内容摘要：In many parts of South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, the word for tea is derived from cha.

In many parts of South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, the word for tea is derived from cha.

“Samsung does not operate retail stores in Russia. Shipments to Russia remain suspended,” the South Korean tech firm told Al Jazeera in an email.In the case of at least one major brand, imports appear to have recovered to pre-war levels.

Swedish appliance manufacturer Electrolux, which in September 2022 announced it would exit Russia completely, saw shipments of its products decline sharply throughout 2022, from about 1,600 tonnes in January to just 184 tonnes in September.But by May 2023, shipments topped pre-war levels at some 2,000 tonnes, before again plunging sharply.Electrolux expressed surprise at customs records appearing to show its products continuing to flow into Russia, mainly from Chinese suppliers.

A company spokesperson said the data suggested that Electrolux-branded products were being made and exported by unaffiliated firms without permission.“According to our data, we had no product exports to Russia during 2023, and we have procedures in place to confirm those numbers,” the spokesperson told Al Jazeera.

“Based on the information you provided, we can conclude that the products have not been manufactured by Electrolux, nor exported to Russia on our behalf. We do not manufacture these product categories in China, and we have not given consent to any supplier to export Electrolux-branded products to Russia. Thus, the import is a completely unacceptable, unauthorised use of our brand."

Other Western brands readily available in Russia denied any involvement in supplying goods to the country and pointed to their efforts to maintain control over their supply chains.“Part of the reason Mercator got wide use is because it was widely available for nautical charts, but also because it rings true as a vision of the world to the people who were looking at it, the people whose countries are a little bigger.”

Several map projections over time have tried to fill Mercator’s gaps, but all of them compromise on one or more factors. That has made it hard for social justice crusaders looking to support a projection that better represents the Global South.One cartographer’s claims, though, shook the cartography world in 1973, causing an outpouring of condemnation on the one hand, and on the other, a loyal cult following.

German activist Arno Peters declared his Peters Projection as the “only” precise map, and the true alternative to the Mercator model.Peters, whose parents had been imprisoned by Nazis and who focused on social inequalities as a journalist and academic criticised the Mercator projection as “Euro-centred”.