines around the world.
Interviewed via satellite from the UK, she said that she first spotted David in a documentary she is financing about Malawian orphans.
'I became transfixed by him,' she said. 'But I didn't yet know I was going to adopt him. I was just drawn to him.'
When she subsequently met the child at a Malawi orphanage, she was told he had survived malaria and tuberculosis but still had severe pneumonia.
'I was in a state of panic, because I didn't want to leave him in the orphanage because I knew they didn't have medication to take care of him,' Madonna said.
She told Winfrey that she gained permission to take the baby to a clinic, where he was given antibiotics.
She said she witnessed conditions in Malawi that were the equivalent of a 'state of emergency'.
'I think if everybody went there, they'd want to bring one of those children home with them and give them a better life.'
The pop star funds six orphanages through her Raising Malawi charity and is setting up an orphanage for 4,000 children in a village outside the capital, Lilongwe.

Madonna's Malawian adoption story makes the front cover of Brazilian magazine Quem Acontece this week - click to enlarge.

Jump continues to ascend on the Billboard Dance Charts (04 November 2006).

Billboard Hot Dance/Club play Jump is up to #3

Billboard Hot Dance Airplay Jump is up to #2

Madonna's interview and her views on the adoption of David on The Oprah Winfrey Show made both main UK news reports tonight - fans can now download clips from the BBC and ITV news which feature clips from the Oprah interview.

Madonna said the 13-month-old boy she plans to adopt from the African country of Malawi is healthy and thriving in her London home, in an interview that aired Wednesday on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show.'
The child, David Banda, was taken to London last week after Malawi's High Court granted Madonna and her husband, director Guy Ritchie, an interim adoption order.
Madonna said David was healthy, despite having overcome malaria and tuberculosis. The interview was taped Tuesday via satellite from London.
'David is amazing,' the 48-year-old pop star said. 'What really surprises me is how great my children are with him and how he's transitioned so easily from living in Africa in an orphanage to living in our house.'
David's father, Yohane Banda, has said he didn't understand the adoption meant he would give up custody of his son 'for good.' But in an interview posted Tuesday on Time magazine's Web site, Banda said he will not contest the adoption.
'I don't want my child, who is already gone, to come back,' he said. 'I will be killing his future if I accept that.'
Banda has said he is too poor to raise David.
Madonna said she met Banda, who thanked her for giving his son a new life. 'I sat in that room, I looked into that man's eyes,' she said.
The 30-minute interview with Winfrey was the first time Madonna had spoken on TV about the adoption, which has been challenged by human rights groups that allege the singer used her fame and fortune to flout Malawai's adoption laws.
'If only my wealth and my position could have made things go faster,' she said. 'I assure you it doesn't matter who you are and how much money you have, nothing goes fast in Africa.'
Typically, prospective parents are required to stay in the country during the 18-month evaluation period, but the judge who granted the interim custody order Oct. 12 said the issue of residence is not specified in the laws. A social worker in London will check on David for the next 18 months.
Madonna said she initially was urged to consider adopting a child in Ethiopia or Kenya because of Malawi's vague adoption laws.
'I did have my heart set on David, but I was also told there was a possibility I wouldn't be able to adopt him,' she said. 'I was told to look around at all the orphanages.'
Madonna said she was worried the firestorm of publicity that surrounded the adoption may dissuade other parents from adopting children from Africa.
'I'm disappointed because more than anything it discourages other people from doing the same thing,' she said. 'I feel the media is doing a great disservice to all the orphans of Africa, period, not just the orphans of Malawi.'
Winfrey, whose talk show is based in Chicago, commended Madonna for the adoption.
'I have to say, Madonna, that's a brave thing that you did,' Winfrey said. 'This audience, I know, applauds you for it.'
In a phone interview from Miami, Ricky Martin, who has defended the rights of children through his foundation and as an ambassador for UNICEF, told The Associated Press: 'I know Madonna as a mother, and she's exemplary. The love she gives her kids is a dream, and I know that her heart is big enough to adopt not just one child but to adopt 20.'
When asked if he would like to adopt someday, the 34-year-old pop star said: 'Totally. I don't know when, but right now I am sponsoring three children in India and we have a very beautiful connection.'

As with most UK magazines the current edition of Grazia (30 October 2006 issue) takes a look at David's arrival in London - click on the article to enlarge.

Billboard are running an online poll to find out readers views on Madonna and her crucifix segment of the Confessions Tour - there are several options to vote for:

Madonna caused waves this year during her Confessions tour, by posing on a mirror-laden cross during a segment of the show. Madge recently posted a full explanation on her Web site, urging that the imagery was not supposed to offend and that it was her 'plea to the audience to encourage mankind to help one another and to see the world as a unified whole. I believe in my heart that if Jesus were alive today he would be doing the same thing.' Which one of these best describes how you feel? (If you'd like to expand your comment, shoot your thoughts our way with 'Madge On A Cross' in the subject line.

To view and vote (and leave a comment) visit www.billboard.com

Today's edition of UK newspaper the Daily Mirror this picture of Madonna leaving the London hotel where she filmed her interview with Oprah Winfrey - with an article talking about her interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show talking about The Ritchie's adoption of baby David. Click to enlarge.

In an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show that taped Tuesday and will air Wednesday, Madonna defended her efforts to adopt 1-year-old Malawian boy David Banda – and said the boy's father has been manipulated into saying he didn't intend to give up his son, audience members at the taping tell PEOPLE.
Speaking to Winfrey via satellite from a television studio in London, Madonna was poised throughout the interview, though at times she appeared emotional, audience members say. 'She's frustrated with the media because she believes it's the pressure of the media that's prompting the father to change his story,' says Brook Carter, 24, from Miami.
Although Yohane Banda, 32, told PEOPLE he had 'no problem' with the adoption, he later said, 'Nobody told me by 'adoption' it means David will no longer be my son but hers.' However, on Tuesday he told Time he does not plan to contest the adoption, saying that doing so would be 'killing (David's) future' and that he is 'just grateful to (Madonna) for helping my child.'
The singer talked about the great lengths she went to in order to follow Malawi's proper adoption procedures and said she got no special treatment, according to audience members. 'She said (of Yohane Banda), 'He looked at me straight in the eye and said I'm thankful for giving my son a future and a life because if he stayed with me I would have buried him,' ' Carter says.
'Her biggest concern is that (the controversy) is going to stop other people from trying to adopt' from the region, says Susie Lazega, 38, of Atlanta. 'That's her biggest worry.'
On a happier note, Madonna showed photos of herself with her arms wrapped around daughter Lourdes, 10, son Rocco, 6, and David. Another photo showed the singer's husband Guy Ritchie lifting a beaming David up in the air.
'They look like a happy, loving family. You see her two other children have embraced David,' says Robin Ayoob, 54, of Philadelphia.
Madonna said she first saw baby David in a video clip of a documentary she's funding about the region, audience members say. In the video, he was being held by an 8-year-old girl with HIV.
'She said she looked in his eyes and had an immediate connection to him,' says Jody Goldstein, 40, of Atlanta. Adds Laura Rader, 38, of St. Louis, 'She really wanted to help this little boy (who) had no chance at surviving.'
According to audience members, Madonna said that when she met David, he was suffering from malaria, tuberculosis and pneumonia – from which he is still recovering; she also said no family members had visited David in a year. Still, Yohane Banda told PEOPLE, 'When he was at the orphanage I visited him on my bicycle as long as I had the time, just to see him, play with him.'
Banda also told PEOPLE that Madonna had told him 'every three to four years she will be bringing him to me....We have established family ties – mine and hers.' Backing up his claim, Madonna said Banda could see David whenever he wants, and that she plans to visit Malawi once or twice a year with David and wants David to become a spokesman for the country, audience members say.
On the whole, the audience was left feeling sympathetic toward Madonna. Jessica Busch, 25, of Chicago, says she was skeptical when she first heard about the controversy surrounding the singer's adoption efforts, but 'after seeing the interview, I genuinely think she loves the little boy. On the larger scale, this will help the village. On the smaller scale, this will help the boy.'

