Surgery for Bangladesh's 'Tree Man' to remove warts

A Bangladeshi father dubbed "Tree Man" for massive bark-like warts on his hands and feet will finally have surgery to remove the growths that first began appearing 10 years ago, a hospital said Sunday. Abul Bajandar, from the southern district of Khulna, was undergoing preparations for the surgery to cut out the growths weighing at least five kilogrammes (11 pounds) that have smothered his hands and feet.

"Initially, I thought that they're harmless," the 26-year-old told AFP at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

"But slowly I lost all my ability to work. There are now dozens of two to three inch roots in both my hands. And there are some small ones in my legs," said Bajandar who was forced to quit working as a bicycle puller.

A team of doctors has been formed to perform the operation at DMCH, Bangladesh's largest state-run hospital, which has decided to waive costs of the treatment. Tests are underway to ensure Bajandar's root-like warts can be removed surgically without damaging major nerves or causing any other health problems.

 

The massive warts, which first started appearing when he was a teenager but began spreading rapidly four years ago, have been diagnosed as epidermodysplasia verruciformis, an extremely rare genetic skin disease that makes the person susceptible to skin growths.

"Popularly it is known as tree-man disease," DMCH director Samanta Lal Sen told AFP.

"As far as we know there are three such cases in the world including Abul Bajandar. It is the first time we have found such a rare case in Bangladesh," he said.

An Indonesian villager with massive warts all over his body underwent a string of operations in 2008 to remove them. Bajandar's elder sister, Adhuri Bibi, said hundreds of people have visited their home in Khulna over the years to see the "Tree Man". 

"Even here at the hospital, hundreds have already gathered," she told AFP.

Bajandar, a father of one, said he tried cutting the warts when they first appeared, but it was extremely painful. 

"After that I went to a village homeopath and herbal specialist. But those medicines only worsened my condition."

He also consulted doctors in neighbouring India, but he and his family could not afford the cost of the operation there.

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Djokovic's dominance continues, wins 11th Grand Slam title

MELBOURNE, Australia - Novak Djokovic left no room to question his dominance on Sunday night. The 28-year-old Serbian defeated No. 2 Andy Murray in straight sets, 6-1, 7-5, 7-6, en route to his third-straight Grand Slam title and 11th overall. This is his sixth Australian Open title, a record among the men's singles field. Four of those six have come against Murray. 

Djokovic has now won 21-straight matches in Grand Slams, dating back to the start of Wimbledon last year. He only lost one Grand Slam match in 2015, when Stan Wawrinka beat him in the French Open final. The only thing missing from Djokovic's trophy case is that elusive French Open crown.

Murray was playing in his fifth Australian Open title. The two-time Grand Slam champion and Olympic gold medalist told the media Friday that he knew he had a huge task ahead of him, but anything could happen in any given match. Djokovic was 21-9 in their career head-to-head and had won 10 of his last 11 matches against the Scot, but Murray had twice beaten him in a major final. 

Those past matches really didn't matter, Murray said. But Sunday, he failed to figure out a way to put the ghosts of those past matches behind him. When he came to the podium afterwards, he managed to crack a joke about it. "I feel like I've been here before," he said. 

There was little he could have done. Djokovic was on his game from the first point. He won the first five games of the match, while Murray looked lethargic. Murray played a stronger second set, serving nine aces while hitting 21 winners, compared to two aces and eight winners from Djokovic. They stayed on serve to 3-3, then Djokovic broke. Murray broke right back. The crushing blow came at 5-5, when Murray let a 40-Love advantage slip away. Djokovic rattled off five straight points, breaking on an unforced error from Murray. Djokovic served out the set to take the two-set advantage.

He kept that momentum going into the third, breaking Murray in the first game. Murray broke back at 3-2. The set when to a tiebreak. There, Djokovic dominated. He sealed the win with an ace. The win moves Djokovic into a tie with Roy Emerson for most titles at the Australian Open and into fifth place on the list of all-time Grand Slam titles. He shares fifth place with Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver. Only Roy Emerson, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal have more. 

Asked in his press conference what had happened in the first set, Murray noted that'd he started slow in every match this week. There's been a lot going on, he said. His wife is more than eight months pregnant. He said throughout that he would leave if she went into labor. His father-in-law, Nigel Sears, was here, as he is coaches women's singles player Ana Ivanovic. Sears collapsed during Ivanovic's fourth round match and had to be taken to a hospital. Murray was also on court at the time, and went to see Sears straight after winning. Sears turned out to be okay.

An emotional Murray mentioned the difficulty of the week as he thanked the crowd on Sunday night. 

"And finally to my wife Kim, I'm sure she's watching back home," Murray said at the podium. "You've been a legend the last two weeks, thank you for all of your support. And I'll be on the next flight home." 

He later said he'd been on hold on every flight for the last five days. The press conference was short, as it was already 11:15p.m. and he was due to catch the 1a.m. out of Melbourne. 

As Murray rushed to the airport, Djokovic's celebration continued around the grounds.

