[Archive 2009-01-21] Wikinews Shorts: January 21, 2009

Historical archive — originally published 2009-01-21. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

One of President Barack Obama's first acts of office was to request a suspension of the military commission hearings in Guantanamo Bay, a United States base on the island of Cuba.

The legal motion, signed last night by Obama and the US Department of Defense, is due to be heard today by two judges chairing the commissions.

The military commissions were created by the Bush administration, and are similar to military trials of alleged criminals.

The accused were captured outside the United States, including in Afghanistan, on suspicion of involvement in terrorist or insurgent acts.

Hundreds of enemy combatants have been imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay since the detention center opened 2002.

On Monday, the New York Jets hired Raven's defensive coordinator, Rex Ryan, to be their new head coach. No further details were included in Monday's announcement. The Jets failed to make the 2008–09 playoffs in American football's National Football League (NFL).

Coming into New York, Rex is faced with his first challenge: the future of quarterback Brett Favre. Favre has already decided to take a few weeks to decide whether or not to stay in the NFL for the upcoming season.

On Monday, two earthquakes of magnitude greater than 6.0 struck the South Pacific. These are the strongest earthquakes since the magnitude 7.4 quake in the North Pacific last Thursday. No damage was reported.

First, an earthquake of 6.4 magnitude struck the Kermadec Islands, about 1000 kilometres (600 miles) north east of New Zealand's North Island.

Later, at 0335 UTC (2.35 pm New Caledonia time) a magnitude 6.5 quake occurred 120 km (75 miles) south east of Hunter Island in the Loyalty Islands, part of the French territory of New Caledonia.

Source and licence

Text adapted from Wikinews Shorts: January 21, 2009 by Wikinews contributors under CC BY 2.5. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. Contributor history.