A judge has blocked a US government attempt to ban the Chinese messaging and payments app, WeChat.

US Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler said the ban raised serious questions related to the constitution's first amendment, guaranteeing free speech.

The Department of Commerce had announced a bar on WeChat appearing in US app stores from Sunday, effectively shutting it down.

The Trump administration has alleged it threatens national security.

It says the app could pass user data to the Chinese government.

Both WeChat and China have strongly denied the claim. Tencent, the conglomerate that owns WeChat, had previously described the US ban as "unfortunate".

The ruling comes just after TikTok, which was also named in the Department of Commerce order, reached a deal with US firms Oracle and Walmart to hopefully allow them to keep operating.

What happened in court?

The case came to court after a group of US WeChat users challenged President Donald Trump's executive order that sought to shut WeChat down in the country.

The US Justice Department argued that blocking the executive order would "frustrate and displace the president's determination of how best to address threats to national security".

However Judge Beeler, sitting in San Francisco, noted that "while the general evidence about the threat to national security related to China (regarding technology and mobile technology) is considerable, the specific evidence about WeChat is modest".

Why does the US want the apps banned?

In a statement, the US Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the decision to block the app was taken "to combat China's malicious collection of American citizens' personal data".

The department said WeChat collected "vast swathes of data from users, including network activity, location data, and browsing and search histories".

Friday's statement from the commerce department said the governing Chinese Communist Party "has demonstrated the means and motives to use these apps to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and the economy of the US".

Tencent, which owns WeChat, has said that messages on its app are private.

More than just an app

WeChat is used by nearly 20 million people in the US - and pretty much exclusively by the Chinese and South East Asian diaspora.

It is hard to describe how important it is in people's lives. It is not just an app, for many people WeChat IS their mobile phone. It is like Amazon, Facebook, WhatsApp, Tinder and much more, rolled into one.

One Malaysian expat told me she would "cry" if the app was blocked. She told me her family had spent time showing her elderly mother how to use WeChat - and worried she would be unable to communicate with her if the ban came into force.

Interestingly though, we have not heard much from WeChat's owners - Tencent. Why? Well, Tencent is one of the biggest games companies in the world - and has a huge market in America. If President Trump were to go further and target that section of the business it would really sting.

What is WeChat?

WeChat was set up in 2011. It is a multi-purpose app allowing users to send messages, make mobile payments and use local services. It has been described as an "app for everything" in China and has more than one billion monthly users.

Like all Chinese social media platforms, WeChat must censor content the government deems illegal. In March, a report said WeChat was censoring key words about the coronavirus outbreak from as early as 1 January.

But WeChat insists encryption means others cannot "snoop" on your messages, and that content such as text, audio and images are not stored on its servers - and are deleted once all intended recipients have read them.

LONDON (Reuters) - Some of the world’s biggest companies on Monday backed growing calls for governments to do more to reverse the accelerating destruction of the natural world and support broader efforts to fight climate change.

More than 560 companies with combined revenues of $4 trillion including Walmart WMT.N, Citigroup C.N and Microsoft MSFT.O signed up to a statement calling for action over the next decade.

The call comes as the United Nations prepares to host a biodiversity summit later this month, aiming to build momentum towards forging a new global pact to ward off threats to nature exemplified by recent fires in the Amazon and California.

While many of the companies said they were already taking steps to make their operations greener, governments needed to provide the policies that would allow them to do more.

“Healthy societies, resilient economies and thriving businesses rely on nature. Governments must adopt policies now to reverse nature loss in this decade,” the companies said in a statement.

"Together let's protect, restore and sustainably use our natural resources," they added. Others to sign included IKEA [IKEA.UL], Unilever ULVR.L and AXA AXAF.PA.

Business for Nature, the coalition which organised the statement, said it was the first time so many companies had issued a joint call emphasising the crucial role healthy ecosystems play in human well-being.

“Many businesses are making commitments and taking action. But for us all to live well within the planet’s finite limits, we need to scale and speed up efforts now, not tomorrow,” said Eva Zabey, executive director, Business for Nature.

Last year the IPBES international panel of scientists said a million species were at risk of extinction.

About two-thirds of the world’s animals - mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles - have vanished over the last 50 years, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

Reporting by Simon Jessop; Editing by David Holmes

The Power of Siberia pipeline is finally shipping Russian gas to China as of December 2019, after nearly thirty years of discussion. Despite this dilatory timeline, plans for a second Russia-China pipeline, to be completed by 2030, are coalescing. The new project, Power of Siberia 2, would channel up to 50 billion cubic meters of gas from the Yamal Peninsula in the Russian Arctic to eastern China via Mongolia through a 6,000 km (3,728 miles) long pipeline. On August 25, 2020 Gazprom Chairman Alexei Miller signed a Memorandum of Intent with Mongolian Deputy Prime Minister Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh to establish a company that would execute a feasibility study for the Mongolian portion of the pipeline. The pipeline is likely to be discussed at the Russia-China-Mongolia trilateral meeting that typically occurs at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, postponed until November 2020.

