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☆ Mongolians brave bitter cold to protest 'coal theft' corruption
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

people shouted at the government building on Sukhbaatar square on Thursday. The government promised on Wednesday to investigate and punish "coal thieves" and named 10 officials under investigation. "People who steal public funds should be held accountable just as someone who commits a crime is held responsible. Authorities first began investigating coal theft nine years ago, said Oyungerel Tsedevdamba, a former member of parliament and founder of the Civic Unity Party. Another public hearing on the coal theft will be held on Dec. 21.

☆ China eases some of its Covid restrictions, in significant step toward reopening
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNS/AFP/Getty ImagesSince early in the pandemic, China has used health codes on mobile phones to track individuals’ health statuses. Residents line up for Covid tests in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China on December 1. Schools with Covid cases can continue “normal teaching and living,” as long as they designate certain “risk areas” with control measures. Since early in the pandemic, China has required a prescription and negative Covid test to buy these. Some experts have warned that a broader reopening inevitably brings health risks, especially to those vulnerable groups.

Buying out the Turquoise Hill minority shareholders is Stausholm’s other initiative. Imagine minority shareholders vote down the offer, but Rio then has Turquoise Hill issue fresh equity. With minimal net debt, the miner had enough cash to buy more Turquoise Hill equity. Rio shareholders soon will see just how well Stausholm plays. Pentwater Capital Management and SailingStone Capital Partners, which own respective 15.2% and 2.2% stakes in Canada-based Turquoise Hill, have resisted the offers.

☆ Australian contractor Clough's collapse leaves more than $8 bln of projects in limbo
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Sonali Paul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

It said the goal is to source "immediate interim funding to be able to continue work on as many projects as possible as quickly as possible". Clough is also handling construction of the A$768 million ($515 million) Waitsia Stage 2 gas project, owned by a unit of Japan's Mitsui & Co (8031.T) and Australia's Beach Energy (BPT.AX). The Waitsia Stage 2 project was due to start producing gas for export through the North West Shelf liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in late 2023. "Given that an administrator has only just been appointed for Clough, it would be premature to speculate on the precise impacts for the Waitsia Gas Project Stage 2," Mitsui E&P Australia said in a statement. TransGrid said it would continue to work with Clough's partner Elecnor to deliver the A$2.3 billion project.

☆ Mongolians clash with police in protest against inflation and graft
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ULAANBAATAR, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Mongolian protesters clashed with police as they tried to storm parliament after thousands gathered in freezing temperatures to demonstrate against soaring inflation and government corruption. Demonstrators clashed with police on Monday in front of the Government Palace where parliament sits. [1/5] Protesters take part in a demonstration against soaring inflation and government corruption on Sukhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia December 5, 2022. Rentsendorj 1 2 3 4 5Some later jostled violently with police as they tried to storm the building. Reporting by Bilguun Chadraabal and Josh Arslan; Writing by Dominique Patton; Editing by Nick MacfieOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Chinese astronauts return to earth after 'successful' six-month mission
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Martin Quin Pollard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Three Chinese astronauts landed back on earth on Sunday on board the re-entry capsule of the Shenzhou-14 spacecraft, state broadcaster CCTV reported, bringing to an end a six-month mission on China's space station. Staff at the landing site carried out the exhausted-looking crew one by one and by just after 9 p.m. all three had safely exited the capsule, CCTV reported. A new crew of three fellow Chinese astronauts arrived at the space station aboard the Shenzhou-15 to take over from them on Wednesday. The space station represents a significant milestone in China's three-decades long manned space programme, first approved in 1992. It also flags the start of permanent Chinese habitation in space.

☆ A new species of penguin-like diving dinosaur has been discovered
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Zoe Sottile | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —A new study found evidence at least one species of dinosaur may have been an adept swimmer, diving into the water like a duck to hunt its prey. The study, published in Communications Biology on December 1, describes a newly-discovered species, Natovenator polydontus. Scientists from Seoul National University, the University of Alberta, and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences collaborated on the paper. The Natovenator specimen is very similar to Halszkaraptor, another dinosaur discovered in Mongolia, which scientists believe was likely semiaquatic. “There is a real question of, OK, you’ve got a swimming dinosaur in the desert, what’s it swimming in?” he said.

☆ Former NBA star Jeremy Lin fined for comments about Covid quarantine while playing in China
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Police fanned out across Shanghai, Beijing and other cities to try to prevent additional protests. A representative of Vision China Entertainment, which says on its website it represents Lin, didn’t respond to a request for comment. Jinzhou in the northeast lifted curbs on movement and allowed businesses to reopen. On Thursday, the metropolis of Guangzhou in the south, the biggest hotspot in the latest infection spike, allowed supermarkets and restaurants to reopen. Other major cities including Shijiazhuang in the north and Chengdu in the southwest restarted bus and subway service and allowed businesses to reopen.

