Mexican side Monterrey sent Lionel Messi and Inter Miami crashing out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup on Wednesday after completing a 5-2 aggregate victory in their quarter-final clash.   Goals from Brandon Vazquez, German Berterame and Jesus Gallardo sealed a deserved 3-1 win on the night for the Liga-MX side, who advance to a semi-final with Major League Soccer champions Columbus.   Trailing 2-1 after last week's first leg in Florida, Inter Miami recalled Argentine superstar Messi to their starting line-up for the first time since his near-month-long injury absence.   But the presence of the eight-time Ballon D'Or winner was not enough to inspire Inter against a Monterrey side who looked far sharper in all departments.   Inter goalkeeper Drake Callender was forced into action early on, saving smartly after a bullet header by Monterrey's US international striker Vazquez.   Messi had Miami's best chance of the first half but he shot over the bar from just inside the area on 25 minutes.   Monterrey took the lead on 31 minutes after Vazquez punished a howler from Callender.   The goalkeeper miscued an attempted pass to Sergio Busquets and found Vazquez just yards from the Miami goal.   The American coolly picked his spot, sent Callender the wrong way and tucked away the finish.   Inter Miami created little of note thereafter, with Messi's former Barcelona team-mate Luis Suarez rightly having a goal disallowed for offside in first-half stoppage time.   On 58 minutes, Monterrey left Miami with a mountain to climb with a fantastic strike from their own Argentine striker Berterame.   After crisp approach play, Berterame jinked clear of his marker on the edge of the area and crashed a thunderous strike into the top corner.   Six minutes later Berterame turned provider, chipping a cross to an unmarked Gallardo, who buried a perfectly timed header past Callender.   A miserable night for Miami ended in acrimony on 78 minutes when former Barcelona defender Jordi Alba was sent off after picking up his second yellow card for a stamp on Gallardo.   Diego Gomez nodded in a late consolation goal for Miami from Messi's inviting free-kick on 85 minutes but it was too little too late for the MLS club.   The CONCACAF Champions Cup is the premier regional club competition for North America, Central America and the Caribbean, with the winner of this year's tournament earning a place at next year's expanded FIFA Club World Cup.   Mexican clubs have dominated the Champions Cup since Guadalajara won the first edition in 1962, lifting the trophy 38 times. Source: BSS  

A fire breaks out at a jute mill of Salam Jute Mills in Khulna's Rupsha. Eighteen units of fire service are working to to control the blaze. Earlier on Wednesday (April 3), the fire broke out around 5:30pm at the jute mill owned by Salam Jute Mill, said Md Abdul Quadir of the Khulna Fire Service control room.   MMA Salam, proprietor of Salam Jute Mill claimed that there has been damage of around Tk100 crore. Assistant Director of Khulna Fire Service and Civil Defence Md Faruk Hossain Sikdar said the fire service trying their best to douse the fire. Kohinur Jahan, Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), Rupsha Upazila said the fire service is working to control the fire. The Navy's fire team is also working. The intensity of the fire is very high, it may take time to control the fire.

A Republican and a Democratic member of Congress are calling on the Biden administration to add seven Chinese biotech firms to a list created by the Defense Department to highlight firms it says are allegedly working with Beijing's military. In a letter dated March 29 seen by Reuters, Republican Michael Gallagher and Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi asked Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to take the action since Beijing could harness the power of biotechnology to strengthen its military. "Urgent action is needed," said the lawmakers, who serve as the chairman and ranking member of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, citing risks that China could "create synthetic pathogens" to gain military advantage. "The Department of Defense provides responses directly to members of Congress in matters of this kind," a department spokesman said in a statement. "We have no additional information or further details to release at this time." A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said "some people" in the United States should stop suppressing Chinese companies under false pretexts. "When it comes to 'using biotech to strengthen its military,' the U.S. side should reflect on itself, rather than groundlessly attacking and smearing China," the spokesperson, Liu Pengyu, said in a statement. The letter is the latest sign of growing concern in Washington about China's biotech sector. The U.S. Congress is considering legislation to bar federal agencies from contracting with China's BGI and WuXi AppTec, among others, as part of an effort to keep China from accessing American genetic data and personal health information. U.S. intelligence officials in late February told senators working on the bill that Chinese pharmaceutical firm WuXi AppTec (603259.SS), opens new tab had transferred U.S. intellectual property to Beijing without consent, Reuters reported. Being placed on the Pentagon's Chinese military-backed companies list doesn't involve immediate bans. However, it can be a blow to companies' reputations and represents a warning to U.S. firms considering doing business with them. It could also put pressure on the Treasury Department to sanction them. In their letter, Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi call for the addition of Innomics and STOmics, which they allege are subsidiaries of BGI. BGI Genomics Co (300676.SZ), opens new tab, a publicly listed subsidiary of BGI Group, was added to the list in 2022. Reuters reported in 2021 that BGI has made sales worldwide of prenatal tests developed in collaboration with China's military and has used them to collect genetic data from millions of women for sweeping research on traits of populations. BGI has said it is not controlled by the Chinese government or military and that it respects human rights. The letter also names Origincell, for allegedly operating a bio-storage cell tank and having ties to the Chinese military and Vazyme Biotech (688105.SS), opens new tab, which allegedly makes bioactive compounds and has investors with ties to the military. "STOmics Americas is a U.S.-based company that has no operations in China nor any connections whatsoever with the Chinese military," the BGI Group said in a statement.   Source: Reuters