Oprah's official website www.oprah.com has published some pictures from Madonna's interview on today's show and an article on the interview.

To read the article and view more pictures visit www2.oprah.com/tows

On page 371 on the November 2006 issue of US magazine In Style is a full-page article about Madonna, featuring a great picture of her from last year promoting Confessions On A Dance Floor at MisShapes in New York City.

As Madonna said, 'Music makes the people come together.' And so the pop icon and her producer, Stuart Price, compiled their ultimate party playlist for us. Our only quibble? Modesty kept Madonna from adding any of her own songs to the mix - and nothing gets a party started like a little Madge.

1. Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls
2. Cerrone - Supernature
3. ESG - Dance
4. Gwen McRae - All This Love That I'm Giving
5. Yarborough & Peoples - Don't Stop the Music
6. George Benson - Give Me the Night
7. Destination - Move On Up
8. Tyrone Brunson - The Smurf
9. T-Connection - Do What You Wanna Do
10. Giorgio Moroder - Evolution

Hear it! For links to Madonna's favorite party tunes, go to instyle.com/playlist

A timeline of baby David Banda's arrival in London is featured in the new edition of UK magazine heat (28 October - 03 November issue).

Madonna taped an interview (via satelite) with Oprah today discussing the row surrounding Madonna and Guy's adoption of Malawian baby David.

The interview will be aired on The Oprah Winfrey Show tomorrow (Wednesday 25 October) at 4:00pm EST on ABC.

The current edition of UK magazine OK! (31 October issue 544) features a one page article on baby David arriving in London last week.

Madonna's new single, 'Jump' has finally hit the U.S iTunes music store. The 6-track iTunes EP bundle for 'Jump' contains the edits of the song and its mixes that will be featured in their full length version on the U.S. maxi single.

Remember that buying each track individually is more effective towards the Billboard chart position of the single.

Jump - Single Edit 03:22
Jump - Jaques Lu Cont Edit 05:20
Jump - Axwell Remix Edit 04:45
Jump - Junior Sanchez's Misshapes Mix Edit 04:49
Jump - Extended Album Version 05:08
History (Non-album track) 05:55

Dutch magazine Stars (November 2006 issue 10) features a two page article focusing on Madonna's love of tracksuits! Click to enlarge.

Madonna and the Malawian authorities have dismissed claims made by the father of the 13-month-old boy adopted by the Music singer that he had no idea he was sending his son 'away for good'. Yohane Banda, 32, says local officials in Malawi never properly explained the procedure to him and he thought the pop superstar would only be looking after his son David during his education, rather than adopting him permanently Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie were granted interim adoption of 13-month-old David Banda last Tuesday.
Madonna's representative tells the New York Daily News, 'I can say with absolute certainty that Yohane was fully aware that Madonna and Guy were adopting David. Any reservations you are reading about in the media were, I'm sure, based on his being provoked by reporters. When and how often the baby returns to Malawi is not information I feel obliged to provide.'
Penson Kilembe, director of child welfare in the Malawian Ministry of Women and Child Development, adds, 'We explained every detail, and Madonna herself explained her intentions in the face of the judge and in Banda's presence. He (Banda) was asked several times in court if he understood what was going on, and he said he did.'
Banda said yesterday, 'I cannot read or write so I relied on what (government) officials told me, that the papers said Madonna would look after the child the way the orphanage planned to educate him. What we agreed with Madonna was that she looks after my child until he finishes school and becomes independent. Then he comes back to me.'

This is an special Madonna event takes place in Santiago de Chile on Tuesday 31 October.

Noche de Divas y Brujas (Divas & Witches Night) will take place in Club Miel.

Click on the flyer for more information.

BBC 2 The Culture Show are inviting fans to send in nominations for your favourite British cultural icon by email or text.
Nominations close on Monday 30th October and voting from a shortlist of ten will begin on Saturday 11th November.

Email the name of your icon here: livingicons@bbc.co.uk
Or text ICON followed by your nomination to 83199.

NOTE: Madonna can be included in this list as she lives in the United Kingdom, and has impacted on British cultural life. For more information visit bbc.co.uklivingicons

The 21-27 October issue of UK magazine Reveal also features a story on Madonna and Guy's adoption of baby David - click on the images to enlarge.

Madonna is remaining tight-lipped about her planned adoption of a 13-month-old African boy after his biological father claimed he never intended to give up his son 'for good'.
Yohane Banda said he only meant for the pop superstar to 'raise' his child David, and that he would then return to Malawi.
He said he only signed an agreement after government officials assured him that Madonna would 'look after' David until he had grown up and become independent.
Mr Banda, 32, said: 'Our understanding was that they would educate and take care of our son just as they were doing at the orphanage.'
A spokeswoman for Madonna said the star would not be making a statement, but added that it had been stated previously that Madonna would bring David back to Malawi as a grown-up.
The spokeswoman added that David would also 'of course' be able to decide where he wanted to live as an adult.
Mr Banda, a peasant farmer, who makes a living growing onions and tomatoes in his home village of Lipunga, signed adoption papers earlier this month.
That cleared the way for a judge to grant Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie a 'temporary order' to take away the baby, who was flown to London last week.
Earlier this week Mr Banda criticised human rights groups that have gone to court to stop Madonna adopting David.
But now he has said: 'Had they told us that Madonna wanted to adopt my son and make him her own son, we would not have agreed to that.'

French magazine Voici (16-22 October issue) features a two page article about Madonna's trip to Malawi and the adoption of David. The article features some previously unseen pictures - click on the images to enlarge.

There will be a Halloween Madonnathon on Friday 27 October from 10pm to 4am in NYC at the club 1984/Pyramid.

Its Madonna all night long. $8 admission. Free if you're dressed as Madonna. Check out www.spincyclenyc.com for all the details.

Today's edition of UK newspaper the Sunday Express has published a story about Angelina Jolie advising Madonna and Guy on adopting an African child - click on the image to read the article.

Madonna's Jump rockets to #6 on Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay chart.

And Jump rockets to #10 on Billboard Dance/Club Play.

The video for Jump will finally begin airing on VH1 on Monday 23 October 2006.

Another UK magazine features the adoption story this week - the 23 October issue of Now magazine features this two page article - click to enlarge.

Madonna's Jump is one of the new videos that appears in the TRL Playlist in Germany. To help the video get high in the chart vote at www.mtv.de/trl

German celebrity magazine Bunte (19 October issue number 43) features Madonna on the cover and a two page article inside about the African adoption.

Concert footage of Madonna suspended from a giant cross is to be cut from a US television broadcast.
NBC said the mock crucifixion, staged during the song Live to Tell on the star's recent Confessions tour, would be cut from next month's transmission.
US and European church groups have condemned the mock crucifixion.
But Madonna has insisted it is not 'anti-Christian, sacrilegious or blasphemous', and is part of an appeal for donations to Aids charities.
A number of US religious groups threatened to boycott one of the broadcast's commercial sponsors if the crucifixion was included.
An NBC spokesman did not explain the move, saying the broadcaster did not discuss editorial decisions.
Liz Rosenberg, a Warner Bros Records spokeswoman for Madonna, told Reuters news agency: 'She wanted it in, and they wanted it out. You won't see Madonna on a crucifix. That element of the song is no longer in the show. How they came to that conclusion I really don't know.'
In Germany, prosecutors monitored the show to see if legal action should be taken.
And a priest in the Netherlands was arrested after making a hoax bomb threat in an attempt to stop the concerts.
The crucifix segment shows the singer suspended from a giant mirrored cross wearing a crown of thorns.
Images of poverty in the developing world are shown on video screens, while numbers tick away to represent the 12m African children orphaned by Aids.
Madonna has said: 'It is no different than a person wearing a cross. My performance is neither anti-Christian, sacrilegious or blasphemous.'
She added: 'It is my plea to the audience to encourage mankind to help one another. I believe in my heart that if Jesus were alive today he would be doing the same thing.'
The four-month Confessions world tour was the highest-earning show by a female artist, according to US magazine Billboard.

