The transaction makes of Rio Tinto the first major miner to exit the coal industry, and comes only a week after it announced the $1.7 billion-sale of its Hail Creek Mine, also in Australia, to Glencore, as well as an undeveloped project in Queensland to Whitehaven Coal for $200 million.

The sale of its 80% stake in Kestrel brings the total amount Rio Tinto has collected with the latest three coal sales to $4.15 billion, which it said would be used for “general corporate purposes.”

The sale of its 80% stake in Kestrel brings the total amount Rio Tinto has collected with the latest three coal sales to $4.15bn.
“I would like to thank the many people at Rio Tinto and the communities where we operate, whose hard work and commitment has contributed to the success of the coal business over many years,” chief executive Jean-Sébastien Jacques said in the statement.

Since announcing the company's decision to exit the coal sector last year, the executive has repeatedly said that Rio was not turning its back to coal because of environmental concerns, but because it had better investment opportunities in iron ore, copper, aluminum and bauxite.

Under his direction, the company has focused on cutting costs, generating cash and returning as much of it as possible to investors through dividends and share buybacks.

The strategy helped Jacques announce last month a record dividend as 2017 profit hit a three-year high. It was his first annual report as Rio’s CEO, as he only took over from former boss Sam Walsh in July 2016.

Cloud on the horizon
Despite the financial success, the miner is facing hard times as is still battling reputational damage brought by a series of incidents, including a probe into a questionable payment made to an external consultant over the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea.

It is also facing fraud charges from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the country’s top securities regulator, related to the miner's and two former executive’s alleged covered-up of multi-billion-dollar losses on a coal investment in Mozambique, allegations which the two men and the company deny.

Rio has also been recently accused of dodging $700 million in taxes at its massive Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in Mongolia.

The company said Kestrel deal was subject to regulatory approvals and was expected to be completed in the second half of 2018.

China and Russia are actively reducing dependence on the dollar in bilateral trade. In October 2017, Beijing launched a payment system for transactions in yuan and Russian rubles. This means that settlements for Russian oil deliveries to China, which have reached 60 million tons per year, can be done without using the dollar.

After Monday's launch of the yuan-backed oil futures in Shanghai, there have been negotiation between Russia and China on mutual promotion of oil futures in national currencies, RIA Novosti reported. In 2016, the St. Petersburg exchange in Russia launched Urals oil futures in the Russian ruble, and support from China could prop up Russian crude futures.

China's new oil benchmark had a hugely successful debut. On the first day of trading in Shanghai, 62,500 contracts with more than 62 million barrels of crude traded for a notional value of nearly 27 billion yuan ($4 billion), Zerohedge reported. Glencore, Trafigura, Freepoint Commodities and other huge oil-trading corporations took part.

Russia held its position as China's largest crude oil supplier in February. Russia supplied 5.052 million tons, or 1.32 million barrels per day (bpd) last month, up 17.8 percent from a year earlier, according to Reuters, quoting the Chinese General Administration of Customs.

The increase in volume happened as a result of a second Sino-Russian oil pipeline, which began operations on January 1. It doubled China’s capacity to pump oil from the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) system. ESPO connects Russia and China with a direct

Japan's Nikkei 225 index was up close to 2% in morning trade, led by the tech sector.

The US last week announced proposed tariffs against China, which sent US and Asian markets tumbling.

But China's premier Li Keqiang said on Monday that China and the US should maintain negotiations.

Mr Li's comments followed those made earlier by US Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, who told US media on Sunday he was "cautiously hopeful" that the US and China could come to an agreement on trade issues.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 finished Monday's session up 2.7%, the Dow Jones gained 2.8%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended up 3.3%.

By the lunch break on Tuesday, the Nikkei 225 index was up 1.7% to 21,110.68, with tech shares, which would be hurt in an ongoing trade war, keeping the index in positive territory.

Tokyo-listed stocks in the semiconductor equipment maker Tokyo Electron were up 2.4%, while shares in robot maker Yaskawa Electric Corp were up 2.25%.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea's benchmark Kospi index was up 0.5% to 2,449.4 points, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.7% to 5,828.4.

