Joyce Banda, Malawi's new president, has expressed concern over Madonna's adoption of children from her country and criticized her for "changing her mind" over plans to build schools there. Mrs Banda said the pop star was not "barred" from returning to Malawi, but her charitable involvement in the country was over. "Madonna came to Malawi to build a school, an academy like the one Oprah [Winfrey] built in South Africa, but she changed her mind," she said. "I have a problem with a lot of things around the adoption of the children and the changing of the mind and then coming back to build community schools. I don't want to discuss that, I don't want that to be top of my agenda because it doesn't matter. It's something she offered to do and she has changed her mind - that's fine." Madonna, who adopted David and Mercy from Malawian families, set up Raising Malawi to build a pounds 9.4?million academy for 400 girls. She fel...

The 62-year-old president's sister is Anjimile Mtila-Oponyo, a Malawian development worker picked by Madonna to be CEO of her 9.4 million Raising Malawi Academy for Girls for 400 children. It followed her controversial adoption of first David, then Mercy, from Malawian families. But the singer fell out with the charity's local staff including Mrs Mtila-Oponyo when a report accused them of expropriating funds to spend on luxury cars and golf membership. She and others are now suing Madonna's foundation for wrongful termination. Earlier this year, Madonna said she would build 10 schools around the country instead but that suggestion was rejected by the Department of Education, who said the government was "fed up" with her. Mrs Banda's intervention is a first by the Malawian leadership, which is heavily dependent on foreign assistance in its education and health sectors, and effectively closes the door on any further charitable work by Madonna. "Malawi is a ...

Madonna 's "MDNA Tour" just encountered its first setback. The hotly anticipated tour will now open at Tel Aviv, Israel's Ramat Gan Stadium two days later than previously scheduled due to production delays. Concert promoter Live Nation assured that all tickets for the planned May 29 show will be honored at the rescheduled May 31 event. Madonna's last several tours have been major technical achievements, featuring elaborate sets and massive LED screens. Similarly, this show, according to a press release from Live Nation, is set to feature "state of the art technical components including the largest video screens ever created." Looks like those fancy screens need a little more set-up time before the show can go on. Hopefully, M and Co. get whatever production problems the show is facing under control quickly. Her Madgesty has already confirmed 76 concert dates in arenas, stadiums and large outdoor venues, including Quebec Citys historic Plains of Abraham ,...

AFP Relax News 2 hrs 50 mins ago Concert promoter Live Nation announced on Friday that pop star Madonna 's MDNA tour has been pushed back a few days due to production delays . Originally scheduled to open May 29 at Ramat Gan Stadium in Tel Aviv, the tour is now scheduled to launch on May 31. Ticketholders for the May 29 show can use their tickets for admission to the rescheduled dates. The rest of the tour remains the same, with 76 concert dates, and 1.4 million tickets have been sold to date, according to Live Nation . For tickets, visit Madonna 's website . Soldout shows include performances in Berlin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Istanbul, Philadelphia, Boston, Montreal, Quebec City , New York, Washington DC, and Los Angeles. Madonna's 12th album, MDNA , which released on March 26/27, reached number one in some 19 countries. In the US, it debuted at number one in the Billboard 200 chart, but then sales radically dropped thereafter. http://www.madonna.com/tour/ Madonna arriv...

Madonna is reportedly being lined up to perform on The Voice UK. Producers are trying to get the 'Hung Up' singer on an upcoming Sunday night results show in a bid to attract record ratings, the Daily Star Sunday reports. "Getting Madge on to sing is bound to pull in the viewers. You don't get much bigger than her - she's a living legend," a source told the paper. "The show has regularly been getting ratings of over ten million. Having Madonna, plus the all-important results, could push it past the 12 million mark. " X Factor 's finest hour was getting Britney Spears on - but there's no doubt Madonna is a much bigger name. Simon Cowell will be furious if The Voice upstages him with a massive guest performer like Madonna in its first series." Lana Del Rey will perform on tonight's results show (April 29), while Emeli Sand will sing next weekend . Madonna recently claimed her 9th UK number one album with her! latest release ...

AFP Relax News 2 hrs 50 mins ago Concert promoter Live Nation announced on Friday that pop star Madonna 's MDNA tour has been pushed back a few days due to production delays . Originally scheduled to open May 29 at Ramat Gan Stadium in Tel Aviv, the tour is now scheduled to launch on May 31. Ticketholders for the May 29 show can use their tickets for admission to the rescheduled dates. The rest of the tour remains the same, with 76 concert dates, and 1.4 million tickets have been sold to date, according to Live Nation . For tickets, visit Madonna 's website . Soldout shows include performances in Berlin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Istanbul, Philadelphia, Boston, Montreal, Quebec City , New York, Washington DC, and Los Angeles. Madonna's 12th album, MDNA , which released on March 26/27, reached number one in some 19 countries. In the US, it debuted at number one in the Billboard 200 chart, but then sales radically dropped thereafter. http://www.madonna.com/tour/ Madonna arriv...

