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Apparently just because you're a pretentious pop star, that doesn't mean you can barge into an African nation and take one of their children. A Malawi court today denied Madonna's request to adopt 3 year-old Chifundo "Mercy" James because the Material Girl hasn't lived in the country for the past 18 months as their law requires.

The residency rule was waived in 2006 when Madge brought home "her" son David Banda but a judge today wrote:

    “By removing the very safeguard that is supposed to protect our children, the courts by their pronouncements could actually facilitate trafficking of children by some unscrupulous individuals.”


And why should they bend the rules for Madonna anyway? She's too busy touring and divorcing to spend some time in the country in which her new daughter was born? She's got too much going on to stay a while and absorb the culture she'll need to understand and love in order to pass on to her adopted child?

Will Madge step it up and agree to live in Malawi in order to adopt this child she supposedly loves dearly? Or will she retreat, defeated, to her Central Park West apartment?