1 MONGOLIA MARKS CENTENNIAL WITH A NEW COURSE FOR CHANGE WWW.EASTASIAFORUM.ORG PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      2 E-MART OPENS FIFTH STORE IN ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA, TARGETING K-FOOD CRAZE WWW.BIZ.CHOSUN.COM PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      3 JAPAN AND MONGOLIA FORGE HISTORIC DEFENSE PACT UNDER THIRD NEIGHBOR STRATEGY WWW.ARMYRECOGNITION.COM  PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      4 CENTRAL BANK LOWERS ECONOMIC GROWTH FORECAST TO 5.2% WWW.UBPOST.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      5 L. OYUN-ERDENE: EVERY CITIZEN WILL RECEIVE 350,000 MNT IN DIVIDENDS WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      6 THE BILL TO ELIMINATE THE QUOTA FOR FOREIGN WORKERS IN MONGOLIA HAS BEEN SUBMITTED WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      7 THE SECOND NATIONAL ONCOLOGY CENTER TO BE CONSTRUCTED IN ULAANBAATAR WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/20      8 GREEN BOND ISSUED FOR WASTE RECYCLING WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      9 BAGANUUR 50 MW BATTERY STORAGE POWER STATION SUPPLIES ENERGY TO CENTRAL SYSTEM WWW.MONTSAME.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      10 THE PENSION AMOUNT INCREASED BY SIX PERCENT WWW.GOGO.MN PUBLISHED:2024/12/19      КОКС ХИМИЙН ҮЙЛДВЭРИЙН БҮТЭЭН БАЙГУУЛАЛТЫГ ИРЭХ ОНЫ ХОЁРДУГААР УЛИРАЛД ЭХЛҮҮЛНЭ WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     "ЭРДЭНЭС ТАВАНТОЛГОЙ” ХК-ИЙН ХУВЬЦАА ЭЗЭМШИГЧ ИРГЭН БҮРД 135 МЯНГАН ТӨГРӨГ ӨНӨӨДӨР ОЛГОНО WWW.MONTSAME.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     ХУРИМТЛАЛЫН САНГИЙН ОРЛОГО 2040 ОНД 38 ИХ НАЯДАД ХҮРЭХ ТӨСӨӨЛӨЛ ГАРСАН WWW.NEWS.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ЭРДЭНЭС ОЮУ ТОЛГОЙ” ХХК-ИАС ХЭРЛЭН ТООНО ТӨСЛИЙГ ӨМНӨГОВЬ АЙМАГТ ТАНИЛЦУУЛЛАА WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     Л.ОЮУН-ЭРДЭНЭ: ХУРИМТЛАЛЫН САНГААС НЭГ ИРГЭНД 135 МЯНГАН ТӨГРӨГИЙН ХАДГАЛАМЖ ҮҮСЛЭЭ WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ENTRÉE RESOURCES” 2 ЖИЛ ГАРУЙ ҮРГЭЛЖИЛСЭН АРБИТРЫН МАРГААНД ЯЛАЛТ БАЙГУУЛАВ WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     “ORANO MINING”-ИЙН ГЭРЭЭ БОЛОН ГАШУУНСУХАЙТ-ГАНЦМОД БООМТЫН ТӨСЛИЙН АСУУДЛААР ЗАСГИЙН ГАЗАР ХУРАЛДАЖ БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/20     АЖИЛЧДЫН САРЫН ГОЛЧ ЦАЛИН III УЛИРЛЫН БАЙДЛААР ₮2 САЯ ОРЧИМ БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19     PROGRESSIVE EQUITY RESEARCH: 2025 ОН “PETRO MATAD” КОМПАНИД ЭЭЛТЭЙ БАЙХААР БАЙНА WWW.BLOOMBERGTV.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19     2026 ОНЫГ ДУУСТАЛ ГАДААД АЖИЛТНЫ ТОО, ХУВЬ ХЭМЖЭЭГ ХЯЗГААРЛАХГҮЙ БАЙХ ХУУЛИЙН ТӨСӨЛ ӨРГӨН МЭДҮҮЛЭВ WWW.EAGLE.MN НИЙТЭЛСЭН:2024/12/19    

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Events

Events

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MBCC “Doing Business with Mongolia seminar and Christmas Receptiom” Dec 10. 2024 London UK MBCCI London UK Goodman LLC

NEWS

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Trial of new road connecting China, Mongolia, Russia begins www.xinhuanet.com

The trial of an international road transport route connecting China, Mongolia and Russia on the Asia Highway 4 (AH4) began on Friday morning in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
A launch ceremony kicked off at 10 a.m. Friday, with a fleet of nine trucks dispatched by China, Mongolia and Russia departing from the multimodal transport center in the Urumqi International Land Port Area, set to exit China via the Takixken road port.
The trucks will proceed through Mongolia and Russia, arriving ultimately in Novosibirsk, Russia's third-largest city.
The entire trial-run route covers approximately 2,253 kilometers, with about 577 kilometers located in China, 758 kilometers in Mongolia and 918 kilometers in Russia. A reception ceremony for the convoy is set to be held in Novosibirsk on Sept. 28.
The new route is the second international road transport channel connecting China, Mongolia and Russia, following the Asia Highway 3 (AH3) route. It will promote the orderly flow of resources and their efficient allocation, and deepen market integration within the region. It also plays a pivotal role in shaping the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor, Ministry of Transport official Xuan Dengdian said at the launch ceremony.
Xinjiang is located at the heart of the Eurasian continent and serves as a transportation hub in the core region of the Silk Road Economic Belt.
To date, China has engaged in international road transport cooperation with 21 countries, and 68 ports in China have opened international road transport services.
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Under Secretary Elizabeth Allen Attends Signing of New Agreement to Increase Mongolian Participation in the Fulbright Program www.state.gov

On September 21, the Government of Mongolia committed to increasing its annual contribution to the Fulbright Program. Mongolia signed a renewed agreement with the Institute of International Education (IIE), an implementing partner of the U.S. Department of State for the Fulbright Program. Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Liz Allen met with Mongolian Minister of Education and Science L. Enkh-Amgalan before the signing at the Permanent Mission of Mongolia to the United Nations in New York, NY. IIE Vice President Edward Monks signed the agreement on behalf of IIE.
Under the updated terms, Mongolia will double its yearly contribution to $1.2 million, which will increase the number of Mongolian Fulbright Foreign Students studying in the United States each year.
In her remarks at the signing, Under Secretary Allen emphasized the United States’ commitment to deepening partnership with Mongolia on education and continuing support for Mongolia’s democratic and economic development.
The Fulbright Program is the U.S. Government’s flagship international academic exchange program that has provided more than 400,000 students, scholars, artists, and teachers the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research both in the United States and abroad. The Fulbright Program in Mongolia began in 1993, and since 2010 the country has contributed $600,000 annually to fund Mongolian graduate students to attend U.S. universities on a yearly basis.
Individuals and U.S. host institutions may go online to learn more about the Fulbright Program. Interested media may contact the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at ECA-Press@state.gov.
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Presidents of Mongolia and Japan agree to develop strategic partnership www.akipress.com

President of Mongolia Khurelsukh Ukhnaa held a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa welcomed the fact that during his state visit to Japan on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between two countries, the sides agreed to intensify the strategic partnership and deepen the Special Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity.
The President expressed satisfaction that the governments of Mongolia and Japan are working closely to ensure the implementation of the partnership's road map for the next ten years.
Khurelsukh Ukhnaa also emphasized Mongolia's commitment to contribute to the international community's efforts to achieve sustainable development. He expressed the desire to expand cooperation on climate change and desertification in the region.
The sides discussed the development of bilateral relations, regional and international agendas during the meeting.
They also confirmed their readiness to work together with the intention of strengthening cooperation aimed at solving common global problems, promoting regional peace and prosperity within the framework of "Free and Open Indo-Pacific".
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Recordkeeping of “Black list” for Procurement Tender to be Intensified www.montsame.mn

The regular Cabinet meeting held yesterday discussed the process of recordkeeping of legal bodies who were restricted their rights to participate in tenders. In 2023, 107 companies that violated the laws and regulations regarding the on procurement of goods, works, and services with state and local funds are being inspected to be put on the "Black List" in 2023.
In addition to contractors, there is a need to increase the responsibility of clients, to create a "white list", in which companies that have completely fulfilled the contractual obligations are put on, the proposal was introduced during the Cabinet Meeting. Minister of Finance B. Javkhlan was ordered to intensify the recordkeeping of legal bodies that were restricted their rights to participate in tenders. Also, the clients were instructed to submit to the state procurement inspectors the information and relevant proofs on the companies that seriously violated their contractual obligations, failed to fulfill their obligations, made mistakes in their professional activities, submitted tenders with obviously false information when participating in the procurement process.
The legal bodies who were restricted their rights to participate in tenders were put on the blacklist and were announced to the public through the procurement system /www.tender.gov.mn/ and the website of the Ministry of Finance /www.mof.gov.mn/, including 16 blacklisted companies in 2019, 15 in 2020, 16 in 2021, 8 in 2022, and 11 in 2023.
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In search of the eagle huntresses www.aljazeera.com

Altai, Mongolia - Sitting motionless on a wooden perch at the side of a small family cabin high in the Altai Mountains of western Mongolia is a golden eagle.
The magnificent bird of prey is attached to a long rope, her delicate head and amber eyes covered by a black leather cap; only her beak is exposed. The eagle was caught in the wild and trained to hunt – but not by the young woman rushing past who barely acknowledges it as she makes her way to the cow pen.
Twenty-three-year-old Semser Bahitnur’s jet-black hair is rolled into a messy bun. It’s almost five o’clock in the evening, time to milk the cows. The young mother squats on a low stool and begins to move her fingers quickly. Her bright pink cheeks are burned raw from daily outdoor chores.
Semser comes from a nomadic Kazakh family of well-known eagle-hunting men. Her grandfather Ajken Tabysbek and father Shokhan have won many national tournaments over the decades. Photographs and medals adorn the inside walls of their cabin, and their names have captured the attention of international photographers and paying tourists who come to Altai to get a glimpse of Mongolia’s eagle-hunting culture.
Inside the family cabin, Semser moves tirelessly, preparing fresh milk for the family. When asked about women going hunting with eagles, she tells Al Jazeera, “Yes, women can hunt if there is time and there are horses.”
But her photograph is not among those on the family’s hunting wall of fame.
In 2013, Kazakh women in Mongolia captured global attention when a young eagle huntress, Aisholpan Nurgaiv, became the subject of a viral photograph taken by Israeli photographer Asher Svidensky. He returned to the country in 2014 with British director Otto Bell, who made a documentary about the teenager.
The storyline focused on her being an outlier in Kazakh culture in what Bell described as an “isolated” community with “a certain kind of ignorance about what woman can do”. These remarks were made during a press interview on CBS's Mountain Morning Show in January 2016, where he also said she was the “first woman to eagle hunt in the 2,000-year-old male-dominated history”.
But Kazakhs and historians say this is not true.
Altai is where Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Russia and China meet.
In Kazakstan, 67-year-old Bagdat Muktepkekyzy is a former eagle huntress and retired journalist.
Speaking to Al Jazeera via a messaging app, she tells of first learning the tradition of eagle hunting in 1966 when she was 10 years old.
“My great grandfather, Bekmyrza, had 200 birds of prey (eagles, falcons, hawks). And I started learning eagle hunting with my grandfather Taji - he held a crown eagle - and also with my father Nupteke, who was an eagle hunter ... I know how to catch an eagle, go hunting, and everything to do with the skill.”
She speaks of her excitement while out hunting high on a horse. “There was a sense of pride that swells in my chest, as if flying into space. The sound of flying eagles, the fresh air of the mountains and steppes - it was wonderful.
“There is an indescribable feeling: pride, joy when you take off the eagle tomaga [cap] and send it to hunt,” she says.
Bagdat attended university to study journalism. But the eagles followed her into the world of work too. After graduating, she worked as a reporter for the state broadcaster for 20 years in the editorial office of agriculture. “On business trips, I would go to the villages, there I collected a lot of material about eagles, greyhounds, horses, and I made reports,” she says.
Committed to keeping the tradition of eagle hunting alive, in 1998, she established the first eagle training school in Kazakhstan, Zhalayr Shora School of Eagles, and off the back of its success started the Kyran (Golden Eagle) Federation Public Fund in 2005 - an organisation that teaches falconry skills and organises national and international falconry competitions. She also successfully lobbied the government in Kazakhstan to include the art form as a national sport, writing the regulations needed.
“Eagle hunting always included women,” says Adrienne Mayor, a historian at Stanford University, who details the practice and its history in her 2016 research paper, The Eagle Huntress - Ancient Traditions and New Generations. “Archaeology also suggests that eagle huntresses were more common in ancient times.”
“The oldest known artefact showing this kind of hunting is a golden ring made about 2,500 years ago. The scene on the ring shows a woman on a running horse. She’s spearing a deer. Her eagle is hovering above the deer and her hound is grabbing its leg,” she tells Al Jazeera.
The historian explains that the Kazakhs are descendants of the Scythians who were expert horse people and archers. “They considered men and women equal, and in small tribes, it was logical and necessary for everyone, young and old, to be able to wield a weapon and ride horses and hunt with an eagle for survival. You had to be able to contribute to the group as a stakeholder on the steppes,” she says.
Although the practice is “now more commonly passed down between males, in ancient times, men and women fought in battle together and hunted side-by-side”.
One reason for the shift could be that the community, although still nomadic, “live a much more settled existence” compared with ancient times, when the nomads kept only horses, she says.
“Even though they migrate each summer and winter, there is now a division of roles between men and women for labour, agriculture, hunting, taking care of the livestock and running the settlement areas.”
The traditional skill of hunting with an eagle is also no longer needed for survival, as modern times have increased options in terms of food and clothing. “Gone are the days when everyone lived a vigorous outdoor life,” says Mayor, and learning the practice is now more about keeping the tradition alive.
The landscape in Altai is vast, desolate and unforgiving. There are few trees in the wilderness, so golden eagles build their nests high in the crevices of mountains.
In winter, the temperature can drop below 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit); the rolling hills get covered in a blanket of snow, waist-deep in some parts, while freezing temperatures turn many freshwater lakes into ice.
Winter is peak hunting season as the vast white snowscape allows eagles to easily spot prey for hunters to track.
Eagles and hunters share a very personal relationship, and each hunter has their own bird. Most hunters prefer to trap an eaglet after it has "fledged", and learned to fly from its parents, but when it's still young enough to be trained to form a tight human bond. Female birds are used to hunt as they are larger and more aggressive. It takes years to hone hunting skills and the trust of the bird.
To hunt with an eagle is also not easy. A hunter must ride one-handed, galloping at speed across glaciers with a 7kg (15.5-pound) bird on their forearm in the freezing cold for many hours. An apprenticeship starts during the hunter's early teenage years. After seven to 10 years with a hunter, an eagle is usually released back into the wild to keep the population abundant.
Every year during summer in Altai, the trained hunting eagles are rested and fed a heavy diet of rich meat like marmots to get them to shed their feathers and grow new ones in time for winter.
At the same time, nomadic Kazakh families pack up their winter cabins for the summer migration with their livestock, move to greener pastures about 100km (62 miles) away to pitch their tents, and focus more on husbandry duties.
At the Ajken family cabin in Altai Tavan Bogd National Park, Semser is tending to the milk when the heavy shuffle of feet entering catches her attention. Four men of various ages enter, take low stools from the back wall, and form a circle around a small wooden table: her grandfather, father, uncle and teenage brother.
The men are taking a short break from rounding up and shearing the camels. The hair is valuable and can be sold. Dinner will not be ready for another four hours, and they are hungry. Semser carefully pours boiled cows’ milk into ceramic bowls for each man. They drink in silence.
“I want to be able to do what everyone [the men] does,” Semser tells Al Jazeera wearily, sitting down.
If eagle hunting is alive in Mongolia, it is to preserve the art form, according to Dinara Assanova, the founder of Women of Kazakhstan History, a non-governmental organisation and virtual online museum focused on great women from Central Asia.
Speaking to Al Jazeera from Kazakhstan's largest city Almaty, she says although the tradition of eagle hunting among Kazakh women dates back centuries, it has changed dramatically.
“Women and men do not need to hunt in modern day. If it is happening, it is to keep the tradition alive, and it is for show, it is not in order to survive,” she says.
Explaining the changes over time, Assanova, who is writing a PhD on Women’s Experiences During Stalinist Purges at Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University, says: “The situation changed when the Soviet power came to Kazakhstan. They transformed our nomadic civilisation and society into a city infrastructure. They built factories and forced Kazakhs to become settlers and that’s when we lost eagle hunting in general, not just the part of female ones, but the tradition itself was erased because a lot of our traditions, like poetry and so on, were prohibited.”
She says the difference with the Kazakh community in Mongolia is that they “have preserved their culture by leaving Kazakhstan, so many keep eagles”. But Assanova believes that many of the girls who learn to handle an eagle only do so today because “they want to have fun”.
She also feels that film director Bell misrepresented Kazakh culture in the documentary about Aisholpan. In a Facebook post dated December 24, 2016, she wrote, “The producers of the film came up with a great way to sell their film, using gender stereotypes to show our history and culture.”
Aisholpan was 13 years old when she won Mongolia’s annual Golden Eagle Festival. The event was filmed for part of Bell’s documentary. It was her first competition and she beat 78 experienced male eagle hunters – surprising many in the Altai community.
The film went on to become a global box office success, nominated for many prestigious awards. And with the publicity came growing domestic and international interest from tourists wanting to visit eagle festivals in Mongolia. There is now not one, but three festivals hosted every year - in September, October and March.
Organisers say the events help preserve the thousands of years old tradition and showcase different falconry and equestrian skills in an outdoor arena.
The Golden Eagle festival – held just outside the town of Olgii, 180km (122 miles) from Bahitnur’s family cabin and more than 1,600km (994 miles) from Mongolia's capital Ulaanbaatar – is the most popular of the three eagle festivals and a top tourist attraction since Aisholpan’s win.
Tour operators describe it as a three-day carnival: food stalls are set up and locals sell clothes, souvenirs and ornate horse riding gear. Elaborately decorated horse saddles can be sold for up to $5,000 apiece. It is a spectacle of colour and tradition, and a way to inject cash into Mongolia’s struggling economy.
Competitors of any age and any gender can enter the "eagle hunting" part of the festival to win medals, money and a reputation for themselves. Participants are judged on specific skills: how they send their eagle off to catch a fox pellet being pulled on a rope; how fast an eagle can locate its owner when called, and also on their pageantry and horsemanship.
Today more young Kazakh women compete in the festivals. But according to tradition, to be called a real huntress, they must prove themselves beyond the confines of an arena, and together with their eagle, make a kill in the wild during the deep, harsh winter.
Veteran huntress Bagdat says the mastery needed to survive the extreme challenges of hunting in Mongolia and Kazakhstan during their winters, is very different. In those conditions, the frozen landscape is remote, hostile and unpredictable.
“Hunting is done in winter when the snow is thick and the sun is cold. Horse riding in thick snow is very dangerous," she explains.
“The festivals are held in outdoor arenas: old palaces and some in stadiums but the area is small and narrow in places. When you hunt, you hunt in nature. The field is much greater.”
Bagdat has been organising eagle festivals for 35 years. Her former student, Makpal Abdrazakova, was a famous huntress who, at age 25, made headlines in 2012 for her athleticism when few women were hunting. But, Bagdat tells Al Jazeera, “There are no women in the eagle national sports today".
“Makpal, she was a huntress for five to six years, but she is no longer active. She is now married and has two children. My brother has a daughter, she is eight years old, and she has been carrying an eagle and a falcon for a year. But there is no female hunting.
“Today no one hunts, it is a hobby. Festivals keep the art alive. Young people sometimes do it for fun. But they give up quickly.”
Documentary photographer Palani Mohan spent five years travelling back and forth to the Altai Mountains from 2012 to stay with what he calls the last “true” eagle hunters.
“Hunting for them is a way of life. There must be less than 50 ‘true’ hunters left. Many of the older ones I spent time with, who were in their 90s, have since passed away. They were all men,” he tells Al Jazeera.
There is a Kazakh saying that men love their birds more than they love their wives, Mohan says. “The hunters I met sang to their birds, they even wrote poetry about them. They spent more time with their eagles than with their families. When they release the bird they cry and sing songs that say, ‘Are you safe, do you have enough food?' [And] how they miss them. It is like a child they had to give up. The connection between a hunter and his bird is very obvious when you see them together and it is very special.”
Mohan went back 10 times to collect images for his book, Hunting with Eagles: In the Realm of the Mongolian Kazakhs. He says out of the 10,000 images he took, not one image was of a woman or girl hunting in winter over a five-year period. At that same time, he photographed many women and girls in a domestic setting and had access to families who opened up to him over the years he visited.
“No one spoke about women or girls hunting. I asked several times over several years, and the answer was always the same. My publisher even asked me the same question, especially after Asher Svidensky’s photograph of Aisholpan went viral. But I did not see this with the ‘real’ eagle hunters I stayed with.
“This is because, in modern times, women have an important role in the home. When the men go off to hunt, they travel very, very, long distances. And when they return, they just want to eat and sleep. Someone has to make dinner, and take care of the family and look after the livestock. They have to keep the nomadic life ticking over. There is a lot to do,” he says.
“Often the men have to sleep on the floor of a stranger’s hut if they are far from home,” he adds. “You are not going to take your teenage daughter to sleep in another man’s home. They are an Islamic community, Sunnis with a modest faith, this just isn’t done.”
According to historian Mayor: “The demands of raising a family and managing a household or working outside the home make it hard for married women to be active eagle huntresses – unless their relatives are committed to helping make time for the activity.”
At Ajken’s cabin in Altai, the men in the family are active eagle hunters. But Shokhan has not passed down his skills to Semser or her 14-year-old sister Aigbek. The two girls play a domestic role – cooking, cleaning, washing, fetching water, milking the livestock and making various dairy products. They can handle his bird to give it water and bring it out into the daylight from its enclosure - but their work in and around the home is their focus.
Al Jazeera was introduced to this eagle-hunting family by local guide Nurbol Kahjikhan, with the promise of meeting, photographing and speaking to female huntresses. Shokhan declined to speak to Al Jazeera directly, but reluctantly allowed us an interview with Semser. When questioned about hunting, Semser appears uncomfortable and impassive in her responses. When asked what she likes about the culture of hunting, she fidgets and after a long silence half-heartedly replies: “I enjoy it.”
Several hours after leaving the family, the guide sheds some light on her behaviour. “These girls do not hunt,” he confesses. “They go to school in the winter. It’s for publicity ... it’s about the cameras. We know tourists and photographers want to see girls and eagles. And we want people to visit Altai.”
Ajken, Semser's 80-year-old grandfather, tells Al Jazeera many Kazakhs believe that Aisholpan’s story and win were also merely a publicity stunt. “She did it for the cameras. Women do not hunt today,” he claims.
“Before Aisholpan’s story, few people knew about our tradition. Yes, now many people are happy she put Olgii on the map and it spread around the world. So why not bring more tourists here to stay with eagle hunter families if that’s what they want?”
Eagle hunter families in this region can benefit financially if paying outsiders are brought by their guides to stay. Tour company Kazakh Tours told Al Jazeera families can earn around $15 per tourist per night. This in a country where the average income of a herder is less than $470 per year, according to World Bank figures from 2013.
When tourists come around, Semser's family actively encourage her and her sister to dress in their furs and role-play as authentic huntresses.
“I worry that the proliferation of young, fake ‘eagle huntresses’ posing with tame eagles for photographers and tourists is already erasing the real history of eagle hunting by women,” Mayor says. “It is a shame that the blame for this situation originated with a professional photographer and a filmmaker who decided to make Aisholpan famous for their own gain.”
Mayor is alluding to the slanted marketing at the time of the documentary which pushed a storyline about “a girl who won’t be held back by gender-centred tradition”, according to its director Otto Bell, speaking to NPR in January 2016.
Only after callouts from historian Mayor and other critics about the authenticity of Bell’s claims about Aisholpan being the first eagle huntress in 2,000 years did he correct his narrative. Speaking to National Geographic on August 5, 2016, he said, “It’s important to note that Aisholpan is not the first modern Kazakh eagle huntress - that’s a fairly common mistake. An older lady from Kazakhstan named Makpal Abdrazakova preceded her in training an eagle.”
As for Aisholpan, she has since managed to use her fame to pay to further her education and was given a scholarship in 2020 at Suleyman Demirel University in Kazakhstan. Her Facebook posts are about her travel to 26 countries, a book deal and endless publicity tours. She was also awarded a state medal by the Mongolian prime minister in 2018 - Order of Golden Star Mongolia - for her contribution to the country. The locals in her community say her father Rys is now planning to open a falconry school in Kazakhstan.
Nearly 10 years on, however, the allegations in Altai about her win at the festival continue. Many hunters say the competition was rigged to fit the film’s storyline – something festival organisers have always denied.
“Aisholpan’s stardom encourages copycats and is erasing all the unknown women who were real eagle huntresses in the past and those are who are carrying on the real heritage today ... like Makpal," Mayor laments.
Neither Aisholpan nor Svidensky and Bell responded to Al Jazeera’s multiple requests for interviews.
Meanwhile, back at Ajken’s cabin in Altai, dressed in their fox furs, Shokhan’s daughters Semser and Aigbek look striking against a bright blue sky with the wilderness stretching far behind them.
They clumsily lift the eagle from its wooden perch. The bird majestically arches her six-foot wingspan high above their heads to steady herself, while digging her sharp talons into the yak skin sheath protecting their arms.
The sisters take turns holding her. Just outside the camera's range, Shokhan waits, ready to assist and shout commands in Kazakh. He's the hunter, and the choreographer.
By Asha Tanna
 
 
 
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Japan-Mongolia Leaders’ Working Lunch www.mofa.go.jp

On September 20, commencing at 1:10 p.m. local time (2:10 a.m., September 21, Japan time) for approximately 1 hour, Mr. KISHIDA Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan, visiting New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, held a working lunch with H.E. Mr. Ukhnaa KHURELSUKH, President of Mongolia. The summary of the working lunch is as follows.
1. Outset
Prime Minister Kishida mentioned that the two leaders concurred on upgrading the bilateral relationship to a “Special Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity,” during President Khurelsukh’s visit to Japan in November last year (2022), marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Prime Minister Kishida then stated that Japan and Mongolia, which share fundamental values, should work together also in the regional and international community.
In response, President Khurelsukh expressed his desire to further strengthen the bilateral relations under the new partnership.
2. Bilateral relations
The two leaders welcomed the continuation of high-level dialogues and mutual visits between the two countries this year, marking the beginning of another 50 years of the bilateral relationship. The two leaders also confirmed the steady progress in cooperation projects in various sectors based on the “Japan-Mongolia Action Plan (2022-2031),” which was issued on occasion of President Khurelsukh’s visit to Japan in November last year.
Prime Minister Kishida conveyed the launch of the first project under Japan’s plan to plant 50,000 trees over five years in Mongolia to extend cooperation to Mongolia’s “One Billion Tree” National Campaign, which President Khurelsukh proposed in his statement at the General Debate of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly as part of measures against climate change and desertification. In response, President Khurelsukh expressed his deep appreciation.
The two leaders expressed their hope for further mutual understanding and strengthened tourism exchanges between the peoples of the two countries, including through the Japanese TV drama shot in Mongolia.
3. Regional and international affairs
The two leaders candidly exchanged views on regional and international affairs including the response to North Korea including nuclear and missile issues and the abductions issue, as well as Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and shared the necessity of the United Nations reform and also shared the importance of further deepening cooperation and coordination including within the United Nations.
Prime Minister Kishida explained that the discharge of ALPS (Advanced Liquid Processing System) treated water into the sea is being conducted in accordance with international standards and international practices with all possible measures taken to ensure safety, and sought the understanding of Mongolia. In response, President Khurelsukh expressed his support for Japan’s position.
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China, Mongolia agree to deepen security cooperation www.xinhuanet.com