A fire broke out in the garage of a Volvo bus in the capital's Demra area. Six units of fire service are working to control the fire. The fire service received information about the fire at 8:50 pm on Monday (April 1). Anwarul Islam, warehouse inspector of Fire Service's media cell confirmed the information. He said the fire service left for Konapara area of Dharmakpara in Demra at 8:59 pm after receiving the news of the bus fire. Two units of Demra Fire Station are working to control the fire and four units from Siddique Bazar have left.   

The Bangladeshi ship MV Abdullah, which was hijacked by Somali pirates, is running out of food. However, the hostage have nothing to worry even if the food is reduced. Because the pirates from the shore are bringing food to the ship. The Bangladesh Merchant Marine Officers Association, an organization of ship's owners and sailors, said this on Wednesday (March 27). Mizanul Islam, media consultant of KSRM Group, told the media that the hostage sailors are healthy. There is nothing to worry about. Because the pirates are bringing food from the shore to the ship. The pirates usually bring food to the hijacked ship in their own interest. Captain Anam Chowdhury, president of Bangladesh Merchant Marine Officers' Association, said the pirates bring food for their own interests. I have also received reports of Tehari-like foods being brought on board MV Abdullah.

A fire has broken out in a super-board manufacturing factory of City Group in Gazaria upazila of Munshiganj. At least, 10 units of fire service are working to control the fire. The fire broke out on Sunday (March 24) at noon. No casualties have been reported so far. Fire Service Control Room Duty Officer Faruk confirmed the matter. Gazaria Upazila Fire Service Station Officer Rifat Mallik said that the factory produces various variants of hardboards. On receiving the news of the fire, we reached the spot immediately and started the work of controlling the fire. At present, 10 units of fire service are working.

For the first time a top U.S. diplomat for South and Central Asia has for the first time publicly addressed allegations of conspiring to oust Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2022. US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu on Wednesday rubbished former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan’s allegations his government was ousted via a conspiracy orchestrated by Washington, describing it as a “conspiracy theory” and a “lie.” "These allegations, this conspiracy theory, is a lie, it is a complete falsehood," Lu said while responding to a question by committee Chairman Representative Joe Wilson, a Republican from the U.S. state of South Carolina. Cypher conspiracy In April 2022, Khan was expelled from power in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence. Khan has since alleged that a secret diplomatic cable, or cypher, sent by then-Pakistani ambassador to the U.S. Asad Majeed Khan, proves the United States conspired with Pakistan's military and opposition leaders to remove him from office. The cable described a March 7, 2022, meeting with Lu in Washington. Last August, an American news outlet, The Intercept, published what it said was the text of the cipher. According to Ambassador Khan's purported cable, the State Department officials at the meeting encouraged Khan to tell Pakistan's powerful military that Islamabad could expect warmer relations if Khan were removed from office because of his neutrality on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Pakistani prime minister was in Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the day the invasion began and failed to condemn it. "I think if the no-confidence vote against the Prime Minister succeeds, all will be forgiven in Washington because the Russia visit is being looked at as a decision by the Prime Minister. … Otherwise, I think it will be tough going ahead," the document quoted Lu as telling the Pakistani ambassador. While the State Department has consistently rejected the allegation of conspiring in Khan's ouster, the department's spokesperson Mathew Miller conceded last year that the Biden administration was unhappy with Khan's overtures to Russia. "We expressed concern privately to the government of Pakistan as we expressed concerns publicly about the visit of then-Prime Minister Khan to Moscow on the very day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. We made that concern quite clear," Miller said at a regular press conference while responding to a question about The Intercept's reporting. The Pakistani military and Khan's opponents also have rejected his allegations. The former Pakistani prime minister is currently serving a 10-year prison term for revealing the contents of the secret cable, a charge he rejects as politically motivated. Lu called the reporting of the diplomatic cable in Pakistani media inaccurate. "At no point does it [the cypher] accuse the United States' government or me personally of taking steps against Imran Khan," he told the committee. Lu pointed out that Pakistan's now-former ambassador Khan had also testified to his government that there was no U.S. conspiracy to remove the prime minister from office. In March 2022, Pakistan's National Security Committee headed by Khan issued a demarche to the U.S ambassador over his country's "interference" in Pakistan's politics. After Khan's ouster, however, another NSC committee headed by then-Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif concluded that the diplomatic cable did not indicate any U.S. conspiracy. "We respect the sovereignty of Pakistan. We respect the principle that Pakistani people should be the only ones choosing their own leaders through a democratic process," Lu told Wednesday's hearing. The assistant secretary was disrupted several times as some in the audience called him a liar. The proceedings stopped on a few occasions, and Capital Police removed some in attendance for being disruptive. Lu told the committee that he has received several death threats, and his family also has been threatened over "unfounded allegations" since Khan's removal. Election irregularities Addressing reports of irregularities in Pakistan's February 8 general elections, Lu said the Biden administration was persistently urging Pakistani authorities to investigate. "We as a partner of Pakistan have called for that to be done transparently and fully and for those found responsible for irregularities to be held accountable." Pakistan's much-delayed elections faced several controversies. A state-backed crackdown on Khan's party, pre-election violence including terror attacks, suspension of mobile internet services on Election Day, and a massive delay in announcing results led local and international observers to question the fairness of the vote. The United States, U.K. and the EU have called on Pakistan to probe the discrepancies. In a February 28 letter to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a bipartisan group of 31 members of the U.S. Congress urged the administration not to recognize Pakistan's new government until "a thorough, transparent, and credible investigation of election interference" was conducted. In a statement on April 13, though, Blinken congratulated Sharif on being elected as prime minister of Pakistan. U.S. ambassador to Islamabad Donald Blome has since met Pakistan's new president, prime minister, as well as foreign and finance ministers. Representative Greg Casar, a Democrat from Texas who was among the authors of the letter, questioned Lu on the administration recognizing Sharif's government. "We do not go around recognizing or withholding recognition. We decide whether we are going to engage with the government," said Lu. Pakistan's polls delivered a hung parliament. Khan's party had to field candidates as independents after it was deprived of a unified elections symbol. Although candidates backed by Khan's PTI won the largest number of seats in the lower house of the parliament, Sharif's party, which came in second, formed a coalition government with Khan's opponents.   Source: Voice of America

