- A High Court in Malawi's capital Lilongwe had granted US pop star Madonna and her husband British filmmaker Guy Ritchie right to permanently adopt toddler David Banda.
"All I can say is that the adoption has been given. Madonna can go ahead and adopt the child," said the couple's lawyer Allan Chinula.
The couple was absent at the time of ruling, which came as little surprise, considering Malawian government's backing of the adoption, a deviation from national laws that ban adoptions by non-residents.
The couple obtained custody of David in October 2006, amid hues and cries from child rights activists. David, then 13 months old, was given up for adoption by his father on the death of his mother.
After receiving a favourable report from the Ministry of Women and Child Development on their care of young Banda at their London home over the past 19 months, the court ordered the couple firm adoption right.
Madonna's critics accused her of hiding behind her celebrity status to "fast-track" David's adoption and got away with it, a claim the pop singer had vehemently denied.
“People always ask me why I chose Malawi. And I tell them, I didn’t. It chose me," she was quoted as saying.
She explained how she got a phone call from a Malawian woman, Victoria Keelan, who told her that there were over one million children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.
Keelan told Madonna that there weren't enough orphanages and that the children were everywhere - in some cases - become victims of abdcution or rape. Madonna felt embarrassed when told that she could make positive impact.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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