In the box office battle of the sequels, ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ got a slight lead over ‘Mortal Kombat II’ in North American theaters this weekend. “The Devil Wears Prada 2” earned US$43 million in its second weekend, while “Mortal Kombat II” earned US$40 million in its first weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

tough competition at the box office

There were a variety of newcomers starring in wide release this weekend, including the family-friendly whodunit ‘The Sheep Detectives’ and a Billie Eilish concert film co-directed by James Cameron.But it was the grip that won. ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’, which has grossed US$433.2 million worldwide in its first 12 days of release, has helped Walt Disney Studios earn more than US$2 billion globally for the year. It has also surpassed the total gross of the first film, which, without taking inflation into account, had grossed US$327 million globally in 2006.Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at comScore, said Mother’s Day may have helped ‘Prada’ gain the lead over the newcomer and led to a modest 44% decline in the second weekend.

‘Mortal Kombat II’ box office collection

‘Mortal Kombat II’ provided some gendered counterprogramming in the second weekend of Hollywood’s summer movie season. Warner Bros. screened the film in 3,503 locations where it attracted an overwhelmingly male audience. According to Posttrack, 75% of ticket buyers were men. ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ had an almost diametrically opposed opening weekend.The first film in the series, ‘Mortal Kombat’, was released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max in April 2021 as part of Warner Bros.’ Pandemic-era day-to-day strategy. Reviews for the sequel have been mixed, as was its B CinemaScore. It grossed US$23 million internationally from 78 markets, for a global gross of US$63 million.

‘Michael’ achieved third highest collection

‘Michael’ dropped to third place with $36.5 million in its third weekend, down only 33% from the previous weekend. The Michael Jackson biopic has now grossed US$240.5 million in North America, surpassing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’s total domestic gross and US$577.4 million globally.

‘The Sheep Detective’ grosses US$15.9 million

Fourth place went to Amazon MGM Studios’ The Sheep Detectives, which earned US$15.9 million in its first weekend in 3,457 theaters. This quirky, all-ages murder mystery stars the voices of Hugh Jackman, Emma Thompson and Nicholas Braun, as well as Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Regina Hall and Patrick Stewart as sheep who try to figure out who murdered their shepherd. Audiences gave it an A- CinemaScore. The film reportedly cost US$75 million to produce.

Billie Eilish’s tour film debuts with US$12.6 million

Rounding out the top five was ‘Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard & Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D)’, an immersive concert experience that Cameron shared co-directing credit with Eilish. Paramount released the film in 2,613 theaters, where it grossed US$7.5 million in North America and US$12.6 million internationally. The film was very well reviewed by critics (93% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences, who gave it a CinemaScore of A.‘Project Hail Mary’, in its eighth weekend, and ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’, in its sixth weekend, are still going strong – which is a significant increase from the same weekend last year. Dergarabedian said that films that are performing well and attracting new and repeat viewers week after week are those that provide “pure, escapist entertainment”.“It’s going very well for movie theaters right now,” he said.

Top 10 films at domestic box office

This list takes into account estimated ticket sales at US and Canadian theaters from Friday to Sunday, with final domestic figures released on Monday, according to comScore:1. The Devil Wears Prada 2 – US$43 million.2. Mortal Kombat II – US$40 million.3. Michael – US$36.5 million.4. Sheep Detective – US$15.9 million.5. Billie Eilish-Hit Me Hard & Soft: The Tour – US$7.5 million.6. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie – US$6.6 million.7. Project Hail Mary – US$6.1 million.8. Spades – US$3.3 million.9. Deep Water – USD 780,274.10. Animal Farm – USD 663,624.

