The Ministry of Health reported today, September 15 that 2,737 new cases of COVID-19 have been detected in the past 24 hours. More specifically, 1,645 new cases were detected in the capital city, with 1,092 cases in rural regions.

As of today, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Mongolia now stands at 263,446. In the past 24 hours 5,680 patients have made recoveries.

Furthermore, 10 new COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, raising the country’s death toll to 993. Currently, 20,867 people are receiving hospital treatment for COVID-19 whilst 44,122 people with mild symptoms of COVID-19 are being isolated at home.

Apple has issued a software patch to block so-called "zero-click" spyware that could infect iPhones and iPads.

Independent researchers identified the flaw, which lets hackers access devices through the iMessage service even if users do not click on a link or file.

The problem affects all of the technology giant's operating systems, the researchers said.

Apple said it issued the security update in response to a "maliciously crafted" PDF file.

University of Toronto's Citizen Lab, which first highlighted the issue, had previously found evidence of zero-click spyware, but "this is the first one where the exploit has been captured so we can find out how it works," said researcher Bill Marczak.

The researchers said that the previously unknown vulnerability affected all major Apple devices, including iPhones, Macs and Apple Watches.

Citizen Lab also said the security issue was exploited to plant spyware on a Saudi activist's iPhone, adding that it had high confidence that the Israeli hacker-for-hire firm, NSO Group, was behind that attack.

In a statement to the Reuters news agency, NSO did not confirm or deny that it was behind the spyware, saying only that it would "continue to provide intelligence and law enforcement agencies around the world with life-saving technologies to fight terror and crime".

Security experts have said that although the discovery is significant, most users of Apple devices should not be overly concerned as such attacks are usually highly targeted.

Apple said in a blog post that it had issued the iOS 14.8 and iPadOS 14.8 software patches after it became aware of a report that the flaw "may have been actively exploited".

The announcement came as the technology giant prepared to unveil new devices at its annual launch event on Tuesday.

The company is expected to reveal new iPhones and updates to its AirPods and Apple Watch.

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Analysis by Joe Tidy, Cyber Reporter

Apple's iMessage is one of the most secure messaging apps in the world but clearly it had a dangerous weakness that a hacking team found and exploited.

The news will embarrass Apple which prides itself on being a secure and safe system.

The revelation is potentially another blow to the reputation of NSO Group which is still reeling from recent accusations of widespread spy hacks on innocent people.

It also highlights once again that no device is fully safe if a determined, well-funded team wants to hack it and is paid enough to do so.

The good advice from all corners is for iOS users to update the security software of their devices as soon as possible to patch up the security hole.

But for the vast majority of users, the risk of being a target of this expensive and highly-skilled hacking, is low.

China continues to lead global growth in the next generation of telecommunications technology with the expansion of the country’s 5G network, according to the Minister of Industry and Information Technology Xiao Yaqing.

“China has built more than one million 5G base stations, which is over 70% of the world market. The number of 5G users has exceeded 400 million, which is the largest user group in the world,” the official said, as quoted by Xinhua news agency.

According to the ministry's forecast, the number of 5G subscribers in the country will exceed 560 million by 2023, or nearly 40% of the total number of mobile users in the country.

Earlier, the ministry also said that China ranks first in the number of patents related to 5G communication technologies.

China's leading mobile operators began providing fifth-generation communication services to their customers in October 2019. Throughout 2020, some 580,000 5G base stations were installed in the country, with the network covering all major cities. Beijing plans to install over 600,000 new stations by the end of the year.

While many countries around the globe are only starting to embrace 5G technology, Chinese tech giant Huawei recently announced plans to roll out its successor 6G network, which it aims to introduce to the market by 2030.

Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia has started offering flu vaccinations free of charge for high-risk groups, such as pregnant women and children under the age of 12, the country's health ministry announced on Monday.

The annual 10-day vaccination campaign is part of efforts to prevent respiratory infections, including seasonal flu and COVID-19, the ministry said in a statement.

