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Sources

Europol Writes Postcards To 'Most-Wanted' Fugitives

Wish you were here
Wish you were here
Lucie Jung

​Europol is adding a whiff of summer holiday fun to its hunt for hardened criminals. On its website, Europol (the Europe Union's police agency) has issued 21 original digital "postcards' addressed to the continent's Most Wanted list, which includes murderers, drug traffickers, and rapists.

Hoping to solicit help from the public, the online 2017 summer campaign that recently launched aims to play off obvious contrasts and personalizes the message.

In Spain, the postcard shows a beach with parasols, penning a message to Diego, a drug trafficker, telling him "the beaches of Spain are missing him" and asking him to "visit them soon."

In the Czech Republic, Europol promised a man accused of large scale fraud "a cold pilsner and a generous gift voucher" if he comes back. "We haven't seen you in a while! We have one more space left on our next ski trip, please come back to enjoy our beautiful Alps," the Austrian postcard beckons, showing snowy mountains behind skiers on a ski-lift. Attached to these "wish you were here" cards, a sheet describing the criminal is attached, including his name, age, crime and physical appearance.

It is not the first time Europol has used black humor to help track down criminals, French daily Le Figaro reports. Before Christmas last year, each day the agency posted photos of the fugitives most wanted by the 23 EU member-nations on the website's Advent Calendar.

The Hague-based agency says the initiative hopes to draw information from people in order to catch fugitives by finding out their exact location, when traditional investigation measures have not led to their arrest. In a press release, the agency points out that "while most of us are enjoying a well-deserved summer break, criminals are not taking time off from crime."

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Economy

How A Xi Jinping Dinner In San Francisco May Have Sealed Mastercard's Arrival In China

The credit giant becomes only the second player after American Express to be allowed to set up a bank card-clearing RMB operation in mainland China.

Photo of a hand holding a phone displaying an Union Pay logo, with a Mastercard VISA logo in the background of the photo.

Mastercard has just been granted a bank card clearing license in China.

Liu Qianshan

-Analysis-

It appears that one of the biggest beneficiaries from Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to San Francisco was Mastercard.

The U.S. credit card giant has since secured eagerly anticipated approval to expand in China's massive financial sector, having finally obtained long sought approval from China's central bank and financial regulatory authorities to initiate a bank card business in China through its joint venture with its new Chinese partner.

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Through a joint venture in China between Mastercard and China's NetsUnion Clearing Corporation, dubbed Mastercard NUCC, it has officially entered mainland China as an RMB currency clearing organization. It's only the second foreign business of its kind to do so following American Express in 2020.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that the development is linked to Chinese President Xi Jinping's meeting on Nov. 15 with U.S. President Joe Biden in San Francisco, part of a two-day visit that also included dinner that Xi had with U.S. business executives.

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