☆ I traveled to every country in the world, including North Korea, in 558 days. These are my top 10 travel tips.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Cassie De Pecol has traveled to all 193 sovereign nations in addition to Taiwan, Kosovo, and Palestine. These are some of her top travel tips — from her favorite airlines to how to stay safe as a solo traveler. So I decided to go after the Guinness World Record for traveling to every country in the fastest amount of time. How I traveled to 193 countries in just over 18 monthsCassie De Pecol in North Korea. If you can, pack lightFor my trip around the world, I traveled with just a backpack.

☆ Chinese vice premier urges improvements in COVID measures as pathogenicity weakens
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan called for further efforts to improve COVID-19 prevention and control measures, urging "optimisation" of testing, treatment and quarantine policies, as the virus weakens in pathogenicity, according to state media. Her remarks come as cities across China take a more targeted approach to tackle outbreaks, fine-tuning 20 new measures released by the government almost three weeks ago. The government recently announced that it would increase vaccine rates for its elderly and children, the most vulnerable of its population. The cities of Chongqing and Dongguan, also in Guangdong, announced that close contacts of infected patients can also home quarantine. Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Writing by Bernard Orr; Editing by Michael PerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A Penguin-Like Shape May Have Helped This Dinosaur Dive
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Kate Golembiewski | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

And then there are penguins, which plunge a quarter-mile deep into icy waters in search of food. It now seems that modern birds are not the only dinosaur group to embrace the plunge-and-prey lifestyle. A team of researchers say they have found the earliest example of an extinct dinosaur with a body that was streamlined for diving. They described the dinosaur discovery in the journal Communications Biology on Thursday. The new duck-size dinosaur was at first overlooked.

☆ Factbox: A chronology of dissent in China in recent decades
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( James Pomfret | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The following is a timeline of some other notable protests, and public dissent against China's ruling Communist Party. 2009 - Xinjiang - In the region's worst ethnic unrest in decades, ethnic Uighurs attacked majority Han Chinese in the capital Urumqi, after an incident involving Uighur workers in a factory in southern China. China later builds massive "facilities" to turn Xinjiang into what a United Nations panel described as a "massive internment camp shrouded in secrecy". China later imposes a powerful national security law, arresting scores of democrats and shutting down civil society groups and liberal media outlets, including the Apple Daily newspaper. 2022 - Henan bank protests - Public protests simmer as thousands lose access to their savings in a banking fraud scandal centred on rural lenders in Henan and Anhui provinces.

CNN —Three astronauts lifted off to China’s nearly completed space station on Tuesday, marking the beginning of the country’s long-term presence in space. The Shenzhou-15 spacecraft is expected to dock with the Tiangong Space Station about 6.5 hours after launch. VCG/Getty ImagesSmaller than the ISSOnce construction is completed, the space station is expected to last for 15 years. Tiangong, which means heavenly palace, is smaller than the International Space Station but similar in its modular design. The new space station will typically house three rather than six astronauts.

☆ Bats use same techniques as death metal singers to vocalize, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Zoe Sottile | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Death metal fans might just have a new animal mascot. Some bats use the same vocal structures as death metal singers to make their unique vocalizations, a new study has found. This allowed the scientists to directly observe the vocal membranes and ventricular folds, also called “false vocal folds,” vibrating at different frequencies. These are “the first direct observations” of these vocal structures in Daubenton’s bats, the researchers said. Ventricular folds, or false vocal folds, are located on top of the true vocal cords.

☆ Dozens of times drought, ice melt, and storm surge unearthed unusual and unsettling discoveries this year
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Among the unearthed finds are old sites, ancient artifacts, rare fossils, and even human remains. This summer, low water levels created an eerie boat graveyard of previously sunken ships and beached boats, the Associated Press reported. The manmade reservoir's plummeting water levels also revealed human remains on at least six occasions since May, The Guardian reported. In Spain's Vilanova de Sau in the Catalonia region, plummeting water levels in a reservoir exposed a 11th century Romanesque church, the Associated Press reported. Switzerland's melting glaciers revealed the remains of a 1968 plane in August.

China accounts for 60% of global soybean imports, and upon arrival, the beans are crushed into protein-rich hog feed to support the country’s strong appetite for pork. When soybean imports are strong, that often indicates healthy feed demand and a sufficiently large hog herd. China substantially upped pork imports in 2019 after disease spread through its hog herd starting in 2018, potentially killing up to 40% of the country’s pigs. China’s pork imports have risen a bit since the mid-year slump due to a notable increase in Brazilian shipments since the beginning of this year. Through October, China’s 2022 soybean imports of 73.2 million tonnes were down 7.5% on the year.

☆ China trims Covid quarantine time by two days
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING — China reduced the quarantine time for international travelers by two days, state media said Friday. The new timeframe also applied to close contacts of Covid infections within China, the report said. In contact tracing, China said it will no longer track people beyond close contacts of Covid infections. Previously, people who were connected to those close contacts might face additional Covid restrictions. The new measures reduced the number of regional risk designations to two from three — just low and high, the report said.

