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Russia

A Glimmer Of Democracy In Russia? A Ruling To Favor Open Courts

KOMMERSANT (Russia), REUTERS

MOSCOW - The crackdowns against Kremlin opponents continue. Just this past weekend, police detained four opposition leaders and tried to ban a rally demanding an end to Vladimir Putin's rule, Reuters reports.

Still, last week, a decision that got much less attention could take Russia one important step toward a more open, democratic society. The nation's Supreme Court ruled that courts have to follow a series of laws regarding transparency. Although the specific text of the ruling is not yet available, the Supreme court will mandate who must be allowed in the courtroom, where trials should take place, under what circumstances there can be a closed trial and how transcripts of trials will be released on the Internet, Kommersant reports.

Verdicts in cases found to violate the transparency rules will be voided.



According to Kommersant, this was already codified in law, but routinely ignored by courts around the country. The ruling both aims to allow all citizens to have a transparent trial, as well as to allow journalists as much access as possible to legal proceedings.

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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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