Mongolia has recently received 360,600 doses of flu vaccine via the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Under normal circumstances, Mongolia, with a population of around 3.4 million, acquires an average of more than 100,000 doses of flu vaccines a year. However, the amount of flu vaccine was doubled this year due to COVID-19, according to the country's foreign ministry.

In the Asian country, the peak flu season runs from December to February.

The national capital Ulan Bator, home to nearly half of the country's child population, suffers serious air pollution in winter.

Children living in a highly polluted district of central Ulan Bator are found to have 40 percent lower lung function than those from rural areas, according to UNICEF.

Children's wards in hospitals in the world's coldest capital city are always over-crowded during winter

The Ministry of Health reported today, September 14 that 2,939 new cases of COVID-19 have been detected in the past 24 hours. More specifically, 1,404 new cases were detected in the capital city, with 1,534 cases in rural regions.

As of today, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Mongolia now stands at 260,709. In the past 24 hours 4,825 patients have made recoveries.

Furthermore, 10 new COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, raising the country’s death toll to 983. Currently, 20,702 people are receiving hospital treatment for COVID-19 whilst 42,056 people with mild symptoms of COVID-19 are being isolated at home.

During the meeting of the National Committee on Balanced Urban and Rural Development and Traffic Congestion, on August 30, a working group led by Deputy Mayor of Ulaanbaatar B. Odsuren presented 15 short-term proposals for resolving traffic congestion in Ulaanbaatar.

The working group estimates that increasing the number of people using public transportation by 50 percent could cut down on traffic jams by 30 percent. To do this, the group believes that it’s important to renovate the public bus park and introduce a high-capacity light rail transit (LRT) system funded by public-private investment. The government plans to upgrade public transportation vehicles in stages from 2021 to 2024.

The working group also proposed allowing only left-hand drive cars in Ulaanbaatar by 2028, raising the import tax on vehicles used for more than seven years by 2022, and improving loan terms for buying new cars next year.

The working group made the following short-term recommendations for reducing traffic congestion:

• Introduce an electronic certification system for vehicles. With the introduction of an integrated traffic management system and electronic vehicle certification, vehicles that have not paid taxes and fees, or have not been inspected, will not be allowed to operate.

• Extend the hours of public transportation by operating buses from 5:30 a.m. to midnight

• Ensure the implementation of the driving restriction based on license plate numbers

• Promptly resolve accident reports

• Improve and raise fines for traffic violations

• Promote the e-police application

• Create car-free streets

• Integrate parking lots in the e-certificate parking system

• Open entrances and exits blocking roads

• Make business hours of the entities flexible

• Re-engineer intersections and increase their capacity.

The working group expects that if the implementation of these proposals starts next month, traffic congestion could be reduced by 13 percent to 18 percent. Over the past 10 years, traffic congestion is estimated to have caused losses of 11.8 trillion MNT, or 4.1 billion USD. According to a survey conducted in February 2021, 85 percent of survey participants emphasized the need to resolve traffic congestion, and to address issues related to public transportation services and the availability of parking spaces.

Since 2017, AmCham Mongolia’s Auto & Machinery Committee has been organizing “Eco-friendly auto industry” forums in collaboration with Ministry of Transport Development, Ministry of Construction and Urban Development, the Ulaanbaatar City Mayor’s Office, and MADA to discuss the critical issues of the auto industry including traffic congestion, air pollution, old and new car tax policies, RHD vehicle issues, recycling of old car batteries, environmental protection, fuel quality and standards and developing the policy recommendations and submitted them to Prime Minister, Minister of Road and Transport Development, the Ulaanbaatar City Mayor, and other relevant officials.

AmCham Mongolia endorses these short-term solutions to traffic congestions and challenges that the government will take the lead in implementing them boldly as soon as possible.

Source: AmCham Mongolia

On September 10, Mongolia and South Korea held a high-level online summit. During the meeting between Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa and his counterpart, President Moon Jae-in, South Korea became the sixth strategic partner of Mongolia.

