Ecuador army rescues captive President Rafael Correa

Soldiers in Ecuador have rescued President Rafael Correa from a police hospital after a day of protests by security forces angry at benefit cuts.


Mr Correa was rescued after soldiers opened fired on dissident police.
Moments after being freed he appeared on the balcony of Quito's presidential palace and spoke to thousands of cheering supporters.
He thanked the crowds and said he had just lived through the saddest day of his government.

The violence came after dark on a day of unrest in Ecuador that the president and his supporters said amounted to an an attempted coup.

Mr Correa had been holed up in the police hospital, where he was treated after being hit by tear gas in a confrontation.
Hundreds of police, angry over a law that would cut their benefits, appeared to have prevented him from leaving the clinic.
Under cover of darkness Mr Correa was reportedly smuggled out of the hospital in a wheelchair even as a gunbattle between troops and police was under way.
Unrest had been reported across Ecuador on Thursday amid anger at a new law cutting benefits for public servants.
Speaking to his supporters, Mr Correa said he hoped the events of the day would serve "as an example to those who want to bring a change and stop the citizens' revolution without going through the polls".
Mr Correa said at least one police officer had died during the gunbattle at the clinic. Earlier there had been unconfirmed reports that one person had been killed and several injured during the unrest.
There are unconfirmed reports that a second army operation against dissident police is still under way in Quito.
'Kill the president' The drama began on Thursday morning when members of the armed forces and police angry at the austerity measures occupied several barracks and set up road blocks across the country.

TV stations showed images of police setting tyres on fire in the streets of Quito, Guayaquil and other cities. The National Assembly building was also occupied.
Police also took control of Quito's international airport for several hours.
In an emotional speech to soldiers from Quito's main barracks, President Correa tore at his shirt and said: "If you want to kill the president, here he is. Kill him, if you want to. Kill him if you are brave enough."
Moments later Mr Correa was forced to flee the barracks wearing a gas mask shortly afterwards when tear gas was fired by the protesters.
The president was later treated for the effects of the gas at a police hospital. His supporters said that dissident officers were preventing him to leave the clinic.
Mr Correa has blamed the Patriotic Society Party (PSP), led by Lucio Gutierrez, for fomenting the unrest, and said "all bad elements" in the police force would "be removed".
During the day Mr Correa received strong support from governments throughout the Americas, with a string of Latin American nations and the US all speaking up for the embattled president.

Tributes for 'fine actor' Curtis

Tributes for 'fine actor' Curtis

Tributes are being paid to Hollywood star Tony Curtis who has died at his US home in Nevada aged 85.

Sir Roger Moore, who worked with Curtis on 70's TV series The Persuaders!, called him "a fine actor".

He added: "He was great fun to work with, a great sense of humour and wonderful ad libs."

Curtis's daughter Jamie Lee Curtis praised her father saying he "leaves behind a legacy of great performances in movies and in his paintings".
"He leaves behind children and their families who loved him and respected him and a wife and in-laws who were devoted to him. He also leaves behind fans all over the world," she added.
The Oscar-nominated actor, who starred in Some Like it Hot opposite Marilyn Monroe, passed away peacefully in bed, a family spokesman said.
The star received an Oscar nod in 1959 for The Defiant Ones, in which he starred with Sidney Poitier.
His career spanned six decades and he made more than 120 films including Trapeze, Spartacus and The Vikings.
'Wonderfully indiscreet'
Clark County coroner Mike Murphy told the Associated Press that the actor died at 2125 local time on Wednesday.
Sir Michael Parkinson, who interviewed Curtis several times, said his performance in Some Like It Hot would live forever.
"Some Like It Hot is one of the greatest comedies of all time," he said.
"Billy Wilder, did not suffer fools so for Tony Curtis to work with him and make that film shows just how good he was. He was an extraordinary man.
"Hollywood tried to make him into a sex symbol in the 1950s and 1960s but he was his own man. He was a great chatshow guest and was wonderfully indiscreet but he was very bright and did not take himself too seriously," he added.
He is survived by his wife, Jill Vandenberg Curtis, and six children.

 

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Gohine Shobdo in Parisian Cinema Theatre

Much talked-about Bangla movie ‘Gohine Shobdo’ by Khalid Mahmood Mithu is going to achieve the honor to be released commercially in eight theatres of Paris- the capital of world art and culture.

