内容摘要：However, “I would venture to guess that people sitting in the councils of power in Washington, DC, or Tokyo or in Kyiv, Ukraine, are not overly jubilant at the prospect of a Lee administration,” he said.

However, “I would venture to guess that people sitting in the councils of power in Washington, DC, or Tokyo or in Kyiv, Ukraine, are not overly jubilant at the prospect of a Lee administration,” he said.

L'Occitane's former subsidiary receives its cosmetics almost exclusively via one company, Smart Beauty LLC - a contrast from the typical scenario involving parallel imports, where numerous small suppliers are involved.Smart Beauty LLC was registered in Dubai in June 2022 - the same month L’Occitane announced its exit from Russia - and has shipped more than 900 tonnes of cosmetics to Russia, according to customs data.

Dubai’s business registry does not show the identity of Smart Beauty’s owner. L’Occitane did not reply to Al Jazeera’s questions about whether it was aware of the importation of its products by its former subsidiary.Tracing the supply chains of goods from a factory where they are produced to the shelf in Russia can be challenging as importers may use numerous intermediary companies across multiple countries.The owner of a Russian wholesale supplier of electronics who spoke on condition of anonymity told Al Jazeera that many front companies have been established in third countries specifically to organise parallel imports, sometimes by Russian importers and sometimes even by the brands themselves.

“Front companies established by brands would hardly speak to a new player whom they don’t know or answer an email inquiry,” he said.“But the relationships between brands and retailers have been developed through years. It’s very tempting to use proxies and continue business.”

Western brands that have distanced themselves from Russia can be broadly categorised into three groups, said Mikhail Burmistrov, the director of the Russian think tank Infoline Analytics.

“There are those who left and actively try to prevent parallel imports,” Burmistrov told Al Jazeera.Last week, for instance, Ford temporarily closed a factory in Chicago which makes utility vehicles after one of its suppliers ran out of a specialised rare earth magnet.

In most new cars, especially elevate vehicles (cars with robotic technology allowing them to “climb” over obstacles), these high-tech magnets are used in parts which operate brake and steering systems, and power seats and fuel injectors.The restrictions on the supply of rare earth minerals provide Beijing with a strategic advantage in future negotiations, as it can limit supplies of crucial technologies for US industry.

She portrayed working-class women on screen and became a beauty icon. Fonseka, 78, died on Saturday, leaving a nation in mourning.Colombo, Sri Lanka —