French prosecutors suspect Takeda of involvement in bribery over Tokyo's successful bid to host the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.

They suspect Takeda approved the Tokyo bidding committee's payment of 2 million dollars to a company in Singapore in 2013.

The prosecutors say the firm was linked to the son of an International Olympic Committee member at the time. They say the payment was a bribe because the member could influence the selection of the host city.

Takeda denies the allegation, saying the payment was a consulting fee for bidding activities, including lobbying and planning.

The focus of the preliminary procedures is whether the court sees the payment as a fee or bribe.

French judicial authorities say a preliminary judge may question Takeda if necessary.

The decline is mainly due to drought-related food shortage, WWF-Mongolia Director Dorjgurkhem Batbold told Xinhua.

"The Saiga antelope population of Mongolia has been very unstable for many years. Several factors, including infectious diseases, harsh weather conditions and poaching, have negatively affected the growth of the population," said Batbold.

The species' population has suffered a roller coaster since 2001 when its number declined to only 750 following a summer drought and a harsh winter, he said.

Due to continuous efforts by the WWF-Mongolia and MAVA foundation, it had risen to 14,000 by 2016, he added. However, a combination of an outbreak of goat plague and the extreme wintry weather locally known as "dzud" in 2017 reduced the number to 5,000.

To help the species overcome harsh winters, experts from the WWF have been taking desperate emergency actions, including putting a ton of additional hay or 400 bundles in the animal's ranges over the past winter, according to Batbold.

In addition, the WWF-Mongolia started implementing an initiative called "GG-6" (Great Gobi's or Gobi's Gracious Six) since 2016 to sustain the Gobi's ecosystem using six iconic species, among which are the Mongolian Saiga antelopes, he said.

"Joint efforts are needed to protect endangered species," Batbold said, urging governments and international non-governmental organizations to protect the Saiga antelopes and others.

To prevent the extinction of the antelopes that currently live in western Mongolian provinces, including Govi-Altai, Khovd and Uvs, it is necessary to relocate them, according to the WWF-Mongolia.

This year, the WWF-Mongolia is planning to conduct studies on relocation within Mongolia, and more funding is required for the endeavor in the years ahead, said Batbold.

Furthermore, 410 employees of KFC branches underwent medical examinations: nine of them had not had the required health tests and one employee had false medical documentation.

The KFC outlet in Zaisan has paid MNT 49 million and 400 thousand, which is USD 19,662 to the 287 victims of food poisoning. KFC was fined MNT 14 million and law enforcement bodies have seized MNT 8.5 million in revenue from the branch.

MMC's rating is constrained by its small scale, single-product focus and limited cost competitiveness outside of northern China. However, MMC has flexibility in capex, which should give it sufficient buffer to continue generating free cash flows during a coal price downturn.

The proposed notes will be co-issued by MMC and its wholly owned-subsidiary, Energy Resources LLC, and guaranteed by most of its operating subsidiaries. The notes will constitute senior unsecured obligations of MMC as they represent the company's unconditional and irrevocable obligations. MMC intends to use the net proceeds from the proposed note issuance to refinance its existing secured notes and part of its perpetual notes. Concurrently, the company expects to fully repay the senior secured loan with cash generated from its Baruun Naran mine operations. The final rating on the proposed notes is subject to the receipt of final documentation conforming to the information already received.

MMC is relatively small compared with Fitch-rated coal mining companies globally in terms of revenue size, with revenue of USD590 million in 2018. MMC operates two mines with production concentrated in the Ukhaa Khudag mine in South Gobi.

Facebook and other firms have been criticised for failing to block a live-stream of the attack.

In a letter to Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who chairs the G20, Mr Morrison asked for leaders to discuss the issue at the upcoming G20 meeting.

On Friday, twin shootings at mosques in Christchurch killed 50 people.

The gunman filmed the attack and the live-stream on Facebook lasted for 17 minutes.

UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid also called on social media firms to take action to stop extremism on their channels.

Despite the original video being taken down, it was quickly replicated and shared widely on other platforms, including YouTube and Twitter.

Facebook has said it deleted more than 1.5 million copies of the video in the first day after the incident. It said 1.2 million of those copies were blocked while being uploaded.

In a copy of the letter posted on Twitter, Mr Morrison expressed concern over the "unrestricted role" of internet technologies in terrorist attacks.

"It is unacceptable to treat the internet as an ungoverned space," he wrote.

Mr Morrison said the aim was to "agree on co-ordinated action to afford greater protection from terrorist violence".

"It is imperative that the global community works together to ensure that technology firms meet their moral obligation to protect the communities which they serve and from which they profit."

Advertisers react
In the wake of the mosque shootings, Westpac NZ said it had suspended all advertising on social media networks including Facebook "until further notice".

"We will be engaging with social media companies about the publishing of harmful content," the bank said in a statement on Twitter.

On Monday, a spokesperson for Lotto NZ told the BBC it had removed advertising from social media at this time "as the tone didn't feel right in the aftermath of these events".

It comes after industry groups representing advertisers issued a statement asking their members if they wanted to be "associated" with platforms that did not take responsibility for the content being shared.

The groups said: "The events in Christchurch raise the question, if the site owners can target consumers with advertising in microseconds, why can't the same technology be applied to prevent this kind of content being streamed live?"

The Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base, one of China's largest coal production bases and a coal-to-chemical industry base, is located close to Shaanxi province and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, areas with large coal deposits.

Since last year, it has shut down 127 disorderly coal fields that occupied over 533 hectares. More than 2 million metric tons of coal has been cleaned and 90 percent of the construction above ground has been dismantled.

The coal fields were a major logistical base that stored coal from the local area and Inner Mongolia, and then loaded it onto trucks to send to local fire power plants, boilers and consumers in Yunnan and Jiangsu provinces. Annual turnover was 25 million tons, totaling 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion).