With the French sub-title, the film is hoped to be appreciated by the Parisian viewers.
Not only that- Impress Tale film, the producing company of the movie, is also going to release it in various countries of Europe like Switzerland, Belgium and Germany.
Director (Marketing) of Impress Telefilm, Ibne Hasan says, ‘this is going to be very first gateway for the Bangla movies to Europe. We have been trying to achieve this feat for couple of years. We hope that other producers of the country would be benefited from this opportunity in near future.’
The cast includes Kusum Sikdar, Emon, Sams Sumon, Jui, Ariful Haque, Abul Hayat, Khaleda Akter Kalpona, Haider Hussain, Munira Mithu and Ahsanul Haque Minu.
Noted Tagore artiste Rezwana Choudhury Bonya, popular singer Hyder Hussain and promising singer Rinku did playback in the film. 

The story unfolds the miseries of a freedom fighter named Nura reduced to begging, who along with other beggars, asks for alms in the city. He lives in a slum in the outskirts of the city. His only daughter Swapna (Kusum Sikdar), a university student, falls in love with Emon who is a student too. Emon was born and raised in the upper tiers of society.
Desperate Emon frantically tries to convince her that he truly loves her. However, Swapna suggests that he should look deeper into the matter. She requests Emon not to view love emotionally, but realistically.

Business

WB lifts commitment fee on loans not released in’09

The World Bank (WB) has withdrawn commitment charges on loans approved, but not yet released in the fiscal 2008-09, following a request by the government

However, the multilateral lending agency will not withdraw such charges on loans that have already been released for Bangladesh, according to a WB letter sent to the Ministry of Finance recently.
The WB generally charges 0.5 percent commitment fee on committed and unutilized disbursed loans. Every year the government has to pay a huge amount of money as commitment fees due to its (the government's) failure to spend money or for the donor's unwillingness to release committed money claiming faults in expenditure.
Earlier in 1986, the WB had also withdrawn commitment fees fully, which was effective till 1998. It again attributed such fees in the following year.
The letter, sent by the WB Loan Service Group Division, said in 1988 the Executive Director (ED) of WB decided that the commitment charge levied by the International Development Association (IDA), the WB's concessionary arm, be made variable within a range of 0-0.50 percent per annum.
It was further agreed that the applicable charge for each fiscal year would be reviewed and set on an annual basis.
Concerned officials of the Ministry said Bangladesh has demanded to withdrew commitment charge while a high level WB mission came to Dhaka in November last year. But, they did not say anything in this regard at that time.
Later, they abstained from addressing commitment charge in loan agreements.
Sources said commitment charges normally became effective 90 days after signing loan agreements. Sometimes the government has to pay commitment charge if the money is not released by the donor, showing glitches in the disbursement or project implementation procedures.
An official of the Ministry said in many cases hard conditions imposed by the donor delay the disbursement process and also project duration.
"As donors attribute tough conditions for loan disbursement, commitment charges become a burden for government," he added.
He further said sometimes donors delayed loan disbursement following lack of coordination between concerned Ministries and Divisions.
Though the WB had realised 0.5 per cent commitment fee for long, in 2000 it reduced it to 0.35 per cent.
Economic Relations Division (ERD) sources said regarding the WB loans to Bangladesh, in an average around US $1.5 billion remains in pipeline every year.
In that case, government has to pay a huge amount of money as commitment charges on different grounds.
An ERD official, however, said that commitment charge was not attributed in the last seven to eight loan agreements with the WB.
-New Nation

Govt extends tax return deadline to Oct 7

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) yesterday extended the deadline for submission of income tax returns to October 7 on 'special consideration' following strong demand from leading business chambers.

NBR Chairman Nasiruddin Ahmed told The Daily Star last night that the deadline, which expired yesterday, has been extended for a week.
"We have extended the deadline on special consideration after the businessmen made strong demand," he said.
The extension came on the last day of the five-day long income tax fairs in Dhaka and Chittagong, organised to boost tax collection and bring more people under the tax net.
Earlier, Ahmed, at a press conference at the Diploma Engineers Institute in Dhaka, said 55,707 taxpayer identification number (TIN) holders submitted their income tax returns worth Tk 117.19 crore.
Such fairs would be organised at divisional cities from next year, he added.
It was the first fair of its kind in the country and a total of 17,560 new TINs were registered.
The fairs opened simultaneously at the auditorium of Diploma Engineers Institute in Dhaka and the MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong on September 26.
Thousands of businessmen, professionals and share traders thronged the fairs. Many queued for hours to submit their returns.
The events offered TINs to new taxpayers and helped them fill income-tax forms from 10:00am to 6:00pm each day. The authorities, however accepted statements till 8:00pm yesterday.
As of September 29, about 3.26 lakh TIN-holders submitted tax returns, which is less than half of the last year's submission by 7.57 lakh people, according to NBR officials.
A meagre 7.57 lakh people paid income taxes in a country of 160 million people, although there are about 27 lakh TIN holders.
At 8.5 percent, Bangladesh's tax-gross domestic product ratio is one of the lowest in South Asia.
-Daily Star