As the only Northeast Asian nation not involved in the nuclear talks with North Korea, Mongolia is often left out of discussions about resolving the region’s most intractable security issue – the North Korean nuclear crisis. Mongolia has offered this as one path for North Korea to develop its economy while retaining its sovereignty.

The organizers said that the meeting in Mongolia, which maintains good relations with both Koreas, intends to highlight Mongolia’s role in promoting inter-Korean relations and contribution to regional peace and stability. A Mongolian delegate expressed that the country has been striving to be an active intermediary in the Northeast Asian issue.

At the G20 summit, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to halt new trade tariffs for 90 days to allow for talks.

An escalating trade war between the world's two largest economies has weighed on markets generally.

The US and China have imposed billions of dollars of tariffs on one another's goods, posing risks to global trade and the world economy.

In China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index and Shanghai Composite were up more than 2% in early trading, while Japan's Nikkei 225 rose more than 1%.

"I do not think market consensus is looking for very significant progress, this is a temporary truce," Masamichi Adachi senior economist at JP Morgan in Japan said.

"Many people suspected that there may be a more disastrous outcome, this is definitely a relief."

The US and China have been embroiled in a trade war this year which has seen the US hit China with tariffs on $250bn (£195.9bn) worth of goods since July, and China retaliate with duties on some $110bn of US goods over the same period.

Stakes were high at a meeting between President Trump and President Xi at last week's G20 meeting in Argentina.

Failure to achieve a ceasefire would have seen tariffs on $200bn worth of Chinese goods rise from 10% to 25% at the start of next year, and would have opened the way for tariffs on additional Chinese goods.

Hopes of a breakthrough at the G20 had been undermined right before the meeting by comments from the US president.

President Trump said last week he was likely to go ahead with a planned tariff hike and reiterated his threats that the US could impose tariffs on the remaining $267bn of Chinese imports into the country.

The MPP board convened last month and decided to oust Mayor Batbold Sundui and Speaker Enkhbold Miyegombo. The board went into a heated discussion over Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Development (SME) Fund sandal, which later ended in the dismissal of MPP caucus Chairman Khayankhyarvaa Damdin. Later on, 27 MPs, including Mr. Khayankhyarvaa, submitted a petition to dissolve the Cabinet over SME Development Fund scandal and the inability of PM to deal with Cabinet members involved in the case.

At the Parliament session, PM Khurelsukh addressed, “I am focusing on two focal areas, first to establish justice in the society and improve accountability. We have successfully tackled a downturn and will focus on restoring the economy now. Secondly, I will do anything to break down the pyramid of injustice. As the Chairman of MPP, I ask Enkhbold Miyegombo to submit his resignation letter. You are unqualified to serve as the Parliament Speaker. It seems that law enforcers need to focus on being independent as they face lots of demand and pressure from politicians, becoming a political instrument. Law enforcers need to serve the public and I will look into it.”

After hours of heated dispute, the poll was ended in favor of PM Khurelsukh. Among the 40 MPs who rejected the bill, DP members Bold Luvsanvandan, Batzandan Jalbasuren, Murat Dakei and independent member Javkhlan Samand were included and only four votes could have swayed the fate of Khurelsukh and his Cabinet. As for the dispute between Speaker and Premier, it is up to the Constitutional Court to make the final decision because the Prime Minister has submitted a request to the court over MNT 60 billion sell-off of public sector positions, which will be reviewed within 14 days.

“I am not a dictator,” said Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, the PM, during a heated session that lasted more than four hours.

“Some of you are thinking and are afraid that I might turn into a dictator – I assure you I won’t.”

In a council meeting earlier this month, Khurelsukh demanded that several high-ranking officials step down for various reasons, including incompetence, resulting in the vote to oust him from office.

One member of the prime minister’s cabinet resigned over corruption allegations.

The move to boot Khurelsukh comes just over a year after the prime minister was named to replace his predecessor, Jargaltulgiin Erdenebat.

In September 2017, Erdenebat too faced parliament over allegations of corruption, such as providing illegal cash allowances to voters, and was sacked along with his cabinet.

Political instability has been a constant problem for the young central Asian democracy, which passed its first constitution in 1992 after decades of communist rule.