Madonna is the headline feature of Paris Match magazine (19-25 October issue number 2996) and the magazine talks about the adoption in a three page article. Click on the magazine cover to enlarge.

Madonna will also making another US TV appearance on The Today Show on Monday 30 October at 7:00am.

She is likely to be talking about the adoption and her new childrens book The English Roses: Too Good To Be True.

A three page article on Madonna and Guy's adoption of David is featured in the current edition of UK magazine Grazia (23 October issue). Click to enlarge.

Madonna will be appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show next Wednesday 25 October at 4:00pm EST on Channel 7 ABC.

Commercials have been running for the show and Oprah's website www.oprah.com advertises the show as:

Madonna Speaks Out: The Adoption Controversy
You've read the headlines, heard the rumors, and seen the photos. Now, for the first time Madonna speaks out. Hear her side on the adoption controversy.

All of the UK celebrity magazine are featuring the adoption story this week - below are scans from the 21 October issue of heat magazine - click to enlarge.

Madonna has admitted to being stunned by the outcry over her adoption of a Malawian baby. The 48-year-old singer told People magazine she had not expected the level of criticism levelled at her since the adoption of the one-year-old boy. 'I expect to be given a hard time about many of the things I do,' Madonna said.
'I know they are provocative and I prepare myself, but I did not expect the media, the government or any human rights organisations to take a stand against me trying to save a child's life.'
Madonna was granted an interim order to adopt David Banda, a poor farmer's son, by a high court in Malawi last week.
But a local human rights group went to court to challenge the order.
That hearing, which was due to held on Friday, has been postponed for a week.
Under Malawi laws, expatriates adopting a child have to live in the country for 18 months and are monitored by social workers before they get full adoption rights.
Madonna has also faced opposition from charities which say she could use her wealth more effectively.
But the pop queen insists the adoption was legal, saying she and her filmmaker husband Guy Ritchie had begun the process several months ago.
She added they acted 'according to the law like anyone else who adopts a child.'
And the baby's father Yohane Banda has blasted the Madonna's critics.
'Where were these people when David was struggling in the orphanage?' he said. 'These so-called human rights groups should leave my baby alone.'

German magazine Bravo celebrates it's 50th Anniversary and in this special issue takes a look at Madonna through the years in a Mega-Madonna article.

NBC announced today that it had 'revised' Madonna's Confessions Tour for broadcast on Wednesday 22 November.
A source said that Madonna's performance of Live To Tell would be included but in a 'revised' version which will not actually show Madonna on the cross. NBC themselves did not actually say what they have revised.

After weeks of controversy, NBC has decided not to show pop star Madonna suspended from a giant cross and wearing a crown of thorns when the network airs a special of her 'Confessions' tour, a source close to the organization of the event said on Thursday.
The source spoke after NBC announced it had revised the two-hour concert special, which airs November 22, but did not elaborate on what changes would be made.
The source said the portion of the 'Live to Tell' song in which Madonna sings suspended from a giant cross and wearing a crown of thorns will not be shown in the broadcast. Instead, cameras will cut to other shots or images while Madonna is on the cross. She steps away from the cross to finish the song.
The special was filmed during her performance at Wembley Stadium in London during her 'Confessions' tour.
Madonna, who is an executive producer of the special, initially insisted that her appearance on the cross, which had been a controversial centerpiece of her stage performance, be included in the NBC special.
But after complaints from Christian groups, a number of NBC affiliate stations expressed uneasiness to the network about carrying the broadcast if it included Madonna singing from the cross.
Madonna, who has been making headlines over her efforts to adopt a Malawi orphan, has defended her mock crucifixion scene, saying it was not meant to be 'anti-Christian, sacrilegious or blasphemous.'
A spokeswoman for the pop star could not immediately be reached for comment.

Here are the latest pictures of Madonna in London taken yesterday (Wednesday 18 October) outside her North London gym.

Madonna has decided to give her adopted son husband Guy Ritchie's surname.
Malawian baby David will keep his full surname Banda Mwale as his middle names, and will also take his new mother's maiden name Ciccone as a third middle name.
Madonna, 48, made the decision out of respect for David's family heritage, but also to welcome into her own family.
Yesterday David's father Yohane returned to his work spraying potato crops, for which he earns 54 pence a day.
Speaking from crop fields in blistering temperatures, Yohane said: 'I'm not really missing David because we have agreed with Madonna that he will visit us here in three or four years time.'
'I am not asking for anything from Madonna, but when David grows up and is brought here and sees our poverty, he will certainly ask his mum to help.'
David's father took the 13-month-old baby to an orphanage after his mother died and he could no longer afford to look after him properly.
While Madonna attended the gym yesterday she sent an assistant to buy clothes for David and demanded video footage be sent to her mobile phone so she could approve the outfits.
The singer and her director husband Guy already have a son together, six-year-old Rocco, and Madonna has a ten-year-old daughter Lourdes from her relationship with personal trainer Carlos Leon.

Members of Madonna's official fanclub ICON will soon be receiving their 2006 edition of the fanclub magazine. Some members in the US have already received their copy....so keep a look out in your mailbox!

ABC News needs Madonna fans input into the adoption story - now is the time for your voice to be heard on the subject:

Madonna is at the center of, yet another, controversy - this time it concerns a baby boy from Malawi that she has adopted.

ABC News wants you to tell us what you think about these topics:
- So do you think celebrities should be able to jump adoption lines and get special treatment?
- Do you think 'A-list' stars adopting babies is a publicity ploy?

As part of ABC News' interactive show, 'Seen & Be Heard' we are giving you the opportunity to say what's on your mind! Submit your questions via your cell phone and video submissions.
ALL video submissions should be submitted by Thursday, Oct 19 at 3 p.m. EST.

Click here to submit your clip: abcnews.go.com/US/BeSeenBeHeard

Fans in the UK should make sure they pick up the latest copy of Hello! magazine (24 October issue 941) as not only does it contain Madonna on the cover of the magazine but also a seven page article inside about Madonna and Guy's trip to Malawi and the adoption of David with lots of previously unseen pictures.

The biological father of Baby David - the 13-month-old boy adopted by Madonna - on Wednesday criticized human rights groups seeking to reverse the move and said his child should stay with the star.
The Human Rights Consultative Committee, a coalition of 67 organizations, launched a legal challenge Tuesday to the Malawian government decision to relax the usual ban on adoptions by foreigners and relax the requirement that prospective parents have to stay with the child for 18-24 months for assessment before the adoption is formalized.
'Where were these people when David was struggling in the orphanage? These so-called human rights groups should leave my baby alone,' Yohane Banda said.
'As father I have okayed this, I have no problem; the village has no problem, who are they to cause trouble? Please let them stop.'
Madonna and British film director husband Guy Ritchie Thursday spent eight days in Malawi and last Thursday signed adoption papers for Baby David. Banda, David's father, counter-signed the papers and High Court judge, Justice Andrew Nyirenda, issued the celebrity couple an 'interim order' okaying the couple to take the baby away 'with conditions.'
The boy was flown to London on Monday.
A government official said the laws being used by the civil rights groups to mount the challenge were 'archaic.'
Penston Kilembe, the Director of Child Welfare Services in the Ministry of Gender, child Welfare and Community Services, told The AP the laws the civil rights groups are using are 'archaic.'
'These laws date back to the 1940s; things have changed now,' he said. 'Madonna and her husband has broken no laws as far as government is concerned. They have followed all the legal steps.'
Kilembe said when approving the adoption of Baby David government looked at rights of the baby and the family and 'found nothing amiss.'
'These groups should fight for rights of children, not block the same like they are trying to do now,' he said.
The civil rights groups chairman, Justice Dzonzi, said they were not against the adoption, but wanted the laws followed. 'If Madonna really wants the child, she has to apply for residency permit in Malawi,' he said.
The star found David at the Home of Hope Orphanage, which looks after more than 500 children who have lost one or both parents.
Banda's wife, Marita, 28, died a week after giving birth to David. The couple, who had been married for over 10 years, had two other sons who died in infancy from malaria.
'I was alone with a baby; I had no money, I couldn't buy him milk, that's why I surrendered him to the orphanage,' said Banda.
'Orphanage life is no good. We leave kids there because we can't look after them properly ourselves. Now my son has been taken by a kindhearted woman, these people want to bring him back to the orphanage,' lamented Banda, standing in his small garden of onions and tomatoes.
The peasant farmer said Madonna and Ritchie promised him nothing apart from 'love and care for my David.'
Banda's village is typical of many in Malawi - no electricity or running water, and basic mud huts. Few inhabitants had even heard of Madonna before the controversy erupted.
'Whoever she is she is a kindhearted woman,' said Village Headman Lipunga, the chief of the village. 'We all love her here and we hope she will visit us soon.'

