Telefonica on Saturday pulled out of negotiations to acquire a euro7.15 billion stake in Brazil's leading cell phone company Vivo

MADRID Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica on Saturday pulled out of negotiations to acquire a euro7.15 billion ($9.3 billion) stake in Brazil’s leading cell phone company Vivo. Telefonica said in a statement to Madrid’s stock exchange early Saturday that the deal fell through after Portugal Telecom’s board of directors failed to accept the Spanish company’s offer by the deadline.”The deal has been extinguished,” Telefonica said.Though PT shareholders voted two weeks ago to accept the offer, the Portuguese government used special voting rights to block the sale, citing national interests.The European Union’s Court of Justice then ruled that the Portuguese government’s blocking of the deal was illegal.

Telefonica and PT each own 50 percent of Brasilcel, a Dutch holding company which owns 60 percent of Vivo. The Spanish company’s offer was to buy PT’s half of Brasilcel and following the court’s finding it extended the offer until July 16.Telefonica is eager to expand its significant presence in the fast-growing Latin American sector, where it has an important foothold in burgeoning markets such as Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela and Brazil.

Brazil’s economy is booming, in contrast to Telefonica’s home territory of Spain which is struggling to emerge from nearly two years of recession.PT is Portugal’s largest telecommunications operator and the Portuguese government demanded it maintain a foothold in Brazil as it did not want to lose PT’s Brazilian revenue stream.

Telefonica SA is a much larger company than Portugal Telecom SGPS SA, employing about 237,000 people compared with the around 32,000 employees at its Portuguese counterpart.Telefonica would not comment Saturday on the possibility of legal action following the collapse of the deal.Calls to Portugal Telecom on Saturday went unanswered.Telefonica shares fell 1.55 percent to euro16.16 on Friday while Portugal Telecom directors were still considering the deal. Portugal Telecom shares slid 4.53 percent to euro8.08 per share. (AP)

Madonna laid the first brick of her new girls' academy near Malawi's capital Tuesday

LILONGWE, Malawi Madonna laid the first brick of her new girls’ academy near Malawi’s capital Tuesday, in which she encouraged Malawian girls to “dare to dream,” according to the inscription on the brick.The pop star said it has long been her dream to build a girls’ school. She said she hopes the girls attending the academy will go on to become doctors, lawyers and future leaders of their country.The $15 million Raising Malawi Academy for Girls is scheduled to open in 2011, and will assist 500 orphaned children.

At the same event, Madonna also launched a telecommunications and fundraising initiative that aims to provide education to children around the world by offering secondary school scholarships and by supporting schools in developing countries in accessing the internet.”Kids will be able to connect with kids from the other parts of the world,” the singer said. “This will promote peace throughout the world.”Telecommunications giant Ericsson will donate computers to various schools in 11 African countries through the United Nations Millennium Village initiative, where model villages are established to demonstrate how the quality of life in African rural areas can be improved through community-led development.Daughters Lourdes and Mercy accompanied Madonna to Tuesday’s ceremony.

The pop diva looked relaxed as she used a trowel to turn the earth. She wore a long-sleeved striped top, white cotton slacks, a patterned scarf and pale ballet flats. She also wore a black-banded straw hat and dark sunglasses on the sunny day.Madonna arrived in Malawi on Monday for a weeklong charity tour to inspect projects she established since her first visit in 2006 while filming a documentary on its devastating poverty and AIDS crisis.Madonna has adopted two Malawian children, David Banda and Mercy Chifundo James, both four. She also funds six Malawian orphanages, which feed, clothe and educate some 25,000 orphans. (AP)