Madonna was there to visit the girls' school, similar in concept to the school that Oprah built in South Africa, which she is building in the impoverished country.

Eschewing a private plane, Madonna reportedly arrived on Ethiopian Airlines, accompanied by her four children - Lourdes, 13, Rocco, 9, as well as her two Malawian-born adopted children, David, 4, and Mercy, 3.

An unidentified official said that Madonna would take part in a groundbreaking ceremony for the school today.

(Shouldn't her own kids be in school?)

Madonna will also meet with President Bingu wa Mutharika and visit orphanages that her Raising Malawi charity supports.

Maybe the president will make a deal with Madonna to simply let her purchase the entire country.

'Phantom' sequel

adds drama

Andrew Lloyd Webber recently announced a sequel to his mega-hit musical "Phantom of the Opera."

Yesterday, his spokeswoman announced that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Lloyd Webber's condition is in its early stages, a statement from his publicists said.

"Andrew is now undergoing treatment and expects to be fully back at work before the end of the year," the statement said.

The 61-year-old Lloyd Webber's "Phantom" sequel, called "Love Never Dies," is slated to open in London in March and on Broadway next November. Rehearsals begin in the new year.

* Also in London, former Smiths front man, Morrissey, was released from a hospital yesterday after he collapsed on stage during a concert Saturday night.

A spokeswoman for the Great Western Hospital in the English city of Swindon said that Morrissey, 50, was "much improved."

A note on his Web site thanked fans for their good wishes.

Tattbits

* Tickets for the unretired Garth Brooks' first 20 shows at Wynn Las Vegas sold out in less than five hours Saturday. The resort said that it reached maximum capacity for callers at 141,934, with many getting busy signals.

Officials say that the ticket Web site had more than 5.4 million page views, with 40,000 waiting to buy tickets online at one point.

All that excitement and he wasn't even closing the Spectrum.

* Justin Timberlake was granted a temporary restraining order on Friday against Karen J. McNeil, 48, whom his attorney described as an obsessed stalker (not as a woman who merely wanted "sexyback").

McNeil was placed in protective psychiatric custody by police.

* On the Nov. 2 cover of In Touch Weekly, featuring a very pregnant Kendra Wilkinson, a tout says that John Mayer and Jennifer Aniston are again "Heating Up" and "House Hunting in New York."

Yesterday, a Hollyscoop.com "Exclusive" said that Mayer was seen on a romantic date with Rashida Jones ("Parks & Recreation") Friday night at the Chateau Marmont in L.A.

Mayer even borrowed someone's guitar to serenade her.

This may lead to another round of "Poor Jen" stories detailing how she again has been dumped for another actress, but it's all nonsense.

We should all be doing so well.

* The Walt Disney Co. is expanding a refund program for its "Baby Einstein" videos in response to challenges about the legitimacy of its educational claims.

It seems that watching the videos will not make babies write out complex equations with their strained carrots.

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, a Boston-based advocacy group, claimed "victory" Friday in its yearslong battle to protect consumers from falsely believing that the videos could, for example, teach words to babies under 2.

The company sure has been successful teaching some words to babies under 2 years old: Words such as "Mickey," "princess" and "Disney World."

Daily News wire services contributed to this report.

E-mail gensleh@phillynews.com