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The star’s much-lauded effort to help girls in the African nation of Malawi just imploded. In this week’s Newsweek, Wayne Barrett asks: Is Kabbalah to blame?Late last month, it was reported that Madonna’s Raising Malawi foundation, one of the most visible celebrity-driven charity efforts in the Third World, one that pulled in major donations from around Hollywood and elsewhere, was abandoning its planned mission: to build a $15 million girls’ academy in Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world. A report by the Global Philanthropy Group, which Madonna brought in to represent her as trouble developed in the...

One of the best ways to win a basketball game is to prevent the opponent from doing what it does best. Weirton Madonna did that in spades during Friday's Class A state tournament semifinals, clamping down on Charleston Catholic's offense and pulling away to a hard-fought 53-42 victory.

When bad weather forced a London-bound Virgin flight to reroute from Heathrow Airport to Stansted, passengers had to wait three hours on the tarmac before they could disembark. A select group did, however, get to leave the plane after about an hour. No, they weren't disabled, sick or parents with small, noisy children. The group making an early exit consisted of once-popular singer Madonna and her entourage of about 15 people. Other passengers on the New York-London flight were indignant — especially the other first class fliers, who thought they were entitled to special treatment. As reported by the Daily...

So THAT’s what he’s been up to! We were wondering what Barack Obama could be doing, as the Tea Partiers encircled the White House like coyotees sniffing a dying beast. What was on his mind, when he turned in such lack-lustre performances in India and China? What’s troubling him, that the great communicator should prove so distant and tongue-tied when out on the campaign road? Now we know. The most powerful man on the planet was writing a children’s book. Of Thee I Sing is dedicated to his two daughters and praises a host of American heroes, but of course...

NEW YORK (AFP) – Pop music icon Madonna will launch a chain of fitness clubs, with the first to open in Mexico City next month, her business partners in the new venture announced.

I guess as a youngster she was busy designing wacky, risque outfits when she should have been learning the definitions of words, but Madonna -- the famed "Material Girl" -- uttered a whopper recently misusing the word "irony" when she should have been using the word "hypocrite"… as in what she is. Of course the first thought that anyone has of pop singer Madonna is sex, sex, sex. She has made her entire career on selling her sexuality. From the days of 1983's hit "Holliday," to photo spreads in Playboy and Penthouse, to crawling on stage like a cat in...

She created a look that defined a generation, has served as a muse to Jean Paul Gaultier and starred in campaigns by designers including Louis Vuitton and Dolce & Gabanna. Now Madonna, 51, is set to design her own clothing range - for children. Not content with singing, modelling and acting, the diva is keen to turn her hand to designing. With help from daughter Lourdes,13, the queen of pop is collaborating with U.S. based Iconix Brand Group to create new venture MG Icon. The first collection, 'Material Girl', available at 200 Macy stores and online, will comprise of back-to-school...

One of Madonna's New York neighbors says the superstar's loud music and frequent dance sessions are causing a commotion. Karen George, of Manhattan, lives above Madonna in a building on Central Park. She said in a lawsuit filed Friday against the building's co-op board that the Material Girl is using her apartment as a rehearsal studio, forcing neighbors to endure "blaring music, stomping and shaking walls," for up to three hours each day.

Call it delayed reaction. A year after Madonna called him "emotionally retarded," former husband Guy Ritchie said in an Esquire magazine interview that hit the Web on Wednesday that he still loves her, but that she is "retarded" herself. The 41 year-old British director said Madonna "makes things happen" and works hard at her career. "And, of course, here you go: I still love her," Ritchie told the magazine. "But she's retarded, too." The couple finalized their divorce in a U.K. court last November, after eight years of marriage. They have a 9 year-old son together, and also adopted a...

These days it seems like non-Jews all over the place are trying to take a piece of Jewish learning or history and make it their own. The problem is that in many cases they are copying Jews who just don’t understand the Torah foundation supporting the traditions. See the “Faux Mitzvah” — a party for 13-year-old Gentile children that skips the religious ceremony part. In some cases the non-Jews are being duped, as with Hollywood’s Kabbalah fad which turns sacred texts into little more than red string bracelets and “holy water.” There are those of the Jewish faith who will...

