July 27 (Xinhua) -- The COVID-19 cases in Mongolia rose by 1,115 over the past 24 hours to 159,101, the health ministry said Tuesday.

A total of 7,408 samples were tested in the past day, and most of the new cases were local infections.

Meanwhile, seven more patients aged 41-80 died from the disease in the past day, taking the total to 816.

The Asian country began a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign in late February, aiming to cover at least 60 percent of its 3.3-million population.

So far, nearly 60 percent of the country's population have received two jabs.

The country is planning to introduce the third doses of COVID-19 vaccines starting late August as part of further measures to combat the pandemic, according to the ministry.

Judo superstar Shohei Ono has won his second Olympic gold medal after an epic lightweight final against Georgia’s Lasha Shavdatuashvili.

Ono and Shavdatuashvili went 5:26 into golden score before the Japanese champion finally threw Shavdatuashvili for a waza ari. He used both legs to get Shavdatuashvili airborne and put him harshly onto his left side.

Shavdatuashvili showed no fear against Ono, who hasn’t lost a judo match since 2015. Ono was called for two penalties in golden score against the Georgian contender, who fought more aggressively and dramatically avoided being caught in a match-ending throw one minute before Ono ended it.

Ono is Japan’s fourth gold medalist in six weight classes so far in Tokyo in judo, the nation’s homegrown martial art. Japanese judokas have also won one silver and one bronze.

South Korea’s An Changrim claimed one bronze medal after a thrilling bout with Azeri No. 1 seed Rustam Orujov, and Mongolia’s Tsogtbaatar Tsend-Ochir claimed the other bronze.

TOKYO (AP) — For decades, Mongolia sent mostly boxers, judokas and wrestlers to the Olympics — athletes doing solo work that, in many ways, reflected the spirit of a nation known for wide-open spaces and a sense of nomadic individualism.

This year, though, teamwork is the buzzword. A group of Mongolian women’s basketball players has taken center stage in Tokyo for the nation of 3 million, reimagining what’s possible both in their country and on the Olympic stage as a whole.

Led by 21-year-old Khulan Onolbaatar, who last Friday became the first female flag bearer in the country’s six-decade history at the Games, Mongolia is one of the eight women’s teams playing in the Olympic debut of 3-on-3 basketball.

“A dream come true for us, especially having our first Olympic Games as a team sport,” Onolbaatar said. “And representing our country on the biggest stage possible with team sports. And just being part of that team.”

That Mongolia will not win a medal, and might not even win a game over the course of the five-day tournament that concludes Wednesday, is almost secondary to the big picture this story represents.

When leaders of international basketball federation FIBA introduced this hybrid game to the world more than a decade ago, they did so with a mission of widening the audience for hoops beyond traditional countries, and beyond the urban playgrounds where 3-on-3 built its reputation.

Their success is reflected not only in this discipline’s rise into the Olympic stratosphere but also by who is here — and who isn’t. The men from the United States — the country where the game was invented and perfected — did not qualify. Mongolia’s women did.

“We’ve already had Olympic champions in boxing and wrestling,” said Tulga Sukhbaatar, the Mongolian coach who must watch the games from the stands, as dictated by the 3-on-3 rules. “But now every Mongolian says ‘Now I might want to play basketball, too.’”

Onolbaatar only started about four years ago. She grew up loving the NBA, which has been as aggressive as any U.S. sports league in spreading its tentacles through Asia and the rest of the world. Meanwhile, Onolbaatar’s older brother had already caught the bug and was part of the national team, “and you always look up to your older siblings and want to do what they do,” she said.

The notion she might someday play in an Olympics?

“That was a faraway dream. It was unreachable. It wasn’t something I thought about. I’d never even watched the Olympics,” Onolbaatar said.

Now, she’s in them, and but for a few bounces here or there, the men’s team might be, too. They were the top-ranked team in Asia and the top-seeded team heading into an Olympic qualifying event earlier this year, but fell short, much the way the U.S. men did in a different Olympic qualifier.

