Madonna to return to adoption-row country

The star caused a furore when she adopted David Banda, now 18 months old, from an orphanage in Malawi last year.

She is returning to the youngster's homeland to continue her work with the Raising Malawi organisation, a grassroots initiative set up to help the country's orphans.

Her spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg denied newspaper reports that the star, who has two other children - Lourdes, 10, and Rocco, six - is returning to the country to adopt another child.

She said: "Madonna is going to Africa to continue her work with the Raising Malawi organisation. She is overseeing the building of a children's healthcare centre. She is absolutely not adopting another baby."

The singer hit the headlines when she whisked David away from his life in poverty-stricken Malawi to her palatial London home in October last year.

Madonna, 48, and her husband Guy Ritchie secured a temporary 18-month custody order from the Malawi courts and hope to adopt him formally.

Adoption experts said the celebrity couple would have undergone rigorous checks before being given permission to adopt the boy.

But there was a backlash in Malawi, with human rights groups going to court to question the apparently speedy decision about David's future.

The star has been involved in the Raising Malawi organisation since its creation.

In August she announced she was to donate three million dollars (£1.5 million) to the country through the charity.

Her partner in the project is Michael Berg, founder of the Kabbalah Centre in Los Angeles.