Madonna was pictured leaving her North London gym yesterday while the adoption story raged on around her - this picture was featured in the Daily Express today.

In the opening discussions about current events on the Tuesday 17 October broadcast of The View, Rosie O'Donnell defended Madonna's adoption of David.

Barbara Walters even incited the audience to applaud Madonna for her efforts.

They discussed the media circus and the inaccurate reports and concluded that Madonna is being treated by some of the press unfairly. The support was unanimous on the cast of The View.

Fans can now download two UK TV news reports from the BBC and ITV that were broadcast on Tuesday 17 October. Both reports show baby David arriving in the UK and the press and media scrum surrounding Madonna and her family.

Madonna has written an open letter to the press to explain the reasons around her and Guy's adoption of baby David:

My husband and I began the adoption process many months prior to our trip to Malawi.
I did not wish to disclose my intentions to the world prior to the adoption happening as this is a private family matter.
After learning that there were over one million orphans in Malawi, it was my wish to open up our home and help one child escape an extreme life of hardship, poverty and in many cases death, as well as expand our family.
Nevertheless, we have gone about the adoption procedure according to the law like anyone else who adopts a child. Reports to the contrary are totally inaccurate.
The procedure includes an 18-month evaluation period after which time we hope to make this adoption permanent.
This was not a decision or commitment that my family or I take lightly.
I am overwhelmed and inspired by my trip to Malawi and hope that it helps bring attention to how much more the world needs to do to help the children of Africa.
My heartfelt thanks for all the good wishes I have received and I hope the press will allow my family some room for us to experience the joy we feel to have David home.

Madonna Ritchie
October 17, 2006
London, England

Here is the full official statement issued late on Monday (16 October) from Liz Rosenberg regarding the adoption:

Madonna and her husband filmaker Guy Ritchie have been granted an interim adoption of baby David by the courts in Malawi.
He was issued a passport and a visa was granted earlier today which allows him to travel outside of Malawi.
This interim adoption grants David's new parents temporary custody for 18 months during which time they will be evaluated by the courts of Malawi per the tribal customs of the country.
It is expected that the family will be reunited within the next few days.
No further information is available at this time.

Due to the surrounding media hype about Madonna's adoption plans, the press have been full of pictures of Madonna out and about in London.

This picture was taken yesterday in London (Monday 16 October) and was published in the Daily Express today - picture by Mockford Huckle.

The Malawian child Madonna is seeking to adopt has been taken to the US singer's London home.
One-year-old David Banda flew from Johannesburg overnight with a bodyguard and Madonna's personal assistant.
The baby arrived at London's Heathrow airport at 0630 BST, despite claims by some charities that the rules on adoption have been bent for the star.
A statement from the star's publicist confirmed Madonna had been granted an interim adoption of the child.
The decision by a Malawian court gives the singer and her husband, film-maker Guy Ritchie, temporary custody of 13-month-old David Banda for 18 months.
A group of charities in Malawi had tried to stop the adoption, claiming it was unlawful because Madonna has not lived in the African country.
David was carried by the assistant through the airport, with a grey-hooded top hiding him from the view of surrounding press.
He was taken to the star's home near London's Marble Arch, where many of the world's media were waiting.
He was reported to be remarkably alert following the long flight.
The couple's statement, issued on Monday evening, said the boy had been given a passport and visa.
'It is expected that the family will be reunited within the next few days,' it said.
Madonna's publicist Liz Rosenberg said the star was 'going to do her best to not make it a public circus'.
During 18 months of temporary custody the couple 'will be evaluated by the courts of Malawi per the tribal customs of the country,' the statement said.
The baby was flown out of Malawi by private plane to South Africa on Monday, where the party boarded a scheduled flight for London.
The singer, 48, returned to the UK three days earlier, but David was unable to travel as he did not have a passport.
The Human Rights Consultative Committee of 67 Malawian organisations had been due to go to court on Monday seeking an injunction to halt the adoption process.
But it deferred the move, saying it wanted to interview an unidentified uncle of David's who was 'said to be opposed to the adoption plan'.
The committee insists that Malawian law prohibits international adoption and requires a minimum of 18 months' assessment.
But Penston Kilembe, director of child welfare in the ministry of gender, Child Welfare and Community Services, said Madonna and her husband had broken no laws.
'The process did not start today - Madonna's people have been pushing the papers for some time and her coming was just to sign the papers to conclude the process,' he said.
The boy's father, Yohame Banda, has agreed to the adoption.
'What I want is a good life for my child,' he said.

The media circus continues at a fast pace in the UK regarding the adoption and arrival this morning of Madonna and Guy's adopted son David.

Most of the UK newspapers pictured the baby boarding the plane out of Africa yesterday and the later editions of the newspapers had pictures of him arriving in London this morning.

As this story develops, the adoption story is featured as a headlining feature on all the UK news broadcasts and press are camped outside Madonna's London home....

   

Madonna leads the field for the 2006 Billboard Touring Awards with mentions in four categories. Top Tour, Top Draw, Top Grossing and Top Ticket-Selling tour.

The awards are based on actual data reported to Billboard Boxscore as opposed to popular vote, between December 2005 to September 2006. Madonna's run at London's Wembley Arena makes her finalist in the hotly contested Top Boxscore category which is for Top Grossing single achievement. Competing with Madonna in this category are Billy Joel for his record breaking stand at Madison Square Garden and Luis Miquel stand at Auditorio Nacional in Mexico city.

The Awards will be held Thursday 09 November 2006 New York's Roosevelt Hotel capping the 3rd Annual Billboard Touring Conference.

Fans in Manila and Puerto Rico can party with fellow Madonna fans in October and November - click on the flyers to enlarge for more information.

 

The Malawian baby that pop star Madonna is seeking to adopt has left the African country on board a private jet.
An immigration official told BBC News that the passport of 13-month-old David Banda had been authorised.
The child was accompanied by one of the singer's bodyguards, a witness told Reuters news agency, and is believed to be en route to South Africa.
A group of Malawian charities has said the adoption is unlawful because Madonna has not lived in the country.
The Human Rights Consultative Committee of 67 organisations had been due to go to court on Monday seeking an injunction to halt the adoption process.
But it deferred the move, saying it needed more time to follow up reports of family members opposed to the boy going abroad.
The group said it wanted to interview an unidentified uncle of David's who is 'said to be opposed to the adoption plan'.
Justin Dzodzi, who chairs the rights group, said it had sent investigators to the orphanage where David lived to 'get a feel of what the villagers and relatives feel about the adoption and if anyone opposes it'.
He added: 'We want to thoroughly prepare for this challenge and part of our legal action is dependent on getting some disgruntled people to swear affidavits.'
The committee insists that Malawian law prohibits international adoption and requires a minimum of 18 months' assessment.
But Penston Kilembe, director of child welfare in the Ministry of Gender, Child Welfare and Community Services, said Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie had broken no laws.
'The process did not start today - Madonna's people have been pushing the papers for some time and her coming was just to sign the papers to conclude the process,' he said.
Madonna and her film-maker husband had been granted an interim court order approving the adoption.
The couple returned to the UK at the weekend after a 10-day visit to Malawi.
Malawian officials said David Banda was being cared for by members of Madonna's entourage while passport and visa issues were dealt with.
The child lived at the Home of Hope Orphan Care Centre in a village close to the border with Zambia, after his mother died a month after his birth from related complications.
The boy's father, Yohame Banda, has agreed to the adoption.
'What I want is a good life for my child' he said.