For the past five years, Gazprom and China have talked about the Altai route, which would involve a pipeline from Russia via the mountainous Altai region across the narrow border to western China. While China prefers the security of a direct pipeline with no transit countries, other gas pipelines already flow from Central Asia to western China. Moreover, the greatest demand for gas in China is in its more developed eastern regions.

In November 2014, Gazprom and the China National Oil Corporation signed a Memorandum of Understanding about building a second gas pipeline along the Altai route, but the project later stalled as Russia and China focused on Power of Siberia and Arctic LNG projects.

In the interim, Ulaanbaatar has been lobbying for a trans-Mongolian route--according to Foreign Minister Tsogtbaatar Damdin it took thirty years for Mongolia to earn a seat at the negotiating table with China and Russia to discuss such a pipeline. The opportunity first arose at the 2018 Far East Economic Forum in Vladivostok, where President Khaltmaagiin Battulga outlined his proposal for a trans-Mongolian pipeline. In 2019, Putin backed Mongolia's bid for a trans-Mongolian route while Xi agreed to consider it. The pipeline venture would breathe new life into the Russia-China-Mongolia Economic Corridor, the only trilateral Belt and Road corridor, which has 32 projects on paper but has seen little progress. For Mongolia, the pipeline would bring in transit revenue and also encourage a shift to natural gas to help reduce its tremendous pollution problem stemming from coal power.

Kazakhstan also proposed connecting to any new Russia-China gas export project, but in March 2019, Putin officially authorized Gazprom to begin exploring a trans-Mongolian gas pipeline option. In a September 2019 meeting with the Gazprom chairman, Putin requested a feasibility study of a project to pipe Yamal gas to China via Mongolia. According to the Russian president, "the Chinese partners are also inclined to this." Petroleum Economist reported that Putin's intervention was necessary to move the trans-Mongolian option forward, due to internal opposition in Gazprom, which was committed to the Altai option.

For Gazprom, the Altai route would be longer, more expensive and complex to build due to the terrain and fragile environment, but had the advantage of enabling the company to use excess gas from Western Siberia and reduce the need for additional upstream investment to supply the new pipeline. However, Yamal gas also is piped to Europe, and the new route would enable Gazprom to connect its westbound pipeline grid to the Power of Siberia 2. This would put Gazprom within range of acquiring the leverage of a swing producer, which would be able to reorient its gas exports more easily from Europe to Asia.

Unlike the Altai Route, the trans-Mongolian route circumvents the politically volatile Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), as well as the UNESCO World Heritage area in the Altai region. The new route would be even more expensive than the $1 trillion Power of Siberia--estimates on the new pipeline range from $1.3-$1.5 trillion--and would require external investment. Power of Siberia 2 is slated for completion by 2030, though negotiations with China over gas pricing are likely to be lengthy and to delay the project.

According to China National Petroleum Corporation (writing prior to the COVID-19 pandemic), China's gas consumption is likely to double to 15% of China's energy mix by 2050. The company projects gas demand to increase to 650 billion cubic meters per year, which would leave China with a shortfall of 300 billion cubic meters. While these figures may need to be adjusted in the short-term to account for pandemic-related slowdowns, pipeline gas from Russia has its appeal during the present period of tension in China's relations with LNG suppliers such as Australia and the United States. According to a Russian analyst, China still lacks the technology for storing enough LNG to meet seasonal peak demand, making pipeline gas from neighboring countries more appealing.

Chinese analysts are more skeptical of the trans-Mongolian option, which introduces a transit risk for China. Moreover, some Chinese experts highlight the potential security risks involved, especially considering Mongolia's good relations with the United States, and contend that Mongolian democracy is used to legitimate what they see as extremist ultranationalist positions at odds with Chinese policies, such as invitations to the Dalai Lama to visit.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who just completed a visit to Ulaanbaatar today, was greeted by Mongolian demonstrators opposing China's restriction of Mongolian language instruction in Inner Mongolia. Considering that a trans-Mongolian pipeline would need to traverse Inner Mongolia, the increased attention to threats to language rights there creates a new political risk for both China and Mongolia.

Global Risk

Risk assessments are distorted by the tendency of each respective country to see the others enjoying closer energy ties than perhaps they have in actuality. For the United States, a second Power of Siberia pipeline would only serve to confirm a consolidating perception of a tightening Sino-Russian strategic partnership. Additional gas supplies would also provide China with alternatives to (already considerably lagging) U.S. LNG imports, which are a part of the trade deal negotiated with the United States.

Meanwhile some Russia experts see Mongolia as excessively dependent on China, increasing the former's risk as a transit country. Former Mongolian Ambassador to Russia Luvsandandar Khangai speaks of the country's future as linked to cooperation with both Russia and China, but Jargalsaikhan Dambadarjaa, a political observer and columnist, fears that Sino-Russian cooperation may not be longlasting, potentially leaving Mongolia with an unusable pipeline as well as a damaged environment.

