Women's Hundred 2022 - Charlie Dean to captain London Spirit in place of injured Heather Knight

Dean, the 21-year-old off-spinner, takes over from the vastly experienced Knight, who missed England's entire Commonwealth Games campaign - they lost the bronze-medal play-off to New Zealand - with a hip injury that has left her needing to use crutches and is expected to keep her on the sidelines for a period of months.

"It's a great opportunity for me, I'm really looking forward to leading this team," Dean said. "Obviously, we are gutted that Heather can't join us this year, but we have an exciting squad filled with experience and young talent and we can't wait to get started on Friday."

A relative newcomer to the England set-up, Dean earned her only T20I cap for England during the washed-out second match in that leg of the Ashes series in January. She didn't take the field as play was abandoned in the fifth over with England 25 without loss. Dean was not part of England's squad for the Commonwealth Games, which was played as a T20 competition.

She has played 16 ODIs, making her debut against New Zealand last September, most recently in the series with South Africa, which she finished as leading wicket-taker.

Dean was key to Southern Vipers' Charlotte Edwards Cup triumph in June, taking two wickets and sharing a match-winning partnership with Ella McCaughan to help defeat Central Sparks by six wickets in the final. She was also the competition's second-highest wicket-taker.

In 2021, she took six wickets for London Spirit, who finished their inaugural campaign in fourth place on the eight-team table, at an average of 28.00 and an economy rate of 7.09. During that time, she impressed Knight and made her international debut a short time later.

Dean will lead an impressive international contingent at London Spirit, including two Australian Commonwealth Games gold medallists in Beth Mooney - the Games' leading run-scorer - and fast bowler Megan Schutt, as well as talented New Zealand allrounder Amelia Kerr.

London Spirit open their 2022 season against Southern Brave, last year's runners up, in Southampton on Friday.

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PTI's power show to take place in Lahore

Supporters of the opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) march during a protest rally against inflation, political destabilisation and continued hikes in fuel prices, in Rawalpindi on July 2, 2022. — AFP/File

ISLAMABAD: PTI on Monday announced that it will hold its public gathering in Lahore on August 13 after the former premier Imran Khan called on its supporters to rally against the government.

PTI was earlier set to gather the public at Islamabad's Parade Ground and was also granted permission by the Interior Ministry.

Earlier today, the TLP also shared its intention to organise the Nazariya Pakistan March and Conference at Faizabad on August 13. The party said that its request to hold a rally at the Parade Ground was denied by interior minister Rana Sanaullah.

Taking to Twitter, PTI made the announcement regarding its anticipated jalsa.

"On the night between August 13-14, a huge Independence Day celebration will be observed at the Hockey Stadium," the tweet read.

The party also mentioned that Khan would attend the event and address participants.

Addressing a press conference earlier today, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan said Khan announced that he would hold a protest in Islamabad on August 13 in which he would give the government a one-month ultimatum to hold the general election.

Taking a jibe at Khan, the minister said that he should first remove Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja from office upon whom he had expressed "no trust".

When a new election commissioner is appointed, then the PTI chairman should demand fresh elections, Sanaullah added.

The minister asserted that holding peaceful protests was the right of every political party and they were allowed to hold public gatherings, but warned that those who tried taking the law into their hands will be dealt with an iron hand.

It should be noted that Khan was ousted from the prime minister's office through a no-confidence motion in April, and since then, he has been holding large rallies across the country.

The PTI chairman claims the United States and the then-opposition conspired to oust his party from power. However, both deny the allegation.

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'DC League of Super-Pets' debuts in first place

The summer box office showed signs of slowing down this weekend as the animated “DC League of Super-Pets” opened in theatres across North America.

Though slightly less than expected, it was still enough to capture the first-place spot and knock Jordan Peele’s “Nope” into second place in its second weekend. (Reuters)

"DC League of Super-Pets" an animated adventure about the four-legged friends of superheroes, has opened in first place at the domestic box office with $23 million from 4,313 theatres. 

Though the Warner Bros. movie sold enough tickets to dethrone Jordan Peele's "Nope" on North American charts, it's a mediocre start given the film's $90 million price tag.

Sure, the Legion of Super-Pets aren't as recognizable as Superman or Aquaman, but "DC League of Super-Pets" could have resonated with audiences a little more given its affiliation with DC Comics and its high-wattage voice cast in Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart. 

In pandemic times, "DC League of Super-Pets" is yet another kid-friendly film that has struggled to wow in its box office debut. 

Movies aimed at family audiences have been a mixed bag as of late, which is concerning because it's a demographic that has always been a reliable source of revenue. 

In terms of opening weekend revenues, "DC League of Super-Pets" arrived behind Pixar's "Lightyear," which debuted to $51 million, and Universal's "Minions: The Rise of Gru," which opened to $107 million. But its start falls in line with other pandemic-era family films like "The Bad Guys" ($23.9 million), "Sing 2" ($22.3 million) and Disney's "Encanto" ($27 million). 

However, "DC League of Super-Pets" doesn't have much competition on the horizon, which could work to its advantage. It helps that audiences liked the film, which landed an "A-" CinemaScore. 

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This weekend's other new nationwide release, B.J. Novak's true-crime inspired dark comedy "Vengeance," barely cracked the top 10. 

The R-rated film opened in line with expectations, pulling in a lackluster $1.75 million from 998 theaters. Novak, who also wrote the screenplay, portrays a New York City-based journalist and podcaster who travels to Texas to investigate the death of a girl he was only casually dating. 

The well-reviewed "Vengeance" appealed to mostly male audiences (men accounted for 55 percent of ticket buyers), who gave the film a "B+" CinemaScore. 

With "DC League of Super-Pets" easily winning the weekend, "Nope" slid to second place with $18.5 million from 3,807 venues. So far, the UFO thriller – starring Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer – has generated $80.5 million in North America. "Nope" hasn't opened yet at the international box office. 

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Disney's "Thor: Love and Thunder" took the No. 3 spot with $13.1 million from 3,650 locations in its fourth weekend in theaters. 

"Minions: The Rise of Gru" landed in fourth place, bringing in $10.8 million from 3,578 cinemas in its fifth outing. 

Paramount's "Top Gun: Maverick" rounded out the top five with $8.2 million in its 10th weekend of release. 

Source: Reuters

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