QUICK TAKES - April 4, 2009

In a surprise move, a judge on Friday rejected Madonna’s request to adopt a second child from Malawi and said it would set a dangerous precedent to bend rules requiring that prospective parents live in the country for some period.

Madonna’s lawyer, Alan Chinula, said later that he had appealed the decision.

The country’s child welfare minister had come out Thursday in support of the pop superstar’s application to adopt 3-year-old Chifundo “Mercy” James.

But in a lengthy ruling Friday, Judge Esme Chombo sided with critics who have said exceptions should not be made for the singer, who has set up a major development project for the impoverished, AIDS-stricken African country.