The three male Przewalski’s horses, all aged three, arrived safely at the zoo on Friday after travelling south from the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s Highland Wildlife Park.

The wildlife conservation charity says it has a successful history with the endangered species at the wildlife park, near Kingussie.

This is the first time zoo visitors will be able to see Przewalski’s horses in the capital and learn how they were brought back after becoming extinct in the wild in the 1960s.

Jonathan Appleyard, hoofstock team leader at Edinburgh Zoo, said, “After arriving yesterday, our three new boys, Och, Tomor and Kumbish, are settling into their new home which is just beside our giraffes on the hilltop.

“It is really exciting to introduce our visitors to this amazing species and share the incredible story of Przewalski’s horses being brought back from extinction in the wild following the success of rewilding and reintroduction projects in their native Mongolia.

“This huge feat is directly attributable to the efforts of the zoo community and shows just how important a carefully managed captive population can be for safeguarding threatened wildlife around the world.”

Visitors hoping to spot Och, Tomor and Kumbish in their new home can find out more about visiting the zoo and booking tickets at edinburghzoo.org.uk/we-are-open

The Przewalski’s horse was brought back from extinction in the wild following the success of rewilding and reintroduction projects. Find out more about the species at https://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/.../przewalskis-wild-horse/

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland has protected threatened species in Scotland and around the world for over 100 years. As a leading conservation charity, it connects people to nature and safeguards wildlife across the globe.

The Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Thursday released a key publication on the Party's mission and contributions.

The document, titled "The CPC: Its Mission and Contributions," stressed that over the past hundred years, all the struggles, sacrifices and efforts made by the CPC and by the Chinese people under its leadership have been directed to one goal -- the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

It also pointed out that the CPC is dedicated to the people and forever puts their interests first. It said the CPC follows the underlying trends of social development and respects the people's principal role in making history.

The CPC pursues the lofty goal of working for the wellbeing of the Chinese people, and it does everything in the interests of the people, the document said. Enditem

Mongolia registered 2,209 new coronavirus cases for the past day, the Ministry of Health reported.

They include 438 contacts of earlier confirmed cases in Ulaanbaatar, 1,771 cases in the regions.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases reached 211,080.

4 patients with coronavirus infection died for a day. COVID-19 toll reached 931.

1,795 patients recovered from coronavirus infection for a day.

Prime Minister of Mongolia L.Oyun-Erdene took part in a joint public and private sector meeting on ‘Supporting Mongolian-Russian business and attracting investment from Russia’.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Prime Minister said, “This year marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomat relations between Mongolia and the Russian Federation. The two countries should bring the economic and business cooperation to a new level in the next 100 years. The pandemic has slowed the world down. We, therefore, need to be ready for the Post-Pandemic economy. The economy, which was minus 5.3 percent, now stands at 6.3 percent. Let us begin a new chapter in public and private partnership. We have raised many issues including unfavorable environment for investment. We will change the approach and the cabinet will begin to hold a meeting with investors before making a decision. Moreover, we will strive to work to overcome the challenging circumstance posed by the pandemic and double the GDP.”

Mentioning that trade and economic cooperation between Mongolian and Russia is weak, the Prime Minister said that Russia made up 0.9 percent in the Mongolia’s export in 2019, while this performance was 58.5 percent in 1992. Looking back to the relationship between the two countries over the past 10 years, from the establishment of a strategic partnership in 2009 to the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2019, there has been criticism of non-significant results in the bilateral relationship, except for visa-free travel between the two countries. Thus, establishing a Free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union, which includes Russia, is one of the solutions to reduce the tariff and non-tariff barriers facing bilateral trade.

During the meeting, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Mongolia Iskander Kubarovich Azizov said “There is no legal, political dispute between our two countries. 100 years of Mongolian-Russian relations are in the interests of both countries. I agree with what Prime Minister said. The two countries have developed a high level of political, humanitarian, defence as well as security cooperation. But the trade and economic cooperation have fallen behind. Mongolia has favorable environment for legal regulations of trade and economic relations. It is, therefore, important to intensify the activities of the Trade representative offices of the two countries.”

Ambassador I.K.Azizov also highlighted the importance of implementing project for the building of the super grid and further expanding cooperation in science and education.

At the end of the meeting, the Prime Minister said that he would set up a research work group with the Eurasian Economic Union, intensifying the efforts to study the economic feasibility of establishing a free trade agreement.

On August 30, State Honored Athlete E.Sodnompiljee successfully lifted 245 kg in the men’s -107 kg weight class at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, setting a new Paralympic Record.

Having previously won the bronze medal, the two-time world champion has become the first Mongolian powerlifting athlete to become a Paralympic champion.

At the 2019 World Para Powerlifting Championships, he became the world champion by lifting 247 kg, setting a new Guinness World Record.

China’s southern Hainan province issued an updated regulation on cross-border trade in services, effectively becoming the first region to allow foreign firms to carry out commercial activity under the same rules as Chinese firms.