In China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 0.8% to 30,80 points, while the Shanghai Composite had gained 1% in mid-morning trade to 30,794.36.

Tariff talk
US President Donald Trump announced the tariffs against Chinese goods on Thursday, saying they were a response to allegations of intellectual property theft by China.

China then responded to news of the planned tariffs by saying it did not want a trade war, but it was "absolutely not afraid" of one.

Some analysts have said if a full blown trade war is not averted, China could make things difficult for US companies doing business in China, among other measures, while others have said China is more likely to try and avoid escalating the problem.

In response to US tariffs on steel and aluminium imports announced by Mr Trump earlier this month, China has already announced its own set of proposed tariffs worth $3bn.

The US tariffs on steel and aluminium imports came into effect last week.

Departing from Caofeidian Port, a train loaded electrical appliances, furniture and raw materials will travel via Erenhot Port in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and finally arrive in Ulan Bator.

"This was the first international freight train service launched in Tangshan City," said Wang Kesheng, president of Caofeidian Port Group Incorporation.

He said steel products and construction materials produced in Tangshan would be exported to Mongolia and European countries through the new route.

Caofeidian Port will also be built to access the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor, according to a strategic cooperation agreement signed by Caofeidian Port Group Incorporation and the government of Ulanqab City of Inner Mongolia.

Caofeidian is an economic development zone in Bohai Bay, about 200 kilometers east of Beijing.

Saudi Arabia regained its second spot after losing out to Angola in January. Data showed that last month’s supplies came in at 4.635 million tons (1.21 million bpd), down 2.9 percent on year but up from 1.01 million bpd in January.

The third-ranking Angola delivered 973,800 bpd, up 14.7 percent versus a year earlier. Shipments from Brazil have seen the fastest growth among major suppliers. They reached 2.4 million tons or about 626,160 bpd, which is a 54 percent increase on last year.

Imports from the US were 909,117 tons (237,020 bpd) last month, down from 472,500 bpd in January.

Exports of Russian oil to China have more than doubled over the past six years, up by more than 550,000 barrels per day. They gained 21 percent for the January-February period compared with a year earlier, according to data. This was partly due to a second East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline which started commercial operation in January.

In 2011, Russia began supplying China with crude through the Skovorodino-Mohe branch of the ESPO pipeline. That followed Rosneft, Transneft, and China National Petroleum Corporation’s (CNPC) signing agreements.

Rosneft and CNPC inked a 25-year oil deal in 2014 worth $270 billion under which the Russian company is expected to supply 360.3 million tons of crude to China. Since then Russia has overtaken Saudi Arabia to become China’s biggest crude supplier.

Last year, Rosneft agreed crude oil deliveries with China’s CEFC Energy. According to the agreement, the Russian oil major will supply CEFC with 60.8 million tons of oil annually until 2023.

Experts say Chinese imports of Russian oil are likely to stay high over the coming years due to long-term crude supply contracts and rising demand from the world’s biggest oil consumer.

“The Government of Mongolia purchased 34 percent ownership in the mine which is located on its own territories under massive debts and now, the public is responsible for the repayment, not the officials who signed the agreement,” addressed the former president. Consequently, the Parliament Speaker Enkhbold Miyegombo issued a directive to establish a working group responsible for inspecting and reviewing the investment agreement of Oyu Tolgoi last friday. The working group will be led by Damba-Ochir Dorjdamba, Head of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Economy. Rio Tinto is facing similar charges related to other underdeveloped countries. According to Bloomberg, the company is currently facing probes from the U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office and Australian regulators into whether it paid bribes to secure an iron ore deposit in Guinea. Meanwhile, U.S. authorities have filed fraud charges against the firm and two former executives claiming they inflated the value of Mozambique coal assets acquired in 2011. In addition, the company is exiting coal industry as it entered an agreement with Whitehaven Coal Limited to sell its 75 percent stake in its Winchester South Coal development project in Queensland, Australia last week. According to Mining Global, Rio recently announced to sell its Hail Creek and Valeria coal assets to Glencore in a deal worth USD 1.7 billion.