The two countries established diplomatic relations on March 26, 1990. In 1991, Mongolian President Ochirbat Punsalmaa’s state visit to South Korea made him the first head of state to visit Seoul after Mongolia’s democratization. Over the past 30 years, as Mongolia’s third-neighbor foreign policy expanded, Mongolia-South Korea relations too blossomed rapidly under a multi-pillared approach. For decades, Mongolia was inspired by South Korea’s development, industrialization, culture, and economic policies as one of the economics “tigers” of East Asia.

In the early 1990s, the fast spread of South Korean pop transformed the Mongolian youth. Old school K-pop bands such as H.O.T and S.E.S were hugely popular in Mongolia. Not only did young Mongolians listen to Korean music, but they also learned the Korean language, imitated Korean styles, and studied and worked abroad in South Korea – the impact was transformative.

Despite these social changes, Mongolia and South Korea’s economic relations and trade remained slow but steady. Between 1994 and 2008, trade between the two countries grew from $23.5 million to $270 million. According to a report from the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI), “Until 2015, Korea’s direct investment to Mongolia consisted of small businesses (55.5 percent), large companies (27.8 percent), and individual or private companies (16.7 percent) based on investment amounts.” Since 2008, South Korean investment in Mongolia has targeted the mineral industry, small manufacturing, construction, and agriculture. South Korean agricultural and pharmaceutical companies have also invested in Mongolia’s natural medicinal industry in the last couple of years.

On a more political level, Mongolia, and South Korea, as two of the largest democracies in East Asia, both play different but essential roles in solving complex tasks in the region. Given South Korea’s geographical specificity, Seoul needs to make tough decisions concerning North Korea. Those in the West may not feel the immediacy of North Korea’s nuclear threat, but in East Asia, it is a ticking bomb. North Korea’s repetitive provocations – such as its cruise missile tests over the weekend – not only threaten regional peace and security but also complicate political and economic solutions to overcome its protracted desolation. While neighboring countries like China, Japan, and South Korea, have sought deterrence in the past, Mongolia continued to push for peaceful dialogue, using its small-state mediation skills. Moreover, Mongolia’s non-nuclear weapons state status (NNWS) is a powerful boost to its credibility on the topic of denuclearization.

Since 2014, Mongolia has been hosting the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on Northeast Asian Security to continue international debate and conversation on the security issues of the region. According to the Mongolian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in 2017, the conference upgraded to Track 1.5 level, involving both government delegates and academia.

During the Mongolia-South Korea high-level summit on September 10, Khurelsukh and Moon noted that over the past 30 years, Mongolia-South Korea relations and cooperation have developed rapidly. Moon congratulated the president of Mongolia on his election victory and said he was pleased to be the first foreign president to hold a summit with Mongolia’s new head of state.

Moon also highlighted the importance of Mongolia in South Korea’s New North Policy. During his speech, he pledged South Korea’s cooperation in Mongolia’s long-term development plan, Vision 2050.

The decision to advance Mongolia-South Korea’s relations to a strategic partnership level builds on the “Protocol on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations” of 1990 and the joint statements signed between Mongolia and South Korea during their 1991, 1999, 2006, and 2011 summits. The consistent strengthening of the two countries and their people’s relations, under the principles of “complementary cooperation in the 21st century,” has been reflected in the changing status of the relationship: a “good neighborly and friendly cooperation partnership” in 2006, a “comprehensive partnership” in 2011, and now a strategic partnership.

Under the newly established Mongolia-South Korea strategic partnership, the two countries have agreed to play an important role in strengthening regional and international peace and sustainable development under a multi-pillared foreign policy approach.

The Mongolia-South Korea Strategic Partnership Joint Declaration reaffirms their commitment to strengthening political trust and expands cooperation between the two parliaments as well as stabilizing and enhancing dialogue mechanisms on security, defense, and foreign policy issues. Moreover, Khurelsukh and Moon agreed to deepen mutually beneficial and complementary economic relations using the advantages and development potential of the two countries, such as South Korea’s advanced technology and Mongolia’s rich natural resources.

The Joint Declaration further stated that South Korea would continue to seek various cooperation projects with Mongolia, supporting Mongolia’s post-epidemic economic recovery through official development assistance. South Korea also seeks cooperation in Vision 2050-based projects and offered to assist in Mongolia’s policy implementation process. The Joint Declaration also touched on education, science and technology, environmental issues, public health, culture, and tourism.