By then, Mongolia’s women had long secured their spot in the field, due to high world ranking that’s part of a labyrinthian system that was tilted to benefit nations that don’t have long resumes in international hoops.

“We’ve been pleased to see the quality of play from countries that are not traditional powers,” FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis said during a news conference over the weekend.

The Mongolian women have gotten a good dose of how the competition picks up once Olympic gold medals are on the line. Through the first three days of the event, they have played six games and lost all six. The U.S. women, meanwhile, came in seeded last but started 5-0.

To further magnify what the Olympics can mean for a sport, First Lady Jill Biden was in the stands on the first night to watch Team USA in action. Mongolian Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai was there the second evening.

“He told us, ‘You girls are making history and you are doing great,’” Onolbaatar said. “We feel great as a team, making history on the biggest stage possible. But I didn’t know he was watching. If we did, we would have been even more nervous.”

The coach, Sukhbaatar, envisions a day when the stage might not feel so big for Onolbaatar and those who come after her. Hoops is thriving in their hometown, the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, where about half the country’s population lives and where blacktop and concrete abounds.

“A lot of basketball experts say it’s almost impossible to get a player to improve the way we have in three or four years, but we’re doing it,” Sukhbaatar said. “There’s a younger generation learning now. I think we’ll come back to the Olympic Games much stronger — in ’24, and ’28, and ’32.”

July 26 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia is planning to inoculate its citizens with a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine, Health Minister Sereejav Enkhbold said Monday.

Enkhbold made the remarks during a meeting of the national disaster risk reduction council.

"We are preparing to introduce the third doses of COVID-19 vaccine starting late August as part of further measures to combat the pandemic," he said.

The Asian country began a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign in late February, aiming to cover at least 60 percent of its 3.3-million population.

Close to 66 percent of the country's population has received a first dose of vaccine and over 59 percent received two jabs. Enditem

The visit of Prime Minister of Mongolia L.Oyun-Erdene to Japan which took place between July 21 and 25 wrapped up today. On his way back to Mongolia, the PM is scheduled to make a stop in the Republic of Korea to meet Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum.

At the meeting, the PMs of the two countries will exchange views on the management of the pandemic response, as well as bilateral relations, cooperation and ongoing projects and programs.

During his visit to Japan, Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene has paid a courtesy call on His Majesty the Emperor Naruhito and held a meeting with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Moreover, the PM attended the opening ceremony of the Tokyo-2020 Summer Olympics and held meetings with Nishimura Yasutoshi, Minister in charge of Economic Revitalization, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, COVID-19 disease control, and Social Security Reform, and Takaji Wakita, Director of Japanese National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Toshihiro Nikai, Secretary-General of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Motoo Hayashi, Chairman of Japan-Mongolia Parliamentary Friendship League and league member Kobayashi to discuss about Mongolia-Japan bilateral ties and cooperation as well as timely issues.

Ulaanbaatar city-owned Ulaanbaatar Investment and Management company has previously reported that the ‘Morning Ulaanbaatar’ project will launch within July 2021.

Within the framework of the project, morning streets will be built at three different locations of Ulaanbaatar city and will remain open to public in certain schedules. The open-air public streets will have a public service facility, and will be dedicated to economic, cultural and social activities, leisure strolling, shopping and eating, etc. The streets’ neighborhood will also offer free Wi-Fi to the public to use for gain access to public services.

The streets will be established at the Juulchin Street, Jamiyan-Gun Street and Prime Minister A.Amar’s Street in the capital city. As of today, the Juulchin Street or publicly known as ‘Gutliin - 22’ went under landscaping and a car-free morning street at the location has opened.

At the three locations, the morning streets will be open in a limited time, in particular, the Juulchin Street – the morning street will stay open to public between 6 AM and 9 PM on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Jamiyan-Gun Street during the weekends, and the Prime Minister A.Amar’s Street – a public leisure street will open at 8 AM-12 AM on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

July 26 (Xinhua) -- The COVID-19 cases in Mongolia rose by 1,249 over the past 24 hours to 157,974, the country's health ministry said on Monday.

