Bangladesh and N.Zealand hopes on the line

Bangladesh and New Zealand head into their final group match of this year's Champions Trophy desperate for victory but knowing even a win in Cardiff on Friday may not take either of them into the semi-finals. 

Both teams have a point apiece in the one-day international tournament after they were each well beaten by England, while their respective matches with Australia ended in rain-induced no results. 

England are already into the last four and Australia will join them there if they defeat the tournament hosts in the final Group A fixture at Edgbaston on Sunday. 

It all leaves Bangladesh and New Zealand needing to win in Wales and then hope England put one over their arch-rivals, assuming more bad weather does not disrupt those calculations. 

New Zealand should have the edge over Bangladesh when it comes to local knowledge given their 87-run defeat by England in Cardiff on Tuesday. 

"England bowled very, very well," said New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, "the way they extracted (some bounce) by cross seamers hitting the wicket hard." 

Williamson made a brilliant hundred against Australia before following up with 97 against England -- a match where he was fined but not banned for a dreadfully slow over-rate. Bangladesh's Tamim Iqbal also started the tournament with a century, against England, before making 95 against Australia. 

For both sides the innings has tended to fall away following the exit of their star batsman, with New Zealand losing their last eight wickets for 65 against England following Williamson's dismissal. 

Bangladesh were just four overs away from all but certain defeat and tournament elimination when rain came to their rescue against Australia. 

Their most recent meeting with the Blackcaps saw Bangladesh beat New Zealand by five wickets in a warm-up match in Dublin. 

New Zealand, however, were without several key players in Martin Guptill, Williamson, Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Adam Milne. 

"We have beaten their strongest team at home (in Bangladesh) but maybe not so strong in Ireland," Tamim told reporters in Cardiff on Wednesday. 

"They have serious quality players. If we want to repeat the result again, we have to execute well," he added. 

It was at Cardiff, now a much-changed ground, where Bangladesh caused arguably the biggest of all ODI upsets by beating a powerful Australia side back in 2005. 

Defeating New Zealand would not be such a shock, but it would be a huge boost to the current Bangladesh's side standing in world cricket. 
 

"Three Bangladeshi daughters" draw attention ahead of UK polls Thursday

Three Bangladeshi-origin women candidates drew an extra focus in media, several of those dubbing them as 'three daughters" or "tin kanya" of Bangladesh as Britain goes to snap general elections Thursday, reports BSS.

Fourteen candidates of Bangladeshi origin are contesting in the June 8 UK polls but Bangbandhu's granddaughter Tulip Rizwana Siddiq, Rushanara Ali and Dr Rupa Huq grabbed most public attention while all the three were fielded in the polls by the opposition Labour Party.

The number of Bangladeshi-origin candidates in 2015 UK polls was 11, of which the three daughters recorded victory which their success appeared to have partly encouraged three more having identical nationalistic background to vie the crucial elections after Britain's exit from European Union (EU), known as Brexit.

Of the 14 candidates 8 including the "three daughters" are contesting as Labour Party candidates, one as Liberal Democrat, one as Friends Party nominee and 4 as independent contenders.

But unlike others the three daughters Tulip, Sheikh Rehana's daughter and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's niece, Rushanara and Rupa are in an advantageous position since they are elected members of British parliament.

The elections gave them an extra edge as they are competing from the constituencies which elected them to parliament only two years ago.

Of the rests two are women -- Marina Ahmed and Raushan Ara -- both candidates of Labour Party which also nominated Bangladeshi-British Anwar Babul Miah, Foysol Chowdhury MBE and Abdullah Rumel Khan in the polls.

Saju Miah is standing as a Liberal Democrats candidate, while Afzal Choudhry is competing from the minor Friends Party.

Ajmal Masroor, Oliur Rahman, Abu Nowshed and Mirza Zillur are contesting as independent candidates.

Tulip is fighting to retain her seat in crucial Hampstead and Kilburn constituency in London having Liberal Democrat Kirsty Allan, Conservative Claire-Louise Leyland, Green Party's John Mansook and independent candidates Hugh Easterbrook and Rainbow George Weiss as her rivals.

China closes 60 celebrity gossip social media accounts

China's cyberspace authorities have ordered internet companies to close 60 popular celebrity gossip social media accounts in the latest in a series of crackdowns on independent media

.Website operators from some of China's biggest internet companies including Tencent and Baidu were told in a meeting they must take steps to control user accounts focusing on celebrity gossip, according to a post on the Beijing Cyberspace Administration's social media account.

"Websites must ... adopt effective measures to keep in check the problems of the embellishment of private sex scandals of celebrities, the hyping of ostentatious celebrity spending and entertainment, and catering to the poor taste of the public," the post said.