“This is an important step towards enhancing the high-level openness of the Chinese [international trade] system, and is essential for the intensive development of the Hainan Free Trade Port,” the Chinese Ministry of Commerce stated with regard to the new regulation.

The region’s authorities on Saturday published a list of restrictions that covers 11 areas of international economic cooperation and includes 70 control measures over foreign companies working in Hainan. In all cases of trade in services not specified in the document, foreign enterprises are to operate under the same conditions as Chinese companies.

The previous mechanism of “exceptions from what is prohibited” was stricter and more complex for foreign firms. The move is aimed at increasing the transparency of the province’s business interactions with other countries and raise the level of investor confidence. It is assumed that the modified system will also boost Hainan’s competitiveness in the international market.

Hainan authorities clarified, however, that the new measures “provide for a fairly effective control over regional and systemic risks.”

On April 13, 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the creation of an experimental free trade zone in Hainan. The goal of the program is to involve Hainan’s port and the entire island in the process of globalization and international distribution of labor.

Hainan’s administration was to create attractive conditions for investors and form a developed research infrastructure. According to the government plan, by 2050, Hainan is to become a unique cluster with an advanced economy, hosting the campuses of leading universities, advanced laboratories, and headquarters of global high-tech corporations.

In a separate move this week, Hainan’s authorities began setting up pilot international offshore innovation and business zones across the island, local information resource Nanhaiwan reported.

This offshore business model allows both Chinese and foreign firms to be registered on the island. The project aims to accelerate Hainan’s development in the field of science and technology. Authorities intend to establish 8 to 10 offshore innovation and business zones in the Hainan Free Trade Port in order to attract high-quality innovation resources from abroad, as well as promoting international high-tech exchange. In the future, this program is to be extended up to 11 industrial parks in the province.

Rashaant, Khuvsgul Province, Mongolia — Perched high on a mountain, Davaasuren Mishigdorj peers through a pair of binoculars. The herder is guarding her animals in the same spot her ancestors have patrolled for generations. But about five months ago, a scattering of rocks joined the sheep under her watch.

The stones in Khuvsgul province, in northern Mongolia, are the unexpected bearers of ancient human history. Etched into their surfaces are faint yet discernible images of deer with branched antlers, herds of elephants and humans — rock carvings, known as petroglyphs, dating back some 3,000 years.

Today, these prehistoric records are in danger of vanishing. The Khuren Tolgoin Khad, which means “brown hill rocks,” are among nearly 90,000 Mongolian relics that have been identified as threatened “immovable historical and cultural memorials.” Decades of neglect have left these memorials — including petroglyphs, graves and statues — open to widespread abuse, misuse, vandalism and looting.

In response, Khuvsgul — home to the country’s biggest concentration of immovable memorials — is turning to its herders for help. Through a new preservation effort launched this year, the local government offers herders incentives to protect the relics that dot some of the country’s most secluded spots.

“When I go herding my sheep and cattle, I always look here and there to protect the rocks now too,” says Davaasuren, who lives in a nearby ger, a circular felt-covered tent traditionally used by herders in Mongolia. “I feel proud to live near these ancient monuments and want to pass them on to the next generation in good condition.”

The Khuren Tolgoin Khad, which means “brown hill rocks,” are among nearly 90,000 Mongolian relics that have been identified as memorials in need of protection.

A rewards-based system could motivate more citizens to take an active role in preserving Mongolian culture, says the 55-year-old, who also chairs her local council.

In April, Davaasuren became one of 46 herders appointed as heritage guardians in Khuvsgul — the first such plan in the culturally rich province. For their work, which includes overseeing sites and reporting suspicious behavior, they will each receive a voucher for firewood worth 53,000 Mongolian togrogs ($18.60) or a 25-kilogram sack of flour.

Herders can monitor monuments tucked in mountains or steppes that are often inaccessible for urban officials, says Baasansuren Khurelchuluun, a heritage specialist with the Khuvsgul provincial government. “By training herders about cultural heritage, we can help reduce crimes.”

Mongolia only adopted a robust law to protect its cultural heritage in 2014, replacing an ineffectual one passed 13 years earlier. Under the legislation, there are new layers of accountability to manage memorials at a local level, as well as new systems to classify and safeguard monuments.

The country’s first nationwide inventory of immovable memorials took place the following year, listing 86,000 relics for state protection in nearly 10,000 different sites.

A study about memorials in Khuvsgul that same year revealed how little citizens understood preservation, Baasansuren recalls.

Ancient rock art had been chiseled afresh and daubed with splashes of paint. Prehistoric statues were being used as hitching posts for horses. Some people were worshipping Kurgan stelae, upright stone carvings some 5,000 years old, as deities. “Many had been smeared with butter” as an offering, eroding their original form, Baasansuren says.

But despite the momentum sparked by the new law, progress on safeguarding memorials has been slow in the 31-year-old democracy wedged between China and Russia.

