'Madonna adopts orphaned baby'
Madonna has adopted a one-year-old orphan from Malawi, according to officials in the African nation.
The 48-year-old singer apparently jetted over to pick out a little boy from a shortlist of 12 impoverished children.
Madge, who already has two children by her husband Guy Ritchie, supports a charity called Raising Malawi, which seeks to help children without parents in the Aids-ridden East African state.
Government spokesman Adrina Michiela said: "She asked us to identify boys only, which we have done after visiting four orphanages in Lilongwe."
Under Malawi law, non-residents who adopt a child normally have to stay with them for 18 months while officials assess their suitability for adoption.
Because Madonna was unable to stay in the country for that length of time, it is believed that the boy will be cared for by the orphanage she set up in the meantime.
Despite officials confirming the adoption, Madonna's publicist Liz Rosenberg, denied the claims.
She said: "She is building an orphanage and child care centre and is involved in other initiatives geared toward helping children orphaned by Aids through the Raising Malawi Organisation. She has not adopted a baby."
Magnusson faces cancer treatment
Former Mastermind presenter and author Magnus Magnusson has been diagnosed with cancer.
He has cancelled a number of public appearances, including a talk at the Cheltenham Literature Festival to mark his 77th birthday.
A statement from the family said the presenter was undergoing tests, but was "in good fettle".
He fronted Mastermind for 25 years and has recently been promoting his new book Fakers, Forgers and Phoneys.
The Festival's co-ordinator Christin Stein said "It is of course very disappointing that he cannot be here, especially as he was also going to be one of the judges in an educational event.
"We are very sorry for the audience who will not have a chance to see him after all."
His daughter, Sally, is also a TV presenter but the family said they had no further comment at the moment.
Cruise and Holmes set wedding day
Hollywood couple Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are to marry in Italy on 18 November, their spokesman has said.
Arnold Robinson told the Associated Press news agency Holmes would wear a dress worn by Giorgio Armani.
The couple became engaged in June 2005, just two months after they were first photographed together in Rome.
Cruise, 44, said he proposed to Holmes, 27, on top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The couple's daughter, Suri, was born in April.
Pictures of the baby were released last month, showing the parents with Suri peeking from inside Cruise's leather jacket.
Cruise's public comments about his relationship with Holmes made headlines. In August, Paramount Pictures and Cruise ended their 14-year working relationship, with the studio claiming "his recent conduct has not been acceptable".
Holmes criticised the media's attitude to the couple in an interview with Vanity Fair magazine, which published the photographs of Suri.
"To see how someone as caring and good as Tom is, to see how things can just get so twisted and turned around... where does it come from?" she said.
