Make Mongolia Clean Again www.ipetitions.com

We, the past, current and future tourists of Mongolia, demand that all Mongolian citizens and Mongolian government take responsibility to make their beautiful country clean again.

PM gives orders concerning wildfires: temporary travel ban in forest areas www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ On July 15, Prime Minister J.Erdenebat held a hearing on situation of ongoing fires and gave an ordinance to relevant authorities. According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), there are 21 fires burning in the country, five of which are inaccessible to human beings. More than 700 servants and 30 vehicles are operating on the scenes of 16 wildfires, including in Yeroo, Mandal, Khuder soums of Selenge aimag and Selenge and Khutag-Undur soums of Bulgan aimag. Batsumber soum of Tuv aimag is currently experiencing the most of fires or five in total. The most areas of the country are being affected by excessive heat and dryness and over 70-80 percent of all fires were caused by human factors and negligence.

Mongolia's New President Is a Huge Putin Fan www.russia-insider.com

Eurasia doesn't lack for pro-Russian politicians but Mongolia's new president takes it to another level. He was so eager to present himself as the pro-Russian candidate that his campaign released photographs of him and Vladimir Putin—even though the two have actually never met:

Tibetan student self-immolates in India www.aljazeera.com

A Tibetan student has self-immolated in India after shouting "freedom", police said on Saturday, injuring himself critically.

Iron and steel sector profit set to soar www.chinadaily.com

First-half financial performance strong on back of supply-side reform

China's ferrous metal industry is set to post a strong performance in the first half of the year on the back of government measures to cut overcapacity and optimize the industry's structure, experts said.

"With the reduction of excess capacity, there is a tight supply of iron and steel, leading to high prices, especially wires and rebars," said Wang Guoqing, research director at the Lange Steel Information Research Center in Beijing.

The government's thrust on supply-side reforms has produced positives, Wang said.

Around 20 listed firms in the iron and steel sector have forecast their earnings for the January-June period.

HBIS Co Ltd said its first-half profit will likely be between 1.15 billion yuan ($148 million) and 1.27 billion yuan, up 181-210 percent year-on-year.

If its forecast holds, that would be the third highest growth rate in the 20 years since the company listed on the A-share market.

Similarly, Fujian Sansteel Minguang Co Ltd said it expects its first-half profit to rise 200 percent year-on-year to 1.08 billion yuan.

"The main reason (for the good performance) is the government's efforts to eliminate outdated capacity, especially inferior steel," said Li Xinchuang, president of the China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute.

By June 30, China had shut all companies that produce inferior steel. More than 500 such companies whose combined capacity was 119 million metric tons were shut, according to a statement from the China Iron and Steel Association.

On Thursday, the Lange Steel Composite Steel Price Index reached 144.9, up 7.4 percent from the beginning of the year.

The Long Steel Products Price Index was at 159.8, up almost 19 percent from early January. The Flat Steel Products Price Index, however, was down almost 3 percent at 131.9.

Long steel products include rebars and wires, and flat plate steel products are hot-rolled steel plates, cool-rolled plates and medium plates.

The rebar price is 3, 928 yuan per ton, up by 676 yuan from the beginning of the year.

"Although data show that the total steel output has increased in the January-June period, the demand has shifted from informal products such as inferior steel to qualified steel made by major steel companies. That means, the supply is not adequate to meet the current demand," said Wang.

At the same time, iron ore prices are comparatively low thanks to rising output, oversupply, and high port inventories, Wang said. "Low material prices help keep steel production costs at relatively low levels."

China imported 539 million tons of iron ore in the first half, up 9.3 percent year-on-year, while the country's iron ore production was 508 million tons in the first five months, up 10.4 percent, according to data from the Lange Steel Cloud Platform. Low costs and high prices are expected to boost companies' profits.

Li said rising infrastructure investment, automobile production and machinery manufacturing in the first half of the year will also likely expand steel consumption.

Total profit of major iron and steel companies was 37.9 billion yuan in the first five months of this year, exceeding full-year combined profit of 33.15 billion yuan in 2016, according to the China Iron and Steel Industry Association.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the January-May operating income of the ferrous metal smelting and rolling process industry was 3.02 trillion yuan that generated a profit of 105.3 billion yuan, up 93.5 percent year-on-year.

Gan Yong, president of the Chinese Society for Metals, however, said overcapacity reduction should be continued with the same level of determination in spite of the current profits. "Once the companies increase their output production, prices will decline immediately."

China is trading more with North Korea but buying much less coal www.cnn.com

China has slashed imports of coal from North Korea even as overall trade between the countries continues to rise.
A Chinese government official said Thursday that China-North Korea trade was worth $2.6 billion in the first half of 2017, up about 10% over the same period last year.
But coal imports slumped by 75%, suggesting Beijing is gradually choking off North Korea's biggest source of foreign currency.