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Brie Larson Wins For Best Actress in a Movie at SAG Awards 2016

 

Brie Larson has won big at the SAG Awards, after being named Best Actress in a movie for her work in Room.

It is the star's first SAG Award win. Larson beat out Cate Blanchett (Carol), Helen Mirren (Woman in Gold), Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn), and Sarah Silverman (I Smile Back).

"I feel like I was born questioning everything about reality, feeling lost and alone and always worried that I was deeply unlovable," said Larson, accepting her award. She added: "And watching your movies... made me feel less alone and made me feel like that was a safe place to explore my creativity."

Larson thanked her costars, including the adorable Jacob Tremblay, who plays her onscreen son, who she called her "inspiration." "Everything that is this movie is because of you," said Larson, as Tremblay smiled in the audience.

Larson won a Golden Globe for her work in the film and has also been nominated for an Academy Award for her role. After learning of her Oscar nom, the actress said: "I thought, 'Holy s--t!' It's that, mixed with a total flat line."

"I didn't realize how strong my reaction would be," she continued. "My whole body was shaking. I started crying."

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SAG Awards 2016: Swoon-Worthy Red Carpet Trends

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Gorgeous gowns and accessories flooded the red carpet at this year's SAG Awards 2016. Among them, major trends surfaced and they might just make you rethink your whole wardrobe.

Daring enough to take the plunge like Rooney Mara, Marisa Tomei and Eva Longoria? Or maybe you're feeling the florals like Rachel McAdams, Kristen Wiig and Kiernan Shipka. Whatever your style, there was definitely something on the red carpet for you.

For more SAG Awards 2016 red carpet trends, keep clicking.

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SAG Awards 2016: The 5 Biggest Jaw-Droppers

 

The 22nd Screen Actors Guild Awards, while not a rip-roaring laugh fest (well, actually the Tina Fey- and Amy Poehler-helmed tribute to Carol Burnett was a real rib-tickler), was for the first time in a while full of surprises!

Well, there were at least five, and here they are:

 

1. SAG Doubled Our Pleasure: Idris Elba is just so...cool. And him doubling the number of actors to win two SAG Awards in one night (yes, now there are two) was the best possible revenge against the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which passed him over for a Best Supporting Actor nod for Beast of No Nation. Elba's second win came for BBC America's Luther, which, if you've ever seen it, should not surprise you in the least.

 

2. Spotlight on the Oscar Shuffle: Some years there isn't a lot of variety when it comes to who takes home the Globe, the SAG and the Oscar for a particular category (see the Christian Bale, Christopher Plummer, Jennifer Hudson, et al. juggernauts of seasons past). And while you just can't argue with some performances, fellow actors decided to crown Alicia Vikander for her supporting role in The Danish Girl, giving her more momentum than Kate Winslet ahead of the Oscars, and Elba's win leaves Best Supporting Actor slightly up in the air, considering Golden Globe winner Sylvester Stallone wasn't even nominated for a SAG. In the Oscar ring with Stallone are Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance and Christian Bale, though we'll meet again in the Oscar edition of the jaw-droppers if Sly doesn't score a knockout in the final round.

Furthermore, Spotlight's ensemble win, coupled with its Critics' Choice victory a couple weeks ago, reasserts its place in the Best Picture Oscar conversation alongside the Producers Guild's best film winner, The Big Short, and Leonardo DiCaprio's one-way ticket to Oscar, The Revenant.

 

3. Oh SAG, Those Anglophiles...: Even the cast of Downton Abbey looked shocked to be winning their third round of Actor statues for best performance by an ensemble in a TV drama. Not that the British series, whose final season is now airing on PBS' Masterpiece Classic, isn't superbly acted. It's just...um, so is Game of Thrones...and if Mad Men isn't the sum of its parts, then we don't know what is!

 

4. Really? Kevin Spacey?: What's the deal, SAG? No win for Jon Hamm for the final season of Mad Men? Is that some sort of wink-wink in an election year at just how screwed up real politics are along with the TV politics, so why not honor a performance that's...all...about...shadiness...? 

See, we're just rambling at this point. We really don't get it.

 

5. "Welcome to Diverse TV": There goes that Idris Elba again, being all dashing 'n' stuff. That was his quip when he returned to the stage after making history as the first man to win two SAG Awards in one night and only the second actor to ever do it. (Alas, he couldn't be the first Brit, because that first actor was Helen Mirren.) And that seemingly off-the-cuff remark indicated that even Elba may have been pleasantly surprised by the way in which the usually pretty stiff SAG Awards tackled the diversity issue (that's always plagued Hollywood but has finally boiled to the forefront), and perhaps he wanted to stick a little joke in there to acknowledge his fellow winners but also keep the mood light.

Actually, frankly, we were at first surprised that the need for major change in the movie-making business (not that the business of television is perfect but it's way ahead of the movies) didn't factor into more acceptance speeches. But then we remembered that the members of SAG were just going about their usual recent business of honoring each other for some damn fine performances. No platitudes, and the only promises made were of more good work to come.

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