They must also "actively propagate core socialist values, and create an ever-more healthy environment for the mainstream public opinion", it added.

President Xi Jinping has overseen a series of measures to clamp down on independent online media, while reasserting the ruling Communist Party's role in limiting and guiding online discussion.

The Cyberspace Administration of China in May released regulations for online news portals and network providers, which extended restrictions on content and required all services to be managed by party-sanctioned editorial staff.

Show-business blogs and sites are very popular in China, especially those which regularly produce muckraking reports on celebrities' private lives.

In the meeting, the Beijing Cyberspace Administration told the internet companies that a new cyber security law that came into effect on Jun 1 requires websites to not harm the reputation or privacy of individuals, it said.

Companies must collect and record data on any site or account that breaks the cyber security laws and report it to authorities, they said.

Sixty different accounts were ordered closed, though many were duplicates run by the same individual or group.

Fans of the closed sites reacted angrily on social media, accusing the government of failing to understand young people and to appreciate the value of holding celebrities to account.

"Now it seems the entertainment crowd can brazenly and shamelessly go about their shady business, the only one who could keep them in check has been blocked," one Weibo user said of "China's Number One Paparazzi" Zhou Wei, an account that had more than 7 million viewers.

Combination of sleep apnea, insomnia may increase depression risk in men

Turns out, sleep apnea and insomnia can be a depressing combination. A new study found that men with sleep apnoea and insomnia have a higher prevalence and severity of depressive symptoms than men with sleep apnoea or insomnia alone.

In the study of 700 men in the community, 43% of those with both conditions had depression, compared with 22% of those with insomnia alone and 8% of those with sleep apnoea alone.

The study also found that 6.7% of men in the community had undiagnosed sleep apnea in combination with insomnia. This is slightly higher than the prevalence of insomnia alone (5.3%).

"Primary carers need to recognise that insomnia and sleep apnea commonly occur together and are strongly associated with poor mental health outcomes," said lead author Carol Lang. "Correct and efficient diagnosis of sleep apnea and insomnia will improve recognition of this comorbid disorder and may avoid potentially counter-productive hypnotic medication prescription in many men," Lang added.

The study appears in the journal Respirology.

Hrithik Roshan to do first biopic

After his home production “Kaabil” opposite Yami Gautam, which was directed by Sanjay Gupta and released in January, Hrithik Roshan will be seen as the Patna-based mathematician Anand Kumar in Vikas Bahl's next directorial. Tentatively titled “Super 30”, the film traces Anand's rise to fame as the founder of the “Super 30” programme that grooms IIT aspirants.

Hrithik, who is soon headed to the United States for a vacation with sons Hrehaan and Hridhaan, is expected to begin prep for the film after the week-long trip.
After his last release, the 43-year-old actor had been reading scripts but took his time before giving the nod to “Super 30”, which is his first biopic. Bahl, who has recently returned from London after a month, had been reportedly researching for the film since a couple of years.
Anand Kumar, 44, an Indian mathematician from Bihar, started the “Super 30” programme in Patna in 2002 to coach economically back ward students for IIT-JEE, the entrance examination for the Indian Institutes of Technology. Kumar studied in a Hindi medium government school where he excelled in mathematics.
Every year, his institute Ramanujan School of Mathematics conducts a test to select top 30 students to groom for the entrance exam after which he tutors them and provides them accommodation for a year.

Kumar, who came up with the idea for the programme after being approached by underprivileged students who wanted to prepare for admission in the premier engineering institutes but couldn't afford to pay the tuition fee, had so far been reluctant about having a film made on his life

Budget: Ruling coalition fears repercussion

The ruling coalition led by Awami League today feared of repercussion due to the proposed hike in excise duty on bank accounts that will tax people’s savings.
In a press briefing arranged at Awami League’s Dhanmondi office, the coalition demanded revoking the hiked excise duty and that it is given “highest importance”.
It should be given the highest priority. Otherwise, the people’s dissatisfaction will create an adverse impact in the next general election, leaders of the coalition opined.
The alliance leaders termed the excise duty as illogical and said people will be discouraged keeping money in their bank accounts.
Mohammad Nasim, spokesperson of the 14-party alliance, said a discussion took place over the proposed budget in a meeting of the coalition members.

