Obama acts on Guantanamo trials

Barack Obama has requested the suspension of all military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay, in his first major act as US president. The request could halt proceedings in 21 pending cases, including those against five men accused of plotting the 11 September 2001 attacks. The halt would give Mr Obama time to review the tribunal process. The new president is beginning his first working day by meeting economic advisers and top military commanders. Most of his cabinet is in place but several key posts are still to be confirmed. Mr Obama himself attended inaugural balls late into Tuesday night, as America marked the arrival of its 44th president and first African-American leader. 'Ideals versus safety' Mr Obama has repeatedly promised to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, where some 250 inmates accused of having links to terrorism remain. Just hours after taking the oath of office on the steps of the US Capitol, he moved to halt the controversial process of military tribunals. The two-page document, ordered jointly by Mr Obama and the US Department of Defense, seeks a 120-day suspension of trials and will be heard by two tribunal judges on Wednesday. The delay would "permit the newly inaugurated president and his administration time to review the military commission process", the document said. The legal process has been widely criticised because the US military acts as jailer, judge and jury, says the BBC's Jonathan Beale in Guantanamo. And in his inaugural address on Tuesday, Mr Obama emphasised the idea of respect for justice and the rights of the individual, rejecting "as false the choice between our safety and our ideals".
However closing Guantanamo Bay will not be easy, our correspondent adds. Questions remain over where those charged will be tried and where those freed can be safely sent. Cabinet moves On his first full day in the Oval Office, Mr Obama is due to meet top national security officials as he takes over as commander-in-chief. In his inaugural address, the new president spoke of his desire to usher in a new era of peace, "to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan". Officials said he would conduct a video conference with US military chiefs in the two countries. Mr Obama is also expected to meet economic aides to discuss plans for presenting his proposed $800bn (£526bn) economic stimulus package to Congress. Additionally, in a move that mimicked actions by George W Bush eight years ago, he has already ordered all the last-minute regulations signed by the former president to be put on hold. The US Senate has already approved six members of Barack Obama's Cabinet, including Janet Napolitano as homeland security secretary and Steven Chu as energy secretary. However, Hillary Clinton's approval as secretary of state was postponed after a Republican senator demanded a debate beforehand about foreign donations to a foundation headed by her husband, former President Bill Clinton. That debate is due on Wednesday and Mrs Clinton's nomination is now expected to be confirmed in a vote immediately afterwards. Timothy Geithner, the nominee to head the treasury department, is due to face the Senate finance committee on Wednesday to explain his initial failure to pay payroll taxes he owed while working for the International Monetary Fund.

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Bhupen Hazarika Back Home After Long Gap

Music maestro Dr Bhupen Hazarika on Tuesday(Jan 20) said he was happy to be back in Assam after a long gap and that he has some surprises in the form of several upcoming musical projects for the people of the state. Bhupen Hazarika told NEWS LIVE that he was happy that during his recent visit he would receive a number of awards, prominent among them being the Life Time Achievement Award to be conferred by NEWS LIVE and the Asom Ratna award announced by the Assam government.The musical legend arrived Tuesday from Mumbai to a rousing reception. One of India’s oldest performing singers and the last known balladeer Dr Bhupen Hazarika on Tuesday looked visibly tired on his arrival at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi airport, but the legend showed no signs of giving up on music saying he has some projects in the offing. Dr Hazarika is in Assam after a long gap due to health reasons, but sounded visibly happy. He would conferred the Life Time Achievement Award by NEWS LIVE on Wednesday at the ITA Centre for Performing Arts at Guwahati’s Machkhowa area and receive the Asom Ratna award the Assam government on January 29th. Dr Hazarika was received at the airport by members of the NEWS LIVE family and was presented with several traditional gift items. Source: News Live TV

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Myanmar Men Survive 25 days at Sea in Icebox

Sydney, Jan 21 : Two men from Myanmar told rescuers they survived almost a month floating in a large icebox in shark-infested waters off northern Australia after their fishing boat sank, authorities said Tuesday. The men, both in their twenties, were spotted in the commercial-size cooler on Saturday by a routine aerial border patrol over the Torres Strait off Cape York, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said. “The two survivors indicated that they were Burmese (from Myanmar), that they had been on a 30-foot (10-metre) wooden fishing vessel that had sunk around December 23, and that they had been adrift for 25 days,” AMSA spokeswoman Tracey Jiggins told reporters. The men described seeing the other 18 crew members on board the Thai boat go into the water without life vests or any flotation devices as it sank, she said. There was no chance they could have survived until now and the agency had decided no search would be launched, Jiggins added. The boat is believed to have set off from Thailand with Myanmar and Thai crew members, but there were no immediate details on when they left or where the boat sank. When the two men were pulled from the water they were in “reasonably poor” health, said rescue helicopter spokesman Peter Heath. Dehydrated and exhausted, their first words were, “could we have a drink?’” Heath said. “They were certainly thirsty,” said pilot Terry Gadenne. “They put down two litres of water really quickly each. “They had some boils or damage of some sort to their legs and that was given first aid and we flew straight to the hospital from there,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Wild storms had lashed the far north coast in the past few weeks, Gadenne said, with a cyclone further south whipping up high winds and heavy rains. “There have been some strong winds feeding into the cyclone and lots of storm and rain, which might have kept them going as far as water’s concerned,” he said. It was unclear, however, what the men ate while adrift. One report suggested they fed on fish left in the cooler, but rescuers and staff at Thursday Island Hospital in northern Queensland were unable to give details. A hospital spokeswoman said only that the men were in good condition and had been discharged earlier Tuesday. They have been put up in a motel until their identities and intentions can be established by the immigration department, a spokesman said. “We are sensitive to the peculiar circumstances of the men’s arrival in Australia,” he said. “Nevertheless they have no documentation and it is necessary to establish their identities.” There was no indication the men were part of a group of hundreds of migrants from Myanmar’s Muslim minority Rohingya reportedly set adrift in Thailand recently, some of whom have been rescued around India and Indonesia. The immigration department spokesman said it was too early to say whether the men would seek asylum to remain in Australia. “Obviously if they did raise claims of protection of course they would be considered,” the spokesman said. “Or if they wanted to return home we’d try to facilitate that as well.”

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Pakistan border clash 'kills 60'

More than 60 militants have been killed in fighting between government troops and militants in north-western Pakistan, officials say. Fighting broke out when troops in Mohmand district attacked some villages where militants were said to be hiding. Troops used artillery guns, helicopter gunships and jets to pound the area. Pakistan has deployed thousands of troops to police its tribal regions, but Western and Afghan officials say that has not deterred militants. Mortar shells A statement of the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) on Tuesday evening said more than 60 "hardcore militants" had been killed in the day-long operation.
Residents reached by the BBC could not confirm the numbers, but said some militants had been killed. They said at least three civilians were also killed when a restaurant was hit by mortar shells. The targeted villages, located in the Lakaro and Pandyali sub-districts, are believed to be the stronghold of militants in Mohmand region. Earlier this month, suspected militants killed six paramilitary soldiers in pre-dawn attacks on some check posts in the nearby Mamad Ghat area of Mohmand. The army at that time said the attack was launched by more than 600 militants, mostly foreigners, who had crossed over from Afghanistan. It said it had killed 45 militants in retaliatory fire. The communications infrastructure in Mohmand has been badly damaged and it is difficult to obtain independent confirmation of such claims.

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