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Happy (Belated) Birthday, Madonna! The Material Girl turned 51 on Aug. 16, celebrating in style in Portofino, Italy, with kids Lourdes Leon, David Banda and Mercy James. Boytoy Jesus Luz also joined the festivities as the family spent time relaxing and waving to fans.
After a boat ride, Madge and the kids went for a dip, jumping off a yacht to enjoy a swim.
While Madonna works, her kids play!
The Material Girl is currently touring Europe with her Sticky & Sweet show, but she’s making sure her four children, Lourdes, Rocco, David Banda and the newly adopted Mercy James, aren’t just holed up in hotel rooms.
On Friday, Madge’s brood spent the day at The Tuilleries Gardens in Paris, where they went on rides, played games, posed for photos with each other.
50 PHOTOS OF THEIR FUN-DAY FRIDAY IN THE GALLERY!
Madonna will know tomorrow whether or not the Malawian High Court will let her take home four-year-old Mercy James, the AP reports.
Madge’s lawyer Alan Chinula broke the news, saying that the ruling will be issued at 9 a.m. Friday.
The Material Girl appealed to the High Court after a lower court denied her bid to adopt Mercy because she hadn’t been screen in that country for the proper length of time, a requirement not in place when she adopted son David Banda from Malawi in 2006.
Madonna has founded a charity, Raising Malawi, which helps feed, educate and provide medical care for some of Malawi’s more than 1 million orphans, half of whom have lost parents to AIDS.
So it looks like Madonna will get her way after all…? (ed. note We’re leaving a big question mark on that one as we stay tuned)
A Malawian court is preparing to overturn the decision not to allow the superstar to adopt orphan Mercy James from the country, according to reports in the UK.
Back in March a court said that she would not be allowed to take the four-year-old back to America with her because there is a rule that prevents people who have not been living in Malawi for less than 18 month from adopting there – a rule that was not enforced when she adopted her youngest son, David Banda, from the same orphanage in 2006.
But her lawyers appealed the decision to keep Mercy in Malawi, and now several British newspapers claim that the three judges hearing their case will overrule the earlier decision.
The reports claim that she now has the backing of two of the judges, with a third close to giving her support as well, so it is said that the official ruling will be made next Sunday.
Did anybody really doubt that the Material Girl would get what she wanted one way or another?
It’s only a matter of weeks before Madonna will begin the process of appealing the court verdict that denied her adoption of Malawian child, Mercy James.
The Associated Press reports that the pop star’s appeal will be heard by three judges on the Supreme Court of Appeal on May 4, but Madonna does not have to present at the time.
"As with all court cases involving infants, this one will be in chambers, not in an open court, Joseph Chigona, Registrar of the High Court tells the AP.
Madonna was in the country earlier this month in her attempt to adopt Chifundo "Mercy" James, 3. Her son David Banda was also adopted from Malawi in a highly controversial episode in 2006. Normal procedure in the country is for adoptive parents to live in the country for 18 to 24 months until their suitability is assessed. Madonna’s adoption of David did not conform to those guidelines.
"We believe the lower court judge erred by basing her judgment on an archaic law of over 50 years ago," says Madge’s lawyer, Alan Chinula, of her chances of bringing Mercy home.
Madonna said recently of her wishes to be a mother to Mercy, "I want to provide Mercy with a home, a loving family environment and the best education and health care possible. And it’s my hope that she, like David, will one day return to Malawi and help the people of their country."
MADONNA AND FAMILY IN MALAWI:
Have a news tip or great photo you want to tell us about? Shoot us an e-mail: tips@okmagazine.com
Apparently Madonna is buying a new home. No, it’s not another New York penthouse, London townhouse or a villa on Lake Como.
This time Madge is moving to the Third World.
Reports from Britain are claiming that Her Madgesty is building a "family home" in Malawi — the country that has just refused to allow her to adopt three-year-old Mercy James.
It’s said that Madonna thinks that it would be good for her youngest son David — who is also from Malawi — to have that "connection to his birthplace."
“Madonna has a big, beautiful plot of land over there already," a source has said. "She’s planning to build a girl’s school in the Chinkhota village and those designs are well under way.
“But she’s gone back to the designers and asked if they could accommodate a family home on the plot or on adjacent land.”
Earlier this month, a Malawian court told Madonna that she wouldn’t be allowed to take a second child from the country because she had not been a resident there for 18 months.
She has already launched an appeal against the decision.
Have a news tip or great photo you want to tell us about? Shoot us an e-mail: tips@okmagazine.com
PHOTOS OF MADONNA & FAMILY IN MALAWI:
Only hours after she had been denied the chance to adopt by a Malawian High Court, lawyers for Madonna have filed an appeal with the African nation’s Supreme Court.
"I just filed the notice of appeal this afternoon on instructions from my client," the singer’s legal eagle, Alan Chinula, told Reuters on Friday afternoon.
Earlier in the day, the High Court of Malawi denied the singer’s request to adopt a young orphaned girl.
"Anyone could come to Malawi and quickly arrange for an adoption that might have grave consequences on the very children that the law seeks to protect," Judge Esimie Chombo stated in her ruling.
Though Madge’s bid to adopt 4-year-old Mercy James has been a divisive issue in Malawi, the court’s decision comes as a bit of a suprise. Only yesterday, Malawian Information Minister Patricia Kaliati had come out in support of Madonna, saying that the Material Girl’s support for Malawian orphans had proven her worth as an adoptive mother.
However, it ultimately came down to the fact that Madonna did not fulfill the residency requirements for adopting a child in Malawi. The singer has no permanent home in the African nation, where a residency period of at least 18 months is usually required before being allowed to adopt.
Of course, the pop star was able to overcome this requirement when she adopted her first child from Malawi. In 2006, Madonna began the controversial process of becoming mom to infant boy David Banda. That adoption was not completed until 2008.
PHOTOS OF MADONNA & FAMILY IN MALAWI:
Madonna could be one very important step closer to fulfilling her dream of adopting a second child from Malawi – the country’s government is throwing their support behind her, the information minister tells Reuters.
"Madonna has been good to us, she is supporting over 25,000 orphans in this country and she has proved that she can take care of David," says Malawian Information Minister Patricia Kaliati. "Very few rich and famous people can take time to fly all the way to Malawi to support our children. We support her adoption process."
The High Court is expected to make their decision in the case of Madonna adopting Mercy James tomorrow.
The pop icon’s adoption of Malawian David Banda was at the center of controversy in 2006, when critics protested that she was able to get around the usually strict adoption regulations because of her fame.
Well, this could be inconvenient: On the heels of the news that Madonna is trying to adopt another toddler from Malawi, comes a report that $3.7 million worth of cash from her charity, Raising Malawi, has yet to be accounted for.
FoxNews.com’s FOX 411 column claims they’ve tried to figure out where the funds raised at a Feb. 6, 2008 star-studded event. The Gucci Foundation and the Kabbalah-backed Raising Malawi were going to split the proceeds with UNICEF. However, Gucci has yet to file a Form 990 tax form, which would document the funds’ whereabouts.
Calls and emails from FoxNews.com to Raising Malawi have not been returned, the site says.
Madonna is currently waiting to hear whether her adoption of four-year-old orphan Mercy James will be approved; she adopted David Banda from the struggling country in 2007.
MADONNA IN MALAWI:
