Today (15 June), Mongolia reported 2386 new COVID-19 cases. The daily infection rate continues to rise; the country hit the 2,000 threshold on 12 June. The latest confirmed cases, which were all locally transmitted, brings the overall national tally to 80733; of today’s reported infections, 1685 were in Ulaanbaatar, the rest were in the provinces.

Regarding daily deaths from COVID-19, today there were 11 new fatalities; this brings the nationwide total to 380.

Children are accounting for more than 30 percent of the recent daily cases and two children aged 8 died of COVID-19 this month. Furthermore, the breakdown of children confirmed with coronavirus in a day is as follows:

118 children aged up to 4,

201 children aged 5-9,

198 children aged 10-14

101 children aged 15-17

Therefore, Mongolian health officials are allowing the Pfizer vaccine for 16-17-year-olds with the contest of their parents. The majority of 16-17 year-olds are now planning to take the general entrance exam to enter higher education or to study abroad.

Separately, Mongolia started a vaccination roll-out for pregnant women after two died of COVID-19.

Mongolia launched a national vaccination campaign in late February with a target of 60 percent coverage. So far, more than 1,891,800 people in the country have received a first dose, and over 1,642,600 have been fully vaccinated.

MINSK, 14 June (BelTA) – In 2021, the Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus (DBRB) will issue a €4.5 million loan to finance the supply of Belarus tractors and agricultural equipment made by Minsk Tractor Works (MTZ trademark) to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry of Mongolia, BelTA learned from the bank.

This is the third individual credit facility extended within the framework of the Belarus-Mongolia intergovernmental agreement on export loan signed in April 2019. This agreement is aimed at expanding the geography of Belarusian exports and promoting foreign economic and trade ties between Belarusian and Mongolian enterprises.

Within the framework of the agreement, in 2019-2020 the Development Bank financed the supply of firefighting, rescue, and emergency response vehicles made by the Borisov-based firefighting equipment manufacturer Pozhsnab to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) of Mongolia and the suppy of vehicles made by MAZ, managing company of the BelavtoMAZ holding company, to the Center for Road Transport Development at the Road and Transport Ministry of Mongolia.

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China has announced that it will be hosting 3x3 basketball World Tour Masters with a hefty budget of USD 1.2 million. Since 3x3 basketball game was included as part of the Olympic basketball programme, starting with the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, it has been gaining worldwide attention to become a fast-growing urban sport in a myriad of countries.

As many high-class 3x3 games are usually organized in European and American countries, Hong Kong is now set to host the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Masters for the first time with setting aside a budget of HKD 10 million or around USD 1.2 million.

When announcing the decision to host the international 3x3 basketball tournament, Kenny Wong of M1 Group, who are the local organizers, said small countries can do well in 3x3 basketball as in the case of Mongolia, who are now ranked number six in the world and second in Asia behind regional giants China. “Mongolia has spent 10 years developing 3x3 basketball and they are now in the world’s top 10,” he added.

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. At the regular press briefing of the Ministry of Health today on June 15, it was reported that 2,368 new cases were detected in Mongolia after testing 11,553 people nationwide within the past 24 hours. More specifically, 1,675 new cases were detected in the capital city, with 711 cases in rural regions.

As of today, the total number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in Mongolia now stands at 80,733. In the past 24 hours, 797 patients made recovery, bringing the total recoveries to 57,822.

Furthermore, 11 new COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, raising the country's death toll to 380. 62.3 percent of the patients undergoing treatment are in mild health condition.

(CNN Business)Elon Musk is sending bitcoin's price on another volatile ride.

The price of bitcoin is surging after Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk tweeted Sunday that the electric car company would start accepting the cryptocurrency again once at least half of it can be mined using clean energy.

"When there's confirmation of reasonable (~50%) clean energy usage by miners with positive future trend, Tesla will resume allowing Bitcoin transactions," Musk tweeted Sunday afternoon.

Crypto investors to Elon Musk: Please stop tweeting!

Crypto investors to Elon Musk: Please stop tweeting!

Musk did not say anything about how he expected clean energy usage to be monitored, nor did his company immediately respond to a request from CNN Business for comment.

The cryptocurrency's price jumped to more than $39,400 by early Monday morning — about a 12.5% jump from the day before, according to Coinbase.

Tesla started accepting bitcoin transactions for its electric vehicles in late March. But by May, Musk said his company was suspending plans to accept the cryptocurrency as payment. He cited bitcoin's high environmental cost as reason for the move, after months of being bullish on it.

Bitcoin has been incredibly volatile since the beginning of the year. It started January at around $29,400, according to Coinbase, and went as high $64,899 in April. Tweets from Musk seem to have contributed to its volatility. After he announced Tesla would no longer accept bitcoin, it dropped 12%.

Musk said in the tweet Sunday that his company has sold only about 10% of its bitcoin holdings "to confirm BTC could be liquidated easily without moving market."

Other cryptocurrencies were also up early Monday. Ethereum was up more than 7.7% Monday morning, according to Coinbase, while dogecoin was up about 5%.

-- Rishi Iyengar contributed to this report.

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs B.Munkhjin received today Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea O Sung-ho, exchanging views on bilateral relations and cooperation.

During the meeting, the Deputy Foreign Minister reiterated that Mongolia is committed to continue the further development of historical and traditionally friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries.

Expressing the DPRK’s commitment to further deepen the sustainable relations and cooperation with Mongolia, the Ambassador handed over a congratulatory letter from the Chairman of the DPRK State Affairs Commission Kim Jong-un to U.Khurelsukh on being elected as the President of Mongolia.

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. As of June 11, sowing has been made to 460.6 thousand hectares nationwide, of which grain is at 98.6 percent (wheat at 99.2 percent), potatoes at 78.6 percent, vegetables at 63.7 percent, fodder plants at 20.1 percent, and oil plants at 99.6 percent.

Per the Government’s decision to issue soft loans of MNT 100 billion through commercial banks in the framework of the MNT 10 trillion comprehensive plan aimed at economic recovery and health protection, loans amounting to MNT 9 billion have been issued to 179 citizens and entities in the farming sector.

Ecological Art is a movement prompted by the manifold challenges of climate change. It was pioneered in the 1960s by artists such as Herbert Bayer, Joseph Beuys, Hans Haacke, Agnes Denes, Alan Sonfist, Helen and Newton Harrison, just to name a few. Eco Art emphasizes the interconnectedness between living species and their habitats. The artworks can directly contribute to the conservation and restoration of ecosystems, as well as raising awareness of cultural, economic, and political issues related to climate change.1

One of the major dilemmas in resolving the climate crisis is the linear “take–make–consume–dispose” approach to natural resources.2 For this reason, countries have begun to recognize the fundamental rights of nature as part of their constitutions. Initiated by Ecuador in 2008, this principle accepts that humans are part and parcel of nature, and not its independent proprietors.3 The rights of nature can endorse a new model of circular economy where each economic sector receives from and provides for another. The resulting networks eliminate waste by continuing the use of resources and develop like ecosystems do.

Still, modes of operation adopted from the advent of industrialization are proving difficult to change. Rapid urbanization increases the sense of human detachment from the price it costs to make the energy, transport, food, and goods we consume. Eco artists are agents of transformation in attitudes toward the use of natural resources.

Climate Change and Eco Art in Mongolia

Reverence for Mother Earth is deeply ingrained in Mongolian nomadic culture. However, following the growth in urban populations, these ecologically friendly traditions are gradually becoming forgotten. Mongolian artists have been reflecting the subjects of development, unregulated urbanization, and the loss of traditional culture in their artworks.

