United News of Bangladesh

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham said she is not concerned that rallies linked to her views on transgender athletes are becoming a distraction for her team. Speaking before Friday night's WNBA game against the Portland Fire, Cunningham said she remains focused on basketball despite protests held outside recent Fever games. "I come in and do my job," Cunningham said. "People who know me understand that I care about others, love basketball and want to inspire young people. I'm here to play basketball and be myself." A small group of supporters gathered outside the arena before Friday's game, marking the second straight Fever game where rallies were held in support of Cunningham. A similar event took place before Indiana's game against the Seattle Storm earlier this week. Each rally drew around two dozen participants. Cunningham said she had no involvement in organising the demonstrations. "People are simply exercising their right to free speech. I respect those who choose to speak their views," she said. Another rally is planned for Sunday's game between the Fever and the Minnesota Lynx in Minneapolis. The protests followed Cunningham's recent public support for banning transgender athletes from girls' and women's sports. During Tuesday's game in Seattle, two Cunningham supporters sat courtside holding signs. Following an incident involving the fans, the WNBA fined Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton an undisclosed amount and suspended her for five games. The Storm later apologised for the incident, saying the team remains committed to providing a welcoming and respectful environment for everyone attending its games. In Portland, Cunningham was booed by sections of the crowd when she entered the game, while many fans waved pink, blue and white transgender flags. Despite the off-court attention, Indiana secured a 112-98 victory over Portland for its fifth straight win. Cunningham scored 13 points, while Caitlin Clark recorded the fourth triple-double of her WNBA career with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Fever coach Stephanie White acknowledged the controversy has created challenges but said the team remains focused. "We want the attention to be on basketball and our progress as a team," White said. "At the same time, this is part of the league's growth, and we have to manage these situations while continuing to have conversations."

Ghana will aim to win its first Women's Africa Cup of Nations title when the 2026 tournament begins in Morocco on Saturday. The Black Queens finished third at the previous edition, with the Ghana Football Association and coaching staff confident the team can challenge for the continental crown. Ghana Football Association president Kurt Simeon-Okraku has backed the team to surpass its most recent performance, while head coach Kim Lars Bjorkegren said the squad has made significant progress over the past year. "I believe the team is overall in a much better place now compared to one year ago. I'm really looking forward to starting up the WAFCON," the Swedish coach said. Bjorkegren added that many of his players have improved physically and tactically since he took charge of the team last year. Ghana has qualified for every edition of the Women's Africa Cup of Nations and is making its 14th appearance at the tournament. The Black Queens finished as runners-up in 1998, 2002 and 2006 but have yet to lift the trophy. The 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations runs from July 26 to August 16 in Morocco. Ghana has been drawn in Group D alongside Cameroon, Mali and Cabo Verde.  

The inaugural edition of Notun Kuri Sports 2025-26, one of the country's largest grassroots sporting events featuring the participation of more than 1 lakh children and teenagers from across Bangladesh, will conclude on Monday with a grand closing and prize-giving ceremony. The ceremony will be held at the Bangladesh Army Stadium in Dhaka at 4:00pm in the presence of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, according to a PID handout issued on Sunday. The nationwide programme was launched simultaneously on May 2, 2026, from Sylhet District Stadium with the aim of identifying promising young sporting talents from the grassroots and encouraging children across the country to participate in sports. Organisers said the maiden edition has created a new milestone in Bangladesh's sporting landscape by engaging a large number of young participants from across the country. Competitions were held in eight disciplines – football, cricket, kabaddi, athletics, badminton, chess, swimming and martial arts. After competitions at the upazila, district and regional levels, the national finals in Dhaka will mark the successful conclusion of the country's largest sports initiative.