The country has been through 15 different cabinets in the years since, each lasting an average of 1.5 years.

Citizens understand hazardous waste as only toxic chemicals. But even widely used batteries are hazardous. It is important that citizens have knowledge on possibilities to recycle their waste, Head of Environment and Natural Resource Management Department of the Ministry G.Nyamdavaa highlighted during the conference.

He also added that our country disposes medical waste at certain level, nevertheless, it cannot remove chemical agents. Therefore, having sites for burying and recycling hazardous waste is becoming a pressing issue for us.

Hence, it is impossible to export hazardous waste, there is necessity to recycle it at home and dispose in a way of not causing adverse impact to the nature. A survey says that the country produces 10 thousand tons of hazardous waste nationwide a year, of which only 10-20 percent are recycled.

“Revised law on Waste was adopted by the Parliament in 2017 and it became possible for GASI to oversee entities that produce hazardous waste. The entities are now aware of damage and importance of hazardous waste management,” said U.Ulziitsetseg, Senior environmental inspector at GASI.

At the end of the meeting, representatives of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, GASI and EBRD released recommendation on reduction of hazardous waste in Mongolia to submit it to the Cabinet and other relevant organizations.

Although the indicator was MNT 42 billion in surplus in September, the surplus shifted into a loss of MNT 240 billion within a month. As for the same period of last year, the balance sheet of domestic commercial banks was at MNT 220 billion in surplus.

Also, the amount of non-performing loans (NPL) reached MNT 1.9 trillion which is 11.9 percent of total gross loans. Total amount of NPL jumped by MNT 600 billion or 45 percent month over month.

Mongolian Bankers Association, in its February 2018 report, explained that the loss is related to the measures under the Asset Quality Review, which was organized within the frames of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program.

At the completion of the sixth review under the Extended Fund Facility program, the IMF team warned, “The undercapitalized have until end-December to raise the necessary new capital and failure to do so will face Central Bank intervention or be resolved as per the Banking Law.” The BoM informed that the undercapitalized banks increased their assets by MNT 140 billion as of yesterday. Furthermore, a BoM spokesperson noted that 2-3 banks are currently in systematic risk.

Analysts highlighted the fact that the percentage of NPL to total gross loans entering double-digits means is an alarming signal for the financial system. Due to inflation reaching 7 percent in Ulaanbaatar city, NPL to total gross loans totalling 12 percent and rapid depreciation of MNT rate, the BoM raised the interest rate to 11 percent from 10. On the contrary, the Parliament approved the 2019 State Budget with MNT 11.6 trillion expenditure and MNT 2 trillion in deficit. Local media outlets are pointing out that this will further increase debt pressure starting from 2021 when sovereign bond repayments are due.

Nearly 50 districts across the four western provinces were left without power. According to the Mongolian National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), 13 power lines with a capacity of 330 kW were torn down by the strong winds.

According to the National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring, strong winds and heavy snow are expected to hit large parts of the country over the coming days.

The Adani Group, owned by billionaire Gautam Adani, said Thursday that its Carmichael mine in Queensland state will be "100% financed" through its own resources.
Construction of the project, which has been repeatedly delayed by protests from politicians and environmentalists, can now begin, Adani's mining chief Lucas Dow said.
"We will now deliver the jobs and business opportunities we have promised ... all without requiring a cent of Australian taxpayer dollars," Dow said in a speech in Queensland released by the company.

The proposed use of Australian taxpayer dollars had enraged opponents of the mine, who say it will be a "death sentence" for the Great Barrier Reef because of the high levels of carbon pollution that coal produces. Large parts of the reef have already been destroyed by rising ocean temperatures linked to global warming.
Adani has significantly scaled back its ambitions for the mine. It had projected production of 60 million tons of coal a year, but says now that it will peak at 27.5 million tons.

Adani had initially said it would spend about $12 billion on the project, which also included a new railway line and an airstrip. It did not reveal how much the smaller mine will cost.
"The project stacks up both environmentally and financially," Dow said on Wednesday, adding that the company is working with regulators to get the remaining approvals it needs to start actually producing coal from the mine.
Angus Watson contributed to this report