A total of 6,151 samples were tested in the past day, and the latest confirmed cases were local infections, the ministry said in a statement.

Meanwhile, eight more deaths were recorded in the past day, pushing the total deaths to 809, said the ministry.

The Asian country began a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign in late February, aiming to cover at least 60 percent of its population.

So far, 59.3 percent of the country's population have been vaccinated, according to the ministry. Enditem

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Ned Price:

Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met Speaker of the Mongolian Parliament Zandanshatar, Foreign Minister Battsetseg, and Deputy Foreign Minister Munkhjin during her visit to Ulaanbaatar from July 23 to July 25. During her meetings, the Deputy Secretary highlighted the importance of the U.S.-Mongolia Strategic Partnership and discussed ways to strengthen Mongolia’s democratic institutions, enhance its sovereignty, and diversify its economy. The Deputy Secretary met with members of the Mongolian Armed Forces to express appreciation for Mongolia’s sustained commitment to peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan. The Deputy Secretary also visited the Choijin Lama Temple Museum and learned about the preservation of Mongolian culture, from religious sites to traditional Mongolian script. She also met with staff at Mongolia’s LGBT Center to learn about their work in promoting human rights for all people.

On July 24, Mongolian judoka M.Urantsetseg faced off against Portuguese judoka Catarina Costa in the bronze medal match for the women’s 48 kg weight class, coming out victorious with 10-0 by applying the kansetsu-waza (joint lock) technique.

With this, State Honored Athlete M.Urantsetseg has won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Summer Olympics, winning the first medal for the National Olympic Team. In 2020, she achieved the Guinness World Record for the most medals won on the IJF World Tour.

The gold medal match took place between Funa Tonaki of Japan and Distria Krasniqi of Kosovo, with the Kosovar judoka defeating her opponent by scoring a wazari.

Dalian iron ore was set on Friday for its steepest weekly drop in 17 months, as China’s intensified drive to lower steel output prompts mills to start cutting production to avoid sanctions.

The most active September contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange has fallen roughly 10% from last week, its biggest weekly drop since February 2020, and is now off 17% from a record peak touched in May.

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Iron ore’s most-traded August contract on the Singapore Exchange dipped 0.2% to $197.25 a tonne.

According to Fastmarkets MB, benchmark 62% Fe fines imported into Northern China were changing hands for $201.33 a tonne on Friday, down 0.5% from Thursday’s closing.

China has stepped up efforts to reduce output of the construction and manufacturing material in line with its carbon emission reduction goal.

Authorities have asked steel mills to ensure their output this year will be no more than 2020 volumes, after first-half production rose roughly 12% from the same period last year.

In China’s top steelmaking city of Tangshan, “authorities have vowed to punish violations of production restrictions”, ANZ commodity strategists said in a note.

“Some independent rolled steel firms halted production in early July, with more closures expected in coming months,” they said.

Benchmark 62%-grade iron ore’s spot price in China hit a six-week low of $209.50 a tonne on Thursday, SteelHome consultancy data showed.

Global production

Global steel production gained 11.6% year-on-year in June, and crude steel output rose to 167.9 million tonnes during the month, World Steel Association data showed on Friday

Compared to the previous month, average daily steel production worldwide fell by 0.5% in June, while Chinese production declined by 2.5%, Kieran Clancy, assistant commodities economist at Capital Economics said in a note.

“Government-imposed environmental controls in China weighed heavily on steel production there, and renewed efforts to clamp down on excess steelmaking capacity in recent weeks suggest it will fall further in the months ahead,” Clancy said.

Enterprises accounting for 61% of China’s steel output have completed or are implementing ultra-low emission reforms, an industry group said earlier this month.

Outside China, however, steel production was stronger in June, probably because of robust regional steel prices, Clancy added.

Year on year, Indian steel output surged by 21%, while production in both Japan and the United States jumped by 44%, data showed.

(With files from Reuters)