Defending champion Jannik Sinner will face French Open champion Alexander Zverev in the Wimbledon men's singles final on Sunday in a clash between the tournament's top two seeds. World No. 1 Sinner is aiming to secure his fifth Grand Slam title and successfully defend his Wimbledon crown after a disappointing early exit at this year's French Open. Second seed Zverev, ranked No. 3 in the world, is seeking to make history by becoming the first man in the Open Era to win his second Grand Slam title at the tournament immediately following his maiden major triumph. Sinner enters the final with a commanding recent record against the German, having won their last nine meetings without dropping a set in their past 14 sets. The Italian suffered a shock second-round defeat at Roland Garros earlier this year, ending his title defence in Paris. For Zverev, Sunday's final marks a breakthrough at Wimbledon, surpassing his previous best performance of reaching the fourth round. The championship match is scheduled to begin at 9:00 pm (BD time) on Centre Court, with clear skies and warm conditions forecast. In the women's final on Saturday, Linda Noskova defeated fellow Czech Karolina Muchova to capture her first Grand Slam singles title.

The 19th edition of the Ascent Corporate Cup, Bangladesh's longest-running amateur corporate five-a-side football tournament, will kick off on Thursday at the Scholastica Uttara Campus. Launched in 2006, the tournament has established itself as one of the country's leading amateur corporate futsal competitions, bringing together teams from leading organisations and football enthusiasts, according to a press release. Organisers said the competition has become increasingly competitive over the years, leading to the introduction of two divisions in 2024 – Premier League for elite teams and the Championship League for emerging and developing sides. A major highlight of this year's tournament will be the Legacy Match, an exhibition fixture to be played before the Championship League final to promote football's role in fostering inclusion and social impact. This year's Legacy Match will be held in partnership with Thrive and will feature young footballers from underprivileged schools in Dhaka's informal settlements. The 30-minute match will showcase two teams of aspiring players, with the emphasis on talent, opportunity and inclusion. For many of the participants, it will be their first opportunity to play in a world-class indoor futsal arena. Organisers said the children will compete on the same court, under the same conditions and receive the same recognition and medals as players in the main tournament, reflecting the event's commitment to equal opportunity through sport. Ascent Group has been the title sponsor of the Corporate Cup since 2008.

German police on Wednesday carried out raids as part of an investigation into suspected corruption linked to the 2024 UEFA European Championship. According to German media, the headquarters of the German Football Association (DFB) was among the locations searched. Investigators are also examining Euro 2024 GmbH, the tournament's organizing company jointly run by the DFB and UEFA. In a joint statement, the Bochum Public Prosecutor's Office and the North Rhine-Westphalia State Office of Criminal Investigation said the probe focuses on allegations that officials from the tournament's organizing body gave improper benefits to a person who was working for one of the host cities at the time. The alleged benefits included tickets to football matches and other favors. Investigators said organizers appeared to have offered host cities priority rights to purchase match tickets. The cities reportedly used some of those tickets in different ways. German newspaper Bild reported that more than 150 police officers took part in the raids. The investigation involves suspected bribery by a 66-year-old German man and a 46-year-old French man. The report also claimed that several thousand tickets may have been improperly distributed to selected guests during Euro 2024. Police also searched city halls and municipal offices in several host cities as part of the investigation, according to the newspaper. Prosecutors stressed that the suspects have not yet responded to the allegations and remain presumed innocent while the investigation continues.

An inter-university carrom competition, organised by the Bangladesh Inter-University Sports Association, began on Friday at the National University (NU) in Gazipur with participation of 18 universities. NU Vice-Chancellor and Sports Board President Prof Dr ASM Amanullah inaugurated the event at the university auditorium in the morning. National and university flags were hoisted followed by the release of pigeons and balloons, along with the playing of the national anthem, on the Smritir Minar premises of the campus as part of the inauguration programmes. Students, teachers, officials and guests attended the opening ceremony. The final of the competition is scheduled to be held on June 21.