Indian-origin scientist Jai Bhattacharya has urged Americans not to panic over a hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship off Spain’s Canary Islands, insisting the situation is “not COVID” and unlikely to turn into a large-scale public health crisis.Speaking on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ on Sunday, the acting director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the outbreak was being controlled under long-established hantavirus prevention protocols that have worked successfully in the past.“I don’t want to create panic among the public,” Bhattacharya said.He said: “We want to treat it with our hantavirus protocols that have been successful in preventing outbreaks in the past.”“The main message I want to send to your audience is this is not COVID. This is not going to [same] A kind of outbreak,” he said, adding, “We should not panic when the evidence does not support it.”The outbreak occurred on the expedition cruise ship MV ‘Hondius’, which was carrying about 150 passengers. At least three travelers have died since April 11, while five others have become seriously ill with hantavirus symptoms, according to World Health Organization (WHO) officials.Hantaviruses are commonly associated with rodents and can cause severe respiratory illness, fever, vomiting, and diarrhea. The CDC says about 38 percent of patients who develop respiratory symptoms die from the disease. However, health experts stress that the virus spreads much less easily than COVID-19 and typically requires close contact for person-to-person transmission.The ship has since docked near the Canary Islands, where passengers have begun to disembark. Seventeen Americans were reportedly aboard the ship, some of whom were to be quarantined at a specialist facility in Nebraska after returning to the US.Bhattacharya defended the CDC’s response, saying that health officials have already contacted affected passengers and are monitoring the situation closely.“CDC is in contact with each passenger,” he said.He said: “We are interviewing with them, and we are preparing to move them to the University of Nebraska facility at the University of Nebraska, which is a fantastic facility.”He said the agency was following the same strategy it used during the 2018 Andes hantavirus outbreak in Apuyan, Argentina, which killed 11 people.“This will include the advice given to these travelers, including offering to stay in Nebraska if they wish, or if they wish to return home, and their home situation allows it, taking them home safely without exposing other people along the way,” he said.Seven American passengers had already left the ship weeks before the first deaths were reported. He later traveled to states including Arizona, California, Georgia, Texas and Virginia. Hantavirus symptoms can take up to six weeks to appear, so health officials are still monitoring them.Bhattacharya also explained why the CDC is not tracing every airline passenger who may have traveled near those individuals.“The passengers on the plane who were flying home had no symptoms,” he said. “Since the virus does not spread unless someone has active symptoms, those passengers on the plane are considered exposed contacts.”“There is no reason to do this kind of repetitive contact tracing,” he said.Bhattacharya also heads the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and was confirmed by the US Senate last year. He was born in Kolkata and is a professor of health policy at Stanford University and became known internationally during the Covid-19 pandemic as the co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, which criticized lockdowns and vaccine mandates.

Sironj: “brown” for fair-skinned foreigners. “Zucchini” for restless movements. British surveyors mapped a continent from this range. From here came the numbers measuring the world’s highest mountain. mount everest It was recorded in history but the brown zucchini slipped from it. The name remained and the science faded. Today thieves measure stones here.Located on a windswept hill in Kalyanpur village near Sironj in central Madhya Pradesh, about 100 km north-east of Bhopal in Vidisha district, Brown Tori once beat like the geographical heart of undivided India. From this rocky outcrop, British surveyors determined coordinates, tracked stars and pieced together one of the most daring scientific enterprises in history: the Great Trigonometrical Survey (GTS).Today, the stones have been loosened. The walls are stained. The pendulums have disappeared. The black stone observatories are ruined under the open sky, where astronomers once mapped a continent and made calculations involving measuring the height of Mount Everest. History lives on in fragments here.Records of the Survey of India show that the then Surveyor General, Colonel George Everest, adopted the trigonometric station of Kalyanpur in 1840 as the “core of calculations” for the GTS – a massive 19th-century project that mapped areas spanning present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Myanmar and Sri Lanka with mathematical precision that was unprecedented for its era.Long before satellites and GPS, surveyors made series of triangulations in forests, deserts, and mountains. A measured baseline, paired with angles and trigonometry, unlocks distances of thousands of kilometers. Started by William Lambton in the early 1800s and later expanded by Everest, Andrew Scott Waugh and James Walker, GTS transformed cartography and geodesy. Mathematician Radhanath Sikdar later calculated the height of Mount Everest in the 1850s using survey data generated through this massive scientific grid.The brown zucchini sat near its intellectual center of gravity.Historical accounts describe that about 700 workers camped on the hill for about two years with four elephants, 42 camels and 30 horses, while the observatory structures were built of black stones. The yellow color and fiery activity of British officers inspired the name brown zucchini.“This is our hidden hero, who has been completely ignored,” said Shaoub Ghazi, a local history buff who has been promoting the site through social media. He said Everest chose Kalyanpur because it was at a strategic midpoint between Great Arc measurements and Prime Meridian calculations. “It was placed in exactly the right place to split the longitudinal difference between the Great Arc and the Prime Meridian,” he said.

The structure still gives hints of the scientific choreography that was once performed here. The roofless black stone circle has recesses in the north-south walls designed for astronomical observations. The open sky served as the roof of the laboratory. Gas lanterns pointed to telescopes mounted on poles in the nearby village of Surantal for triangulation.Two pendulum-driven structures were later added nearby. Now only hollow shells remain.The pages of the 1917 volume Triangulation in India and Adjacent Countries place Bhuri Tori within the broader geodetic framework underpinning surveys throughout South Asia. Coordinates determined from this mountain range rippled outward through maps, military charts, and administrative boundaries for decades.Now, entropy has taken over. Fragments of masonry have gone missing. The weather gnaws away at the exposed stone. Heritage watchers say vandalism and theft have eroded the site faster than officials admit.Sironj is located at a distance of about two hours by road from Bhopal. Yet the brown gourd is largely absent from tourism circuits and conservation plans. Sironj chief municipal officer Ramprakash said the matter was outside the urban body’s jurisdiction as the site fell under gram panchayat limits.The silence at the hilltop weighs more heavily than the bureaucracy below. When asked about the conservation efforts, Vidisha Collector Anshul Gupta said, “Since it is an archaeological matter, only the agencies concerned can answer it.” As India moves deeper into the age of satellites and remote sensing, the brown zucchini poses a stubborn question: Can a nation preserve the landmarks that first taught it to measure itself?