Here are two US TV reports about Madonna and Guy's adoption of baby David Banda from E! News. Both reports feature footage of Madonna and Guy in Malawi.

UK Daily Mirror columnist Tony Parsons is another journalist to stick up for Madonna in the current tide of bad press over the adoption of baby David:

Madonna is attempting to adopt a one-year-old African orphan called David Banda. She also plans to donate £2million of her money to child welfare in Malawi.
So how the hell does she get painted as some kind of villain?
Madonna's adoption plans seem like nothing but good news.
Good news for one lucky little boy, good news for the other impoverished Malawian children who will be helped by her generosity and good news for the blighted country of Malawi itself.
There are one million orphans in Malawi, their parents dead from the Aids epidemic. The average annual salary is 10,000 kwacha - about 50 of your English pounds. In the village of Lipunga, where David was born, there is no running water or electricity. Yet a lot of people in Malawi seem to be bending over backwards to make Madonna's adoption as difficult as possible.
Malawi's Eye Of The Child charity has vowed to get an injunction preventing Madonna from taking David out of the country.
They are infuriated that the bureaucracy of adoption has been speeded up for Madonna. The process usually takes a laborious two years. North Korea a joke? Kim off it.
Now what is left of David's family (his mother is dead but his father's still living) have decided that they want to check out Madonna's living arrangements for the boy, even though his living arrangements in Malawi were in an orphanage. One of the arguments against the adoption is that little David can't speak for himself.
'It's not like selling property,' says a spokesman for Malawi's Eye Of The Child. 'It is about safeguarding the future of a human being who, because of age, cannot express an opinion.'
Madonna and Guy Ritchie have been granted custody of David, but have been forced to leave their son in Malawi for the foreseeable future.
But I would bet my last kwacha that, if he could talk, the boy would say, 'Get me out of this hell hole as fast as possible.'
I know that poverty, corruption and starvation are endemic to Africa, but that blighted continent also does an impressive line in rank stupidity.

The JUMP party is here!
Saturday 04 November 2006. 12pm to 8pm
It's at G-A-Y basement bar: www.g-a-y.co.uk/bar
Come along NO ticket needed, NO payment.
Just bring yourself and any friends that will enjoy 8 hours straight of Madonna Videos and Music.
Take a look at previous parties here: madonnafanparty.mysite

A group of Malawian charities says pop star Madonna's bid to adopt a boy is 'illegal' and will seek a court injunction halting the adoption.
The Human Rights Consultative Committee claims the adoption of one-year-old David Banda is unlawful because Madonna has not lived in the African country.
The singer and husband Guy Ritchie have been granted an interim court order approving the adoption.
The couple returned to the UK at the weekend after a 10-day visit to Malawi.
The boy remains in Malawi while passport and visa issues are being dealt with.
Malawian officials said he was being cared for currently by members of Madonna's entourage.
The committee of 67 human rights organisations wants the adoption suspended until a judicial review is heard.
HRCC chairman Justin Dzonzi said: 'The laws of Malawi are clear that if one wants to adopt a child one has to stay with the child for at least 18 months for assessment.'
He added that Malawian law prohibited international adoption.
'If Madonna wants to adopt this baby she has to stay here,' he told the BBC News website's Raphael Tenthani in Blantyre.
But Penston Kilembe, director of child welfare in the Ministry of Gender, Child Welfare and Community Services, said Madonna and Ritchie had broken no laws.
'The process did not start today; Madonna's people have been pushing the papers for some time and her coming was just to sign the papers to conclude the process,' he said.
The child had been cared for at the Home of Hope Orphan Care Centre in a village close to the border with Zambia, after his mother died a month after his birth from related complications.
The boy's father, Yohame Banda, has agreed to the adoption.
'What I want is a good life for my child,' he said.
Madonna travelled to the region with Ritchie to help fight poverty and the problem of HIV and Aids.
She has pledged to donate about $3m (£1.6m) to help 900,000 orphans in Malawi.
The 48-year-old already has two children, five-year-old son Rocco and nine-year-old daughter Lourdes.

UK newspaper the The Mail On Sunday published a further article on the adoption story and the legal problems that are being faced - the article featured a new picture of Madonna in London on Saturday.

Many newspaper and media talking heads worldwide have been vilifying Madonna and Guy's decision to adopt Malawian boy David Banda - but UK journalist Carol Sarler in today's Observer takes a more level-headed approach to the matter:

For a few short years after the fall of Ceausescu, flights from Bucharest were packed with the pale, beaming, joyful anxiety of what some called 'the desperate childless', nervously holding, for the first time, a baby in their arms. One woman, however, stood out; she carried her newly adopted two-year-old with the confidence of experience. As well she might: she had a three-year-old of her own at home and two other children slightly older.
She had wanted, she told me, to help. But she'd be lousy at politics or campaigning or fund-raising; indeed, she realised, the only thing she was really good at was raising children. So one little boy was how she helped.
That boy, now a teenager in the comforts of the shires, has no idea what he escaped; those of us who saw his orphanage have. I thought then, and still do, that this woman's reasoning and generosity were magnificent. Such a pity that nobody seems prepared to cut Madonna the same slack.
No sooner did we learn of her plans to adopt an African child than the bitching began - just as it did with fellow adopters Mia Farrow, Angelina Jolie and Meg Ryan before her. Even Jon Snow, who should know better, inquired whether this is a 'fashion', as if the labour involved in nurturing babies is akin to that of carrying a new handbag, and the consensus, from right and left, is that there is something sinister in Madonna's decision.
The willies from the right, as vigorous now as when Virginia Bottomley helped to staunch the flow of Romanian orphans in the mid-1990s, appear to stem from a suspicion that this is just another route for foreigners to 'flood' into the country and be a 'drain' on resources; too monstrous to address, save perhaps to point out that the kind of parents who pursue these adoptions are precisely the kind of parents who will produce the most efficacious taxpayers of the future.
The liberal left is at least as shocking. Pundit after pundit drones on about the perils of 'snatching' children from their 'culture'. To that I say, go and stand in the poorest orphanages of the world's most dispossessed; look, sniff, smell and don't - don't you dare - tell me that, in such a context, the word 'culture' is other than an obscenity. Any identity problems the child might develop are risibly slight beside the certain problems that would otherwise have been their lot.
Yeah but, no but, continue the pundits: the money would be better spent in donations to the child's place of birth. To that I say, whoever suggested this as an either/or? In fact, Madonna - like many inter-country adopters - has also donated lavishly to baby David's community. Yet she knows, as we know, that sometimes no amount of financial support will persuade a local family to rescue a child from an orphanage (think, for instance, of baby girls in China); furthermore, by the time the money has filtered down, it might help another David, another decade. But not this one.
I hold no particular brief for Madonna, her music or her faith. As a mother, however, based on what we know, she is diligent, hot on proper food and the banning of, say, improper TV, and I have no reason to suppose that her motives for this adoption are different from my friend's on the plane from Bucharest.
The only difference is that Madonna's fame, as with that of Misses Farrow, Jolie and Ryan, has made her an easier target for the snipers, even though it is also the means by which she can afford to do it in the first place and - precisely because the cameras will continue to monitor her and her family - the means through which she might even be able to help to keep the scandal of the needs of Africa in the public eye.
Exactly so, say the still-grumbling pundits: there are millions and millions in need; this is just useless, gesture-politics, drop-in-ocean stuff. But what they really mean is that if you can't save a million, there's no point in saving one. And to that, I have nothing to say at all.

Madonna's adoption process received yet more UK press coverage today in a front page story on the Daily Mirror - the article also featured a new picture of Madonna arriving back in London after her week long trip to Malawi.