Mongolia’s strategic partnership with South Korea once again shows its foreign policy strength. In July 2021 alone, Mongolia held high-level talks with China, Japan, South Korea, the United States. Given the increasing significance of the Asia-Pacific region, Mongolia cannot afford to bandwagon with one regional player. In the past, Mongolia has established strategic partnerships with Russia, China, Japan, India, the United States, and now South Korea.

This newly established partnership presents new opportunities, a new level of dialogue, and increased collaboration between the two governments and the people of Mongolia and South Korea. It is paramount for both governments to utilize and allocate resources correctly to produce a genuinely fruitful outcome.

GUEST AUTHOR

Bolor Lkhaajav

Bolor Lkhaajav is a researcher specializing in Mongolia, China, Russia, Japan, East Asia, and the Americas. She holds an M.A. in Asia-Pacific Studies from the University of San Francisco.

September 13, a consultative meeting between the government, the private sector and investors on ‘Intensifying economic recovery amid the pandemic’ initiated by the President of Mongolia was held in the State House.

The consultative meeting aims at hearing the views and initiatives of entrepreneurs and the private sector on the legal environment for economic recovery, fiscal reform, public-private partnerships, intensification of investment, and creation of a favorable business environment.

During the meeting, Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erdene made a presentation ‘A new revival policy to stimulate economy in a pandemic era’. At the beginning of his presentation, the Prime Minister briefed on the current international situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global transport and logistics crisis and delays, and stressed an importance to protect and support the economy along with protecting health during the pandemic.

A new revival policy to stimulate economy in a pandemic era aims at ensuring political and macroeconomic stability, accelerating public-private partnerships, creating a favorable business environment, improving the environment for foreign and domestic investment, as well as implementing fiscal reforms. The PM said, “The government must look at it through the eyes of business people. We are trying to get rid of red tape through the digitalization of public services. It is important to improve the environment for foreign and domestic investment, maintain its stability and build a barrier-free environment.”

Moreover, the PM introduced about the fiscal reform. Within this frame, the reform towards increasing the efficiency, transparency, accountability and benefits of state-owned companies will be carried out.

The ‘from welfare-to-labor’ reform aims at supporting low-income people and people, who are able to work, through the employment rather than welfare.

Required financing will be resolved to reduce traffic congestion in the capital city, decentralize and ensure the urban and rural development balance.

Adhering to a principle that the government will not perform functions, which can be executed by the private sector, it will move to a system where the government procures standard-quality-competition based services.

The civil service structure will be reformed and salaries and social securities of civil servants will be improved through authorizing health, education, arts and culture and scientific organizations to spend total funding based on results, performance and quality.

A consultative meeting between the government, the private sector and investors on ‘Intensifying economic recovery amid the pandemic’ initiated by the President of Mongolia has started today in the State House.

At the beginning of the meeting, President of Mongolia U.Khurelsukh highlighted that the vaccination remains the only way to prevent coronavirus infections, while underlining that the cooperation between public and private sector is becoming more important than ever in overcoming the pandemic with minimum damage. He, furthermore, underscored the successful implementation of measure to exempt every household in Mongolia from electricity, water, and waste bills, and ‘MNT 10 trillion Comprehensive Plan for Health Protection and Economic Recovery’ being undertaken by the Government, which is an important policy to support citizens and entities.

President U.Khurelsukh emphasized the necessity of further increasing citizen’s income, restricting the increase in commodity prices, restoring export, and intensifying the construction projects and programs.

“Creating the legal environment for intensifying the economic recovery, transitioning from welfare to labor, extraction to processing, and from import to export are important. Let us set a goal to eradicate extreme poverty as 30 percent of Mongolia's population remains poor. In order to achieve this goal, government should take measures of supporting wealth creators, entrepreneurs and investors, aside from protecting them from possible risk. Regarding the matter, we will listen how state policies are affecting businesses and investors, and determine solutions on how we can work together in the future," said U.Khurelsukh.