The Emergency Commission of Ulaanbaatar City has decided to lift the bans on the sale and consumption bans of alcoholic beverages. The relaxation comes into force from Monday (14 December); on the same day, the public emergency situation will be partially relaxed. Therefore, the residents of Ulaanbaatar can enjoy beers and wines; however, strong alcoholic beverages such as vodka and whisky remain banned.

With the lifting of the ban, supermarkets, minimarts, cafes, restaurants, hypermarkets and food markets will re-open from 07:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.

During the period of the alcohol ban, four people died of alcohol poisoning after drinking technical spirit.

Sumo grand champion Kakuryu, winner of six top division titles, has given up his Mongolian nationality and acquired Japanese citizenship, an official government publication showed Thursday.

By meeting the requirement to remain in the Japan Sumo Association as an senior-citizenafter retirement, the 35-year-old will now be able to run his own stable of wrestlers after his active career has ended. Although Japanese nationality is not required to compete in sumo, citizenship is necessary if a wrestler wishes to progress to become a sumo elder upon retirement and establish or inherit a sumo stable.

Kakuryu is the fourth foreign-born yokozunato obtain Japanese citizenship after retired U.S.-born wrestlers Akebono and Musashimaru, and Mongolian-born Hakuho, a still-active competitor, who became a Japanese citizen last year.

Kakuryu fought out of the Izutsu stable when he started his sumo career in 2001. He was promoted to the highest rank of yokozuna in the spring of 2014.

Upon the death of the Izutsu oyakata and closure of the Izutsu stable in September 2019, he moved to the Michinoku stable. Last month, he was given a “warning” by the Yokozuna Deliberation Council after sitting out the last three tournaments due to injury.

Mongolia’s Central Bank issued a silver coin on Wednesday to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the establishment of Karakorum, the country’s ancient capital.

The commemorative coin, which is 50 millimeters in diameter, contains 2 ounces (56.7 grams) of 999 sterling silver, the Bank of Mongolia said in a statement.

The 5,000-tugrik (1.75 U.S. dollars) coin is available at the Treasury Fund of the Central Bank at a cost of 600,000 tugriks (210 U.S. dollars) per piece.

The ruins of Karakorum lie in the northwestern corner of Uvurkhangai Province of Mongolia, near today’s town of Kharkhorin and adjacent to the Erdene Zuu Monastery, a surviving Buddhist monastery. Famously described in his travels by Marco Polo, the new capital was established by Kublai Khaan, the grandson of Chinngis Khaan.

They are part of the upper part of Orkhon Valley, a world heritage site of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

Mongolia on Sunday decided to write off payments of water, heat, electricity and waste for households and organizations across the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

With exceptions of governmental organizations, state and local owned entities, mining companies, wholesalers, retailers, and alcohol or tobacco producers, the decision comes into effect from Dec. 1 to July 1, 2021, said Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh at a press conference after an irregular government meeting.

Erdenet Mining Corporation, one of the biggest state-owned enterprises, is expected to pay for about 650 billion Mongolian Tugriks (228 million U.S. dollars) needed to implement this decision, said Khurelsukh.

More than 890,000 households and 123,800 organizations can benefit from the write-off, according to official data.

In addition, Mongolia decided to cut the price of processed fuel by 75 percent during the period to support the livelihoods in ger areas of the capital city Ulan Bator. Earlier, it had reduced the price by 50 percent.

About 220,000 households live in Ulan Bator's ger districts, with no running water, central heating or sewerage systems.

As of Sunday, Mongolia has reported 907 COVID-19 cases, including 473 locally transmitted cases.

The Asian country's nationwide lockdown, imposed on Nov. 12 after its first locally transmitted case, expired on Dec. 1. It has extended the restrictive measures in Ulan Bator and the provinces of Selenge and Arkhangai until Dec. 14. Enditem

Anglo American will divest from its South African and Colombian thermal coal operations by mid-2023, the miner said on Friday.

The global miner said a de-merger and listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange was the most likely route for its South African thermal coal assets, which include three wholly-owned and operated mines – Goedehoop, Greenside and Khwezela.

“With the bulk of (growth) options in copper, PGMs, and now also crop nutrients, we are increasingly positioned to supply those metals and minerals that enable a cleaner, greener, more sustainable world,” Chief Executive Mark Cutifani said on Friday in an annual update to investors.

Cutifani said the company planned to exit its Cerrejon thermal coal mine in Colombia within 1 1/2 to 2 years, while the South African thermal coal exit will happen within 2 1/2 years.

Anglo American said production across all minerals will increase by 14% in 2021 and unit costs are expected to fall by 3%.

Capital expenditure would be between $5.7 billion and $6.2 billion next year, reflecting deferred 2020 spending and new investments.

“We expect to deliver sector leading volume growth of 20-25% over the next three to five years that includes first copper production from Quellaveco in 2022. We are on track to deliver our targeted $3-4 billion run-rate of incremental annual improvement by the end of 2022,” said Cutifani.

The miner said it expects to produce 890,000 to 1 million tonnes of copper in 2023. It cut its 2022 copper production forecast, though, to 680,000-790,000 tonnes, from 700,000-810,000.

Diamonds

The De Beers owner also trimmed its diamond production forecasts for the next two years, from 31-million carats in 2019 to 33-35-million carats in 2021 and 30-33-million carats in 2022. The world’s top diamond producer by value, saw rough diamond production decrease by 5% to 8.7-million carats in the quarter ended Sept. 30.

“Current diamond prices will increase pressure on producers and output will shrink unless they rally,” Cutifani said.

Jefferies analyst Christopher LaFemina told Reuters the cuts to copper and diamond forecasts were “unhelpful” considering organic growth is a unique aspect of the investment case for Anglo American.

I have a clear memory of my first experience of Mongolia. It wasn’t actually in Mongolia itself; I was in the waiting room of the Mongolian embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam.

I’d been traveling through Southeast Asia for months, and the constant rush of mopeds and people and sound was making me yearn for silence, for wide-open spaces, for cold air.

I didn’t find any of that in the waiting room. But I did find a massive photograph, stretching across a whole wall, of a white-crowned Mongolian mountain range rising from the green steppe towards dark and stormy clouds.

image from remoteland.com

I stared at the photo for a long time, swept up in its drama, before the woman behind the desk sharply told me that they’d be unable to process my visa application. (I eventually made it to Mongolia, which you can read about in my book about traveling from Australia to Switzerland without flying).

This memory resonated in my mind during the opening sequence of Robert Lieberman’s new film, Echoes of the Empire. Horses trundle across a wooden bridge, past a lake on the grasslands, and suddenly the camera rises higher to take the mighty vastness of Mongolia and paint it across the screen.

It was a powerful beginning to what turned out to be an insightful and inspirational film.

Lieberman starts by chronicling the life of Genghis Khan, from his beginnings as an outcast to his brutal conquests to his empire’s pioneering of religious freedom, women’s education, international law, diplomatic immunity, and more.

The film then draws ‘echoes’ to the modern-day. As one example, Mongolian women remain more educated than Mongolian men, who are traditionally expected to look after livestock while the women go and study.

Anecdotally, this was the practice of a Tsaatan family I once stayed with; in winter, the boys helped their fathers move the reindeer herds north while the girls stayed behind to go to school in a nearby village.

Then the film moves past Genghis and into modern nomadic life. It covers Bhankars, huge shaggy dogs that play a vital role in maintaining steppe ecosystems; the cultural importance of ‘long song’ singing and the landscape sounds of Mongolian music; the genesis of communism, its tragic effects on Mongolia’s cultural history, and its demise in 1990; Russia’s influence on Mongolian society; and more.

The film doesn’t shy away from Mongolia’s problems. It shows rising inequality in UB and the difficulties of life in the ger districts, including the notorious pollution problem and its effect on children's lungs.

But it has a hopeful note. It looks at how people are reinventing the ger to make a version that’s more suitable for city life. It speaks to the uniqueness of Mongolian democracy. It talks about art and music.

Finally, it returns to the wild places with panoramic shots that never fail to impress.

“It’s one of the only countries left in the world where you can leave the city and within half an hour, you’re in the countryside,” D. Gereltuv, the director of Mongolia Quest, says.

“You can hike anywhere you want, camp anywhere you want, live anywhere you want.”

I’m not Mongolian, but I think that freedom, that sense of being in a wild place, is the gravity that keeps me grounded to the country.

It pushed me to write about my own experience riding a motorcycle across Mongolia, living in its landscapes, its rhythms.

But maybe there’s something more.

At one point, Allen MacNeil, a biologist at Cornell, comes on screen. He talks about how an unusual marker on the human Y chromosome, which is passed unaltered from father to son, can be found right across Eurasia.

“Almost by accident, it was discovered that there’s a pattern to a particular marker,” he says. “If you overlay the map of that marker onto a map of the conquests of Genghis Khan, the maps are identical. What we’re really saying is, genes from the Mongolian ancestors have spread through all these places.

“But the folk way of saying that is: people have Mongol blood.”

Lieberman’s film is about the echoes of Mongolia’s old ways in the country’s modern life. But for me, it also creates a deeper, more primal echo - one that almost feels genetic.

Maybe it will for you too.

To view a trailer of our new film opening soon go to: “Echoes Of The Empire: Beyond Genghis Khan” https://www.echoesoftheempire.com/

by Ewen Levick

Mongolia worked with development partners and donor nations to craft a plan that pro-actively pursued policies on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism

Every year an estimated $2.6 trillion is lost to corruption worldwide. This fraudulent conduct undermines the rule of law, impedes economic development, and diverts scarce resources from schools, hospitals, and other essential services.

Developing countries in Asia are on the front line in the fight against this societal scourge. One strategy that these countries use to battle corruption is to join international agreements and adopt standards that help stanch the money that flows into and out of activities such as tax evasion, trafficking, and other crimes.

An important facet of this work relates to policies on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, or AML/CFT. Countries ignoring these two initiatives face serious internal and external consequences, such as higher costs of doing business and of banking transactions, as well as de-risking, where entities exit certain relationships as they are unable to manage potential AML/CFT risks involved.

Despite the challenges, developing countries can make significant progress in curbing money laundering and terror financing. Mongolia provides an example of what works. In October 2019, the country was placed on the “grey list” by the Financial Action Task Force, a global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog group. Being on this list means that there are strategic deficiencies in the country’s regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing that need to be addressed.

Within 12 months, Mongolia was off the list. This was extraordinarily quick for a developing country to undertake the reforms and actions needed to get off the grey list, particularly amid a pandemic.

Combating money laundering and terror financing is extremely complicated, requiring international expertise across a wide range of government and private sector activities. Working with development partners who have expertise in this area is key to an informed response. Mongolia leaned into their network of experts to develop an effective strategy.

Mongolia worked with development partners and donor nations to develop a plan that was in line with its action plan under the International Co-operation Review Group, an initiative of the Financial Action Task Force that works with countries at high risk of being compromised by money laundering and terror financing. These are some of the world’s top experts in the area.

They also brought together private sector professionals from various sectors, such as real estate agents, accountants, dealers in precious stones and metals, lawyers and notaries, to cooperate with training and adhere to new reporting requirements.

Mongolia’s leaders brought to the task a focus on cooperation, political will, and a willingness to adapt and learn new procedures. This leadership allowed Mongolia’s government agencies to concentrate on the changes needed for maximum results at the fastest possible time by efficiently utilizing resources.

With clear, pre-determined goals to conserve time and resources, and the Ministry of Finance taking ownership of and responsibility for the response they were able to get multiple agencies moving quickly in the same direction.

Some developing countries make the mistake of waiting until they are pressured by the international community to address money laundering. Mongolia did not take this path. When there were indications that it would be put on the grey list, the country’s leaders immediately undertook actions to begin studying and addressing the issue.

By the time Mongolia was placed on the grey list, the country’s central bank and financial regulatory commission were already addressing its anti-money laundering and terror financing deficiencies. Because of this proactive work, instead of the expected 20 or so issues to be pointed out by the International Co-operation Review Group, Mongolia only had to address six key items.

Mongolia’s experience provides important lessons for other countries facing similar issues with money laundering and terror financing. For one, participation in international agreements and covenants are important but lasting change can only happen when reforms benefit a country’s citizenry.

Anti-money laundering efforts should not be seen as arbitrary new bureaucratic procedures being imposed from outside the country. These changes decrease corruption, increase transparency in extractive industries such as mining, strengthen the rule of law, improve the operation of government, and improve the lives of the public in myriad other ways.

It is important to communicate these benefits to the public because people are more likely to support reforms when they understand them. And when it comes to the expertise needed, development partners have sent a clear message to developing countries: You can rely on us. We have your back.

By Declan Magee, Carlo Antonio Garcia

WUHAN, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- A total of 30,000 testing kits donated by central China's Hubei Province, once hard hit by COVID-19, left for Mongolia on Saturday as gifts in appreciation of their previous donation of sheep in support of China's COVID-19 fight.

The testing kits for detecting the novel coronavirus are expected to arrive at the port of Erenhot, Inner Mongolia, on Dec. 14, making use of strict safety measures and cold-chain transportation.

At a ceremony in Hubei's capital city of Wuhan earlier this month, the province also promised to donate three units of PCR testing equipment and 22,000 locally produced brick-tea products to Mongolia.

Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga visited China in February, during a critical stage of China's COVID-19 battle, and promised to send 30,000 sheep as a token of support.

The first batch of 11,267 sheep arrived in Wuhan in late November after being slaughtered. The Hubei government decided to deliver the mutton to medical workers in Hubei who contributed to the COVID-19 fight, as well as to the relatives of those who died in the line of duty, and medical teams across the country that were sent to Hubei to offer a helping hand.

Many would be desperate to bid goodbye to 2020 as the year of the novel coronavirus epidemic, the resulting global economic downturn, and the global problems created by the growing trade protectionist and unilateralist policies.

Yet for China and Mongolia, 2020 has been a year of friendly exchanges, deepening cooperation and heartening stories. One such story is Mongolia donating 30,000 sheep to China in 14 batches－an example of friendship and mutual help during the pandemic.

During his visit to Beijing in February when China was battling the worst stage of the pandemic, Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga reaffirmed support for China as a comprehensive strategic partner and said his country would gift 30,000 sheep to help the Chinese people fight the epidemic.

With the pandemic still raging in many parts of the world, it is time to focus on what China and Mongolia can do to overcome the multiple challenges posed by the pandemic and the global downturn.

As for deepening Sino-Mongolian relations, China dispatched testing kits and other medical equipment to Mongolia to help the authorities there to cut the virus's transmissions chains, and maintain a high level of alert.

The mutual lessons China and Mongolia have learned over the past months have helped them to better plan their moves to prevent more outbreaks. Mongolia has been trying to contain the epidemic essentially by quarantining people infected with the virus. The country has imposed a nationwide lockdown till Dec 1 to halt the virus's spread and to identify all the people who had contact with locally transmitted COVID-19 patients. And if there is a drastic increase in the number of infections, the Mongolian authorities can ask the people to start joint control and prevention programs against the pandemic.

After all, China succeeded in containing the virus partly because it mobilized local residents and volunteers to ensure the anti-pandemic measures were properly implemented and followed at the community level.