Madonna and her husband left Malawi Friday after gaining custody of a 1-year-old boy they adopted during a weeklong tour of orphanages in this impoverished southern African nation.
The private plane departed for an undisclosed destination just before 2 a.m. after a three-hour wait on the tarmac at Lilongwe airport. No reason was given for the delay.
Earlier a judge gave an interim order allowing Madonna to take the boy home with her.
The boy's father said he was happy for his son, named David, and pleased with the celebrity couple who want to be his parents.
'They are a lovely couple,' said Yohame Banda, who met Madonna and her filmmaker husband in court as part of the formalities.
'She asked me many questions. She and her husband seem happy with David. I am happy for him. Madonna promised me that as the child grows she will bring him back to visit.'
Madonna has yet to comment publicly since her arrival in Malawi on Oct. 4, though she has made several public appearances in support of projects she supports here to care for AIDS orphans.
Malawi law does not allow for inter-country adoptions, and generally requires people who want to adopt to spend 18 months being evaluated by Malawian child welfare workers. Malawian officials had indicated earlier such restrictions would be waived for Madonna and Ritchie, but refused to elaborate Thursday.

Today's editions of UK newspapers the Daily Express and Daily Mail both published stories about Madonna and Guy gaining temporary custody of David, a one-year-old Malawian boy. Click on the articles to enlarge and read.

Madonna's ex-boyfriend Carlos Leon has been in London on babysitting duties for the singer's kids, while the pop superstar and her husband Guy Ritchie have been adopting a baby in Malawi.
Leon is looking after his daughter Lourdes and her half-brother, Madonna and Ritchie's son Rocco, at the Like A Virgin star's London home, while she filed papers to adopt 13-month-old David Banda.
Madonna and Ritchie were granted an interim adoption order yesterday by a court in the Malawian capital Lilongwe and will eventually be granted full custody of the child.

Today's edition of UK newspaper the Daily Mirror published this picture of Madonna dancing with villagers in Malawi - click on the image to enlarge.

Madonna and her husband took custody of a motherless 1-year-old boy from Malawi on Thursday after filing adoption papers and receiving interim approval from a judge in the impoverished southern African nation.
The boy's father said he was happy for his son, named David, and pleased with the celebrity couple who wants to be his parents.
Yohame Banda, the father, said he met Madonna and her film director husband Guy Ritchie at the court as part of the formalities. While they talked, Madonna, who has two children, carried the baby boy, Banda said.
'They are a lovely couple,' Banda said. 'She asked me many questions. She and her husband seem happy with David. I am happy for him. Madonna promised me that as the child grows she will bring him back to visit.'
Madonna has not commented publicly since her arrival in Malawi on Oct. 4, though she has made several public appearances in support of projects she supports here to care for AIDS orphans. Her publicist declined comment on Wednesday on the adoption reports.
Judge Andrew Nyirenda 'has just given out an interim order' that allowing Madonna to take David, said Thomson Ligowe, a court registrar. The interim order allows the couple to take the boy home.
Penston Kilimbe, director of child welfare services in the Ministry of Gender, Child Welfare and Community Services, had said earlier that Madonna and Ritchie filed adoption papers before a judge at the Lilongwe High Court.
'They have followed the normal processes. This has been going on for some time. Now this is the completion point,' he said.
Madonna and Ritchie have a son, Rocco, 5, and the singer also has a daughter, Lourdes, 9.
On Tuesday, 32-year-old Banda told The Associated Press: "'I am the father of David, who has been adopted. I am very very happy because as you can see there is poverty in this village and I know he will be very well looked after in America.'
He said his wife Marita died a month after David's birth from medical complications and the child had been cared for at an orphanage in Mchinji, a village near the Zambian border.
Banda said his son left the orphanage on Monday and was taken to the capital, Lilongwe. Madonna has visited the orphanage at least once during her visit. Its director, the Rev. Thompson John Chipeta, has refused to speak to the media.

Footage of Madonna visiting the Mchinji region of Malawi for Raising Malawi can now be viewed on Norwegian newspaper website VG TV

Superstar Madonna will make an official statement regarding rumours she has adopted an African baby boy 'within 48 hours', according to a representative of the singer.
Madonna and her director husband Guy Ritchie arrived in Malawi last Wednesday and have met local orphans and government ministers during their time there.
When rumours first surfaced last week that the couple were adopting a sibling for the singer's daughter Lourdes and their son Rocco, Madonna's spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg said, 'She has not adopted a baby - despite reports that she has.'
However, today's The Sun newspaper in Britain claims the Material Girl has adopted a 13-month-old boy named David Banda, whose mother Marita died shortly after his birth. The tot's father Yohane Banda, 32, told the paper, 'I am very, very happy because as you can see there is poverty in this village and I know he will be very well looked after in America.'
When asked for comment by the Reuters news agency, a London-based spokeswoman for Madonna did not confirm or deny the adoption reports, but said, 'At this time we are unable to give you official confirmation. We may have an official statement within 48 hours.'

Tonight's edition of London newspaper the Evening Standard put Madonna and child on the front page headline and an article inside repeating the news that a Malawian father has claimed Madonna has adopted his son.

Pop star Madonna has adopted a one-year-old boy in Malawi, according to reports.
The boy's father, Yohane Banda, told the Associated Press: 'I know he will be very happy in America.'
Speculation the singer was planning to adopt began when she flew into Malawi and visited several orphanages.
Madonna's publicist initially denied the adoption reports but a spokeswoman has now said an official statement is expected within 48 hours.
Mr Banda said: 'I am the father of David, who has been adopted. I am very very happy because as you can see there is poverty in this village and I know he will be very well looked after in America.'
He told reporters that his wife Marita died a month after the baby's birth from childbirth complications.
Since then the child had been cared for at the Home of Hope Orphan Care Centre in Mchinji, a village near the border with Zambia.
Madonna said she had travelled to the region with her husband, film-maker Guy Ritchie, to help fight poverty and the problem of HIV and AIDS.
A government official in Malawi had claimed Madonna was due to file for adoption papers on arriving in the country last week.
The 48-year-old already has two children, five-year-old son Rocco and nine-year-old daughter Lourdes.

The current edition of UK magazine Hello! (17 November issue 940) features a two=page article looking at Madonna and Guy's current trip to Malawi.

For fans who are still searching for the Steven Klein red-dress shot Madonna cover of the new issue of Q magazine....fear not....the magazine publishers have given out this number for you to order the cover you want.

Couldn't get the cover you wanted? Call Tower Publishing on 01858 438 806 (price £5.90 per issue, inclusive of postage and packing).

Fans in the UK should pick up the new edition of heat magazine (14-20 October issue) as it contains both an article on the Malawi adoption saga and a look at Madonna's love of a certain baseball cap!

 

Construction has begun on a children's home for Aids orphans in Malawi with the help of Madonna, who is visiting the southern African nation.
The orphanage in the impoverished village of Mphandula, 30 miles outside the capital, Lilongwe, will initially house 400 children who lost their parents to Aids, said construction company clerk Denis Nyanja.
'She hasn't visited this place yet but we know she is in town and would visit us soon before she leaves,' Nyanja said. 'Funds for this place have been donated by Madonna.'
Workers were preparing the ground for the Namitete Orphan Care Centre, which will include an entertainment hall, classrooms, summer huts, a playing field and teachers' houses.
The centre will be run under the auspices of Raising Malawi, a charity Madonna has set up.
Madonna spent the day resting at the exclusive Kumbali Lodge, a tree-covered ranch which has been block booked by the pop star and husband, filmmaker Guy Ritchie.
The ranch, which breeds horses and cattle, lies next to President Bingu wa Mutharika's fortified 300-bed New State House but also close to squatter camps housing the capital's poor.
Guards at the ranch said it was block-booked for two weeks by the star, who arrived last Wednesday. Lodge owner Guy Pickering refused to confirm this. The singer has arranged her own security and cooks.
Madonna and Ritchie have not spoken to reporters since their arrival. But Madonna's publicists and Malawi government officials said the singer was in the country to set up the orphanage and fund six other such projects.
There was still no indication on whether Madonna was planning to adopt an orphan, as has been stated by Malawi government officials. Madonna's Los Angeles-based spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg has refuted the claims as "untrue".

