PL | EN

Sanctions on Iranian moralists and Toyota factory in Myanmar

The UK has announced sanctions against Iran’s morality police and their commanders in response to the violent repression of protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. The sanctions include a travel ban to the UK for those affected and a freeze on their assets. Similar sanctions have already been imposed by the US and the European Union also intends to introduce them. The morality police are responsible for, among other measures, street patrols forcing women to wear the hijab and attend re-education classes on modesty and cleanliness.

The U.S. Department of Commerce has passed legislation that could block access to advanced chips for Chinese research labs and commercial data centres, prevent the purchase of manufacturing equipment for Chinese chip plants, and force U.S. citizens employed by Chinese companies working in the industry to give up their jobs. The China Semiconductor Industry Association, China’s leading trade group for the chip sector, has warned that the US government’s decisions could put more pressure on global supply chains.

After the putsch in Myanmar (former Burma) in February 2021, many foreign companies ceased operations there. Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Corporation has just started assembling cars in a Myanmar factory in the Thilawa special economic zone. The factory is owned by Toyota and its commercial division, Toyota Tsusho, and Hilux pick-up trucks for the local market are assembled there. Originally, Toyota was to invest US$52.6 million in the factory.

Read also
AI in the electricity industry, steel production and child adoption
AI in the electricity industry, steel production and child adoption
ScottishPower Energy Networks uses artificial intelligence to locate better potential power grid faults caused by severe weather, mobilise engineers and keep equipment ready to solve problems even before they occur. The “Predict4Resilience” project estimates the possibility of failure up to a week in advance, considering historical and current weather forecasts. New York-based Fero Labs is […]
AGOA in Uganda, visa chaos in South Africa, and business development
AGOA in Uganda, visa chaos in South Africa, and business development
South Africa, where ⅓ of the population is unemployed, risks losing investment due to the “chaos” of the visa process and system failure. European companies warn about the lack of qualified employees, threatened development plans and the inability to create new jobs. In South Africa, there is a great need for, among others, engineers, scientists, […]
New energy sources: ISA, Germany and the Czech Republic
New energy sources: ISA, Germany and the Czech Republic
The International Solar Alliance (ISA), comprising 116 countries (including the USA, France, Germany, Great Britain, India and over 30 African countries), is to allocate almost USD 35 million to construct mini-grids and rooftop installations mainly in Africa. The alliance’s financial mechanism, the Global Solar Facility, is to collect USD 100 million to help implement photovoltaic […]
Climate change and fishing, pastoralism and wine production
Climate change and fishing, pastoralism and wine production
The seaside village of Oostduinkerke in Belgium is the last place in the world where horseback fishing is practised. Fishermen catch shrimp by riding into the water on horses. The animals pull chains, causing vibrations along the sandy bottom, and shrimps jump into stretched nets. However, due to climate change, there are fewer and fewer […]
Asia: lethwei martial art in Myanmar and the successes of Afghan cricket
Asia: lethwei martial art in Myanmar and the successes of Afghan cricket
A national sport is developing in the Irrawaddy region of Myanmar, in a delta surrounded by the Bay of Bengal, isolated from other parts of the country and the ongoing civil war there. It’s lethwei, a brutal martial art called the “art of the nine limbs” because every body part can be used in an […]
Previous issues