Bangladesh pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib was ruled out of the third and final ODI against Sri Lanka in Chattogram tomorrow (March 18) after picking up an injury. The young pacer was seen struggling with hamstring injury in the first ODI in which he claimed 3-44 to help Bangladesh win the game by six wickets. In the second game too, he was not looking comfortable. Finally this hamstring issue ruled him out of the third match, what turned out to be deciding game after Sri Lanka leveled the series with three-wicket win in the second game. "Tanzim is experiencing pain and discomfort of his right hamstring. He did not feel any better at training today and is not fit to play tomorrow," national team physio Bayjedul Islam Khan said today. Fellow pacer Hasan Mahmud has been called up in the Bangladesh squad to replace Tanzim for the third ODI. Source: BSS  

Coming 16 years after the original movie and eight since the most recent sequel, “Kung Fu Panda 4” actually benefits from what feels like pent-up demand, coupled with “The Simpsons” effect that animated characters don’t grow older. Slick and briskly paced, the film incorporates its origins while conjuring enough laughs and fun to effectively deliver for parents and their cubs. One of DreamWorks’ most agreeable franchises peaked early with its story of the unlikely Po (voiced with the usual gusto by Jack Black) rising from humble roots to become the Dragon Warrior, while facing off against a truly excellent and formidable villain in Tai Lung (Ian McShane). The sequels were fine but proved less memorable. This time, Po is reaping the rewards of his exalted status – even using it as a marketing come-on to assist his adoptive dad and birth dad, Ping and Li (James Hong, now 95, and Bryan Cranston) – when, inevitably, a fresh threat arises: The Chameleon (Viola Davis), a shape-shifting sorceress with supervillain-worthy ambitions that endanger the Valley of Peace. Po also gets a surprising instruction from Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), telling him that he must identify and begin to groom a successor. Yet he’s not only reluctant to give up the job, but distracted by this latest challenge, especially after a fast-talking thief, Zhen (Awkwafina), offers to lead him to the Chameleon’s stronghold. Although the best gags, involving some adorable but violence-loving bunnies, have been playing on a loop in the teaser trailers, the film still manages to combine muscular action with a healthy dollop of comedy, much of it having to do with Po’s posse and his seemingly unquenchable appetite. The A-list voice cast really boosts the way the characters play off each other, with most of the key players back (including McShane), Davis sinking her teeth into the venomous baddie and Ke Huy Quan among the other additions. Granted, there’s only so much that can be done at this point with this kind of concept beyond recycling it, but director Mike Mitchell (“Trolls”) keeps the story moving even during the relatively flat exposition, and the chase sequences and fights have considerable energy and visual flair. As noted, part of that might just have to do with the adage that absence makes the heart grow fonder, or in this case, “Panda” fans hungrier. Given that, looking at the growing intervals between movies, people should have worked up an appetite for bringing “Kung Fu Panda 5” out of hibernation somewhere around 2036.  Source: CNN

A fire broke out at a Sugar Mill in Karnaphuli upazila of Chattogram district. The incident took place on Monday (March 4) at around 4 pm. However, the cause of the fire could not be known immediately. The smoke had enveloped the area. A total of 12 units of fire service from three stations are working to control the fire. Chattogram Fire Service and Civil Defense Control room Officer, Kafil Uddin said that firefighters were working to control the fire.