BLANTYRE, Malawi — Madonna's appeal of a court ruling denying her request to adopt a 3-year-old girl from Malawi will be heard next month, a court official said yesterday.

The pop star is not required to be present for the appeal, which may last two weeks.

Joseph Chigona, registrar of the High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal, said the case will come before three judges from the Supreme Court of Appeal on May 4.

Madonna — who already has adopted a son, David, from Malawi — has said she still wants to adopt Chifundo "Mercy" James. She was denied because she had not lived in Malawi for the minimum time required of prospective parents.

CURRY TO REPORT FROM IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN

NEW YORK — NBC "Today" show news anchor Ann Curry is heading to two war zones this week.

She is traveling to both Iraq and Afghanistan to report on how the wars are being reshaped under the administration of President Obama. Her reports are to air on both the "Today" show and NBC's "Nightly News."

NBC would say little about her specific reports, except that she will be given some unprecedented access. She may also try to do some reporting in Pakistan. Since 2008, Curry has been to Darfur four times, tried to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and been to the Congo, Serbia, Pakistan, Japan, China and France.

'PRICE IS RIGHT' WILL HAVE GREEN SHOWCASE

LOS ANGELES — Green prizes are coming on down at "The Price Is Right."

In observance of Earth Day, tomorrow's episode of the CBS game show will feature environmentally friendly products including cell phones made of recycled materials and solar charging equipment. Environmentalist and actor Ed Begley Jr. will introduce a showcase that includes an electric bike, golf cart and Toyota Prius hybrid car. Trips offered during the show will be paired with donations to offset carbon emissions.

CHAVEZ'S GIFT TO OBAMA NOW BEST-SELLER

When's the last time you reread that titillating socioeconomic-political manifesto, "Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent"?

The 317-page tome, published in 1971 by Uruguayan Eduardo Galeano, shot up to No. 2 on www.Amazon.com's best-seller list, where it remained yesterday, when Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez presented it as a gift to President Obama at the fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago over the weekend.

The manifesto, which inspired a generation of Latin American leftists, argues that Latin America has suffered 500 years of looting and pillaging of natural resources by outsiders, from colonial Spain in the 1600s to U.S. multinational corporations in the 20th Century.