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In mid-May, destructive sandstorms in southeastern aimags and heavy snow blizzards in northwestern regions of Mongolia swept over the country. “Mongolia is geographically located in an area where climate change is happening rapidly,” said Dr. D. Dagvadorj, founder of the Climate Change and Development Academy.4 According to the Paris agreement, countries must work to ensure global warming does not exceed an increase of 1.5°C relative to the temperature prior to the industrial revolution. However, Mongolia’s temperature increased on average by 2.3°C in 80 years since 1930, he says. Ecosystems are extremely sensitive to changes in temperature. The evaporation of moisture from melting ice glaciers in Mongolia will lead to drought, further depletion of groundwater, and the degradation of flora and fauna in the long term, he explained.

Eco Art is an influential agent of education, civic mobilization, and community activism. This spring, twelve graphic design students from the Mongolian Academy of Fine Arts and 111 children participated in the “Nogoonbaatar” (Green Hero) Eco Art Festival. Their art is a sobering reminder of the destructive impacts of greenhouse gas emissions. Below are just a few examples of their work:

Alongside children’s art, the “Nogoonbaatar” Eco Art Festival presented artworks by sixteen artists who turned the streets of a northern Ulaanbaatar ger district into a vibrant outdoor exhibition. The main site was once a wasteyard. Mr. S. Ulziitogtokh turned it into “Uulyn Park” in 2012 (Google maps mistakes it for Nogoon Nuuryn Park). The key attraction is a reservoir where neighborhood children can ice-skate in the winter and row boats in the summer.

When I met Mr. Ulziitogtokh, he had just been presented with two cherry blossom trees by a kind elderly gentleman. “Did you know that there are 1,000 different types of Sakuras and that two of them grow in Mongolia?” he asked me with enthusiasm. He has planted trees all around the reservoir and waters them regularly – that is how the lake stays clean. This year, he is working to turn the boathouse into a small community center for children, where they can read books and learn to play musical instruments.

The newly created artworks render the neighborhood a place full of color and character. The street is livened up with decorative murals by Ts.Tuvshinjargal and S.Batsaikhan, graffiti art by B.Ider (Ren) and O.Tuguldur, a mongol zurag mural by R.Chinzorig, mixed media prints on wood by J.Shijirbaatar, and printed illustrations by students A.Undramsan, B.Narankhuu and others. The messages in some of them are neutral and more decorative. Others depict scenes from nomadic traditions, children with happy faces and writings in Mongolian Cyrillic reminding viewers to “spread love.”

Still, messages in others are more cautionary and sardonic, showing images of childhood innocence set against pictures of smoke from powerplants, or the question, “What color is the sky?” written in a font that suggests a children’s book but placed in the foreground of a suburban scene with a black sky. The eclectic collection of artworks turns the street into an unconventional gallery that tickles the minds of passers-by in spite of themselves.

Inside the park, artworks enhance the fun and friendly atmosphere for children and invite visitors to enjoy the views of the lake from various vantage points. Paintings by Ts.Ariuntugs and M.Batzorig, ceramic sculptures by D.Otgonbayar, sculptures from recycled metal, wood, and other materials such as mirrors, bicycles by T.Enkhbold and plastic by R.Luvsandorj enrich the imagination and channel creative inspiration. There are unique sculptures that pay heartfelt homage to childhood in Sunny Rain by E.Tsagaantsooj and B.Bat-Erdene, and endangered wildlife in Spirit by M-Munkh-Erdene.

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One can play basketball at fun-size hoops in the shape of trees created by E.Jantsankhorol. They will chime when you score, as the ball collides with tiny bells attached to the net. Everyone is happy when you score your green goals. On top of the hill, overlooking the lake, N.Amarsaikhan's gregarious bench with an impressive mane of windfallen trees will embrace visitors. If they’re nice and gentle, it might show them green visions through its eye.

