Independence Cup Volleyball championship will begin from Saturday (April 19) at Shaheed Noor Hossain National Volleyball Stadium in the capital. Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain is expected to inaugurate the five-day meet as the chief guest. Turkey Ambassador to Dhaka Ramis Sen will present in the closing ceremony of the competition on April 23. A total of eight teams will take part in the meet, sponsored by Turkish Air Lines and organized by Bangladesh Volleyball Federation (BVF). The participating teams are Bangladesh Air Force, Power Development Board, Titas Club, Bangladesh Krira Shkiikha Prothistan, Bangladesh Jail, Bangladesh Police, Ansar and Village Defense Party and Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defense. Defending champions Bangladesh is not taking part in the meet. The champion team will receive Taka 40,000.00 while the runners-up will get Taka 30,000.00 as prize money. The third place finishers will have Taka 20,000.00 while the best player will be awarded with crest. This was disclosed at a press conference held at Shaheed Noor Hossain National Volleyball Stadium today (Thursday) afternoon. BBV president Faruque Hassan, who was present in the press conference, said after taking charge of the new committee in February, they successfully organised the Festival of Youth and have taken extensive plan to keep the volleyball in field round the year. He also hoped that the present committee, which consists with experience organizer, former and current volleyball players, would be able to take the volleyball ahead. The BVP thanked sponsor Turkish Air Lines for sponsoring the competition and hoped to get further cooperation for the development of volleyball in the future. BVF general secretary Bimal Ghosh Bhulu said they present committee has taken some steps to make the volleyball popular and they are going to make a calendar soon so that they can keep the volleyball continue. BVF vice president Masdul, its joint secretary Abdul Mumin Saddam, treasurer Imran Haider Kanchan, Alam, senior sports organizing committees secretary Md Sohel Rana Linkon, sponsor Turkey Airline sales and stating official Azaz Kadri, among others, were present in the press conference.
Zimbabwe national cricket team arrived in Dhaka today for two-match Test series against Bangladesh.
The visitors will stay overnight in Dhaka before flying to Sylhet on the morning of April 16.
Sylhet International Cricket Stadium will host the first Test, starting from April 20. Chattogram will host the second and final Test, beginning on April 28.
Zimbabwe named an experienced Test team with Sean Williams and Craig Ervine returning to the fold. Wellington Masakadza also made room in the Zimbabwe Test squad, which will play a Test series in Bangladesh after four-year gap.
Apart from the return of the big names, the squad also sees a few notable changes, with wicketkeeper-batter Tafadzwa Tsiga being recalled two years after making his Test debut against West Indies.
Head Coach Justin Sammons was confident about their chance. “We are very excited to be heading into a period where Test cricket will be our sole focus,” he said.
“I am certain this group of players will continue to grow as individuals and as a team as they face new challenges in different conditions.
“The squad has been set up to give us the best balance to deal with whatever may be thrown our way."
The last time the two nations squared off in Bangladesh, in February 2020, the hosts emerged victorious with an innings and 106-run win in Mirpur, with Mushfiqur Rahim smashing an unbeaten double hundred.
Bangladesh and Zimbabwe so far have met 18 times in Test format with Bangladesh winning eight and losing seven. The rest of the three Tests ended in a draw.
This marked Zimbabwes sixth visit in Bangladesh following 2001, 2005, 2014, 2018 and 2020. Overall they had played 10 Tests on Bangladeshs backyard, winning just two.
Zimbabwe Test Squad: Craig Ervine (c), Brian Bennett, Johnathan Campbell, Ben Curran, Trevor Gwandu, Wessly Madhevere, Wellington Masakadza, Vincent Masekesa, Nyasha Mayavo, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Tafadzwa Tsiga, Nicholas Welch, Sean Williams.
Argentine football legend Diego Maradonas daughter told a court Tuesday his death "would have been avoided" if doctors caring for him after surgery had done their jobs.
Maradona died on November 25, 2020, aged 60, while recovering at home from brain surgery for a blood clot. He had battled cocaine and alcohol addiction for decades.
His seven-person medical team is on trial for what prosecutors have called the "horror theater" of the final days of his life, and risk up to 25 years in prison if found guilty.
Maradona was found to have died of heart failure and acute pulmonary edema -- a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs -- two weeks after going under the knife.
"If they had done their job, this would have been avoided," his daughter Dalma Maradona, a plaintiff in the case, told a court in San Isidro in the north of Buenos Aires.
"They deceived us in the cruelest way," she said of the medical team.
Dalma Maradona, 38, testified that physician Leopoldo Luque, one of the accused, had assured the family that home hospitalization was "the only option."
She was told her father would have everything he needed, including 24-hour care and an ambulance at the ready.
This "never happened," she said. "It was a house where, occasionally, a doctor would come to see him."
After her fathers death, she said she found the house "disgusting, and it smelled like urine."
She claimed she had tried to visit the ex-footballer days before his death, but was denied entry to the house by Maradonas lawyer and an assistant.
The defendants in the case are accused of "homicide with possible intent" -- pursuing a course of action despite knowing it can lead to their patients death.
Prosecutors allege the former footballer was abandoned to his fate for a "prolonged, agonizing period" before his death.
Nearly 120 witnesses are expected to testify in the long-delayed trial, which is expected to run until July.
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr rallied to the support of Harvard University on Wednesday, praising the US colleges refusal to submit to government oversight demanded by President Donald Trump.
Kerr, who has regularly criticised Trump and campaigned for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris before last years election, arrived for his post-game news conference following Golden States victory against Memphis wearing a Harvard t-shirt.
The 59-year-old revealed that he had been sent the shirt by Harvard basketball coach Tommy Amaker, who Kerr described as a friend.
"It felt like a great day to wear it," Kerr said, applauding Harvards defiance of the Trump administration edict.
"I believe in academic freedom and I think its crucial for all of our institutions to be able to handle their own business the way they want to, and they should not be shaken down and told what to teach and what to say by our government.
"Thats the dumbest thing Ive ever heard. But its kind of par for the course right now. So yes, this is me supporting Harvard -- way to go, way to stand up to the bully."
Trump threatened on Tuesday to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status as the feud with the college escalated.
The president had already moved to freeze $2.2 billion of federal funding to Harvard over its refusal to bow to demands which include how the university selects students.