Women Affairs

The Malawi Government has applauded pop diva Madonna's efforts to put the plight of the country's Aids orphans on the global stage and raising money to support them. The American singer pledged last week to work with luxury goods maker Gucci to raise at least US$2 million ($2.68) million for Malawi's orphans - numbering more than a million. Madonna and the Italian firm will host a fundraising event with dinner, musical performance and a party in February to mark the opening of Gucci's largest store in the world, on New York's Fifth Avenue. Malawi's Information Minister, Patricia Kaliati, said: "What she is doing for the orphans of this country, very few superstars like her can do that - she has managed to raise their plight on the world stage. "Madonna has built clinics in rural areas where the government has failed to reach. Because of that, she has saved many lives of pregnant mothers who could have died." The bid by the pop star and her movie d...

Madonna is joining forces with luxury goods-maker Gucci to raise funds for orphans in Malawi, the impoverished southern African nation where she has been trying to adopt a child since last year. The American pop star and Gucci will host a fund-raising event with dinner, a musical performance and a party on February 6 next year to mark the opening of Gucci's largest store in the world, on New York's Fifth Avenue. Madonna said the event will benefit UNICEF and the charity she co-founded in 2006, Raising Malawi, which focuses on trying to end the poverty and hardship suffered by Malawi's 1 million orphans, many of whose parents died of AIDS. "I am grateful that Gucci is joining forces with me to bring attention to a country with millions of children in desperate need of our help," Madonna said in a statement. "Raising Malawi has already done tremendous work in helping these children. But we have much more to do and this event will surely bring us closer to our g...

The music industry has grown accustomed to prophecies of doom over the past few years and news that Madonna and Radiohead have abandoned their former paymasters has bolstered the perception that the end of the major record label is nigh. Madonna - the most successful female artist of all time - has ended a 25-year relationship with Warner Music in favour of a lucrative deal with Live Nation, a company that organises live events and owns several venues. The deal follows the recent excitement around Radiohead's decision to ditch EMI and offer their new album for download with the consumer choosing what to pay - a move set to be echoed by The Charlatans. Earlier this year, Prince gave away his new album to readers of the Mail on Sunday. Meanwhile, a slew of yesteryear's superstars, including Paul McCartney and Joni Mitchell, have signed record deals with Hear Music, which is owned by the coffee chain Starbucks. It appears that artists of all calibres are forsaking the traditional ...

Reuter Madonna and disco queen Donna Summer are among nine acts nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as the hall embraces more musical genres. Other nominees include US rock singer John Mellencamp, Canadian poet-singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, 1960s English band The Dave Clark Five and instrumental rock band The Ventures. Also nominated are New York-based funk group Chic, rap pioneer Afrika Bambaataa and hip-hop group The Beastie Boys, reflecting the Hall of Fame's willingness to accept a diversity of genres. Five-hundred music industry professionals will choose five of the nominees to be inducted at a ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel next March. Last year, rap group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were the first hip-hop artists to be inducted. Chic, the Dave Clark Five and Mellencamp have been nominated previously. Artists become eligible for Hall of Fame induction 25 years after the release of their first record and are represented at a permanent exhibition a...

US pop star Madonna's attempts to adopt a Malawian child hit a snag after the court-appointed official on the case was refused permission to travel to Britain. One of Malawi's leading weeklies reported today that the Minister of Women and Child Development Kate Kainja refused to allow Penstone Kilembe to travel to asses the suitability of Madonna and her husband, film director Guy Ritchie. The minister was not immediately available for comment but Kilembe confirmed the minister had stopped him making the trip. Madonna took David Banda last October when he was 13 months old after his father Yohane Banda had placed him in an orphanage following the death of his wife. The High Court of Malawi appointed Kilembe to travel to Britain twice and was to have relied on his testimony in ruling whether Madonna should adopt the child in a hearing next year. The Malawi News newspaper reported that the minister accused Kilembe of obtaining an air ticket and money from Madonna without governme...

Madonna has stunned fellow passengers by pulling out a syringe mid-flight and shooting up with vitamins, news reports say. Sources claim that Madge endured a seven-hour long trans-Atlantic flight without any food before giving herself the shocking shot. "Just before landing she brought out the vials of vitamins and injected herself," a passenger on the flight told Metro.co.uk. "Seven hours is a long time to go without eating… she was also very quiet and only spoke to the air staff to ask for water." A spokesperson for the 49-year-old wouldn't comment on whether the songstress was using vitamin jabs. Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan are two other celebrities rumoured to be using the energy-boosting injections. 'They can be useful for the elderly and the very young, but generally they're unnecessary," nutrition scientist Anna Denny said. "We wouldn't recommend taking them without consulting a GP first."