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Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: Man Gets Jail, 200 Lashes For Tattooing Women

AL MADINA (Saudi Arabia), AFP ( France),LIBERTÉ ALGERIE (Algeria)

Worldcrunch

A Lebanese man was sentenced to a year in jail and 200 lashes in Saudi Arabia for having secretly drawn tattoos on women's bodies, according to a report that first appeared in the Saudi newspaper Al Madina.

According to the report cited by the Agence-France Press (AFP), the man denied wrongdoing, but authorities said they found a briefcase that included special tools for tattooing on women's breasts and removing stains on the skin. Saudi investigators said that the man, nicknamed the "tattoo king," may have been in business for as long as nine years.

The Egyptian website Ahram reports that the Lebanese was caught by the Saudi religious police in an undercover operation. Photos of tattooed women were also found on his phone.

According to the AFP, tattoos are not officially banned, but they are not in keeping with the Islamic tradition. On the Liberté Algérie website, one reader criticised the "Middle Age" laws of Saudi Arabia, while another insisted on the incompatibility between Islam and tattoos. However, the central accusation against the "tattoo king" was seeing Saudi women privately in their homes.

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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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