Six In The Morning

US sends top Iran leader warning on Hormuz threat

Officials say closing the strait is a 'red line' that would provoke response

By ELISABETH BUMILLER, ERIC SCHMITT and THOM SHANKER
The Obama administration is relying on a secret channel of communication to warn Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that closing the Strait of Hormuz is a “red line” that would provoke an American response, according to United States government officials. The officials declined to describe the unusual contact between the two governments, and whether there had been an Iranian reply. Senior Obama administration officials have said publicly that Iran would cross a “red line” if it made good on recent threats to close the strait, a strategically crucial waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, where 16 million barrels of oil — about a fifth of the world’s daily oil trade — flow through every day.

Burma releases political prisoners
Student leader Min Ko Naing among political prisoners set free as pardons are granted to more than 600 detainees

Jason Burke in Delhi guardian.co.uk, Friday 13 January 2012
Authorities in Burma have released prominent dissidents under an amnesty that is the latest step towards wholesale reform in the country. Prominent political prisoners were let out of Burmese jails on Friday, their relatives confirmed, under a government pledge to release more than 600 people. The release of political prisoners, who could number as many as 1,700, is a pre-condition for ending Burma's isolation by the international community.

West plans new hi-tech crackdown on Somali pirate gangs
Satellite pictures reveal areas transformed by ransom riches

DANIEL HOWDEN FRIDAY 13 JANUARY 2012
A modern-day treasure map of pirate strongholds in Somalia may hold the key to solving the maritime crisis off the Horn of Africa. Experts using satellite images of the main cities and ports in Somalia's most active pirate havens have traced the money trail from the multimillion-pound ransoms earned from captured ships. The results suggest that while cash is trickling down from pirate gangs to the wider economy, comparatively little of it is benefiting the coastal areas used by the pirates to launch attacks on international shipping.

Alaskan Indian woodcarver revives extinct totem art
World renowned artist David Boxley and his son are carving a Tsimshian Alaskan Indian totem pole for a prominent American museum. With no skilled artists alive to instruct him in the traditional craft, Boxley had to learn on his own.

The BBC 13 January 2012
The Tsimshian tell a myth. A young boy was walking along a beach when he came across an eagle entangled in a fish net. He freed the eagle and it flew away. The boy grew up to become the chief of his village, which was struck by a famine. As he walked along the same beach wondering what to do, a salmon fell out of the sky and landed at his feet. He looked up and saw the eagle he had rescued years before.

Nike supplier to pay $US1 million to short-changed workers


January 13, 2012 - 9:41AM
An Indonesian factory producing Nike shoes will shell out $US1 million ($972,000) in unpaid overtime wages to thousands of employees, Nike says. "An agreement was reached between the factory and the local union and $US1,002,830 will be reimbursed to workers for back wages in accordance with Indonesian labor law," Nike said in a statement.

In Haiti, cautious hope around effort to find families new homes
The 16/6 program in Haiti helps families who have lived in tents since the 2010 earthquake move to proper shelter as they wait for their former homes to be rebuilt.

By Giordano Cossu, Contributor / January 12, 2012
For nearly two years, some 2,000 families lived crammed together in a makeshift camp called Maïs Gaté on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. Set up spontaneously in the wake of Haiti’s 2010 earthquake, it was an unforgiving stretch of land, barren, rendering the insides of tents unbearable through much of the year. Now, only burned logs, some toothbrushes, and broken toys bear testament to two years of uncertainty and desperation for thousands of displaced Haitians. On Jan. 12, the two-year anniversary of the earthquake, almost everyone had gone: