‘70% of Czechs reject euro’: Prague still hesitant over single currency www.rt.com

The governor of the Czech Republic’s central bank Jiri Rusnok said the country is generally ready to adopt the common European currency, but it would be better to wait until local wages and prices approached those of core euro members.

Mongolia economy, graft in spotlight as voters elect president www.thestar.com.my

ULAANBAATAR: Polling stations opened throughout Mongolia's cities, townships and prairies on Monday as nearly two million residents were asked to choose a new president amid worries about corruption and the state of the resource-dominated economy.

Most voters expect a two-horse race between the ruling Mongolian People's Party (MPP) candidate Miyeegombo Enkhbold, an investment-friendly career politician, and former martial arts star and resource nationalist Khaltmaa Battulga of the opposition Democratic Party.

But Sainkhuu Ganbaatar of the breakaway Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) could win enough votes to force a second round in two weeks.

Herders living in Mongolia's countryside, who represent around a third of the population, have already cast ballots at mobile polling booths in an election seen as a referendum on both economic policy and China's role in Mongolia's development.

Remote and landlocked Mongolia, best known as the birthplace of Mongol emperor Chinggis Khaan, is a parliamentary democracy and elected a new government last year. The presidential vote will serve as a crucial barometer of public opinion as the ruling MPP tries to steer the country out of an economic crisis.

Once Asia's fastest growing economies, Mongolia has seen foreign investment and commodity export earnings collapse, leaving it struggling to pay debts following years of generous government spending. The new government secured a $5.5 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund in May after implementing austerity measures.

"The electorate is not happy with IMF taxes and cuts," said Dale Choi, analyst and chief executive of the Altan Bumba Financial Group in Ulaanbaatar, in an emailed note. "But the MPP campaigned hard to explain why Mongolia is where it is now."

Under Mongolia's parliamentary system, the prime minister runs the government but the president has powers to veto legislation and make judicial appointments.

All three presidential candidates have promised to pull the country out of its current crisis, restore the stagnant economy to its former "boom" status, and reassess ties with neighbours, including China.

Enkhbold has run under the slogan "United Mongolia will win". Polling is not permitted during campaigning, but according to a national survey in March, Enkhbold's MPP - which won by a landslide in the parliamentary vote last year - is more trusted when it comes to running the country.

Battulga, who is suspicious of neighbouring China, Mongolia's major investor, also says he will restore Mongolia's "pride" under the slogan "Mongolia will win".

The populist politician, who derives his fashion attire from mafia boss Vito Corleone in "The Godfather" films and owns a Chinggis Khaan-themed amusement park, told Reuters at a recent rally he will win because his heart is "devoted" to Mongolia.

The election has also been played out under the shadow of corruption allegations engulfing all three candidates.

"(Corruption) is coming to such a level, to its tipping point, and where people may vote for completely new people," Ulaanbaatar-based political commentator Jargalsaikhan Dambadarja said. - Reuters

Voting begins for Mongolia’s Presidential election www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Early morning on June 26, Mongolians started voting for their fifth president nationwide.

China shuns Indian iron ore in favour of Australia's www.mining.com

Chinese steel mills are turning their backs on India and embracing Australia as a source of higher-grade ore for steelmaking.

Australians among 19 on trial as Crown Resorts case opens in China www.reuters.com

Takata: Airbag-maker files for bankruptcy www.bbc.com

Japanese car parts maker Takata has filed for bankruptcy protection in the US and Japan.
It is facing billions of dollars in liabilities over its defective airbags, which have been linked to at least 17 deaths worldwide.
Some of the airbags contained faulty inflators which expanded with too much force, spraying metal shrapnel.
US-based Key Safety Systems (KSS) has bought all of Takata's assets, apart from those relating to the airbags.
The $1.6bn (£1.3bn) deal was announced after the Japanese firm filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US, with similar action taken in Japan.
"Although Takata has been impacted by the global airbag recall, the underlying strength of its skilled employee base, geographic reach, and exceptional steering wheels, seat belts and other safety products have not diminished," said KSS chief executive Jason Luo.
Trillion-yen liabilities
More than 100 million cars with Takata airbags, including around 70 million vehicles in the US, have been recalled since concerns first emerged in 2007. It is the biggest safety recall in automotive history.
In January, Takata agreed to pay $1bn (£784m) in penalties in the US for concealing dangerous defects, and pleaded guilty to a single criminal charge.
The firm paid a $25m fine, $125m to people injured by the airbags as well as $850m to carmakers that used them.
But it is facing further legal action in the US and liabilities of 1 trillion yen ($9bn) - including to clients including Honda, BMW and Toyota have been paying recall costs until now.
Trading in Takata shares has been suspended on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and the firm will be delisted late next month.
Small businesses that may be affected by Takata's bankruptcy will get support including loan guarantees says Japanese trade minister Hiroshige Seko.

Voting to be held in election in Mongolia www3.nhk.org.jp

Mongolian voters will cast their ballots in a presidential election on Monday.

