The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria will provide USD 15 million to Mongolia for the fight against AIDS and Tuberculosis in 2024-2026. Minister of Health S. Chinzorig has met with Global Fund Country Manager for Mongolia Allan Nfamba to discuss the progress of ongoing projects and the new financing method for the projects to be implemented.

The Minister thanked the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, a major partner in the health sector, for consistent support to Mongolia and close cooperation.

More than 100 countries of the world are fighting AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria with financial support from the Global Fund, and since 2003, Mongolia implemented eight projects at the national level.

“Over the past twenty years, eight projects were successfully implemented with the financial support of the Fund, resulting in keeping the spread of AIDS at a low level in our country, completely preventing mother-to-child transmission, improving tuberculosis treatment and diagnosis, decentralizing tuberculosis care, and improving its accessibility,” noted Health Minister Chingzorig. He expressed appreciation to the Global Fund for its contribution to the implementation of comprehensive programs aimed at creating a healthy living environment for Mongolian people by supporting the expansion of health infrastructure, provision of necessary drugs, and encouraging community-based prevention and treatment approaches.

During the meeting, the parties expressed their views on performance-based funding for the activities and interventions targeted at the risk groups under the AIDS project to be implemented in 2024-2026.

Allan Nfamba, on behalf of the Global Fund, thanked the Government of Mongolia for its effective cooperation over the past 20 years and pointed out that while the investments made by the world's countries in the health sector have been decreasing in the past two or three years, this indicator has been steadily increasing in Mongolia.

Since the support of the Global Fund had an impact on reducing the spread and death of AIDS and tuberculosis, which is important for every citizen of Mongolia, the Fund considered it appropriate to continue the project, underscored Country Manager Allan Nfamba.

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the epic theatrical spectacle "The Mongol Khan", directed by B. Baatar and based on an earlier play "The Throne without the Seal" written by renowned Mongolian writer Lkhagvasuren Bavuu, was staged at the London Coliseum from November 17 to December 2, 2023

"The Mongol Khan" was staged 17 times over 14 days, and a total of 40,000 people saw the spectacle, featuring over 70 performers, original music, puppetry, elaborate sets, and costumes inspired by traditional nomadic culture. It received high praise from the spectators, international media, and critics.

The theatrical play "The Mongol Khan", fully booked at every performance and additional performances announced upon request contributed to advancing the sixty-year history of Mongolia-UK cultural ties to a new level, but also raised Mongolia's reputation internationally and opened a new page in the history of culture and art.

Sh.Adishaa, Member of Parliament: How to solve the shortage of fuel? The government should grant special permits for fuel import to citizens and enterprises. The government will solve this problem by working in many ways to get rid of the shortage of fuel.

J.Ganbaatar, Minister of Mining and Heavy Industry: Fuel supply from Russia is running normally. Between 1-25 November, 102 thousand tons of fuel were imported which is 45 thousand tons more than last year. Mongolia consumes 3000 wagons of fuel per month. It is still being supplied in excess of this amount.

Domestic consumption increased due to increased exports of mining products. Four Mongolian companies are supplying winter fuel from Russia. For example, coal exports currently reach 62 million tons. This means that the consumption of diesel fuel has increased dramatically.

As a result of reserving 140,000 tons of fuel last August and September, the 20-day supply shortage has been resolved. The decision of the Government of the Russian Federation on the establishment of fuel restrictions was suddenly issued on September 21, and the situation hasn't been normal since.

The most important requirement for fuel import licensing is safety. The government is working on getting fuel used in the mining industry from China, not only from Russia. China itself is a fuel importing country, and it is unable to supply as much as we want.

Erenhot, the largest land port on the China-Mongolia border, handled nearly 1.33 million inbound and outbound travelers in the first 11 months of this year, reaching a peak of over 8,870 people in a single day, local authorities said.

During this period, the land port handled some 169,000 vehicles, according to the port's entry-exit border inspection station.

Customs clearance services for passenger traffic at the Erenhot highway port, located on the border of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, resumed on Jan. 8, and China-Mongolia international passenger train services resumed on Aug. 30.

In recent years, bilateral trade between China and Mongolia has seen a steady rise in scale.

In 2022, bilateral trade totaled 12.2 billion U.S. dollars in value, up 34 percent year on year. It soared 62.6 percent year on year in the first six months of 2023, maintaining a strong growth momentum, according to official data.

In an extraordinary celestial display, the skies over Mongolia turned deep, blood-red as the country experienced one of the rarest auroral events on Friday and early Saturday.

The intense colouration is attributed to the initial impact of a significant solar storm that collided with Earth, creating a spectacle that left onlookers in awe.

The phenomenon, known as an aurora, typically occurs closer to the poles and is often green in colour. However, the auroras seen in Mongolia were of a striking crimson hue, a rarity caused by the interaction of solar particles with oxygen at high altitudes — over 241 kilometres above the Earth's surface, where the atmosphere is much thinner.

This particular shade of red is considered the most uncommon colour of the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, and its appearance is closely linked to periods of intense solar activity.

The ongoing solar storm responsible for this event was the result of multiple coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the Sun, which occurred on November 27, 2023. These CMEs sent a barrage of high-energy particles hurtling towards Earth, with the first wave reaching our planet late on November 29.