Today's edition of UK newspaper The People featured a new picture of Madonna at a Malawi orphanage and an article which continued the adoption saga!

Madonna visited another orphanage in Malawi on Saturday amid persistent rumors that she plans to adopt a boy who lost his parents to AIDS.
It was the pop star's third visit to an orphanage in as many days. She arrived in the impoverished country Wednesday and Malawian government officials have said repeatedly she was planning to adopt a boy there. But Madonna's spokeswoman has denied the rumors.
Madonna and her husband, film director Guy Ritchie, traveled Friday to the small village of Mchinji near the Zambian border where she distributed copies of her book "The English Roses" and listened to children sing.
Alick, a boy of about 12, said it was the second time Madonna had visited the Home of Hope orphanage. Several residents said they heard she was going to adopt a boy named Davie and had been in discussions with the boy's guardians to take him to the U.S. But there was no confirmation of that.
Officials at the church-run home refused to speak to journalists, who were kept away from the brick building by bodyguards. Madonna was whisked away in a convoy of sport utility vehicles after the visit.
Malawi government officials have said they have been informed Madonna plans to adopt a boy in the country. But they say she has not yet filed any papers yet.
Madonna's spokeswoman, Liz Rosenberg, has denied the rumors, saying the visit to Malawi is motivated by humanitarian aims to set up orphanages.
Malawi is among the poorest countries in the world, with rampant disease and hunger, aggravated by periodic droughts and crop failure. Just over 14 percent of the 12 million population are infected with HIV, and an estimated 1 million children have been orphaned. In many villages, grandparents or older siblings struggle to feed orphans.
Madonna's visit has been shrouded in secrecy and she failed to show up for a scheduled meeting Friday with a top government minister, apparently because she was tied up visiting another orphanage.
Security officials indicated she was planning on staying for a while.
'We are not leaving soon,' said Madonna's chief bodyguard, who gave his name only as Steve. 'We are here for a while.'
Madonna and her entourage have taken over a posh guesthouse called Kumbali Lodge, situated on a cattle and horse ranch in a well-to-do part of the capital, Lilongwe. It is near the presidential palace - and not far away from poor settlements of mud huts, which are home to the vast majority of Malawi's population.
Madonna was seen jogging around the lodge early Saturday before traveling to meet representatives of a local charity that is working with Madonna's own organization, Raising Malawi.

Click on the flyer below for more information about a fan party in Rome to celebrate the release of Jump on Tuesday 31 October.

Madonna visited an orphanage near Malawi's capital Friday and a government official said she still believed the pop star intended to adopt a child in the country although no papers had been filed yet.
Shortly after Madonna's arrival in the impoverished southern African country Wednesday, government officials said she planned to adopt an orphaned boy. But by Friday, there was still no confirmation.
Madonna's publicist, Liz Rosenberg, has denied any knowledge that the pop star was to adopt a baby.
The celebrity, who has kept a low-profile since arriving in Malawi, made a secretive visit Friday to the Chezi Orphan Care Center near the capital, Lilongwe, the Mines, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Henry Chimunthu Banda said. The Catholic-run orphanage in a rural area has a nursery, a school and a clinic and is well known in the region.
Madonna had been scheduled to meet Friday with Banda — the top government official in the absence of President Bingu wa Mutharika, who is out of the country. But Banda said Madonna had been 'caught up' due to her visit to the orphanage and their meeting had been postponed.
On Thursday, Madonna visited another orphanage near Malawi's commercial capital of Blantyre where she was greeted by a crowd of singing orphans. Orphanage officials said her husband Guy Ritchie accompanied her and filmed the children who received copies of her children's book, 'The English Roses.' The orphanage is home to 128 children, many of whom have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS in a pattern repeated throughout the country.
Andrina Mchiela, a senior official with Malawi's Ministry for Gender and Child Welfare, said Friday that no adoption papers had been filed yet, even though Madonna had voiced her intention to adopt a child.
'As far as we are concerned, her plans remain unchanged,' she said.
Madonna recently launched a new project called Raising Malawi, which aims to set up an orphan care center to provide food, education and shelter for up to 4,000 children. It will have projects based on Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism, which has gained popularity in recent years and counts the 48-year-old singer among its devotees.
Kabbalah is virtually unheard of in Malawi, a predominantly Roman Catholic country where superstitions and belief in witchcraft run high.
Malawi is among the poorest countries in the world, trapped in a seemingly endless cycle of hunger and disease. Just over 14 percent of the 12 million population are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and an estimated 1 million children have been orphaned.

UK newspapers the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror both featured Madonna's visit to an orphanage in Malawi yesterday in their publications today.

The Daily Mail even featured Madonna as the front page picture splash for the second day in a row. Click on the articles to enlarge.

Despite denials from Liz Rosenberg, the confusion and rumours over Madonna adopting an Afrian child continue to circulate.

Officials in Malawi insisted on Thursday that pop star Madonna was going to adopt a local child but acknowledged tension with the visiting singer, who denies having chosen an orphan boy.
'Madonna's people asked us to identify 12 children aged one, and the Ministry of Women and Child Development has done (that), and what I know so far is that she identified one child yesterday,' said Minister of Information Patricia Kaliati.
A spokeswoman for Madonna in the United States denied again on Thursday that the Grammy-winning recording star had adopted a child or had asked officials in Malawi to arrange an adoption for her.
The 48-year-old entertainer arrived in Malawi this week on a 'fact-finding' trip as part of a charitable initiative to assist an estimated 1 million orphaned children in the impoverished southern African nation, her spokeswoman, Liz Rosenberg, said.
'She is going to orphanages, and she is meeting a lot of children, but she hasn't adopted one,' Rosenberg, a Warner Bros. Records executive, told Reuters. 'She is not in the process of adopting a child as we speak. She has not selected one. She has not asked that 12 children be lined up. None of that has happened.'
Rosenberg issued a similar denial on Wednesday following initial statements from Malawian officials that Madonna had adopted a baby boy.
Amid the conflicting accounts, Henry Chimunthu Banda, Malawi's minister of energy, mines and natural resources, said the government would say nothing more until he met the singer on behalf of the Malawian president on Friday.
'The earlier statements by government have caused some concerns from the Madonna camp in Malawi,' Banda, a senior minister, told Reuters when asked about the dispute. He did not provide further details.
Reporters in Malawi have had no access to the pop star or her entourage since they arrived on a private jet.
Madonna's trip has stoked high expectations among Malawi's poverty-stricken 13 million people, who are dependent on tobacco exports for economic survival.
Madonna has said she plans to spend at least $3 million on programs to support orphans in Malawi and another $1 million to fund a documentary about the plight of children there.
Madonna, who is the mother of two children, on Wednesday traveled to a village 12 miles outside the capital Lilongwe, where she is funding the construction of a center to feed and educate about 1,000 orphans.
On Thursday she and her husband, British filmmaker Guy Ritchie, visited an orphanage outside the country's business capital Blantyre, in southern Malawi. She did not talk to the press.

Here are the final three dates from the Billboard Boxscore listings:

Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia
Sept. 12, 2006
$5,548,998
37,939 / 37,939
1 /1 sellouts

Osaka Dome, Osaka, Japan
Sept. 16-17, 2006
$7,379,553
50,623 / 50,623
2 / 2 sellouts

Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
Sept. 20-21, 2006
$11,463,877
71,231 / 71,231
2 / 2 sellouts

Fans can catch a spoof comedy show tonight on Channel 4 at 9:00pm about Madonna and Guy.

As part of the Star Stories series this episode looks at Madonna and Guy - you can check out the website with more details at channel4.com

A big thank you to everyone who voted for madonnalicious as the Best Music Site in the BT Yahoo Digital Music Awards 2006.

For the third year running madonnalicious was in the shortlist, and was placed fifth out of both official and unofficial sites and was the third best unofficial music site, all this and we even improved on our overall standings from last year!