Cosco leading China's 'Belt and Road' drive www.asia.nikkei.com

DALIAN, China -- China Cosco Shipping is poised to go on a fresh overseas investment spree to secure ports and logistics hubs as part of China's efforts to create its huge "Belt and Road" economic zone aimed at increasing that country's influence over distribution from Asia to Europe.

The state-owned shipping titan specifically plans to acquire a Spanish port operator for 200 million euros ($228 million) and spend $38 million to secure an inland logistics hub in Khorgos, Kazakhstan.

China Cosco Shipping, which was formally established in February 2016 through the merger of China Ocean Shipping (Group) and China Shipping (Group), is now at the vanguard of the Belt and Road initiative.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has advocated the scheme, as has the Chinese government, which hosted an international conference on it for the first time, in Beijing in May.

Riding the economic zone drive, Cosco has already moved to secure overseas business footholds, acquiring the Piraeus port in Greece and obtaining the rights to use container terminals in the United Arab Emirates and the Netherlands.

Cosco is again accelerating its drive to expand overseas operations as part of its growth strategy while playing the role of trailblazer in the Belt and Road scheme.

Recently in Hong Kong, Cosco Shipping Holdings, a major container transportation company of the Cosco group, announced that it had offered to buy the major shipping company Orient Overseas International, together with Shanghai International Port Group, for HK$49.2 billion ($6.3 billion).

The takeover will create the world's third-largest shipping line by capacity as Beijing pushes to raise China's profile in global shipping.

Cosco Shipping Ports, a Cosco group company, signed an agreement in June to acquire a 51% stake in Spanish port operator Noatum Ports, securing its biggest foothold at a port in the Mediterranean.

Noatum Ports operates terminals at ports such as the Valencia port, and railroad terminals in Madrid and elsewhere.

Chinese shipping giant aggressively investing in ports, logistics hubs

DAISUKE HARASHIMA, Nikkei staff writer
According to Cosco, the Port of Valencia is one of the three biggest container ports in the Mediterranean, and Noatum Ports owns the biggest terminal there.

Cosco in Kazakhstan

Cosco Shipping Holdings and Lianyungang Port Group, a Chinese port operator based in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, will buy into KTZE-Khorgos Gateway.

The two Chinese companies will each hold a 24.5% stake in the container transportation company affiliated with the Kazakhstan government.

While the two Chinese companies will together hold a 49% stake, a Kazakhstan government-affiliated company will remain KTZE-Khorgos Gateway's top shareholder.

Khorgos is located about 15km from the border with China. It is an important transportation hub connecting China to Europe by rail.

Chinese and Kazakhstan railroad tracks have different widths. This makes it necessary for rail cargoes transported from China to be transferred to another train at Khorgos.

By investing in KTZE-Khorgos Gateway, the Cosco group intends to utilize Khorgos as a logistics hub for transporting Chinese and foreign cargoes arriving at Lianyungang by sea to Europe.

Shipping industry woes

The global shipping industry is struggling amid weak demand, which is partly due to a slowdown in the Chinese economy. A container vessel supply glut has also triggered price competition among shipping companies, further hitting their bottom lines.

Cosco is also struggling amid weak demand and vessel oversupply.

For example, Cosco Shipping Holdings, a listed Cosco group company, posted a net loss of 9.9 billion yuan ($1.46 billion) in the financial year ended Dec. 31, 2016, compared with a net profit of 470 million yuan in the previous year.

The Cosco group is now under pressure to make further restructuring efforts, including reducing its fleet of vessels. Under such circumstances, large-scale investments could further hurt the group's financial health.

Arconic faces investor lawsuit over deadly Grenfell Tower fire www.cnn.com

The American manufacturer of cladding panels installed at London's destroyed Grenfell Tower has been accused of defrauding investors in a new lawsuit.
The proposed class action filed Thursday by Arconic shareholder Michael Brave alleges that the company failed to properly disclose the sale of "highly flammable" building materials that were used to refurbish the doomed tower.
At least 80 people were killed when the building burned on June 14.
The suit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, alleges that Arconic made false and misleading statements about its "business, operational and compliance policies."
Arconic (ARNCPR) declined to comment on the lawsuit on Friday, but said that the material was certified for use in the U.K.
It said it sells its products "with the expectation that they are used in a system that complies with local building codes and regulations."
Arconic, which was spun out of Alcoa (AA) last year, supplied its Reynobond PE panels to a distributor for instillation at Grenfell Tower in 2015.

