Asia
Wildfires have been ravaging Russia for the past two weeks, destroying homes and air quality in many cities. Firefighters are doing all they can, but yesterday they were joined by Prime Minister Vladamir Putin. Putin’s approval ratings have been dropping, and he’s hoping that stopping the wildfires will win him political favor.
Latin America
Finally, some good news about clothing manufacturers! Alta Gracia, a new label under Knights Apparel, is a clothing factory that pays its workers in the Dominican Republic a living wage, which is three times what other apparel workers make. Knights Apparel is the biggest college logo supplier, so college groups like United Students Against Sweatshops are heavily promoting the brand.
Middle East
President Obama is not the only one who gets to keep his beloved Blackberry. Blackberry owners in Saudi Arabia have some more time with their PDA. The government wanted to ban Blackberrys because the devices scramble messages and other countries, like the United Arab Emirates, also plan on enforcing a ban. Currently, the government is trying to create a Blackberry server in the Saudi Arabia so that Blackberrys can be used without scrambling messages- something the country says is a security risk.