The red auroras are a consequence of these solar particles colliding with oxygen molecules at higher altitudes. At such great heights, the density of oxygen is lower, and the collisions occur less frequently, resulting in the emission of red light rather than the more common green. This process is akin to the way neon lights operate, with excited gas atoms releasing photons of light when they return to their ground state.

Historically, red auroras have been documented during some of the most powerful geomagnetic storms, such as the Carrington Event of 1859, which remains the most intense solar storm on record. During that event, red auroras were reported as far south as the Caribbean and Mexico, with the skies so bright that birds began to sing, mistaking the illuminated night for morning.

The occurrence of the red aurora in Mongolia has provided scientists with a unique opportunity to study the effects of solar storms at lower latitudes. While the sight may be mesmerizing, it also serves as a reminder of the Sun's immense power and the potential impact of solar weather on our technologically dependent society.

A direct flight between Beijing Daxing International Airport and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, has opened, marking a new chapter in air travel between the two countries.

Flight MR801, operated by Hunnu Air, landed at Beijing Daxing International Airport on Sunday morning, inaugurating the route. The service will operate three times per week on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday.

The new flight is expected to boost political, economic, and cultural exchanges between China and Mongolia, while also facilitating travel for business, tourism, and educational purposes. Additionally, it expands the airport's overseas network, which now encompasses over 30 routes, including service to Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan.

Beijing Daxing International Airport has attracted over 20 Chinese and international airlines, offering direct connections to popular destinations such as London, Amsterdam, Moscow, Doha, Riyadh, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Tokyo, Osaka, and the Maldives.

The airport is committed to welcoming more airlines in the future, including HK Express, to provide passengers with a wider range of international travel options.

Mongolia and Google Partnership launching event took place today in Ulaanbaatar and Colin Marson, Director of Google for Education announced that Google will provide 1,500 scholarships for the Google Career Certificates, which equips people with job-ready skills for in-demand fields like Cybersecurity, IT Support, UX Design, Data Analytics, Project Management, and Digital Marketing with no degree or experience required.

Google and the Ministry of Education and Science of Mongolia will cooperate to provide secondary schools with an initial 20 thousand Chromebooks. Also, in cooperation with the Department of General Education and "Teach for Mongolia" NGO 10,000 teachers are to be involved in Google Certified Educator blended training of online and in-class learning to help them become proficient in technology.

Additionally, in collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Development and Communications of Mongolia, Google is working to explore opportunities to implement a combined online and classroom program designed to provide competitive skills in the job market, analysis of big data, project management, cybersecurity, UX design, e-commerce, marketing, and information technology along with adoption of Google Cloud and Google for Startups programs.

The Mongolian version of the Family Link system, a free parental control app that enables parents to monitor their kids' online activities, has been developed and just introduced to users.

During the visit of Mongolian Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erdene to the United States in August 2023, Google agreed to introduce the products services, and programs of Google in Mongolia and to invest in the digital transition, education, and youth development of Mongolia.

Google appreciated Mongolia's dynamic young population and efforts to e-transition and has launched a partnership to support it becoming a leading "e-nation" in the region.

In addition to opening up the opportunity for Android developers in Mongolia to receive payment through Playstore and for content developers to have a source of income from YouTube, Google will provide the capacity-building program and material base to promote e-development.

Minister of Digital Development and Communications of Mongolia N. Uchral, Minister of Education L. Enkh-Amgalan, and US Ambassador to Mongolia Richard L. Buangan were present at the event.

Minister of Digital Development and Communications of Mongolia N. Uchral, Minister of Education L. Enkh-Amgalan, and US Ambassador to Mongolia Richard L. Buangan were present at the meeting.

A report published by Rossiyskaya Gazeta cites a Russian deputy prime minister, Marat Khusnullin, as saying Moscow wants to extend the M-12 highway to China via Mongolia. Currently, the M-12 connects Russia to Kazakhstan. Expansion would facilitate growth in tourism and ground transport, Khusnullin said.

Meanwhile, Uzbekistan and Mongolia are in the process of updating an agreement on road and air transport, striving to simplify transit from/to China, the Mongolian National News Agency reports. Uzbek and Mongolian officials agreed in a memorandum of understanding to facilitate the transit of goods not only between China and Europe, but also to Iran, Pakistan and India.

On December 1, the Procurement Department of the Capital city provided information regarding the announcement of a bid for the purchase of public transport in Ulaanbaatar.

In relevance, P.Sainzorig, the first deputy governor: Five companies submitted proposals for the bid, and the process of disassembling the materials was done openly for the public. After examining the submitted materials, the Evaluation Committee found that the materials of four companies did not meet the requirements. Thus, the proposal of the Chinese bus manufacturer "Yutong Bus" to supply a total of 600 buses for MNT 165 billion (165,589,920,000₮) was selected.

There are 28 requirements set for these buses such as:

Manufactured in this year

Ergonomic parameters should meet standards

With left wheels

Capacity: 26-30+1 seats, 50 people standing space, or a total capacity of 80 passengers

10-11 meters long and 2.4-2.5 meters wide

Fuel tank to be more than 250 liters

Maximum speed is 70 km/h

Not freeze to -45 degrees Celsius

Have brakes on tires

Have two passenger doors and lighting

Floor should be made of non-slip material

Driver's cabin must be separated

Have at least six heating devices

Have parking announcing speakers

Have LED screens on three sides