It was a memorable night at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur on Sunday, May 10, as the Indian Premier League played out one of its first real low-scoring thrillers of the season. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who hit his first IPL six in 10 years, proved to be a hero for the defending champions as they needed him most, performing well with both bat and ball.

RCB had lagged behind in the playoff race this season after losing two consecutive games against Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans. In dire need of breaking that sequence, RCB found a savior in Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who took three wickets for them in the powerplay.

IPLRCB vs MI: highlighted | Achievement:

An exceptional opening spell helped RCB restrict Mumbai Indians to 28/3 at the end of three overs. He later made a comeback in the death overs to dismiss Tilak Verma, Mumbai’s best batsman that night, when he looked set to provide a big finish for MI in the first innings of the match.

Bhuvneshwar might have thought that his four-over quick spell, where he recorded figures of 4/24, was enough to win the game for RCB. However, the seam bowler found himself in trouble once again, this time in 19.4 overs, with RCB needing 11 runs to win off the last three balls.

Hearts pounding and doubt creeping in, Bhuvneshwar hit a wide yorker from Raj Angad Bawa. The ball caught the meat of the bat and bounced over the deep point fielder for his first IPL six in the last 10 years.

OG IPL fans will remember the time when Bhuvneshwar Kumar was known as a pinch hitter. In the 2016 season of the IPL, during SRH’s title-winning campaign, Bhuvneshwar also scored 43 runs at a strike-rate of 160.

But over the years, those capabilities had diminished. And perhaps no one would have believed on Sunday that Bhuvi could do something like this for the defending champions.

With the stage set for a thrill on the last ball after Bhuvneshwar’s six, RCB’s tail-enders ensured they did not spoil the game. Two runs were needed to win, but Bhuvneshwar and Rasikh Salam had the presence of mind to run hard between the wickets, hit a big dive and save the dying match for RCB.

MI keeper Ryan Rickelton, who ran madly up to the stumps and smashed the wickets, threw the ball away in frustration, knowing full well that it had not reached him in time.

It was a clear indictment of Mumbai Indians this season, where they found themselves trailing the competition due to small but costly mistakes throughout the campaign.

Krunal showed his inner Maxwell

The target was expected to be easily achieved after a good performance by the bowlers, but it turned out to be a nightmare for RCB, who lost their talisman Virat Kohli for a duck on the very first ball, his second in a row this season.

When Deepak Chahar created a ruckus in the powerplay and removed Devdutt Padikkal with a sensational delivery in the off-stump channel, alarm bells rang.

The pressure mounted on RCB, as it had in the last two matches, as Corbyn Bosch made the best of the surface up and down the field and troubled the RCB batsmen a lot. Many of those balls hit the batsmen, which shows how unfavorable Bosch’s spell had become.

This is where RCB got the aggressive Krunal Pandya. After the dismissal of Rajat Patidar, Krunal handled the RCB innings very carefully. He controlled Bosch’s aggressive spell and cut the ball loose in the ninth over of the match.

As others struggled around him, Krunal’s well-thought-out counter-attacks kept RCB in the game. Towards the end of his innings, Krunal was struggling with cramps and was jumping up and down after almost every ball.

But that didn’t stop him from really coming alive in the latter stages of his innings. More importantly, he played almost 50 balls on a surface where most batsmen were struggling and still managed to score 74 runs, once again playing a vital innings for RCB, as he did in their title-winning season last year.

The match changed in the 18th over, when Krunal was caught by Naman Dheer at midwicket while trying to hit a six off Allah Ghazanfar. The fielder bounded between his legs and threw the ball towards Tilak Verma near the boundary line. Tilak, perhaps thinking that Naman Dheer had crossed the boundary cushion, did not attempt a relay catch, which brought great relief to RCB.

Krunal took full advantage of that gift of life and hit Ghazanfar with two powerful blows on the next three balls. However, he was not successful in lasting till the end, as he lost his wicket while attempting to hit the third six of the over on the last ball of the same over.

When Tilak completed the high catch the RCB dugout sank, almost believing that the fate of the game was sealed. But see later, after a big relief, those two extra sixes probably won the match for RCB.

Evergreen Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was named Player of the Match for his special spell of 4/24 and the match-winning six that tilted the game in RCB’s favour. In an era where almost every batsman is desperate to hit a six, it was only fitting that a low-scoring thriller was decided by a man who had not hit a six for a decade.

