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Spider-Man: Brand New Day held its grip atop China‘s box office for a second weekend, pulling in $28.9 million (RMB 196.6 million) over the Aug. 7-9 frame for a local total of $185.4 million (RMB 1.26 billion) in 12 days.  The Sony tentpole launched in China with a massive $121.3 million five-day haul, of which $19 million came from Imax, a record for the format in the market. The film is now days away from surpassing the $199 million earned by 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, the last U.S. superhero release to clear $100 million in China. But it was…

President Bola Tinubu’s decision to expand the Nigerian Army from eight to 12 divisions marks one of the boldest restructurings of the military in recent years, aimed at decentralising command, strengthening security and reducing response time to emerging threats. But as the new formations take shape, questions around manpower, resources, logistics and, particularly, the geographical contiguity of the states under each command are emerging, raising important questions about how effectively the ambitious reform can deliver on its promises. Chiemelie Ezeobi reports  In sweeping reforms and restructuring that will decentralise Nigerian Army commands, tighten border security, and cut down the time it takes soldiers…

Harry Potter fans have forced a new multimillion-pound power cable between the UK and Ireland to be relocated after complaining it would desecrate the “grave” of Dobby, a fictional elf.The character was laid to rest on Freshwater West beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales, during the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Fans of the wizard series now come to leave stones reading “Here Lies Dobby” despite being asked not to by the land owner, the National Trust, because the beach is an ecologically sensitive site.Dobby’s ‘grave’ at Freshwater West. Photograph: Sam Cuthbertson/AlamyThe £430m Greenlink interconnector, which links the National Grid…

• Etukudoh demands living wage, better working conditions for civil servants Sunday Aborisade in Abuja  A retiring senior pension officer in the Federal Civil Service, Mrs. Maria Nkereuwem Etukudoh, has warned that the current minimum wage is inadequate to sustain Nigerian workers amid rising costs of living, calling on the Federal Government to urgently introduce a living wage that reflects prevailing economic realities. Etukudoh, who retired after 25 years in the Federal Civil Service, including her tenure as Head of the Pension Unit at the Federal Ministry of Finance, said soaring costs of fuel, transportation, food, housing and other essential…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.What do Beyoncé, Sean Penn, Alexa Chung and 19-year-old American rapper Nettspend have in common? They’re all “cigfluencers”, says Jared Oviatt, the 27-year-old founder of the Cigfluencers Instagram page. Oviatt launched the channel in 2021 with mostly archive photographs of models and actors smoking; today his account is home to more than 500 images, most of them new shots, and 100,000 followers.“It’s hard to define a cigfluencer,” says Oviatt, whose feed includes pictures of Carrie Coon, Stellan Skarsgård and Renate Reinsve. “But…

Sadly, there hasn’t been a new episode of No Dogs in Space since July of 2024. Part four of the podcast’s series on Can wrapped up an abbreviated season three, which focused on experimental rock. Don’t get me wrong, I loved seasons one and two, but the show seemed to be gearing up for a deep dive into Krautrock, and I was hype. Unfortunately, that episode ended with hosts Marcus Parks (Last Podcast on the Left) and Carolina Hidalgo declaring they were going to do another season on punk (the topic of season one), only for the feed to go…

Recent move by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to freeze Osun state government’s account reignites debate over timing, independence and results of the country’s anti-graft war. Iyobosa Uwugiaren writes. Baarely days before the Osun State governorship election, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) found itself at the centre of another political storm. Reports emerged that the commission had frozen a bank account belonging to the Osun State Government. Governor Ademola Adeleke and his supporters immediately accused the EFCC of political interference, warning that the action was capable of crippling government activities on the eve of a crucial election.…

Dinosaurs are often remembered for their enormous size. Tyrannosaurus rex was an imposing predator, while dinosaurs such as Apatosaurus reached truly massive proportions. Yet new research suggests that one of the most intriguing questions about dinosaur evolution lies at the opposite end of the size spectrum: Why did dinosaurs apparently never become extremely small? In a study published in the journal Evolution, researchers from the American Museum of Natural History and Princeton University used mathematical models to examine how body size evolved among vertebrates. Their results show that energy use and physiology can account for the range of sizes seen…

Nigeria’s Super Falcons will face South Africa’s Banyana Banyana in a crucial play-off as both teams battle for a route to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The highly anticipated encounter is scheduled for Thursday, August 13, 2026, with kick-off set for 9pm Nigeria time. The match will be a major test for Nigeria after the Super Falcons lost 1-0 to Cameroon in their WAFCON quarter-final, a result that ended their hopes of securing an automatic ticket to the 2027 World Cup. South Africa will now stand between Nigeria and a place in the next stage of the qualification process.…

Elene, 16, and her war-scarred family are drawn into a mass protest in Tbilisi that transforms the streets of the capital of Georgia into a battleground for freedom. But it also forces them to confront the conflicts that are already threatening to tear them apart. Does this read like a synopsis for a fiction or a documentary film to you? Well, whatever answer you give, you are kind of right. Because this is not just any film. It is Tear Gas from Georgian writer-director Uta Beria (Negative Numbers). And it is a fiction film shot inside real demonstrations. The movie…