No Mercy for Madonna ; 'Whaaat!' Yells the Star As a Malawi Judge Rejects Her Bid to Adopt Little Mercy. So Did the Private Jet, the Chateau Lafitte and the Displays of Obscene Wealth Turn a Nation Against Her? [Eire Region]

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A JUDGE faced down Madonna yesterday and rejected her petition to adopt four-year-old Mercy James.

Esme Chombo's dramatic ruling was announced on the steps of Lilongwe's High Court in a rainstorm shortly before 11am local time yesterday. The law, she said in her ruling, stated that an adoption could not be permitted to anyone who was not resident in Malawi, noting that Madonna had jetted in just days prior to Monday's hearing.

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No Mercy for Madonna ; 'Whaaat!' Yells the Star As a Malawi Judge Rejects Her Bid to Adopt Little Mercy. So Did the Private Jet, the Chateau Lafitte and the Displays of Obscene Wealth Turn a Nation Against Her? [Eire Region]

'The issue of residence, I find, is the key upon which the question of adoption rests, and it is the very bedrock of protection that our children need; it must, therefore, not be tampered with.

'As wisely put by G. K. Chesterton: "Don't ever take a fence down until you know the reason why it was put up."'

Madonna was not in court to hear the devastating ruling, though her lawyer, Alan Chinula, did attend -- but he left through a back entrance after learning the news.

According to one source, Madonna screamed 'Whaaaat!' when he told her the judge's decision.

'She kept burying her face in her hands,' said the source. 'She was really in shock.'

But within hours of the ruling, her lawyer filed a ...

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