And since the pandemic has also caused a global economic recession, China and Mongolia need to find new ways to boost bilateral trade. In fact, the two countries have devised ways to expand bilateral trade, for example, by opening "green freight channels" but closing the passenger channels. The "green freight channels" have made major contributions to bilateral trade－for one, they have made Mongolia China's largest coal supplier. The coal trade has benefited Mongolia－as the mineral industry is one of the pillars of Mongolia's economy－and helped China to meet its demand for coal.

During State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to Mongolia on Sept 15-16, China and Mongolia agreed to deepen cooperation in different fields, and expedite the alignment of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Mongolia's Development Road development initiative. The construction of sewage treatment plants and hydropower stations, and the project to transform shantytowns into safe, hygienic living spaces will continue in Mongolia. Also, China will increase the import of coal and agricultural products, including meat and dairy products, from Mongolia, which will further deepen cooperation between the two sides, especially between cross-border economic zones.

Besides, based on broad agreements, China and Mongolia should boost cooperation on key projects while upholding multilateralism and enhancing mutual trust, because despite economic globalization facing severe challenges, it is the only way different economies in the world and the global economy as a whole can recover from the impact of the pandemic and flourish in the future.

China and Mongolia have helped each other during the worst global public health crisis in a century. But the two countries should also further strengthen mutual security and development because the pandemic is yet to be contained at the global level.

Which brings us back to Mongolia's gift of 30,000 sheep. For the Mongolian people, the 30,000 sheep reflect their friendship with the Chinese people because they consider sheep as the best gifts for friends and family.

During his visit to China in February, Battulga quoted a Mongolian proverb, "a needle in need is of greater use than a camel in prosperity", which means adversity reveals the true quality of friendship. In response, President Xi Jinping quoted an ancient Chinese proverb,"If you have received a drop of beneficence from other people, you should return to them a fountain of beneficence" credited to Confucius.

True to the words of the two countries' presidents and in the spirit of Sino-Mongolian friendship, the two sides have been consolidating their good neighborly relations, and will continue to do so in the future.

Rio Tinto’s legal destruction of ancient Australian rockshelters showed the mining sector was exposed to material investment risks without more reforms, institutional investors said on Thursday, backing the findings of a review into the incident.

The interim parliamentary review into how global miner Rio legally destroyed the sites in May recommended it pay restitution to the traditional owners, and that the industry improve how it obtains consent from Aboriginal groups to impact heritage sites on their ancestral lands.

“The report has … highlighted the material risks for investors,” said Australian Council of Superannuation Investors Chief Executive Louise Davidson.

“Long-term investors support structural and cultural changes to the way companies approach their relationships with First Nations stakeholders,” Davidson said in a statement, supporting legal reform that would ensure consent was gained in line with global standards.

ACSI represents 37 asset owners and institutional investors which collectively own on average 10% of every ASX200 company.

The focus by investors has been on ensuring continuing, free, prior and informed consent which is defined as a human right under United Nations principles for dealing with First Nations people.

The concept has made uneasy some in the mining industry who see it as potentially undermining certainty for their multi-year, billion dollar investments.

“Action must be undertaken by the Western Australian Government and the mining industry to rebalance the relationship between the mining industry and Traditional Owners,” the report found.

While new legislation in Western Australia is being established, expected some time next year, the mining industry must take extra care to ensure proper consent is obtained, the inquiry said. Iron ore miner Fortescue Metals said during the inquiry it had continued with the development of a rail line around “Spear Hill” in 2017 despite opposition by Eastern Guruma traditional owners because the group had not earlier raised concerns despite a “detailed consultation process.”

The rail line was ultimately re-routed after the Western Australian government intervened.

“Mining companies failing to negotiate fairly and in good faith with traditional owners represents a clear systemic risk to investors,” said chief executive Debby Blakey of HESTA, an investor and health industry superannuation fund.

(By Melanie Burton; Editing by Grant McCool and Lincoln Feast)