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The Impact of Eco Art

Witnessing new life be given to discarded fruits of human genius – from bottle caps to bicycle wheels – felt a bit phantasmagorical. A time-travelling ceremony where artists saluted scientists seemed to have taken place. Staggering images emerged. The bottle caps and plastic are over 100 years old. The wheel is about 1,000 years younger than civilization, which is 6,000 years old. All of this is similar to blink of an eye in the 4,499,994,000 years it took for our planet to produce civilization. We are like a speck in nature’s timeline. Yet our collective sense of entitlement to natural resources has grown larger than nature itself.

Although the climate crisis presents a colossal challenge, thanks to scientists and ethical leaders, we can accomplish what children and artists instinctively know. We need to leverage the collective wisdom and reform our approach to progress by going with, not against, nature.

Education in Mongolia needs to be regarded not only as a discipline but also as an emotional and physical outlet for kids to learn, play, experiment, and share. Such a culture can smooth the path for interdisciplinary cooperation between scientists and artists, R&D and business clusters.

At the festival, artists, teachers, and environmental experts Jitka Kopejtková and David Strauss from the Czech Republic, Julien Malland (Seth Globepainter) from France, and Julia Neuhaus and Christian Escher from Germany, shared their valuable know-how. Christian Escher’s insight stood out as an important warning in Mongolia’s road to prosperity:

“Economic development usually means more environmental impact, at least in the way that economic development works at the moment. It simply means more consumption and with that, more use of plastic, more emission of greenhouse gases, more intensive agriculture and loss of biodiversity. I am aware that it is unfair to ask less developed countries to go a different route of development. The point is, this development is a trap!”5

Mongolia, as a developing country, is learning from the experiences of industrialized nations. Challenges of climate change present an opportunity for Mongolia to develop wisely. We need to embed the concept of a circular economy into future strategic sectors from the beginning. Waste and water recycling plants could be built with these ideas in mind. To accomplish this, we need to rehabilitate our culture from corruption and support private sectors in innovative businesses by providing startup investment.

Prosperous countries allocate a major portion of their funds into providing the legal framework for developing and deploying new technologies.6 Economist Hakan Gergils in Dynamic Innovation Systems in the Nordic Countries? wrote, “In 1999, the USA was more than three times as good as the EU at exploiting scientific advances for commercial ends.” This suggests that innovation is one important key to development by way of solving problems.

Within a half a year after the global outbreak of COVID-19, Mongolian scientists invented a pain-free test for the virus infection. Due to general disbelief and absence of solid frameworks for exporting scientific innovations to international markets, Mongolia lost a fantastic opportunity to alleviate suffering and make profit from its discovery. This oversight reveals that innovators and creators in Mongolia need to be valued and integrated into the economy.

There is no denying that system reforms and investments into development of new technologies are initially expensive, but cost-effective in the long term. That is why Mongolia must begin to allocate the revenues from the extractive sector into research and development of a circular economy to develop and help relieve climate change at the same time.

Eco Art is changing our attitude toward consumption of natural resources and creating a new culture of harmony with nature. If artists and scientists collaborate in future Eco Art Festivals, we can come up with more ideas to help save our home – the planet Earth. Our survival depends on it.

By: Ariunaa Jargalsaikhan

References:

1. Weintraub, L. To Life!: Eco Art in Pursuit of a Sustainable Planet. University of California Press, 2012. Internet Archive, archive.org/details/tolifeecoartinpu0000wein.

2. Complexity Labs. “The Rise of Sustainability.” YouTube, uploaded by Systems Innovation, 20 August 2019, https://youtu.be/bjrPiIem30g.

3. Crimmel, H. “The Rights of Nature: A Global Movement.” YouTube, uploaded by Issac Goeckeritz, 31 May 2020, https://youtu.be/kuFNmH7lVTA.

4. Dagvadorj, D. “Нэгж бүтээгдэхүүн үйлдвэрлэхэд ялгаруулж байгаа хүлэмжийн хийгээрээ манайх дэлхийд эхний аравт ордог.” Interview by B.Yanjmaa. Өдрийн сонин, no. 098 (6720), 18 May 2021, Pg. 11.

