Madonna Trip To Malawi

All set to add to her brood of children, Madonna visited Chkhota Village, where she has bought land to build part of her school for girls, in Malawi on Sunday – but not without controversy.

During the visit, Madge was shown a map for the land she had purchased while she stood alongside her Chief Advisor of Pediatric Care for her Raising Malawi Charity, Dr. Eric Borgstein.

The singer, 50, was accompanied by her daughter Lourdes, 12, and sons Rocco, 8, and David, 3, whom she adopted from Malawi last year. And she and Lourdes visited Chinkhota Village, where Madonna has purchased a large tract of land to construct a girls' school there, which sources say is modeled on the Leadership Academy for Girls that Oprah Winfrey built in South Africa.

Although the village chief thanked the singer for her "generosity," some residents were less enthusiastic amid fears that they would lose their ancestral lands and crop fields.

"We are told to leave our gardens after this year's harvest; we are told our houses are to be pulled down – but nobody is talking about compensation," said Esinati Nkhoma, a local mother of four. "Where will we move to?"

A senior government official said issues of compensation for the land are being handled by Raising Malawi, the charity established by Madonna.

When a journalist asked Madonna whether she was worried about the land concerns, she shouted back, "No!" Later, Madonna and Lourdes were heard asking villagers "Muli bwanji?," which translates to "How are you?" in Malawi's native tongue, Chichewa.

Coming up tomorrow,on a Monday morning, Madonna has a scheduled appearance before a High Court judge that could allow her to have Mercy that very same morning.

“Madonna will appear before a judge ... to petition the court to certify her adoption,” a source close to the situation told Us magazine. “Madonna will definitely be granted a temporary court order to allow her to take the child away with her.”

But courts records show she plans to adopt 3-year-old Mercy James, whose single teenage mother died at age 18.

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Official: Madonna And Guy Ritchie To Divorce By Christmas

Madonna looked exhausted and frazzled as she returned to her New York apartment last night - as friends and media reports asserted she and Guy Ritchie would be divorced by the holidays.

After almost six months of rumor, the Hollywood power couple is expected to terminate their eight-year marriage.

According to reports, the couple will be issuing a statement within the next two days, after a series of "shouting matches" spoiled their current attempts at reconciliation.

A crafty divorce settlement could pocket director Guy Ritchie close to $50 million, and the couple does not have a pre-nuptial agreement.

Reports suggest that Madonna has already hired Fiona Shackleton, the lawyer who helped Paul McCartney in his courtroom encounter with Heather Mills, and who helped him lower her take on his $600 million to only $20 million.

A declaration by Ritchie for a portion of Madonna's wealth would be based on their 10-year marriage, his support of her career and the fact that they have two children together, Rocco, eight, and David Banda, two.

Madonna's resolve to adopt a second child from Africa is rumored to be one of the major reasons for the divorce. Ritchie aggressively disagrees with the idea of adding more children to the family by adopting third world children, and their marriage was placed under tremendous strain several years ago when they adopted David from Malawi.

It is not clear where Madonna's daughter Lourdes, 12, Rocco and David will live after the divorce.

The two were married at Skibo Castle in Scotland in December 2000, just five months after the singer gave birth to their son Rocco. Madonna is also mother to Lourdes, 12, from a previous relationship to Carlos Leon.

Madonna is currently on the road performing with her world concert tour, and Guy Ritchie is currently directing the adventure mystery film "Sherlock Holmes", due next year and starring Robert Downey Jr., Rachel McAdams and Jude Law.

The film is an adaptation of the famous detective series where Detective Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and his stalwart partner Watson (Jude Law) engage in a battle of wits and brawn with a nemesis whose plot is a threat to all of England.
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