Madonna 's "MDNA Tour" just encountered its first setback. The hotly anticipated tour will now open at Tel Aviv, Israel's Ramat Gan Stadium two days later than previously scheduled due to production delays. Concert promoter Live Nation assured that all tickets for the planned May 29 show will be honored at the rescheduled May 31 event. Madonna's last several tours have been major technical achievements, featuring elaborate sets and massive LED screens. Similarly, this show, according to a press release from Live Nation, is set to feature "state of the art technical components including the largest video screens ever created." Looks like those fancy screens need a little more set-up time before the show can go on. Hopefully, M and Co. get whatever production problems the show is facing under control quickly. Her Madgesty has already confirmed 76 concert dates in arenas, stadiums and large outdoor venues, including Quebec Citys historic Plains of Abraham ,...

LOS ANGELES, April 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The highly anticipated opening of Madonna 's MDNA Tour is now planned for Thursday, May 31st at Ramat Gan Stadium in Tel Aviv, two days later than previously scheduled due to production delays. The change in the opening date was announced today by promoters, Live Nation and Shuki Weiss. All tickets dated May 29th will be honored at the rescheduled May 31st event. The Material Girl has already announced 76 concert dates in arenas,stadiums and special outdoor sites throughout Europe and North America with confirmed sales of over 1.4 million tickets to date.The MDNA tour has already sold out in Berlin (2 shows sold out), Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Istanbul (45,000 tickets sold) as well as Philadelphia, Boston, Montreal, Quebec City (70,000 tickets), New York's Yankee Stadium (73,000 tickets over 2 shows), Washington DC and the Staples Center in LA. The tour has recently announced additional concert dates in Mexico and South America, wh...

The upcoming Madonna photo auction is sure to turn some heads. When it first landed in bookstores across the nation back in the 90s, the Like a Virgin singers explicit coffee table book Sex was insanely controversial. Some stores refused to carry the tome, while others kept it away from prying eyes by securing copies behind the counter. After seeing the book some years later, I couldnt understand what all the fuss was about. Sure, the book featured some pretty graphic nudity, as well as some uncomfortable moments with cult actor Udo Kier, but it wasnt as shockingly offense as the media made it out to be. Maybe that says something about me as a person. Fans of the book with a little extra scratch in their pockets will likely turn out to bid on an unused photo from the Sex sessions which features Madonna posing in the buff. The photo, which finds the singer lounging nakedly in a chair while smoking a cigarette. Heres hoping Lourdes doesnt catch wind of this photo, otherwise her mom will...

A black and white photograph featuring a naked Madonna smoking a cigarette in bed is expected to fetch $US8000 ($A7780) at auction. The sexy shot was taken in 1990 by Steven Meisel, the photographer who worked on the pop superstar's Sex book in 1992, and it was previously purchased by its current owner from a New York gallery. The nude image is now set to go under the hammer at Bonhams auction house in New York on 8 May. Bonhams representative Judith Eurich said, "This is an absolutely stunning image and it is just a beautiful tone of grey. It is not just black and white it is grey and silvery. "Madonna was posing for a number of photographers at the time this was taken in the 1990s when she was in her early 30s. "She was going through a phase of having bleach blonde hair and heavy dark eye make-up that gave her a dramatic look - and of course she has a gorgeous body. She is a very healthy person and I'd imagine the cigarette is just a prop to make her look sexy ...

A nude picture of Madonna is expected to sell for thousands at auction. The photograph was taken for but never used in the singer's controversial 1992 book 'Sex' - in which she posed for a series of X-rated photographs - and will go under the hammer at Bonhams' auction house in New York next month for an expected 5,000. The snap, taken by photographer Steven Meisel, shows a topless 32-year-old Madonna reclining in bed while smoking a cigarette. The sale will come as a blow to the 53-year-old pop superstar who has previously claimed she has never been able to put the erotic tome behind her. She said: 'I hope that's not the only thing that I'm identified with - taking my clothes off. I have done other things. There's a lot more to Madonna than taking your clothes off.' However, she has also defended the book as a part of her 'development' as an artist. Madonna previously said: 'When I published 'Sex', that was a subject that I was i...