Bhuvi’s series of deceptions, where he looked to mix his trademark outswing with a deceptive knuckle ball, helped RCB take control of the match very early in the contest.

Bhuvneshwar destroyed the MI team by taking the wickets of Ryan Rickelton, Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav in the powerplay. Later, he returned to clean bowl the aggressive Tilak Verma as well.

After that four-wicket spell, Bhuvneshwar Kumar now holds the record for most wickets in IPL 2026 after 11 matches. With 21 wickets to his name, one wonders why this player cannot be given a farewell T20I for India. Bhuvi has not played for the national team for almost four years, and it would perhaps be a fitting farewell for one of the special servants of Indian cricket.

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Israeli forces had set up a temporary base using an old airstrip in the Iraqi desert during the war against Iran, two security officials told AFP on Sunday, confirming a Wall Street Journal report.At the start of the war, which was sparked by joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, troops were found in the Najaf desert in the southwest of the country and clashed with Iraqi forces, killing one soldier and wounding two others. “Israeli forces established a base in an abandoned airstrip built by Saddam Hussein in the Najaf desert,” the security official said.“There are no troops there anymore, but they may have left equipment,” he said, adding that the Israeli operation was “in coordination with the US”. It was not clear how long the forces had been there or what their mission was.Iraq was involved in the Middle East war from the beginning, with the US and Israel accused of targeting Iran-backed armed groups, resulting in hundreds of attacks on US interests in Iraq and throughout the Gulf region. News of foreign troops in the desert emerged early in the war after a shepherd reported military activity. On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal reported that “Israel set up a secret military base in the Iraqi desert to support its air campaign against Iran”, citing people familiar with the matter, including US officials. The report said that “Israel built this installation with the knowledge of the US, which housed special forces and served as a logistics hub.” The Israeli military has not yet commented.Following the WSJ report, an Iraqi spokesman cited a statement issued on March 5. At the time, Qais al-Mohammadwi, Iraq’s deputy commander of joint operations, told state media that Iraq had protested to the US-led anti-jihadist coalition deployed in the country about the airstrike in Najaf. He said that after receiving reports of “individuals or movement in the Najaf desert”, Iraq’s military sent a force to investigate. The soldiers came under heavy aerial fire, in which one soldier was killed and two others were injured. Additional forces later searched the area, but “found nothing”, Mohammadavi said. “No foreign troops were authorized to be at that location.” Another security official said that “there are indications that an Israeli technical team was involved in the operation.” agencies

US President Donald Trump’s “Gold Card” visa scheme is struggling to attract the wealthy foreigners it was designed to attract, with several immigration lawyers warning clients to stay away from the program over legal and financial concerns.According to a report in the Washington Post, lawyers advising ultra-wealthy clients say that ongoing litigation, tax complications and uncertainty around Visa’s legal status make the plan too risky to recommend. The visa was unveiled by Trump in June last year and formally launched through an executive order in September. It costs between $1 million and $2 million, with a $15,000 application fee. The administration has also promoted it as a $5 million pathway to wealthy investors.Even lawyers with close ties to the Trump family have distanced themselves from the event. Michael Wildes, the immigration attorney who represents first lady Melania Trump, her parents, Kushner family members and multiple Miss Universe winners, said he will refuse to take clients seeking gold cards.“It would be unethical for me to retain them,” Wildes told the Washington Post.The biggest issue for many lawyers is that the visa has not been approved by Congress, meaning a future administration could potentially revoke it. Rosanna Berardi, another immigration lawyer, said the uncertainty alone was enough to discourage clients from applying.“As immigration counsel, our obligation is always to protect the interests of our clients,” he told the Post.He added: “And we believe it is not appropriate to recommend a program with such significant legal uncertainty and financial risk, even when clients express a desire to proceed.”A handful of applicants are still undergoing testing. Immigration lawyer Mona Shah said she currently has two clients from Nigeria and Pakistan, who are in different stages of the application process. However, he said he warned them both that the program could amount to “false advertising” and would ultimately go nowhere. According to Shah, his clients were prepared to lose money if the scheme failed.US government data show that interest in the program is well below the administration’s ambitious projections. A petition filed last week in a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) court revealed that only 338 people had submitted requests for the Trump Gold Card, while just 165 applicants had paid the $15,000 processing fee.This contrasts with earlier claims by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who had previously predicted that the program would generate more than $100 billion by issuing 80,000 gold cards. Lutnick also claimed in March that 1,000 Gold Cards had already been issued before the program officially launched.The DHS filing further states that Gold Card applicants will not be ranked ahead of EB-1 or EB-2 visa applicants, categories reserved for highly skilled and exceptional workers.