President Donald Trump has long been looking for this weekend to be a big one for his presidency. The World Cup returns to the U.S. on Friday for the first time in 32 years after Trump threw himself into winning the bid to co-host the soccer tourney during his first term. He’ll be feted Sunday, his 80th birthday, during a UFC fight night that’s expected to draw thousands to the White House grounds. Hours after the final bout, he’s scheduled to jet off to the G7 summit in the French Alps for talks with several world leaders he’s been beefing with over war and tariffs. But Trump set expectations even higher for the coming days when he announced Thursday that the U.S. and Iran could come to terms this weekend on an agreement that would set the pathway to end the three-month-old war that’s been broadly unpopular with Americans and has rattled global oil markets. He said he plans to dispatch Vice President JD Vance to the signing of the agreement. Trump has said on several occasions in recent weeks that he’s on the cusp of a deal without anything coming to fruition. A spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry told state television following Trump’s comments that mediators were active but nothing had been finalized to end the conflict. Still, Trump is claiming this time might be different. The breakthrough comes after he threatened to escalate the conflict with more intense bombardment of Iran and by seizing control of Iran’s oil industry, including capturing Iran’s vital Kharg Island oil facility. The president’s threats followed back-and-forth strikes this week that had rendered a temporary ceasefire agreed to in early April all but meaningless. “They’ve taken a pounding like very few people could take,” Trump said in an Oval Office exchange with reporters as he explained why he was confident that, this time, a deal would come through. “And they want to make the deal a lot more than I do.” Trump offered scant details about the settlement he says is taking shape, but told reporters that he believed the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who is believed to have been wounded on the first day of the war and has not been seen in public since, is ready to sign off on the deal. Trump is billing the deal as “very strong,” though he says it remains “a little conceptual,” and says it would ensure Iran is blocked from ever developing a nuclear weapon. Trump’s heightened threats are aimed at creating an off-ramp With the conflict intensifying over the past week, Trump’s threat to escalate U.S. military action seemed in part aimed at demonstrating to the hawkish flank of his political base that he was willing to play “hardball” with the Iranians if they didn’t come to a deal soon, said Ali Vaez, Iran director at the International Crisis Group. Trump in March warned he would target Iran’s infrastructure and put American troops on Kharg Island before he ultimately backed down, and the two countries agreed to the temporary ceasefire. Almost immediately after raising the idea again on social media Thursday, Trump appeared to back away. He called into a morning show on Fox News Channel and questioned whether Americans had the “stomach” for an option that would require putting U.S. troops in harm’s way. Hours later, Trump announced he had decided to cancel orders for “very hard” strikes on Iran and said a deal was close. Vaez said even as Trump was posting on social media Thursday about escalating strikes, mediators from Pakistan, Turkey and Qatar had been making progress in their talks with Iran. At the same time, Iran also may have reset the equation for Trump with its decision last weekend to attack Israel directly for the first time since the ceasefire after Israeli forces carried out military strikes on Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. With the move, Iran signaled that Israel could no longer bomb Lebanon without facing a meaningful reaction and in the process also raised the cost for the U.S. to follow through on its commitment to help safeguard Israel. “It really does appear to me that Trump wants to bring this to an end, but his real challenge is that he’s looking for a victory lap and an exit ramp and those two things are not necessarily compatible,” Vaez said. Trump expresses frustration with war narrative Trump has been boasting since the early weeks of the conflict that he’d already won the war — much of the Islamic Republic’s leadership has been killed in the bombings and the Iranian navy and air force have been severely degraded. But Iran continues to effectively keep the Strait of Hormuz closed, choking a waterway through which about 20% of the world’s oil supply passed before the war, and has yet to agree to restart negotiations with the U.S. over its concerns about Iran’s nuclear program, the main reason Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave to justify launching the war. But the real problem, Trump grumbled Thursday, was largely a public relations issue. “They could wave the white flag of surrender. They could say: ‘We surrender, we surrender, we’re finished, we’ve had it. The United States is the greatest power, praise be to Allah,’” Trump said on Fox News. “They could say it loud and clear. And the fake news would say it was a great victory for Iran.” Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, a former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Trump has grown impatient with Iran and the renewed strikes and threats on Kharg Island and Iran’s energy sector were intended to get the negotiations back to the “right place.” Polls show that the conflict is largely unpopular with Americans. McCaul said he believes the Iranians want to “try to drag this out as long as they can,” closer to the midterm elections in November, because they see that as being to their benefit. War will be high on agenda at next week’s G7 Deal or no deal, the war will loom large during next week’s talks at the Group of Seven summit in bucolic Évian-les-Bains, France. Trump has frequently criticized some of the group leaders — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz — for resisting his calls to aid the U.S. and Israeli war effort. The four leaders have also angered Trump by criticizing how he’s gone about executing the war and his lack of consultation with allies before jumping into a conflict that’s hurt the global economy as oil prices have surged. But Trump said he is optimistic he could have an agreement before his talks with leaders in France. “The strait will officially open as soon as we sign, which could be soon, very soon — maybe over the weekend in Europe,” Trump said.