People News Apr 24, 2012, 10:03 GMT Madonna A nude picture of Madonna is expected to sell for thousands at auction. The photograph was taken for but never used in the singer's controversial 1992 book 'Sex' - in which she posed for a series of X-rated photographs - and will go under the hammer at Bonhams' auction house in New York next month for an expected 5,000. The snap, taken by photographer Steven Meisel, shows a topless 32-year-old Madonna reclining in bed while smoking a cigarette. The sale will come as a blow to the 53-year-old pop superstar who has previously claimed she has never been able to put the erotic tome behind her. She said: 'I hope that's not the only thing that I'm identified with - taking my clothes off. I have done other things. There's a lot more to Madonna than taking your clothes off.' However, she has also defended the book as a part of her 'development' as an artist. Madonna previously said: 'When I published ...

Madonna has hired a lookalike of her daughter Lourdes to throw the paparazzi off-scent during her forthcoming MDNA world tour. The 'Hung Up' singer - who has also taken on five clones for herself - took the drastic step of getting a body double for her 15-year-old daughter following advice from Lourdes' father Carlos Leon. A source said: 'Carlos suggested hiring a Lourdes lookalike to take the pressure off the teenager.' The move has apparently worked wonders for Madonna's relationship with her first-born - who recently upset her famous mother when she was photographed smoking. The source explained to the Daily Star newspaper: 'Things have been tense and difficult between Madge and Lourdes. 'Madge is tense and overworked in preparation for the biggest tour of her life, while Lourdes is establishing her independence and trying to make her own mark on the industry. 'But they have bonded over finding the perfect girl to pretend to be Lourdes. It's b...

A nude photograph of Madonna is going up for sale. The provocative image was taken by fashion photographer Steven Meisel but was never included in her controversial 1992 book Sex. The 1990 photo is expected to fetch over $10,000 when it goes under the hammer at Bonhams in New York next month. NSFW PHOTO: Go to The Sun for the nude Madonna photo. Madonna who would have been around 32 years old when the photo was taken is featured sporting bleach-blonde hair and dark eye make-up. A strategically placed bed sheet saves the shot from indecency as she sprawls out naked on her mattress. HOT SHOTS: Madonna. She stares seductively at the camera as she places a lit cigarette into her mouth with a pair of manicured fingertips. Her tome Sex contained a series of sexually provocative and explicit images, all captured by Meisel. Despite a poor critical reception, the book went on to shift 1.5 million copies in a matter of days. It coincided with the release of her equally raunchy fifth studio alb...

AFP 1 hr 59 mins ago American pop diva Madonna's Malawi charity on Friday pledged to continue its work as the country makes a new beginning under President Joyce Banda . "This is a critical time for Malawi as President Banda attempts to steer Malawi back toward more successful times. It is also a crucial moment for the friends of Malawi to continue to show their support," Raising Malawi said in a statement. "Raising Malawi remains a committed friend to Malawi and has expanded support in 2012 into the area of education." Banda was sworn in on April 7 as Malawi's first female president after the sudden death of President Bingu wa Mutharika two days earlier. Raising Malawi in January announced it would build 10 rural schools, changing focus after abandoning a failed $15 million-project to set up a girls academy. The plans angered education officials in the country over not being consulted on the change of focus. Ground was broken on the first school in centr...

. On Tuesday Madonna Going South was a top story. Here is the recap: (popmusiclife) Madonna has added a series of South American shows to her MDNA World Tour. The pop icon has confirmed performances in Mexico City, Mexico; Medellin, Colombia; Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Porto Alegre, Brazil as well as Santiago, Chile. The Madonna MDNA World Tour begins May 29th 2012 in Tel Aviv, Israel will stop in 26 European cities before starting in North America in August. The shows will include arenas, stadiums and special outdoor sights. - more on this story popmusiclife is an official news provider for the antiMusic.com.Copyright popmusiclife - Excerpted here with permission. Madonna Tour Dates/Tickets Madonna CDs, DVDs and MP3s Madonna T-shirts and Posters Madonna CDs, vinyl and rarities antiMUSIC News featured on RockNews.info and Yahoo News . ...end

AFP 1 hr 59 mins ago American pop diva Madonna's Malawi charity on Friday pledged to continue its work as the country makes a new beginning under President Joyce Banda . "This is a critical time for Malawi as President Banda attempts to steer Malawi back toward more successful times. It is also a crucial moment for the friends of Malawi to continue to show their support," Raising Malawi said in a statement. "Raising Malawi remains a committed friend to Malawi and has expanded support in 2012 into the area of education." Banda was sworn in on April 7 as Malawi's first female president after the sudden death of President Bingu wa Mutharika two days earlier. Raising Malawi in January announced it would build 10 rural schools, changing focus after abandoning a failed $15 million-project to set up a girls academy. The plans angered education officials in the country over not being consulted on the change of focus. Ground was broken on the first school in centr...