Qatar told to close Al Jazeera www.cnn.com

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (CNN)Four Arab states that have boycotted Qatar have handed the country a list of 13 demands, including some likely to infuriate Doha and exacerbate the region's worst crisis in decades.

Mongolian presidential election neck and neck www.asia.nikkei.com

ULAANBAATAR -- Mongolians will vote for a new president on Monday, choosing from among three fresh faces to replace Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, whose second four-year term ends next month.

Mongolians fret over China investment as they prepare to vote www.reuters.com

By Terrence Edwards | TSOGTTSETSII, MONGOLIA
A few miles from Mongolia's giant Tavan Tolgoi mine, about 2,000 trucks a day set off across the Gobi desert, delivering coal to China on a road so narrow and ridden with pot holes it has become an accident black spot.

Nearby stand the foundations of a railway meant to connect Tavan Tolgoi to China to the south. The unfinished line would enable cash-strapped, landlocked Mongolia to sell more coal at higher prices to its biggest customer, which could also finance the project.

But despite the obvious economic benefits, the project has become a casualty of the ambivalence Mongolians feel about China's growing influence.

Those feelings loom large over a Mongolian presidential election on Monday.

"It's been left here for two years without any work," said the governor of Tsogttsetsii district, Orgodol Badarch, pointing to a gravel surface where the rails should have been laid, stretching into the distance for more than 200 km (124 miles).

"I'm not sure, but it may have to be rebuilt completely."

Voters will choose between an investment-friendly candidate and a populist "resource nationalist" rival in an election that is a referendum on both economic policy and China's role.

China's share of Mongolia's foreign trade was 68.5 percent from January to May this year, up from 1.5 percent in 1989. China took 90.5 percent of Mongolia's exports from January to May.

China wants Mongolia's coal and copper, and has the cash to build the infrastructure to get it - if Mongolia allows it.

Julian Dierkes, specialist in Mongolian politics at the University of British Columbia, said there was a lot of nationalist language in the party manifestos.

"Most of this must be thinking of Mongolia as united, but also, in part, united against China, even if that is not explicit," he said.

Miyeegombo Enkhbold, standing for the ruling Mongolian People's Party (MPP), is "open to foreign investment from all countries, that of course includes investment from China", a party official told Reuters.

"The reality for today is we have the supply, China has the demand," he said, while adding that Mongolia had to diversify and "reduce inappropriate dependence" on one country.

Enkhbold's main challenger, from the Democratic Party, is a former martial arts star, Khaltmaa Battulga, who has voiced suspicion about China's aims in a country that was under Chinese domination for centuries, until it gained independence in 1921.

Battulga said in an emailed statement on Thursday that China "is and must be a great partner of ours", but added that "rail and transportation for any country is both a national security and an economic issue".

"The resources will finish in 40 to 50 years and there will definitely be conflict between the Mongolians and the Chinese," Battulga said in a 2014 television interview.

Polling is not permitted during election campaigning, but in a March survey, 24.3 percent said the MPP could best solve problems compared with 10.6 percent for the Democratic Party.

POLITICS OF RAIL

Mongolia's economy has more than doubled in size since 2010, but some regions have seen little benefit and lack running water and reliable electricity.

While growing trade has brought jobs to Tsogttsetsii, poor transport means Mongolian coal is sold at a discount. Deliveries to China earned $66 a ton in April, half the price of shipments from Australia.

The railway track from Tsogttsetsii was meant to have been laid in 2014, but financing dried up. A tentative 2015 pact with China's Shenhua Group and Japan's Sumitomo Corp (8053.T) to develop the mine and the railway was blocked by parliament.

Battulga, transport minister from 2008 to 2012, had favored the wider Russian tracks, arguing that the international standard would leave Mongolia dependent on China. He recently said he'd go along with whatever parliament decided.

A century ago, Chinese warlords used railways to help colonize Inner Mongolia, and some Mongolian nationalists argue a cross-border link could help facilitate a Chinese invasion.

Though driven by Chinese demand, and by a billion-dollar deal to develop the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold deposit now run by Rio Tinto (RIO.AX)(RIO.L), Mongolia's 2011-2013 mining boom encouraged politicians to think about ways to minimize dependence on China, and they drew up plans for rail links to the Russian Far East.

Parliamentarians also passed legislation blocking investment by foreign state-owned firms, aimed at blocking plans by the China Aluminium Corporation (2600.HK)(601600.SS) to acquire the Mongolia-based SouthGobi Resources (SGQ.TO).

But Mongolia can't be choosy. The government has been forced to implement austerity measures to secure a $5.5 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund in May.

Ultimately, economic growth may hold more allure for voters than nationalism, said Sumati Luvsanvandev, head of the Sant Maral Foundation polling group.

"Anti-China sentiment cannot bring support to Battulga. They are interested in economic prosperity," he said of voters.

"They may be suspicious, but they're also quite pragmatic."

(Additional reporting and writing by David Stanway in SHANGHAI; Editing by Tony Munroe, Robert Birsel)