5. Escher, C. “I believe that all fundamental change starts with cultural change.” Interview by E.Erdenejargal. MONTSAME, 28 April 2021. https://montsame.mn/en/read/262036....

6. Gergils, H. Dynamic Innovation Systems in the Nordic Countries?. SNS Förlag, 2006.

7. Khantushig, B. “Degraded Pasture Leads to Poor Quality Meat.” UB Post, no. 055 (2307), 17 May 2021.

8. Enkhnaranjav, T. “Improper Battery Disposal Poses Serious Environmental Hazards.” UB Post, no. 055 (2307), 17 May 2021.

9. Bazarsad, L. “Дугуйгаас дөрвөлжин рүү.” YouTube, uploaded by Bazarsad Lhagva, 4 June 2021, https://youtu.be/ign_ih_0zgs.

10. Neuhaus, J. “Art needs an audience. A picture on the wall is just acrylic paint, unless nobody is realizing that there was somebody who put an idea into form.” Interview by E.Erdenejargal. MONTSAME, 30 April 2021. https://www.montsame.mn/en/read/262369....

11. Malland, J. “I always thought that the best qualities of an urban artist are observation, understanding and adaptation.” Interview by E.Erdenejargal. MOTSAME, 30 April 2021. https://montsame.mn/en/read/262355....

12. Jargalsaikhan, D. “Sanhattan.” Jargal Defacto, 28 April 2010. https://jargaldefacto.com/article/sanhattan.

13. Jargalsaikhan, D. “Heading Towards Chile.” Jargal Defacto, 20 March 2020. https://jargaldefacto.com/article/heading-towards-chile.

14. Jargalsaikhan, D. “Free Up Prices and Dismantle Monopolies.” Jargal Defacto, 15 February 2017. https://jargaldefacto.com/.../free-up-prices-and....

15. Jargalsaikhan, D. “Commons.” Jargal Defacto, 4 April 2020. https://jargaldefacto.com/article/commons.

16. Jargalsaikhan, D. “Batteries and Toxic Hazards.” Jargal Defacto, 6 August 2019. https://jargaldefacto.com/art.../batteries-and-toxic-hazards.

17. Jargalsaikhan, D. “Агаарын чанар.” Jargal Defacto, 24 February 2010. https://jargaldefacto.com/article/agaariin-chanar.

18. Jargalsaikhan, D. “Модон жорлон ба Монголын ирээдүй.” Jargal Defacto, 28 October 2015. https://jargaldefacto.com/.../modon-jorlon-ba-mongoliin....

19. Hasegawa, K. “Art for SDGs: Kitakyushu Art Festival – Imagining Our Future.” Studio International, 4 May 2021. https://www.studiointernational.com/.../art-for-sdgs....

20. Leopold, A. A Sand County Almanac. Oxford University Press, 1949

ULAANBAATAR－Former Mongolian prime minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh has won the country's presidential election, further consolidating the status of the ruling Mongolian People's Party, or MPP.

MPP Chairman Khurelsukh, who resigned as prime minister earlier this year, defeated Sodnomzundui Erdene of the opposition Democratic Party and Dangaasuren Enkhbat of the Right Person Electorate Coalition in a national vote, the General Election Committee, or GEC, said.

"A total of 1,216,246 people cast their votes in the election, or 59.35 percent of all eligible voters. The candidate from the MPP, Khurelsukh, obtained 67.76 percent of the votes," Purevee Delgernaran, head of the GEC, said at a news conference.

The official noted that all paper ballots of the election were counted by hand to avoid any disputes related to ballot counting machines.

Khurelsukh will replace incumbent Khaltmaa Battulga, a former world champion in the martial art of sambo who cannot run for a second presidential term under constitutional rules.

"From the bottom of my heart, I thank my fellow Mongolians," he said.

