Mariah Carey tops Billboard album chart
NEW YORK, April 23 (UPI) -- For the sixth time in her career, Mariah Carey has a debut album in the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart with "E=MC2."
Carey had her biggest sales week ever with fans snatching up 463,000 copies of the Island Def Jam release, Billboard.com reported Wednesday, citing figures from Nielsen SoundScan.
Coming in at No. 2 on the albums chart was "Spirit," by Leona Lewis followed by Miley Cyrus' "Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: The Best of Both Worlds Concert" at No. 3 and the self-titled debut of Lady Antebellum at No. 4.
The hits compilation "NOW 27" slipped a notch to No. 5, followed by George Strait's "Troubadour" No. 6, the soundtrack to "Alvin & the Chipmunks" at No. 7 and the soundtrack to "Juno" ranked No. 8.
The Top 10 was filled out by R.E.M.'s "Accelerate" and Taylor Swift's self-titled album.
Weekly sales of 7.5 million albums constituted a 1.9 percent increase over last week but an 8.1 percent compared to the same period in 2007.
Eastwood's film to premiere in Cannes
CANNES, France, April 23 (UPI) -- U.S. filmmaker Clint Eastwood's new film, "Changeling," reportedly is set to premiere at the Cannes International Film Festival in France.
"Changeling," directed by Eastwood and set in the 1920s, focuses on the story of a mother whose son was kidnapped and stars actors Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich and Amy Ryan.
The BBC reported that "The Palermo Shooting," directed by Wim Wenders, and a four-hour biopic about Che Guevara, a Cuban revolutionary, also are in the competition.
The most recent "Indiana Jones" film reportedly is not competing, but will be shown during the festival, which takes place May 14-25.
U.S. director Quentin Tarantino is scheduled to teach a masterclass on film directing during the festival.
The event's top film will be chosen by a jury including actor Sean Penn, actess Natalie Portman, and director Alfonso Cuaron, the BBC said.
Chicago newspapers sue in R. Kelly case
CHICAGO, April 23 (UPI) -- The Chicago Sun-Times and The Chicago Tribune have launched a challenge to force a court to release transcripts in the R. Kelly pornography case, records show.
The two newspapers Tuesday began a First Amendment appeal to force the presiding the judge, Vincent Gaughan, to release the transcripts of court hearings in a nearly six-year-old child pornography case involving R&B singer, R. Kelly, the Sun-Times said Wednesday.
"The publics' rights of access to court proceedings are firmly rooted in the common law and the First Amendment," legal counsel for the newspapers said in the measure.
The challenge also seeks to lift the gag order on the case.
Kelly, 41, faces child pornography charges for allegedly filming himself engaged in sexual acts with a minor estimated at about 13 or 14 years old.
Kelly has pleaded not guilty and jury selection is scheduled to begin May 9.
Rather permitted to question fact-checker
NEW YORK, April 23 (UPI) -- A New York judge says former CBS newsman Dan Rather can subpoena an investigator hired to fact-check a flawed story about President Bush's military service.
The ruling comes in a $70 million suit Rather filed against CBS charging he lost his evening anchor job as a result of pressure from the White House over the Bush story, The New York Post reported Wednesday.
Judge Iran Gammerman has given the green light to Rather's lawyers to talk to Erick Rigler, who was hired by the network to look into the controversial 2004 report on Bush's Vietnam-era Air National Guard service.
Commenting on the judge's ruling Tuesday, Rather said, "proving the truth of the story is all I ever wanted."
"We have nothing to hide," said CBS lawyer James Quinn. "It's one of those sad cases where a person at the end of his career wants to go back after people he feels mistreated him."