Shakira, Maná, Andrea Bocelli and a surprise appearance by Salma Hayek lit up the World Cup opening ceremony ahead of Mexico's 2-0 victory over South Africa on Thursday. Shakira performed “Dai Dai,” the tournament's official song, with Burna Boy. The Colombian star had a hit with “Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)” from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and now seeks to score again. A good World Cup song, Shakira earlier told The Associated Press, “needs to definitely have rhythm. It has to be rhythmic. It has to make people want to dance. And it has to be an anthem as well. It has to make people want to sing along in unison, sing out loud at the top of their lungs.” Shakira has performed at previous World Cups, too: 2006 in Germany, 2010 in South Africa, and 2014 in Brazil. In addition, she will perform at the first halftime show of a World Cup final on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey with Madonna and BTS. Mexico, the United States and Canada are co-hosting the 48-team tournament. A welcome for all Lila Downs welcomed fans and players in Spanish, English, and the indigenous languages Mixtec and Nahuatl. “People of the world, welcome to Mexico,” said Downs, who wore a white indigenous huipil with a lilac edge. “Mexico welcomes you with smiles from our heart, we are a nation of diversity, heritage and pride in ancestral lands where movement and ritual spirit endure.” Downs, who is a singer-songwriter, was born in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca. Her mother is Mixtec, and her father was American of Scottish descent. But her heart is green, white and red when it comes to the ball. “It’s a great honor for me to represent my beautiful and diverse country,” Downs said in an interview with The AP. “Of course I’m going to root for Mexico’s team, Viva Mexico!” Maná thrills fans Maná electrified the stadium with “Oye Mi Amor” surrounded by pre-Hispanic dancers who moved their head plumes to the rhythm of rock while tens of thousands of fans chanted. The band, founded in 1986, has sold more than 40 million records. Shortly before their performance, they announced that they will be touring in Latin America, including stops in Bogotá, Lima, Santiago, Buenos Aires, and Mexico City. From Iztapalapa to the World Cup The Mexican cumbia group Los Ángeles Azules performed “Por Ella” with Belinda, one of the most danceable songs of FIFA's official World Cup album.  

Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury on Thursday proposed an allocation of Tk2,586 crore for the Ministry of Youth and Sports in the national budget for the 2026-27 fiscal. The proposed allocation is Tk782 crore higher than the revised allocation for FY2025-26, reflecting the government's emphasis on youth development and employment generation. Presenting the budget in Parliament, the finance minister said the Ministry of Youth and Sports has undertaken a number of initiatives aimed at creating employment opportunities for young people. These include training programmes in freelancing, mobile phone servicing, caregiving and foreign language skills to help equip youths with market-oriented competencies and improve their employment prospects at home and abroad. Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury placed the budget for the 2026-27 fiscal with a call for national unity, inclusive development, and continued reform-driven progress, emphasising the collective role of citizens from all walks of life in building a prosperous Bangladesh. This is the first budget of the BNP government after winning the February 2026 election. Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury as the Finance Minister delivered his maiden budget speech under the theme ‘Journey Towards a Democratic, Humane and Inclusive Economy’.