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- Indonesia biomass drive threatens key forests: report
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- Two months on, Donbas soldiers begin to question Kursk offensive
- Rugby Australia to counter-sue in dispute with Melbourne Rebels
- Mumbai mourns Indian industrialist Ratan Tata
- Philippines challenges China over South China Sea at ASEAN meet
- Mets advance on Lindor blast, Dodgers stay alive in MLB playoffs
- Injury-ravaged Krygios aiming to return at Australian Open
- Greek international Baldock, dead at 31: family
- EU talks deportation hubs to stem migration
- Deaths and repression sideline Suu Kyi's party ahead of Myanmar vote
- S. Africa offers a lesson on how not to shut down a coal plant
- China opens $71 bn 'swap facility' to boost markets
- Mets advance on Lindor grand slam, Yankees and Tigers win
- Taiwan President Lai vows to 'resist annexation' of island
- China's solar goes from supremacy to oversupply
- Asian markets track Wall St record as Hong Kong, Shanghai stabilise
- 'Denying my potential': women at Japan's top university call out gender imbalance
- China's central bank says opens up $70.6 bn in liquidity to boost market
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- Death toll rises to 109 after Haiti gang attack, official says
- Tigers beat Guardians and on brink of advancing in MLB playoffs
- Argentina MPs back Milei's veto of university funding
- Man City sink Barca in Women's Champions League as Bayern outgun Arsenal
- Greek international Baldock, 31, found dead in pool: state agency
- Florida seaside haven a ghost town as hurricane nears
- Pharrell Williams to co-chair Met Gala exploring Black dandyism
- Wall Street indices hit fresh records as Chinese shares tumble
- Taiwan's president to deliver key speech for National Day
- Sea row on the menu as ASEAN leaders meet China's Li
- Injured Kane won't start England's Nations League clash with Greece
- Discord seen as online home for renegades
- US forecasts severe solar storm starting Thursday
- Mozambique starts tallying votes in tense election
- Zelensky moves to court European leaders in drive for military aid
- Ratan Tata: Indian mogul who built a global powerhouse
- Rodgers rejects 'false' suggestions of role in Saleh dismissal
- One dead as storm Kirk tears through Spain, Portugal, France
- Indian business titan Ratan Tata dead at 86
- Lebanon facing 'catastrophic' situation as 600,000 displaced: UN
- US warns Israel not to repeat Gaza destruction in Lebanon
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- Call her savvy? Harris unleashes unconventional media blitz
Denzel hangs in but 'Nun' better in N.American theaters
Warner Bros.' new horror movie "The Nun II" floated to the top of the North American box office this weekend with an estimated take of $32.6 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.
Horror movies had proved resilient during the pandemic, and this ninth chapter in "The Conjuring" series continued the trend, though falling short of the original $53.8 million take of 2018's "The Nun."
"This is a very good opening for a horror follow-up sequel," said David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.
Taissa Farmiga -- younger sister to horror film veteran Vera Farmiga -- Belgian actor Jonas Bloquet and Storm Reid star in the gothic tale of spiritual infestations, mystifying deaths, swirling fog and a demonic goat.
Last weekend's box office leader, Sony's "The Equalizer 3" starring ever-popular Denzel Washington, slipped to second, taking in an estimated $12.1 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period.
The vigilante action film again has Washington playing a retired US Marine and drug-enforcement agent, this time battling an Italian gang.
In third for the weekend, at an even $10 million, was new release "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3," from Focus Features and Universal Pictures.
Gross called that opening "weak" for a romantic comedy sequel, noting that few in the genre -- "Bridget Jones" being a partial exception -- can keep the romantic complications fresh and funny enough to sustain interest through three episodes.
"Greek Wedding 3" was written and directed by Nia Vardalos, the actor and comedian who had her breakthrough in the series' first film.
New release "Jawan" from Yash Raj films came in fourth at $6.2 million -- a bit of a coup for a Hindi-language action thriller in somewhat limited North American release.
Actor/director Shah Rukh Khan "is opening films as big at the domestic box office, if not bigger, as most American comedies on one-fourth the screens with only grassroots promotion," Exhibitor Relations noted on the platform now called X.
Bollywood's Khan himself stars in the action-packed story, which begins with the hijacking for ransom of a Mumbai Metro.
And in fifth -- finally losing a bit of the pink in its cheeks in its eighth weekend out -- was Warner Bros.' long-dominant "Barbie," starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.
It took in $5.9 million, raising its domestic total to $620 million. With its $782 million in tickets sold abroad, the Greta Gerwig film has now surpassed $1.4 billion.
Rounding out the top 10 were:
"Blue Beetle" ($3.8 million)
"Gran Turismo" ($3.4 million)
"Oppenheimer" ($3 million)
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem" ($2.6 million)
"Bottoms" ($2.1 million)
A.Malone--AMWN