Construction of the Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base began in 2003 and is now home to around 130 enterprises. Gross industrial output value reached 117 billion yuan in 2017.

The fields, however, were poorly managed. Most never met environmental requirements. The decision to close them was resisted strongly by the coal field owners, who paid a hefty rent to the villages and created jobs for people living in the area.

"Money from the coal fields helped cover the medical and social insurance costs of the villagers. One of the villages received 4 million yuan a year for leasing out land to coal operators. Every family received a dividend of more than 5,000 yuan," said Yan Xinmin, an official with the base administration.

Yang Jia, general manager of Ningxia Xinwen Energy Technology Co, said he once had to hide from environmental inspectors because he did not have credentials to operate.

Yang was the first to shut down the old coal yard and move his business to a new coal field, a 133-hectare area at the southern part of the base.

Thirty-four companies have been chosen to move their coal storage facilities into the new coal field, which cost 600 million yuan to build.

Ma Sanqing, an official with the base administration, said the villagers will find new jobs and sources of income at the new field, becoming shareholders of a special service company.

"If we have 1,000 trucks every day, the management of the trucks, dining and cleaning services will generate 5 million yuan annually," Ma said.

Yang Fu, head of the Huiminxiang village, said, "It is a necessary step to clean up the old coal yards. We are planning to build parking lots, dining facilities, auto repair shops and other services."

Efforts are underway to clean the black slag and mud that have blocked flood discharge channels. Trees will be planted to restore greenery in the coal fields, Ma said.

During the visit, the Minister held bilateral meetings with the country’s Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev and State Secretary - Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Viktor Evtukhov, talking on the opportunities to increase trade and eliminate trade imbalance between the two countries and raise Mongolia’s export to Russia including agricultural products such as wool, cashmere, and hide, Montsame reports.

The agriculture ministers pointed out that first and second phases of the project on improvement of livestock health in Mongolia have been completed successfully under bilateral agricultural cooperation and expressed their interest in co-implementing the third-phase. Minister Ch.Ulaan put a proposal to work together in raising Mongolia’s export of meat and meat products to Russia and to establish a complex of joint meat factory and at the border area. For his part, Russian Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev stressed that the amount of agricultural products in total trade turnover between Mongolia and Russia has been growing constantly in recent years. In conclusion, the sides agreed to cooperate in bringing purebred livestock from Russia to improve livestock quality of Mongolia and to collaborate with research and academic institutes of the country on protection of livestock gene pool.

In the meeting with Mr. Viktor Evtukhov, Minister Ch.Ulaan underlined this year marks the 60th anniversary of development of virgin land cultivation and independent agriculture in Mongolia and expressed his interest in continuing the project on renovation of agricultural machinery. Accordingly, the sides decided to organize an agricultural expo this fall on the occasion of the aforementioned 60th anniversary. Present at the meeting were Mongolian Ambassador to Russia B.Delgermaa and Head of Veterinary and Animal Breeding Agency D.Tumendemberel.

Moreover, during his visit, the Agriculture Minister together with Ambassador B.Delgermaa and other officials laid wreaths to the ‘War Horses’ monument which was gifted by the people of Mongolia on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Great Patriotic War.

"Our country is now experiencing poverty and debt crisis. So, we all need to strengthen our unity in order to create a bright future of the country and ensure the economic security," Gombojav Zandanshatar, speaker of the Mongolian parliament, told lawmakers during the opening ceremony of the extraordinary session.

"When we strengthen our unity and solidarity, we will overcome and solve any problem. I hope that we will be able to successfully discuss and approve all issues which have been planned to discuss during the extraordinary session of the parliament," he added.

During the extraordinary session, which will run until March 29, lawmakers in Mongolia's unicameral parliament are expected to discuss several issues, including draft revisions to taxation law and minerals law of the country, and appointment of the head of the country's top anti-corruption body.

The extraordinary session came after Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga submitted an official letter to Zandanshatar on Feb. 20 to call an extraordinary session of the parliament.

"Autumn session of the Mongolian parliament closed on Feb. 2, after the parliament failed to discuss the majority of the 23 originally scheduled draft bills and resolutions during the fall session of 2018 due to the halt in the functions of the parliament for over 40 days, caused by disagreement between the chairman of the parliament and lawmakers," Battulga said in the letter.

"Thus, I am submitting the proposal on summoning an extraordinary session of the parliament before March 1 in order to recompense for the times wasted and take urgent steps towards immediate resolution of the pending issues that our country and people face," Battulga said.

More than half of the lawmakers in the 76-seat parliament, most of them belonging to the ruling Mongolian People's Party (MPP), have boycotted plenary sessions and meetings of standing committees of the parliament for more than 40 days, demanding then parliament speaker Miyegombo Enkhbold's resignation over alleged conflicts of interest.

Audio recordings made public last year indicated that some officials of the MPP, including Enkhbold, allegedly used their government positions as a tool to run in the parliamentary election in 2016.

Enkhbold was removed from his post by the majority of the parliament in an ad hoc meeting on Jan. 29, and the former head of the cabinet secretariat Zandanshatar replaced him.

Trade, economic and humanitarian activities have been active between the two countries that have had a long history of friendly relations. Defense sector’s relations and cooperation came into a new level from 1999.

During the visit, tete-a-tete and expanded meetings were held to exchange views on defense sector’s cooperation and relations.

Within the visit, the Minister got acquainted with operations of Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation, which supplies Turkish armed forces with military products.

Moreover, the Minister met with Mongolian cadets studying in Ankara and participated in a wreath laying ceremony at the Chinggis Khaan statue in Chinggis Khaan Park, Cankaya district of Ankara.