“I hope the finance minister would reconsider the issue of excise duty and uniform 15 percent VAT for the people’s welfare,” Nasim said after the meeting.
Star Online Report
The ruling coalition led by Awami League today feared of repercussion due to the proposed hike in excise duty on bank accounts that will tax people’s savings.
In a press briefing arranged at Awami League’s Dhanmondi office, the coalition demanded revoking the hiked excise duty and that it is given “highest importance”.
It should be given the highest priority. Otherwise, the people’s dissatisfaction will create an adverse impact in the next general election, leaders of the coalition opined.
The alliance leaders termed the excise duty as illogical and said people will be discouraged keeping money in their bank accounts.
Mohammad Nasim, spokesperson of the 14-party alliance, said a discussion took place over the proposed budget in a meeting of the coalition members.
“I hope the finance minister would reconsider the issue of excise duty and uniform 15 percent VAT for the people’s welfare,” Nasim said after the meeting.

Sports

Lyon's Ada Hegerberg (left) and Lyon's Eugenie Le Sommer celebrate with the trophy after the Women's Champions League Final soccer match at the Cardiff City Stadium in Cardiff, Wales on Thursday. yon\'s Ada Hegerberg (left) and Lyon\'s Eugenie Le Sommer celebrate with the trophy after the Women\'s Champions League Final soccer match at the Cardiff City Stadium in Cardiff, Wales on Thursday.

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How to get thicker eyebrows naturally

Over the last few years, big and bushy brows have become a rage. The latest brow trend has replaced skinny or pencil-thin brows, which was a big beauty trend in the 90's. Eyebrows define your face and thicker brows add a youthful touch to your face. If you're not blessed with a thicker pair of brows, you can always fill in the sparse areas or make them look thicker using brow gels. But if you're looking for something natural and long-lasting, then we've got the right tips for you.

Here are 4 ways to get thicker brows naturally:

. Don't pluck
First things first, don't over pluck your eyebrows. Excessive plucking and even waxing will prevent the hair from growing back. Eyebrows grow in 2-3 months cycle, so not tweezing for a few months can actually show a lot of difference.
2. Moisturise
Your brow area needs to stay hydrated and nourished. Use some petroleum jelly to lock the moisture. You can apply this 2-3 times a day to promote hair growth.
3. Oil massage
The way oil works for your hair, it will do the same for your eyebrows. You can use castor, olive or coconut oil to promote hair growth. Dip a cotton swab in oil and gently massage before you sleep.
4. Egg whites
Egg contains protein, which helps to promote hair growth and nourishes hair follicles. Beat white egg and apply this solution for 20 minutes.

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Worries there though Muhith assures

Finance Minister AMA Muhith denied that any of the tax hikes would affect the lives of the middle and lower middle class.
But, a simple analysis of his tax proposal should help clarify how much his assurance holds up.
From July 1 onward, anyone who wants to build a concrete home, either in rural or urban areas, will have to pay an extra flat 15 percent VAT on any purchases of rod and bricks.

urrently, one can buy a tonne of rod by paying Tk 900 as value added tax (VAT) and a VAT of Tk 0.22-Tk 0.32 per brick.  But in the coming months, individuals will have to pay nearly Tk 7,500 for each tonnne of rod as VAT at a price of Tk 50,000 per tonnne and more than Tk 1.0 as VAT for each piece of brick.

So if anyone wants to construct on 1,200 square feet (sft) now, using 23,000 bricks, 500 bags of cement and 5.5 tonnes of rod, they will have to pay an additional Tk 59,300 for brick and rod because of the imposition of the 15 percent VAT.
Additionally, one will be required to spend more than before to buy energy saving lamps and tube lights to light the house, pay more for furniture, plastics goods and

More than 200,000 children dying from diarrhoea each year

Diarrhoea is one of the world’s leading causes of child illness and death, and rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhoea.
Each year, rotavirus diarrhoea kills about 200,000 children in countries around the world and hospitalises hundreds of thousands more, despite the fact that safe, effective vaccines exist that can protect children from this disease.
Rotavirus is highly contagious, and every child is at risk. Infants and children under the age of 2 years face the greatest risk of infection. Rotavirus causes gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines. It primarily infects the small intestine, destroying the surface tissue and preventing the absorption of nutrients, causing diarrhoea.
Typical symptoms can range from mild, watery diarrhoea to severe diarrhoea with vomiting and fever.
While mild to moderate dehydration caused by rotavirus infections can be treated with oral rehydration therapy (ORT), children who develop severe dehydration often require intravenous fluids and hospitalisation. 2 out of every 5 diarrhoea-related hospitalisations among children under age 5 are caused by rotavirus. For those who survive, rotavirus infections can have a lasting impact.
It can take up to 2 months for the intestine to fully repair itself after a moderate to severe case of rotavirus. As the intestine repairs, children cannot absorb nutrients as well, which means that during crucial stages of development, they grow significantly less than children who have not been sick with rotavirus diarrhoea.
Children who suffer from an episode of moderate-to-severe diarrhoea — from infections like rotavirus — are weakened and malnourished. They are more susceptible to the next illness that strikes, and have a more than eight-fold increase in their risk of death from any cause in the 2-3 months following an episode of diarrhoea.