To view the full list of the Top 200 Sites visit btyahoo.com/dma06/top200sites

Here's onto the 2007 awards....and thank you all again for your votes :-)

Madonna is pictured at the Kondanani orphanage in Bvumbwe, on the outskirts of Malawi's commercial capital Blantyre today Thursday 05 October 2006.
Madonna visited the orphanage on the second day of a trip to this desperately poor African nation to highlight the plight of AIDS orphans.

Reports claimed singer chose 1-year-old boy while in Africa to inspect AIDS-orphans project she funded. First Angelina Jolie, and now the Material Mom?
Madonna was on the fast track to be a mother of three on Wednesday (October 4), when reports first surfaced from Africa that the singer had added a new child to her family from the southeastern African nation of Malawi. The singer was in the country to inspect a multimillion-dollar project she's funded to support AIDS orphans when government officials jumped the gun and incorrectly told reporters Madonna had another agenda — to adopt a child.
After she arrived early Wednesday in the capital city of Lilongwe, government officials told reporters Madonna chose the boy she adopted from a group of 12 children culled from four orphanages in the city. Andrina Mchiela — a top official in Malawi's Ministry for Gender and Child Welfare — told reporters Madonna had originally wanted to adopt a girl but changed her mind two weeks ago and asked to choose from a group of boys instead.
Director of Social Welfare Benston Kilimbe told reporters Madonna was expected to file the adoption papers on Thursday and would be required to stay with the child for 18 months before the papers would be finalized. Since Madonna was unable to stay in Malawi for that period, the government waived its ban on nonresident adoptions for the singer, and the child will be in the care of the Network of Organizations for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children.
However, Madonna's rep said the reports — from Reuters, The Associated Press and elsewhere — were erroneous. 'Despite reports stating otherwise, she has not adopted a baby boy,' the singer's longtime spokesperson, Liz Rosenberg, said Wednesday. 'There is no paperwork being finalized. She is visiting orphanages and totally involved in the building of a new orphanage and other initiatives to help the children of Malawi whose parents have died from the AIDS epidemic. So she is adopting an entire country of children.'

AOL Music is proud to debut Madonna's latest video 'Jump'
Exclusive US Premiere of the BRAND NEW video from Madonna for the song 'Jump,' the fourth single from her platinum album, 'Confessions on a Dance Floor' on Warner Records.
The video for 'Jump' will intentionally channel the trashy, edgy, spontaneous 'street' sensibility of an amateur clip with Madonna giving an insider's glimpse at an amazing underground cultural phenomenon of free running to the beat of a hot track. 'Jump' was filmed in Tokyo by director Jonas Akerlund.

Watch it right now at music.aol.com/watch-madonnas-jump-video

madonnalicious visitor MaverickJ3 reports in from the USA:

Major League Baseball is in full swing in the USA and so are the playoffs. The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers in Game 1 of the playoffs.
The game was aired on FOX 5 (a major US station) during prime time at night (BIG ratings) all over the nation. When the New York Yankees won the game, the TV station played I Love New York!

Today's edition of UK newspaper the Daily Mail featured Madonna's visit to Malawi as it's front page picture splash today. The newspaper went to press before Liz Rosenberg denied the adoption story. Click on the images to enlarge.

Madonna arrived in Malawi on Wednesday on a mission to help AIDS orphans — and may leave with a child adopted in this impoverished southern African country. Andrina Mchiela, secretary to the minister for gender and child welfare, said the pop star planned to adopt a child and launch six projects to help underprivileged children during her stay.
Madonna and her husband, director Guy Ritchie, have a son, Rocco, 5, and the singer also has a daughter, Lourdes, 9.
Madonna and an entourage of some 10 people landed on a private plane in the capital Lilongwe just after 9 a.m., according to Mchiela. There had been no prior announcement.
Madonna was expected to spend Wednesday resting in the capital, Lilongwe. She was to travel Thursday to Mphandula, a village about 30 miles from the capital, where she wants to set up an education and feeding center for children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic.
Malawi is among the poorest countries in the world, trapped in a seemingly endless cycle of hunger and disease. HIV/AIDS infects just over 14 percent of the 12 million population - most of them economically active adults - and has left an estimated 1 million children orphaned.
In villages like Mphandula, many orphaned children are cared for either by siblings or grandparents, who struggle to find food for the extended family. There is no electricity in the village and the inhabitants live in mud and thatched huts.
Televisions are nonexistent and radios are rare, meaning that most of the villagers have never even heard Madonna sing.
Madonna unveiled her plans for Malawi in an interview in August with Time magazine. She said she wants to raise at least $3 million for programs to support AIDS orphans.
Madonna joins a growing list of entertainer-activists who have focused on Africa. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, whose child was born in Namibia earlier this year, recently announced they would donate $1 million each to two humanitarian organizations active on the continent. Actor and director George Clooney has campaigned passionately for the victims of the violence in the Darfur region of Sudan.
Madonna has teamed up with developing-world economic expert Jeffrey Sachs on programs in Malawi, and she's met with former U.S. President Bill Clinton about bringing low-cost medicines to the country.
Sachs has launched a series of comprehensive projects to transform villages in Africa, and Clinton last month announced a campaign against rural poverty in Malawi that will focus in part on combatting AIDS.

Here are some great screen captures from the Tokyo shot, parkour featuring video for Jump shot by Jonas Akerlund last month.

ICON fanclub members can log into www.iconmadonna.com to view a one minute preview of the video for Jump.

Madonna.com have also confirmed that the video will premiere on AOL today (Wednesday 04 October).

Madonna's offical fanclub ICON published the front and back cover of the Jump single. Once again the cover is designed by Giovanni Bianco.

The back cover contains a still from the Jonas Akerlund shot video. For a larger version of the cover please log into www.iconmadonna.com

As reported earlier this week on madonnalicious, Channel 4 will premiere the video for Jump tomorrow (Wednesday 04 October) at 11:05pm.

Madonna - Video Exclusive! Exclusive first play of Madonna's new single Jump. The video was shot by acclaimed director Jonas Akerlund in Japan.

This listing has now been confirmed and there is also a repeat showing of the video on Thursday 05 October at 7:30am.

The launch issue of UK magazine Source (Autumn 2006 issue) that is given out free to customers of John Lewis and Waitrose features Madonna on the cover and an article about The Madonna Effect.

Fans can download the article from the publishers website at www.greenbee.com or pop into their local John Lewis and Waitrose stores and pick up a free copy - which is available in stores until Tuesday 14 November.

Members of Madonna's official fanclub ICON should log into www.iconmadonna.com to listen to the previously unreleased song History on ICON Radio.

Here are some more previously unpublished fan pictures from the Confessions Tour.

Visit the Confessions Tour gallery to view more pictures taken by madonnalicious visitor Eric at the first show in Amsterdam on Monday 04 September.

 

 

 

 

madonnalicious has received word that UK TV station Channel 4 will premiere the new video for Jump on Wednesday 04 October at 11:05pm.

At the moment this is a last minute addition to their schedules and is still subject to change - which is why it is not listed on their schedules yet.

UPDATE: Evy from www.madonnafanclub.be has spoken to Warner Belgium who confirmed this premiere news - they also confirmed that the video should premiere in Belgium on Friday 06 October or Monday 09 October.

Fans who purchased the Premium seat ticket all got a special gifts at the Tokyo and Osaka shows - included in their gift bags a Confessions Tour pass holder, a tour program and a limited-edition tour tshirt which had Tokyo (or Osaka) and the show dates on the back.

madonnalicious would like to thank all the fans who have sent in Confessions Tour pictures and video clips - the site was inundated with all the submissions and are currently working through them all.

Over the next couple of months madonnalicious will get all these pictures and clips online, so if you haven't seen your pictures or clips yet, don't worry, they will be online soon!

If you still want to submit pictures or clips from the show then contact us here.

Here are the first set of fan pictures from the Moscow show on Tuesday 12 September - these were taken by madonnalicious visitor Lenysik - visit the Confessions Tour gallery to view larger versions and more pictures.

Also included is a picture of Madonna, crew and dancers singing John Lennon's Give Peace A Chance.