NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

‘Expendables 2’ brawls to No. 1 with $28.8M

LOS ANGELES

Sylvester Stallone and his beefy buddies have muscled their way to the top of the weekend box office.

Stallone’s action-hero roundup “The Expendables 2” debuted at No. 1 with $28.8 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. That’s down from the $34.8 million start for “The Expendables” two years ago.

The Lionsgate sequel elbowed out another action tale as Universal’s “The Bourne Legacy” fell to No. 2 in its second weekend with $17 million.

Focus Features’ animated comedy “ParaNorman, about a boy leading the fight against zombies that rise from the grave, was No. 3 with $14 million.

In fourth place was “The Campaign” with $13.4 million.

Sony’s music remake “Sparkle,” featuring “American Idol” winner Jordin Sparks and Whitney Houston, was No. 5 with $12 million.

Bieber, Gaga, Obama join Beyonce for cause

NEW YORK

Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and Michelle Obama are giving a helping hand to Beyonce.

Obama and the pop stars have signed on to support the global campaign for World Humanitarian Day which Beyonce marked Sunday with the release of a new video for her song “I Was Here,” filmed at the United Nations in New York last week.

The campaign asked that on Sunday, people helped others through such acts as making sandwiches for the homeless or volunteering at a local charity. The goal was to share 1 billion messages of hope.

A representative for Beyonce says that Bieber, Gaga, Obama, Rihanna, Shakira, Jay-Z, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chris Martin and others were participating.

Madonna sued for supporting gays

MOSCOW

Some Russian activists have sued Madonna for millions of dollars, claiming they were offended by her support for gay rights during a recent concert in St. Petersburg.

Anti-gay sentiment is strong in Russia. In St. Petersburg, a law passed in February makes it illegal to promote homosexuality to minors, and the author of that law has pointed to the presence of children as young as 12 at Madonna’s concert Aug. 9.

Russian news agencies quote Alexander Pochuyev, a lawyer representing the nine activists, as saying the suit was filed Friday against Madonna, the organizer of her concert, and the hall where it took place, asking for damages totaling nearly $10.5 million.SFlbJudd postpones shows after husband’s crash

HILL CITY, S.D.

Country singer Wynonna Judd said Sunday that she is postponing concerts scheduled in Canada after her husband was hurt in a motorcycle accident in South Dakota.

Judd and her husband, Michael “Cactus” Moser, were riding separate motorcycles north on U.S. Highway 16 in the Black Hills on Saturday when Moser crossed the center line and hit a car.

Moser, 55, of Nashville, Tenn., was airlifted to Rapid City Regional Hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries.

Judd was riding ahead of her husband and was not involved in the crash. The car’s driver was not injured.

Associated Press