Mongolian judges to learn about rule of law and U.S. jurisprudence www.ptonline.net

PRINCETON AND BLUEFIELD — Five judges from Mongolia will participate in the U.S. Congress–sponsored Open World Program on Rule of Law, July 22—29, in Washington, D.C., and West Virginia.

The Mongolian judges’ delegation includes Luvsandorj Odonchimeg, judge; first-instance Intersoum Criminal Court of Dundgobi Province; Mishigdorj Batzorig, judge, first-instance Civil Court of Khan-Uul District; Nandintsetseg Zorigoo, judge, first-instance Criminal Court of Zavkhan Province; Tungalag Lkhagvajargal, chief judge, first instance Administrative Court in Zavkhan Province; Ariuntsetseg Lkhagvasuren, civil judge, first instance Inter-Soum Civil Court of Orkhon Province; English Facilitator Khorolsuren Magvan, political specialist, U.S. Embassy, Ulan Batur, Mongolia. Bulgan Khorloo will serve as interpreter during the group’s study tour.

The Mongolian judges will learn about rule of law, U.S. jurisprudence, and the different levels of courts (city, county, state, and federal levels). Specifically, they will learn about the U.S. Federal District Courts from the Program Mentor, the Honorable U.Ss Federal Magistrate Omar Aboulhosn; the role and functions of Bluefield City Court from Bluefield City Judge David Kersey; the role of Mercer County Circuit Court from Circuit Court Judges Derek Swope, William Sadler, and Mark Wills; the role of Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office from Prosecuting Attorney George Sitler and his colleagues; the role of Mercer County Family Court from Family Court Judge Mary Ellen Griffith; the role of Mercer County Magistrates’ Courts from County Magistrate Michael Flanigan; the types of cases heard in the U.S. Federal District Courts from the Honorable Senior U.S. Federal District Judge David Faber; how Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and independent attorneys support victims of physical, neglect, and emotional abuse and sexual abuse, children/human rights, and restoration of violated rights from Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor and Holly Flanigan, attorney at law; the role of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia from West Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice Allen Loughry III and about the administrative aspects of the court from Gary Johnson, director, Administrative Office of the West Virginia Courts; the role of the ACLU-WV; and the Mongolian judges will learn about how children’s and human rights and the indigent are safeguarded and provided legal support from Shiloh Woodard of Child Protect, Cathy Wallace of ChildLaw Services, Tracy Burks of the Public Defender’s Office, and Devin True of Legal Aid of West Virginia.

West Virginia field staff of Senators Capito and Manchin and Congressman Evan Jenkins will brief the visitors about the role of the federal government in promoting rule of law. A brief visit with West Virginia Governor Jim Justice has been requested.

Cultural activities in Appalachia will include a picnic at Rodger Woodrum’s farm in Rocky Gap, Va., and bowling at Carl Mariotti Jr.’s Mountaineer Bowling Lanes.

The Mongolian judges’ delegation will enjoy home stays with Pete Sternloff, Doris Sue and Norris Kantor, Kitt and Gary McCarthy, and Lou Freeman in Bluefield, and Carol and David Bard and Elizabeth Muldoon and Joe Parker in Athens, West Virginia. Host families, a significant ingredient of US-sponsored exchange programs, afford international professionals a unique perspective of American life and culture. More importantly, home stays foster friendships, a key element in people to people diplomacy.

Managed by the independent Open World Leadership Center for the US Congress, OPEN WORLD enables leaders of emerging democracies’ political and civic leaders to work with their American counterparts and to experience American-style democracy at the local level. Open World aims to build mutual understanding between the United States and the Russian Federation and newly independent post-Soviet Republics and to work with their leaders as they implement democratic and economic reforms. The Washington, D.C., office of FHI 360 Development administers the program.

Locally, the Mongolian judges’ visitors program will be implemented by the Center for International Understanding, Inc. 110 Lovell Ave., Princeton. For information about how to participate in similar exchanges as citizen diplomats and ambassadors, call 304-425-4593 or email ciu1988@yahoo.com.

Japanese House of Representatives’ Speaker T.Oshima to visit Mongolia www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar / MONTSAME /. Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan Tadamori Oshima will pay official visit to Mongolia on 17-19 July at the invitation of Parliamentary Speaker M. Enkhbold.
Speaker T.Oshima will meet with the President of Mongolia, the Speaker and Prime Minister of Mongolia. At these meetings, the sides are expected to discuss close cooperation of the parliaments to develop strategic partnership between Mongolia and Japan at bilateral, multilateral and regional levels.
It is the first visit at the level of Japanese legislative body head to Mongolia and the visit is being organized within the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and Japan.
B.Ooluun