Top 5 destinations to chill out during the summer break

Aurvind Lama, co-founder and CEO, Travelyaari, an online bus booking platform, and Manheer Singh Sethi, co-founder, travel app Travkart, suggest where you can enjoy summer vacations:

* Kovalam Beach, Kerala: The beach is known for its shallow waters and low tides, which make it the perfect spot to take your children to splash around in the water while you soak in the sun and enjoy sea breeze.

* Puri, Odisha: Odisha has some of the most beautiful and cleanest beaches in India, a few of which are home to a massive influx of Olive Ridley sea turtles.
Two things make Puri a popular tourist destination — the Jagannath temple and the beaches. Chandipur and Gopalpur beaches are among the must-visit list when in Odisha.
* Dubai: Palm Beach, Burj Khalifa, Burj Al Arab and The World archipelago undoubtedly add to its luxuries. Opt for the four-night and five-day fly and stay trip to the highly sought-after travel destination.

Experience the unique blend of spectacle, tranquillity and adventure with an on-ground city tour in the morning, desert safari in the afternoon, and barbeque dinner under the stars while enjoying belly dance.

* Thailand: Thailand attracts close to 30 million tourists annually. Reason? Its sheer excellence and beauty. It is popular for its beach resorts, sumptuous royal palaces, ancient ruins, picturesque locations, party hubs, tropical cuisine, and soul soothing destinations.

* Sri Lanka: From the tranquil beaches in Bentota, the lush green hills and colonial heritage of Nuwara Eliya, to the historical monuments in Colombo, Sri Lanka has the most splendid offerings for visitors. Go for a wildlife safari at Yala National Park, where you may spot jungle cats, elephants, water buffaloes and the Sri Lankan sloth bear.

US spelling bee champs find success after sting of defeat

Three past winners of the Scripps National Spelling Bee say lo

sing was the secret to their success.

Early defeats spurred an inner competitive streak that they used to eventually seize the title, said champions from 1985, 1999 and 2010. The 2017 national spelling bee winner will be crowned on Thursday.

"Those were tough losses but they also made me dig deeper and work harder," said Balu Natarajan, 45, who flamed out on the national stage in 1983 and 1984. He won the next year at age 13 and is now a sports medicine doctor in Chicago.
Nupur Lala, 32, still remembers the word that tripped her up in 1998: commination, which ironically means the act of threatening divine vengeance. She took the title in 1999 at 14.
"It was one of the really healthy moments in my life. Any hubris that I had was eliminated at that point," said Lala, headed for a 2018 medical school degree with a focus in neurology after conducting research at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
For 2010 winner Anamika Veeramani, losing in front of a worldwide audience on live television in 2009 was a seminal lesson in handling life's challenges.
"In the spelling bee, you really learn how to deal with failure. And dealing with those things gracefully is really important to living a good life," said Veeramani, 21.
She graduated last week with a biology degree after just three years at Yale University and is applying to medical school. She envisions treating patients as well as launching a broadcast career covering medical stories.
Defeat has fanned the competitive fires within, all three past winners said in separate interviews.
"The competition is not with other spellers but with yourself," Lala told Reuters. "I don't think that besting other people is quite as motivating for me."
Natarajan, who is chief medical officer at Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care, the nation's largest privately owned hospice provider, agreed he has been his own fiercest rival.
"Some people love to win. Some people want to keep pushing to be their best. I am the latter," he said.
Natarajan won the title for correctly spelling 'milieu,' Lala for 'logorrhea' and Veeramani for 'stromuhr,' after their opponents had stumbled.
And how do the world's best spellers handle errors in emails, classroom lessons, or even romantic love letters? Do they point out corrections or suffer in silence?
"I don't hesitate," Natarajan said. "It drives me crazy."
But Lala and Veeramani hold their tongues.
"I don't want to be obnoxious. Nobody wants to be that kid," Veeramani said.
This week, 291 whizzes ages 6 to 15 will descend on a resort in the Washington area to compete in the 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee.
They have made the cut from more than 11 million contenders who faced off in spelling bees in all 50 US states, US territories from Puerto Rico to Guam, and several nations from Jamaica to Japan.
The victor on Thursday takes home a $40,000 cash prize. But second place also has its rewards: a $30,000 prize.
Natarajan, a married father of boys 8 and 11, said his elder child just missed competing in the national bee this year, coming in second in a countywide spelling competition. If losing really is the key to winning, that may be great news.