Mongolia, with a population of around 3.3 million, has held eight presidential elections since 1993. Among them, the first presidential election had the highest voter turnout at 92.7 percent, while this year's election had the lowest voter turnout rate.

However, Khurelsukh won the highest percent of votes in the history of the country's presidential elections.

COVID-19 restrictions

His victory follows a series of COVID-19 restrictions. Most outdoor events were canceled on Saturday after the candidate Enkhbat tested positive for the coronavirus.

Mongolia introduced some of the strictest early measures against the virus and achieved early success in keeping numbers low.

But cases have soared in recent months, although there have been impressive high rates of vaccination.

Mongolia recorded 1,460 new COVID-19 infections in the latest 24-hour period, the highest daily spike since the outbreak began, bringing the national tally to 70,482, with 348 deaths, the country's Health Ministry said on Thursday.

The economy shrank by 5.3 percent in 2020, its worst contraction since the early 1990s and far from its peak growth rate of 17 percent in 2013, figures from the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank showed.

Mongolia's political system gives its elected parliament the right to appoint governments and decide policy, but the president has the power to veto legislation and hire and fire judges.

The presidency has often been controlled by the opposition party in the past. Khurelsukh's election is expected to give the MPP more control over the levers of power, although he is obliged to relinquish his party affiliation as soon as he takes office.

A Chinese spacecraft will blast off from the Gobi Desert on a Long March rocket in the coming days, ferrying three men to an orbiting space module for a three-month stay, the first time China has sent humans into space for nearly five years.

Shenzhou-12, meaning “Divine Vessel”, will be the third of 11 missions needed to complete China’s space station by 2022. Among them, four will be missions with people on board, potentially propelling up to 12 Chinese astronauts into space – more than the 11 men and women that China has sent since 2003.

“The motherland is powerful,” one person wrote on Chinese social media, which has lit up with well-wishes for the Shenzhou-12 crew. “The launch is a gift to the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party.”

Chinese astronauts have had a relatively low international profile. A United States law banning NASA from any connection with China means its astronauts have not been to the more-than-two-decade-old International Space Station, visited by more than 240 men and women of various nationalities.

China, which aims to become a major spacefaring power by 2030, in May became the second country to put a rover on Mars, two years after landing the first spacecraft on the far side of the moon.

It also plans to put astronauts on the moon.

This time, men

The Shenzhou-12 crew is to live on the Tianhe, “Harmony of the Heavens”, a cylinder 16.6 metres (55 feet) long and 4.2 metres (14 feet) in diameter.

The planned three-month stay would break the country’s record of 30 days, set by the 2016 mission – China’s last crewed flight – of Chen Dong and Jing Haipeng to a prototype station.

Three men from China’s first and second groups of astronauts will be on this mission, Yang Liwei, director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office and China’s first astronaut, told the state-run news agency Global Times last month.

China’s space bloggers speculate the astronauts will be Nie Haisheng – who at 56 would be the oldest Chinese astronaut sent into space, Deng Qingming, 55, and Ye Guangfu, 40.

The authorities typically do not announce a mission’s crew until near or after the launch. China Manned Space did not respond to a Reuters news agency fax request for comment.

The oldest human in space was John Glenn, who flew on the space shuttle at age 77 in 1998 – after having been the first American to orbit the earth in 1962, a US senator and a presidential candidate.

While no women are scheduled for the Shenzhou-12 mission, they are expected to participate in every following mission, Yang told the Global Times.

Two women, Liu Yang and Wang Yaping, were selected in 2011 among China’s second cohort, after the first batch of 14 men in the mid-1990s. Liu was China’s first woman in space in 2012, while Wang was the youngest, at 33, in 2013.

China began building its space station in April with the launch of Tianhe, the first and largest of its three modules. This year it aims to send a robotic cargo resupply spacecraft and three more astronauts, this time for a six-month stay.