The currently effective Law of Mongolia on Labor was adopted in 1999, since when it has been amended 24 times.
It is believed that the existing law does not fully cover all aspects of labor relations in this time of market economy, although it fulfilled its duty during the transition from a society where the government was solely responsible for labor relations.

In response to the necessity to broaden the scope of the law and adjust to the current trends in labor relations and international standards, a revision has been drafted.

The revised law introduces certain changes such as expanding the range of issues that falls under the law, inclusion of fundamental rights and compulsory duties of employees, detailed provisions related to international labor standards, discrimination, child labor and compulsory labor, clearing the conditions on labor contract term and exclusion of contract end date on permanent employment; provisions on trilateral labor relations, part-time job and distance job, and more.
Kh.Aminaa

"Both Hong Kong and Mongolia are committed players in international efforts to fight crimes. We have indeed worked together hand in hand over the years to bring into force the agreement on the transfer of sentenced persons in 2016," Mr Lee said at the signing ceremony.

"The signing of the MLA agreement today will further take forward our bilateral cooperation," Mr Lee added.

Under the Basic Law, the HKSAR may, with the authorisation of the Central People’s Government, make appropriate arrangements with foreign states for reciprocal juridical assistance.

The MLA agreement between the Government of the HKSAR and the Government of Mongolia contains the essential features and safeguards of international agreements of this type. Assistance covered by the agreement includes identifying and locating persons, serving documents, taking evidence, executing requests for search and seizure, providing information, and confiscating proceeds of crime.

The MLA agreement with Mongolia is the 32nd agreement of its kind between the HKSAR and other jurisdictions. The other 31 jurisdictions that already have similar agreements with the HKSAR are Australia, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Italy, Korea, Switzerland, Canada, the Philippines, Portugal, Ireland, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Singapore, Belgium, Denmark, Poland, Israel, Germany, Malaysia, Finland, Indonesia, Japan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, India, Spain, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Argentina.

The third South Korea-Mongolia joint committee meeting was held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on the 28th anniversary of the two countries' establishment of diplomatic relations.

South Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun represented South Korea, and Minister of Environment and Tourism Namsrai Tserenbat spoke for Mongolia, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As part of efforts to enhance bilateral cooperation, Korea requested that Mongolia allow more South Korean airlines to join the Korea-Mongolia air route, which is currently limited to one Korean air carrier. Mongolia responded that a legal revision is under way to address the issue, the ministry said.

The Mongolian side called for an increase in scholarship for its students who are studying in South Korea and for the expansion of Korean visa issuance for its nationals.

The two sides also agreed to work together in fighting air pollution, with Seoul pledging to review measures to help reduce microdust in Mongolia.

Cho also paid a courtesy visit to Prime Minister Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh and ensured that the two countries will work together to further increase exchanges between their peoples.

pbr@yna.co.kr

Within the scope of the project which has been launched in 2017 funded with USD 25 million aid from the World Bank, loan will be granted to youth for running small businesses and provide equipment loan to graduates from occupational training centers.

Moreover, the actions will be taken to increase efficiency of state employment service, to give job finding assistance to low-income citizens under subsistence minimumand and to render support to commence their small businesses. The project will be implemented until 2021 and a total of 84 thousand 900 people are expected to have jobs.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection implemented six employment support programs in 2017 with funding of MNT 53.5 billion, involving 48.3 thousand people. According to Law on Employment Support Fund, MNT 20 million loan with low interest is allowed to grant to enterprise and MNT 10 million to citizen.

The main purpose of the project is to back mothers looking after their children aged between 0-3 and graduates who cannot find jobs. Although there are many small enterprises in Mongolia, they cannot earn sufficient income to renew their equipment. Therefore, micro credits will be granted to those people, said James Anderson, World Bank Country Manager for Mongolia.

B.Batchimeg