The worry is there will be little left to protect unless urgent measures are taken throughout the country, says Bayarsaikhan Jamsranjav, an archaeologist and former director at the National Museum of Mongolia, who has witnessed firsthand the damage wrought on precious relics.

Davaasuren Mishigdorj sits near one of the petroglyphs that scatter the area. The rocks, carved with images of deer, elephants and humans, date back around 3,000 years.

In 2018, he led a team to study ancient burial grounds on Khorig mountain, close to the Mongolia-Russia border, also in Khuvsgul province.

Their excavation uncovered more than 70 graves and tombs containing human remains alongside remarkable artifacts, including lanterns holding clotted cream, silk cloths, and sun and moon figures made from gold. They had been preserved for more than 700 years under permafrost.

But the team found they were not the first to make the discovery: Each of the sites had already been looted.

“There were very few undamaged findings,” Bayarsaikhan says. “Metal artifacts hung on trees. There were vases broken all over the place. Human bones had been thrown outside. And the fabrics were all covered in dirt.”

Despite the destruction, the findings were “wonderful expressions of cultural and ritual continuity of nomadic Mongolians,” the archaeologist says.

They also offered an unprecedented insight into the secretive funerary rituals practiced during the Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries.

“Researchers used to think that the burials [at this time] were not on the mountains at all,” he says, explaining how excavators focused on the nation’s vast valleys and steppes. On Khorig mountain, the team believes they have unearthed the final resting place of high-ranking officials from that era.

Bayarsaikhan estimates that hundreds of graves are pilfered annually in Mongolia. Thieves are on the hunt for treasures to sell in the lucrative underground antiques trade, run by organized crime syndicates in Mongolia and China.

Herder-based protection efforts are part of the solution, Bayarsaikhan says, but should be expanded. Barely a third of Mongolia’s cultural heritage has been registered, he adds, even after the landmark 2015 survey.

“We fear tremendously that unregistered memorials will be looted before we even find them.”

Dolgormaa Sandagdorj is a Global Press Journal reporter based in Mongolia.

2,414 new cases of COVID-19 were detected in Mongolia as of Aug 29.

618 of the new cases were recorded in Ulaanbaatar city and 1,796 in rural areas.

2,332 people recovered in a day. 13,033 people are currently receiving hospital treatment for COVID-19 and 15,832 people with mild cases of COVID-19 are being isolated at home.

Three people died from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, which brings the COVID-19 death toll to 927.

The working group appointed by the Government has now been working at Zamiin-Uud for over a month.

While 100 transport vehicles used to enter through the border during the time the working group began to be established, the number of vehicles has increased to 170 as of today. As for the vehicles going from Zamiin-Uud to Erlian, around 140 vehicles cross the border checkpoint each day, which is close to the previously measured average of 150 vehicles prior to the pandemic.

Acting Head of Zamiin-Uud Customs said, “Freight is also being imported through the railway. On August 27, for example, 67 train cars were used to import them. Overall, the situation regarding the circulation of freight is improving at Zamiin-Uud. Coal trucks have also begun to transport cargo on their way back.”

As of currently, over 40 thousand tons of the 50 thousand tons of cargo that had been stuck at the Erlian checkpoint has been imported. The working group reports that the rest of the freight will be finished being imported in the near future.

On August 26, a National Committee responsible for increasing housing for citizens, establishing a Unified Accumulation Fund and the National Sovereign Wealth Fund, as well as expanding the middle class held its first meeting.

The committee is chaired by Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erdene. Minister of Finance by B. Javkhlan and Deputy Minister of Mining and Heavy Industry O.Batnairamdal work as deputy chair and secretary of the committee.

During the meeting, the bills on the National Sovereign Wealth Fund, the Social Insurance and the Unified Accumulation Fund were heard. Also, Minister of Construction and Urban Development B. Munkhbaatar introduced the ‘Youth 1’ apartment district.

Minister of Labor and Social Welfare A. Ariunzaya said that the bill on Unified Accumulation Fund was drafted for the purpose of gradual transition to a system of providing all citizens with comprehensive education, healthcare, pensions, housing, and social security through the Fund. It is deemed that the establishment of this fund will increase permanent jobs, ensure equal access to natural resources for all citizens, increase the middle class, and build accumulation fund scheme.

The amendments to the package law on Social Insurance include the introduction of a multi-tier pension system, the placement of fund in the accumulation fund, the increase of the middle class by raising the pensions, the digitalization of all social insurance services as well as others. The bill also includes the improvement of investment management of the social insurance fund.

Thanks to the government's housing policy, as of August 19, 8,289 people have received mortgage loans. The number of borrowers was 5,549 last year, 4,815 in 2019 and 3,909 in 2018.

After hearing the presentations, Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene assigned the Minister of Finance B.Javkhlan to make an integrated presentation next Tuesday on the policy to increase housing, create a Unified Accumulation Fund, a National Sovereign Wealth Fund, and expand the middle class.

The PM also instructed to establish a sub-working group of 12-15 people consisting of the private sector, as part of the policy to increase citizens’ housing.