China and Mongolia will work together to deepen bilateral security cooperation to promote their countries' development and safeguard regional peace and stability, said Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee (CPCCC) and secretary of Mongolia's National Security Council Jadamba Enkhbayar Tuesday during their meeting here.
Linked by mountains and rivers and sharing weal and woe, China and Mongolia are good neighbors and good partners, enjoying solid mutual trust, a profound friendship and converging interests, Wang told Enkhbayar.
Last year, the heads of state of the two countries had a successful meeting, during which the two sides pledged to jointly build a community of shared future between the two countries, pushing bilateral relations to a new level, said Wang, also director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPCCC.
As a comprehensive strategic partner and close neighbor, China always respects the development path independently chosen by the Mongolian people. China is ready to work with Mongolia to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, and to deepen bilateral security cooperation to provide a solid guarantee for the common development of the two countries as well as regional peace and stability, Wang said.
For his part, Enkhbayar said the two countries have always respected each other's core interests and supported each other in the fight against the pandemic, making bilateral relations at their best in history. Mongolia cherishes the friendship and the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, firmly pursues a friendly policy towards China and firmly abides by the one-China principle.
Given the current turbulent international situation, Mongolia adheres to multilateralism and stands ready to strengthen security cooperation with China to contribute to the development and prosperity of the two countries, he said.
Unilateral actions and hegemonism have long fallen behind the times, and the trend toward a multi-polar world is unstoppable, Wang said, noting that three words are key to the effort to achieve peace and security and build a multi-polar system.
The first one is equality. All countries, big or small, rich or poor, strong or weak, are equal and enjoy the right to development.
The second one is order. The international system with the United Nations at its core should be jointly upheld, and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter as well as the universally recognized basic norms governing international relations be jointly adhered to.
The third one is cooperation. Synergy should be forged through solidarity and cooperation to jointly address global challenges and build a community with a shared future for mankind.
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Head of State held talks with President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh www.akorda.kz

On the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly Kassym-Jomart Tokayev held a meeting with President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh.
The Head of State noted warm and traditionally friendly relations between Kazakhstan and Mongolia. The President emphasized the possibility of expanding bilateral relations to the level of strategic partnership.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev also noted that in order to give additional impetus to trade and economic cooperation, it is necessary to intensify the work of the Intergovernmental Commission and create a Business Council of Kazakhstan and Mongolia.
At the end of the meeting, the presidents of the two countries discussed the possibility of mutual visits in the near future.
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China's coal imports from Russia, Mongolia jump in August www.reuters.com

China's coal imports from all origins rose in August, customs data showed on Wednesday, as the world's top consumer of the fuel bought up cheaper overseas supplies after domestic output fell.
Russian coal arrivals reached 9.97 million metric tons, up from July's 8.99 million tons, and 16.7% higher than the same month last year.
Imports from Australia also rose 6% from the prior month to 6.69 million tons, while arrivals from Mongolia, largely of coking coal, surged 20.5% from July to a record 7.16 million tons.
China's total coal imports came to 44.3 million tons last month, data showed earlier, a record volume for a single month, thanks to lower domestic supply that pushed up local prices.
China's coal output has declined in recent months as authorities tightened safety and shut mines for inspections amid a string of deadly accidents.
Domestic coal prices increased through August, with SteelHome assessing the benchmark price for thermal coal with energy content of 5,500 kilocalories (kcal) at the port of Qinhuangdao at 835 yuan ($114.45) per metric ton on Aug. 28, up from 779 yuan per ton in June.
The price for 5,500 kcal coal cargoes at Australia's Newcastle Port, as assessed by commodity price reporting agency Argus, was $85.19 a metric ton in the week to Aug. 18.
China also imported 18.7 million tons of coal from Indonesia, up 18.4% from the prior month.
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Railway Safety World Standards Focused www.montsame.mn

The managers of the Mongolian Railways State-owned JSC met with the representatives of the US Federal Railroad Administration led by its Director of International Programs Barbara K. Barr.
At the meeting, the representatives of the US Federal Railroad Administration presented the professional functions and responsibilities, safety inspections, decision-making as to where and how to conduct inspections, risk assessment, and railroad regulatory activities of their Safety Department.
The Chief Engineer of the Mongolian Railways T. Batzorig introduced to the representatives about the railway construction, infrastructure exploitation, transport organization and railway safety activities, and expressed the desire to exchange experience and expand cooperation.
In the meantime, the United States Federal Railroad Administration organized a US - Mongolia Rail Workshop on Safety and Research involving representatives of the Mongolian railway sector. Specialists of this field attended relevant training and studied experience.
 
 
 
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