Brazil transport protest erupts in violence
Members of the Special Police Operations Battalion (BOPE) launch tear gas in a bid to disperse protesters who entered the Central Train Station in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on February 6, 2014. The protesters descended on the station to protest fare hikes for public transport.
China closes door on BMW factory expansion
BMW was not been given approval by the Chinese government to expand a factory which would double production, stoking speculation China is becoming less willing to cater to multinational companies.
BMW’s joint venture in Shenyang, BMW Brilliance Automotive, was denied, permission to expand their factory, which would boost production by 400,000 sedans per year.
The Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection rejected the Munich-based company’s plan, citing inadequate waste water analysis and the plant’s failure to meet the government’s anti-pollution targets. The statement also said the joint-venture has failed to pass an inspection on its first phase of the plant.
“Drinking polluted water while driving BMW sedans is certainly not the type of industrialization we are looking forward to,” China’s Environment Minister Zhou Shengxian, said in an interview with People’s Daily on Wednesday.
A spokesman for BMW said the carmaker had already requested follow up documents and details pertaining to the application’s rejection.