Madonna has joined Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his family in lighting Shabbat candles and reciting a blessing together with Netanyahu's wife Sarah. A statement from Netanyahu's office said the singer spent two hours at the Netanyahu home on Friday evening. Although not Jewish, the 51-year-old pop star claims a special bond with Israel and Jewish tradition. She's been exploring Kabbalah, a form of Jewish mysticism, for more than a decade and has taken the Hebrew name, Esther.

Madonna Rocks Israel With Messages Of Love, Peace, Freedom By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Tel Aviv, Israel ---- September 3, 2009 ..... It had become a magical Odyssey for both Madonna and the Israel public. A much awaited "show" (Madonna does not like to use the term concert) to take place in HaYarkon Park, Tel Aviv in September 2009. At first, the Madonna appearance in Israel was not scheduled in the "Sticky & Sweet" world tour. A global production which started in the summer of 2008 and according to Madonna production company Live Nation and her associates at Warner...

Here is video of Madonna seemingly losing consciousness for a few seconds during a performance in Bulgaria yesterday. She was held up by another performer on stage until she seemed to come around again and continue with the performance. She reportedly passed out again after leaving the stage. . . . . (Watch Video)

One is a pop icon and the other a former contender for the post of Israel's prime minister — but Madonna and Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni appear to have found a lot to talk about. Madonna is in Israel for concerts on Tuesday and Wednesday. Livni's spokesman Gil Messing says the two women dined for more than two hours late Monday at the singer's request. Both wore short-sleeved black dresses and embraced as they emerged from a Tel Aviv restaurant. Messing says the pair decided to keep the content of the conversation private. He said Livni "was very impressed...

Madonna and her entourage splashed into Israel for two shows, but leading Kabbalist Rabbi Yitzchak Batzri expressed sorrow that Israelis put out the red carpet for the non-Jewish star who dabbles in Kabbalah. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Opposition leader Tzipi Livni are among those who will meet Madonna, a Roman Catholic who has adopted the Jewish name “Esther.”

Madonna Booed During Romanian Concert Over Gypsy Remark August 28, 2009 7:13 a.m. EST Anne Lu - Celebrity News Service News Writer Bucharest, Romania (CNS) - Madonna's stance on equality was not warmly received in Romania. The pop superstar was booed during a concert after she mentioned discrimination of gypsies and homosexuals in the country. She told the "Sticky and Sweet" concert crowd in Bucharest, "I've never been to Romania before and I am happy to be here." "But I found out that there is a lot of discrimination against gypsies in Eastern Europe and that makes me very sad,...

Madonna fans are being urged to stay away from her forthcoming Sticky and Sweet tour date in Bulgaria by the country's Orthodox Church. Church of Bulgaria officials have accused the star of showing a "lack of respect" for church rituals. They expressed their "disapproval and disagreement" with her planned show this Saturday in the Bulgarian capital. The concert, at Sofia's Vasil Levski Stadium, is expected to be attended by about 50,000 people.

<p>The singer, 50, is known for religiously following a strict two-hour daily workout, but the effects have been dramatic, even by her standards. Not an inch of fat was evident on her gym-honed body as she was pictured leaving a London restaurant with Brazilian boyfriend Jesus Luz, 22.</p>

No, the material mom and pop superstar isn't toting AK47s to Malawi, Manhattan and beyond. Madonna's weapons of choice are her buff-beyond-belief biceps. Recent images of the singer display a double-barreled mass of sinewy veins that strike fear in the hearts of paparazzi and raise questions in the heads of fans and critics: How and why does a 50-year-old woman get her arms to look like that? "Oftentimes when your body fat is really, really, low, as Madonna's is, you're going to see veins pop," explained Leslie Bonci, director of sports nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. "Her...

RNS-DIGEST-JUNE19 Warsaw, Poland (RNS/ENI) Roman Catholics here are trying to stop a Madonna concert planned for the day the church celebrates the assumption into heaven of Mary, the mother of Jesus. “To make money by holding a concert on such a day by a singer with such a name is ethically dubious,” said Grzegorz Kalwarczyk, chancellor of the Warsaw archdiocese. “Although it will probably go ahead, it is not surprising that people are voicing dissatisfaction, and protesting.” Madonna’s concert in the Polish capital is planned for August 15, which is a public holiday,