The gigantic project would be dug under the ocean, at a depth of 200 meters. In order to have enough fresh air in the tunnel, Chinese engineers are planning to heave two artificial islands halfway to pump air into the tubes, the South China Morning Post reports.

According to the plan, the trains will travel from Fuzhou province’s Pingtan county and arrive in Hsinchu city, southwest of Taipei, in 32 minutes. The Chinese were inspired by the Channel Tunnel which links England and France.

The 50.5km project, which was hailed as a masterpiece of engineering, would pale in comparison if Beijing manages to complete the project. The Chinese tunnel would be nearly one-third wider, allowing trains to be sent at higher speeds and with heavier cargo.

The idea of a mainland-Taiwan tunnel had been considered for a century until it was included in the then-new five-year plan in 2016. Reunification with Taiwan has been one of the largest political goals for Beijing. The People’s Republic does not recognize the island as an independent state after it separated from the mainland in 1895.
Only 18 states currently recognize Taiwan. The most prominent is the Vatican, and there are fewer and fewer states that recognize the breakaway republic. Recently, Burkina Faso and the Dominican Republic closed their offices in Taipei and opened embassies in Beijing.

Cameron has been a resident in Mongolia since 2010, when he came on as President and CEO of Oyu Tolgoi (2010-13) and directed the business through construction and into operations. He was also Rio Tinto’s Country director for Mongolia during this period.

Kincora’s recent corporate transition phase has now concluded. An experienced board and senior team, with complementary skill sets, will support the next leg of the Company’s exploration and expansion strategy. The members of the Board and Technical Committee have over 40 years relevant operating experience in Mongolia, and over 150 years specific sector experience, with two board members based in Mongolia. Further details on Mr. McRae, the Board and Technical Committee are included in the Appendix.

"We are very pleased to welcome Cameron as our new Chairman. For the majority of the period post being President of Oyu Tolgoi, Cameron been a Board Advisor to Kincora assisting with stakeholder relations, strategic direction and operations. He has a strong track record of adding value for Kincora shareholders, and other stakeholders in businesses he has previously lead,” said Kincora’s President & CEO, Sam Spring. “Re-joining in this expanded capacity will only further strengthen our business with a senior, experienced and hands on chairman”.

“Cameron’s appointment is the last major step in the recent shareholder and board transition process. Kincora is now in the strongest position to accelerate exploration activities in the Southern Gobi copper-gold belt where we hold the dominant license portfolio, as well as pursue further countercyclical expansion opportunities.

We look forward to shortly providing updates on our exploration progress and plans”.

Cameron McRae commented: “I am very pleased to join the Kincora board and continuing to work with the strong team in place. We enjoy significant support from our investors and we will remain focused on genuinely adding value from both an exploration perspective and sensible positioning of the company.”

The lira's tailspin has unsettled global markets, with shares of European banks coming under particular pressure because of concerns over the lenders' exposure to Turkey. On Monday, benchmark stock indexes in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai were all down more than 1.5% in late morning trading.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dismissed calls for the country to raise interest rates to try to ease the crisis -- and has lashed out at the United States.

"We will not give in," Erdogan said in a speech Sunday. "If you come at us with your dollars then we will find other ways to do business."

Economists are warning that if confidence isn't restored quickly, Turkey could lurch into a recession and debt crisis requiring a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

"Investors are clearly concerned that Turkey's government won't act (or allow the central bank to act) to shore up the currency, and fears are mounting that this could result in a crisis in Turkey's banking sector," William Jackson, chief emerging markets economist at research firm Capital Economics, wrote in a note to clients Friday.

The lira is now down around 45% against the dollar since the start of the year, making it far harder for Turkish companies to pay back loans they have taken out in the US currency.

Meanwhile, the US government is using the lira crisis to ramp up pressure on Turkey over its detention of an American pastor.

"I have just authorized a doubling of Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum with respect to Turkey as their currency, the Turkish Lira, slides rapidly downward against our very strong Dollar!" President Donald Trump tweeted Friday. "Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time!"

Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said in an interview with Turkish newspaper Hurriyet on Sunday that the government has drafted an economic action plan that it will start implementing on Monday morning.

Albayrak, who is Erdogan's son-in-law, didn't specify what the plan would involve. He said the country's banks and banking regulator "will take the necessary measures quickly."

But his comments did little to help the Turkish currency. One dollar now buys about seven lira, compared with less than four at the start of the year.

Investors are waiting for "a convincing response from the central bank and government," Rob Carnell, an economist at investment bank ING, said in a note to clients Monday.

Please review the details in graphics at http://www.worldbank.org/…/infographic-mongolia-economic-up…

The government approved new traffic rules during its regular meeting on Wednesday in order to ensure pedestrian safety and reduce road accidents.

The new rules, which will come into effect on Nov.1, will also forbid leaving a child under 10-year-old alone in a vehicle, and require children older than 10 to wear a seatbelt or be properly restrained.

In addition, the speed limitation in the country's crowded urban areas will be reduced to 20 km per hour.

A total of 163 people, including 37 pedestrians, were killed in road accidents in the first half of this year, according to official statistics.

Mongolia’s main export items, namely coal and iron ore, have maintained their growth, but copper and gold have plummeted due to the trade war between the U.S and People’s Republic of China. For instance, copper price sank USD 1000-1500 per metric ton and Gold fell by USD 100-150 per ounce since June. On the other hand, coal price grew by around 10 percent yearover-year (yoy), to USD 78.4 per ton and iron ore by nine percent. Several Chinese provinces have prepared a plan to reduce the capacity of steel and coal production, boosting the prices of iron ore and coal according to experts. In the first seven months of 2018, Mongolia exported 3.9 tons of iron ore, 20 percent growth yoy, worth USD 181 million. The fates of Mongolia’s coking coal and iron ore depend on Chinese steel market, which is directly connected to its construction and infrastructure. Chinese construction demand is visible from its new housing prices. According to Chinese statistics, housing price surged in 70 cities across the country, showing an average growth of five percent yoy.

Iron ore, which accounts for most of Rio's profit and is used in making steel, has provided healthy margins for years but the outlook is uncertain as major buyer China is expected increasingly to rely on recycling rather than importing raw material.

Following a commodity price crash in 2015, Rio put a string of assets on the block, mostly in coal, to decrease its debt load. In iron ore, its push to refocus has meant concentrating on Australia's Pilbara region, where it has lower costs and higher grades.Rio Tinto's revenues are more dependent on iron ore than its rivals, in 2017, iron ore making up more than 60 percent of Rio's earnings.

IOC, 59 percent owned by the Anglo-Australian miner, 26 percent by Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation and 15 percent by Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Company, is one of Canada's largest producers of iron ore. It had revenues of $1.9 billion in 2017.

Rio had tried to sell its stake in IOC in 2012 as it already deemed it a non-core asset but it withdrew the process, saying the sale was not essential.

One banking source said that offers from private equity funds and rival miners had not met Rio's target of between $3.5 billion and $4 billion back then.

Rio was now considering an IPO of its stake on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) as part of its ongoing work to hold only its best assets, but the process was at an early stage and it had not yet hired a financial adviser, the banking source added.

Rio Tinto and Mitsubishi declined to comment. Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Company was not immediately available to comment.

The Pilbara region of Western Australia produces high quality iron ore that sells at a premium and Rio invested heavily in the region's assets, installing driverless trains and maximising productivity.

It is also poised to expand there, having approved $146 million of funding to undertake initial work at the Koodaideri iron ore project, ahead of a final investment decision expected by the end of the year.

IOC produces iron ore pellets and concentrate from operations in Newfoundland and Labrador, and runs port facilities in Sept-Iles, Quebec, as well as a 418-kilometre railway that links the mine to the port.

A labour dispute earlier this year that resulted in a two-month suspension of operations was part of the reason for Rio reducing its underlying core profit by $137 million compared with the 2017 first half, Rio Tinto said when it reported half-year results last week.

(By Clara Denina, Barbara Lewis and Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Jane Merriman)

In economics, the post-war order is usually refers to a monetary management system which led to a rise of the US dollar as a dominant currency.

“In the circumstances our policy is to maintain our limited exposure to quoted equities and to enter into new commitments with great caution,” Rothschild added.

Rothschild’s RIT Capital investment has a historically low 47 percent exposure to the stock market. The banking dynasty is concerned that the 10-year stock market rally could be ending.

“The cycle is in its 10th positive year, the longest on record. We are now seeing some areas of weaker growth emerge; indeed the IMF has recently predicted some slowdown,” the investment banker said.

Rothschild pointed at “potentially destructive” debt levels in Europe and trade wars as major problems for the global economy.

He added, “problems are likely to continue in emerging markets, compounded by rising interest rates and the US Fed's monetary policy which has drained global dollar liquidity.”

According to Rothschild, the lack of a co-ordinated, international response to global challenges was unlikely in an era of populist and protectionist leaders such as US president Donald Trump.

In the first half of the year, three companies issued IPO and one FPO at the MSE, attracting a total of MNT 18 billion. Compared with the same period of the previous year, the stock trading increased by 2.9 times.

Following the public offers the process of creating new jobs, maintaining real economic growth are intensified and confidence in stock market rises. Chairperson of the Financial Regulatory Commission (FRC) S.Davaasuren emphasized that the advanced technology, construction and agricultural sectors companies including domestic food and agricultural companies issued IPO.

During the privatization operations held in transition period to a market economy in Mongolia, 475 state-owned factories and enterprises were privatized and 204 of them are currently listed on the MSE.

B.Misheel