☆ No immediate end in sight for China’s costly zero-Covid policy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Hong Kong CNN —China has reiterated its unswerving commitment to its longstanding zero-Covid policy, despite mounting public frustration the stringent measures are costing the very lives they’re intended to protect. Tragic cases perceived to be linked to the policy have gained momentum online as people question why it should continue. In another tragedy that sparked nationwide outrage, a 3-year-old boy died of gas poisoning Wednesday at a locked down compound in the northwestern city of Lanzhou after Covid restrictions delayed rescue efforts. VCG/Visual China Group/Getty ImagesA long way homeEven in places not under extended lockdowns, the constant Covid testing edicts and stringent travel restrictions have fueled growing discontent. In a series of Weibo posts, he openly questioned the far reaching travel restrictions and criticized propaganda efforts exaggerating Covid deaths overseas.

☆ China COVID cases surge to 6-month high as tensions in affected cities build
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Almost three years into the pandemic, China has stuck to a strict COVID-19 containment policy that has caused mounting economic damage and widespread frustration. Curbs and lockdowns became more frequent with the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron strain. China has yet to describe when or how it will begin to exit from its current approach. Earlier this week, Chinese shares jumped after rumours that China was planning a reopening from strict COVID curbs in March. Domestic tensions have steadily built this year as the endless curbs, restrictions and lockdowns fuelled unhappiness.

☆ Turquoise Hill delays shareholder meet on $3.3 bln Rio Tinto buyout
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Yousef Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Nov 1 (Reuters) - Canadian miner Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd (TRQ.TO) said on Tuesday it would delay by a week to Nov. 8 a special shareholder meeting to vote on a proposed takeover by Rio Tinto Plc (RIO.L), (RIO.AX) following a request from the mining giant. Rio has proposed a $3.3 billion deal for Turquoise Hill shares it does not already own, seeking a 66% stake in Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia, the world's largest known copper and gold deposits. Rio raised its offer to C$43-per-share but still faces opposition from multiple parties including Turquoise Hill's second-largest shareholder Pentwater Capital Management, as well as proxy advisor Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS). Reporting by Ruhi Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj KalluvilaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Companies European Bank for Reconstruction and Development FollowLONDON, Oct 31 (Reuters) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) does not plan to sell off existing upstream oil and gas loans as part of plans to align its activities with the Paris Agreement on climate change, an executive said on Monday. Last year the bank said it would stop investing in upstream oil and gas projects, namely exploration and production, by the end of 2022 but did not specify whether this applied to new or existing investments. Harry Boyd-Carpenter, EBRD managing director, told an online briefing of journalists that the bank was not planning to divest existing upstream oil and gas loans. It is preferable to keep such loans overseen by the bank to ensure more rigorous oversight rather than sell to other entities, he said. "Some of the countries we operate in see gas as part of their energy security.

☆ Russian jets have crashed into apartment buildings twice in less than a week, highlighting Putin's military struggles at home
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A Russian warplane crashed in Siberia on Sunday, killing both pilots. The crash was the second time in less than a week a Russian military aircraft slammed into a residential area, causing fatalities. The deadly crashes come as Russia's military also struggles abroad in its fight in Ukraine. It's the second time in less than a week that a Russian warplane crashed into a residential area, resulting in fatalities. Some casualty estimates for the Russian military in Ukraine are as high as 90,000.

The young Russians who fled their country for neighboring Kazakhstan to avoid being conscripted to fight in Ukraine all want to go home one day. “I feel very sad, because, actually, I love Russia,” a 25-year-old Muscovite told NBC News in the biggest city in Kazakhstan, Almaty, a prime destination for Russians avoiding conscription. The young man, who was a juggler and a street performer before he left three weeks ago, said he already feels homesick for Mother Russia. Asked what drove him into exile, the Muscovite said: “Well, firstly, because of this conscription stuff happening now in Russia. Some of those who have left, he said, intend to stay in Kazakhstan, while others see the country as a “trampoline” to somewhere else in Europe.

☆ World's female foreign ministers meet to back Iranians
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

We have a moral obligation to support them," Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said. The ministers will address the unrest ignited by Mahsa Amini's death last month in Iran while in police custody. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterTheir gathering "shows global solidarity for Iranian women and tells the Iranian regime that the world is watching," she said. Female foreign ministers from Germany, Chile, New Zealand and Norway were expected to attend, while another French official was expected to represent Paris, according to a Canadian government source. The female officials were set to hear from women of Iranian heritage and to discuss ways to coordinate efforts supporting Iranians.

☆ Russians flee to South Korea to avoid being drafted to fight in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( Stella Kim | Stella Kim Is An Nbc News Freelance Producer Based In Seoul. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

SEOUL — Groups of Russians have sailed to South Korea in an attempt to avoid being conscripted for the war in Ukraine — only for most of them to be refused entry at the border. Alexandr Kryazhev / Sputnik via APBut he said 21 were denied approval on the basis of “insufficient documentation and unclear objective" for entering South Korea. The two successful applicants had documents showing records of having previously been in South Korea. A 6-ton yacht also arrived in South Korea on Oct. 1, according to the Coast Guard. All four individuals aboard were denied entry.

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