• Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, on Sunday congratulated New Zealand on its decision 125 years ago to become the first country in the world to allow women to vote, saying that effort paved the way for others around the world. "Suffrage is not simply about the right to vote but also about what that represents: the basic and fundamental human right of being able to participate in the choices for your future and for your community," Meghan said. She and her husband, Prince Harry, are on the final leg of their 16-day, four-nation tour of the South Pacific. Meghan, who describes herself as a feminist, was speaking in Wellington to a group of guests, most of them women, that included Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Meghan got a big cheer when she opened her speech with a greeting in indigenous Maori. The function was designed to celebrate the suffrage anniversary. The event was delayed after a fire alarm, believed to have been triggered by an atomizer spreading air freshener in a bathroom, forced guests to briefly evacuate the building. Earlier, the couple were greeted with an indigenous Maori welcome. Harry and Meghan each performed a "hongi" with Maori elders, in which they pressed noses together to share a breath. They were also welcomed with traditional performances and a 21-gun salute at the Government House in Wellington, New Zealand's capital. The couple are scheduled to spend four days in New Zealand. They previously visited Australia, Fiji and Tonga.
• Halloween dominated the North American box office for the second straight weekend, carving up an estimated $32 million in ticket sales. The top films were unchanged from the weekend before, according to Sunday estimates, as Halloween led the pre-trick-or-treating weekend. The sequel to John Carpenter's 1978 original, starring the 59-year-old Jamie Lee Curtis, earlier this month notched a record opening for a film with a female lead older than 55. The Blumhouse Productions film, distributed by Universal Pictures, is already one of the highest grossing slasher films in history, with $126.7 million in ticket sales, plus another $45.6 million in international sales, on a $10 million budget. Bradley Cooper's lauded A Star Is Born remained in second place with $14 million in its fourth weekend. The film, starring Cooper and Lady Gaga, has grossed $148.7 million domestically and has made $104.6 million internationally. Sony's superhero spinoff Venom also stuck in third, with $10.8 million in its fourth weekend. The comic-book adaptation, starring Tom Hardy, has grossed $504.8 million worldwide.
A Section on 10/29/2018