Madonna has responded to harsh comments levelled at her that suggested she has encouraged people to travel overseas and adopt children, while ignoring the kids that need help back home.

Professor Ken Browne, a British pscyhologist, hit the headlines recently by dubbing the whole thing the “Madonna effect”.

But Madonna has hit back in an interview with New York magazine.

“That’s a grumpy person. You know, there isn’t an AIDS crisis in England,” Madonna says. “Yes, there are children that need to be adopted here (in America) and in the U.K., but no one’s going to die in an orphanage in America.”

In addition to the previous story about Madonna’s comments in the latest Vanity Fair, here she is on the cover of the current magazine:

Great picture, don’t ya think?

Madonna has not fallen out of love with New York, despite telling Vanity Magazine the city is no longer the same vibrant center of the arts it once was.

The city may have “lost its buzz” to Madonna, but she still has a big spot in her heart for the place that launched her career as an international superstar.

Madonna explains: “What I said was taken slightly out of context because I really love New York. That’s where my career started. I was referring to, in a way, missing those early days when the art world, the downtown scene, the music world were colliding. So it was a reference to missing that time and a lot of those people. I am not plugged in the way I used to be, and I miss those days.

“When I first came to New York my friends were Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. There was this crazy interface for me of art and life, and I don’t see that so much anymore in New York.”

Madonna has been announced as the headline act for Radio 1’s One Big Weekend music festival in Kent.

The Queen of Pop will thrill fans with material from her new album “Hard Candy” on Maidstone’s Mote Park on May 10th.

Also appearing on the Saturday bill with Madonna are The Enemy, The Fratellis and The Pigeon Detectives.

Music fans in the UK can get free tickets for the event by registering on the One Big Weekend website here. Tickets will be allocated mostly to those living nearby the host site.

Madonna yesterday celebrated going to number one in the UK with her hot new track “4 Minutes” featuring Justin Timberlake.

The Queen of Pop topped the singles chart for the 13th time in her career - that’s a record for any female recording artist in the UK. Her closest rival is Kylie Minogue who has enjoyed chart success seven times.

The track is taken from Madonna’s forthcoming album “Hard Candy” which is scheduled to drop in shops next Monday.

“4 Minutes” deposed British hip-hop star Estelle at one, who had enjoyed four consecutive weeks at the chart summit with his track “American Boy” featuring Kanye West.

Madonna has posted a funny video online of herself vacuuming on the set of her “4 minutes video”.

The video is apparently a response to fans who have been posting homemade videos of her new hit single on the youtube site.

The Queen of Pop tells fans: “All you people out there who are making videos to my single, you’ve got to clean up after yourself.”

Madonna is set to end her forthcoming Hard Candy tour on a high in November by performing in Dubai.

British newspaper The Sun reports the singer is negotiating with local businessman about the gig, and could receive as much as £7.5 million for putting on the show - bringing her world tour to a close.

The Queen of Pop is also said to be in negotiations to play a private gig in the UAE, for which she could earn £5million.

Madonna made a positive impression on Richard E. Grant with her directional debut “Filth and Wisdom”.

Grant starred in the film, and said he was full of admiration for the material girl after the experience of working with her on the project.

“She is somebody who is so determined to stretch in every direction and I really admire that,” Contactmusic quoted him as saying.

“Believe me, the number of directors that I have worked with who don’t have half her ability makes me believe she has a real talent,” he added.

Soft Cell singer Marc Almond has revealed Madonna once lived in his old London apartment when she was first starting out in the music business, and it was a real dump.

“I didn’t meet her, but I was friends with her record sleeve designer,” he said. “Madonna was about to do her first promotional tour and our friend asked if she could stay at my bedsit in Earls Court while I was away.

“It was a hell-hole. There were prostitutes upstairs, junkies downstairs, and it was a bare room with a bed, nylon sheets, and a kitchenette with dirty plates and a lamp.

“I’ve always felt ashamed that she stayed in such a pit. If I’d known in 1983 how huge she’d become, I’d have cut up the sheets and sold them on ebay.”

Vandals have sabotaged an enormous poster featuring Madonna by appearing to make her weep.

They targeted the 250 sq ft image advertising her new range for fashion store H&M by daubing the poster with green paint.

The culprits climbed the scaffolding to which the mesh advertising banner was attached, cut a hole in one of the eyes and poured paint through.

The poster, featuring two images of the 48-year-old superstar, is being replaced today at a cost of around £6,000.

The attack, near Old Street roundabout in Shoreditch, is believed to have taken place on Monday night or early on Tuesday.

Nobody has owned up yet, but Madonna has recently been criticised by anti-fur campaigners for wearing a coat made of chinchilla skins.

Sales of her new range for H&M are believed to be below expectations, despite huge advertising.

Malcolm Brasseur, managing director of BlowUp Media, which produced the poster, said the vandalism was “disappointing.”

A spokesman for H&M said: “We are looking into this, to see how it has happened.”