Malawi court rejects Madonna adoption

Malawi court rejects Madonna adoption

LILONGWE, Malawi — In a surprise move, a judge on Friday rejected Madonna’s request to adopt a second child from Malawi even though the country’s child welfare minister had supported Madonna’s application to raise the 3-year-old girl.

Madonna’s lawyer, Alan Chinula, refused to discuss the ruling further, saying only that he had passed it on to the pop star, who was in the southern African nation but did not attend Friday’s court hearing. Madonna can appeal the decision to Malawi’s Supreme Court.

A judge who did not make the ruling but saw it, and another lawyer present when the ruling was made said Madonna was rejected because of residency rules. Malawi adoption regulations require that prospective parents live in the southern African nation for at least 18 months.

The residency rule was waived in 2006, when Madonna was allowed to take her adopted son, David, to London before his adoption was finalized in 2008. It was not clear why Judge Esme Chombo ruled differently Friday. Another judge had handled Madonna’s previous adoption case.

In court papers made public Friday, Madonna said Chifundo’s grandmother was unable to care for her. The girl’s mother, according to the affidavit, died at age 14 not long after her baby was born Jan. 22, 2006. There was no mention of the father in the affidavit. The mother’s brother is listed as having consented to the adoption.

Orphans usually are taken in by their extended families in Africa, but AIDS and other diseases have taken a toll on those who might have traditionally provided support. In villages across the continent, frail elderly grandmothers do their best to care for children, but many end up in orphanages or on the streets.

16 million watched series finale of ‘ER’

NEW YORK — Nielsen Media Research says that 16.4 million people watched the two-hour finale of “ER.” That’s the most-watched swan song for a television drama since “Murder She Wrote” in 1996.

The groundbreaking medical drama called it quits Thursday after 15 years on NBC. It ended on a hopeful note with the daughter of Dr. Mark Greene eager to practice medicine where her father did.

The audience Thursday night was nearly double what it has been for this final season, yet still half what it was when “ER” and NBC’s “must-see” Thursday night lineup ruled television.

Today’s birthdays

Author-poet Maya Angelou is 81. Bandleader Hugh Masekela is 70. Actor Craig T. Nelson (“Coach”) is 65. Actress Christine Lahti (“Chicago Hope”) is 59. Singer Steve Gatlin of the Gatlin Brothers is 58. Writer-producer David E. Kelley (“Ally McBeal,” “The Practice”) is 53. Actor Robert Downey Jr. is 44. Actress Nancy McKeon is 43. Singer Josh Todd of Buckcherry is 38. Singer Jill Scott is 37. Singer Kelly Price is 36. Actress Jamie Lynn Spears (“Zoey 101”) is 18.