Month: October 2009

Washington, October 02: A congressionally mandated panel has warned that existing US law prevents the State Department from hiring the best contractors to provide security at diplomatic installations worldwide.

According to a report by the independent Commission on Wartime Contracting yesterday, a February 1990 law requires the State Department to “award contracts to the technically acceptable firm offering the lowest evaluated price.”

But other government agencies can choose their contractors on the basis of “best value,” the commission said.

London, October 02: Convicted terrorists in Britain will have to notify authorities of where they live and changes of address as well as report any foreign travel plans.

Individuals found guilty of terrorism and terror-related offences will be subjected to notification requirements and foreign travel regulations similar to those that apply to sex offenders, Policing and Security Minister David Hanson said.

The measures, which came into effect Thursday, apply to convicted terrorists who have served a year or more in prison.

Jerusalem, October 02: Israel began releasing 19 Palestinian women from its jails on Friday in the first part of a deal with Hamas, in return for a video showing proof that a captured Israeli soldier being held by the group is alive.

Officials said the 19 women, to be joined by a 20th on Sunday, will first be brought in International Red Cross vehicles to border crossings with the Gaza Strip and West Bank, but will not be freed until Israel gives the green light after viewing the videotape.

Taipei, October 02: Taiwan’s National Palace Museum said on Friday it will open its first-ever joint exhibition with China next week, 60 years after they split amid civil war.

The announcement comes 16 months into Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou’s presidency, which he has focused on improving ties and expanding exchanges with China.

The museum has borrowed 37 relics from the Beijing Palace Museum for its exhibition on the Chinese Qing Dynasty’s 18th century Emperor Yongzheng.

Ottawa, October 02: The US-led invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq has proved to be a failure, the Dalai Lama said here.

‘In Iran and Afghanistan, it is too early to say. So far, I think a failure, using military force. Hard liners are becoming even harder,” the Tibetan spiritual leader said at a press conference here.

Stockholm, October 02: The 2009 winner of the Nobel Literature Prize will be announced October 8, the Swedish Academy confirmed Friday.

The announcement next Thursday will be a first by new permanent secretary Peter Englund, who earlier this year succeeded Horace Engdahl.

French author Jean-Marie le Clezio won last year’s prize.

The Swedish Academy’s announcement fills in the remaining blank in the Nobel week calendar – as other institutions that award prizes for medicine, physics, chemistry and peace as well as economics had earlier confirmed their dates.

Taiwan, October 02: Taiwan’s National Palace Museum said Friday it will open its first-ever joint exhibition with China next week, 60 years after they split amid civil war.

The exhibition reunites treasures from China with those that Beijing has long said were stolen when they were taken to Taiwan.

In the last stages of the Chinese civil war, the forces of Nationalist strongman Chiang Kai-shek moved 600,000 items of Chinese calligraphy, porcelain, bronzes, landscape paintings, portraiture and figurines from the imperial collection in Beijing’s Forbidden City to Taiwan.

London, October 02: Convicted terrorists in Britain will have to notify authorities of where they live and changes of address as well as report any foreign travel plans.

Individuals found guilty of terrorism and terror-related offences will be subjected to notification requirements and foreign travel regulations similar to those that apply to sex offenders, Policing and Security Minister David Hanson said.

The measures, which came into effect Thursday, apply to convicted terrorists who have served a year or more in prison.