Mongolia reported one more COVID-19 case, bringing the total caseload in the country to 312, the country's health ministry said Sunday.

The latest case is a Russian transport driver who has recently entered Mongolia via Altanbulag border point, the ministry said in a statement.

So far, Mongolia has registered no local transmissions or deaths. Most infections were imported from neighboring Russia.

The ministry noted that 302 people have recovered, and 10 are under medical care at the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases, three of them in severe condition. Enditem

The Premier League has agreed a new broadcast deal in China to cover the rest of the 2020-21 season.

A contract has been signed with Tencent Sports after its previous £564m deal with PPTV was terminated with immediate effect earlier this month.

Viewers in China will have access to matches from this weekend.

The previous agreement with PPTV, signed in 2019 and due to run until 2022, ended after a £160m payment due in March was not received.

Financial details of the new deal have not been disclosed.

China has been the English top flight's most lucrative overseas television rights territory.

It is understood the reasons for the termination were financial rather than political.

More than half of this season's remaining 372 matches will be made available free-to-air in China, with the rest accessible via subscription.

Clubs will also be able to share short in-play clips to engage with supporters, the first such deal the Premier League has done anywhere in the world.

"We and our clubs have an extremely passionate fanbase in China and are looking forward to working with the team at Tencent to engage with fans in new ways over the coming season," said Premier League chief executive Richard Masters.

ULAANBAATAR, September 17 2020—A new report by the World Bank estimates that out of every dollar in mineral revenues Mongolia has generated over the past 20 years, only one cent has been saved for future generations. The report argues that to break this cycle, Mongolia should use its mineral wealth to invest in people and institutions, while gradually reducing its dependence on the sector.

This is particularly true as demand for key minerals is likely to tumble due to climate change concerns, a shift of investors’ preference toward sustainability, China’s ambitious goal to reduce coal consumption, and persistence of the COVID-19 shock, according to Mongolia’s Mines and Minds, the World Bank’s September 2020 Country Economic Memorandum for Mongolia.

Since the advent of large-scale mining in 2004, Mongolia’s economy has grown at an average rate of 7.2 percent per year, making it one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Growth has translated to rapid decline - although at times partly reversed - in the incidence of poverty and improved quality of life. The report also notes that Mongolia enjoys relatively strong human capital, and its infrastructure capital has improved for the last few decades, though remains scarce given the size of the country and low population density. This performance has been made partly possible through a generous but inefficient social assistance system and a large public investment program supported by mineral revenues and external borrowing.

However, a number of enduring challenges have grown in the shadow of this success. Mongolia’s rapid growth has been obscured by its extreme macroeconomic volatility and frequent boom and bust cycles. Growth has almost entirely come through capital accumulation and the intensive use of natural capital rather than through sustained productivity growth. Meanwhile, the country has not only consumed almost all its mineral outputs, but has also borrowed heavily against them, bequeathing negative wealth to the next generation.

“Instead of maximizing the benefits of its mineral wealth for diversified and inclusive growth, Mongolia has increasingly become more addicted to it. At the same time, human capital has been underutilized and institutional capital has eroded.” said Andrei Mikhnev, World Bank Country Manager for Mongolia. “Such inability to capitalize on the country’s endowments has resulted in limited diversification of outputs and exports and has further amplified its vulnerability to the swings of the global commodity markets. Breaking this gridlock calls for a fundamental shift in approach that puts investing in minds on an equal footing with mines.”

The report recommends key policy actions to build the foundation of a diversified and sustainably growing economy. These include:

Implement countercyclical fiscal and monetary policies – supported through transparent fiscal rules, an independent fiscal council, a market-driven exchange rate, and a well-functioning stabilization fund – to smooth consumption over the business cycle rather than maximize current consumption.

Undertake bold investment climate reforms to enhance competition, secure investor rights, and create a more level playing field that enables productive firms to invest and grow.

Move away from the mindset of diversifying products to expanding endowments, especially in terms of better utilization of Mongolia’s young and educated, especially female, labor force.

Accelerate the implementation of fundamental governance reforms (especially on the government effectiveness and control of corruption) to reduce political interference, increase transparency, and improve regulatory quality throughout the economy.

“Fortunately, there are many encouraging signs of improved macroeconomic management in 2017-19, providing the new government an opportunity to advance its reform efforts,” said Jean-Pascal Nganou, World Bank Senior Country Economist and lead author of the report. “Some impressive fiscal outcomes were achieved not by introducing new reforms but by effectively implementing existing ones. They demonstrate that with the right political will and leadership, similar improvements are possible in other areas including monetary and exchange rate policy, the financial sector, the business environment, and the labor market. The new administration has, therefore, an opportunity to institutionalize these reforms and avoid policy regression in the future.”

No new cases of coronavirus infection have been found in Mongolia in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health reports.

10 people are being treated in hospitals in the country.

As of September 16, 807 people tested negative for coronavirus in Mongolia.

Mongolia confirmed a total of 311 imported cases since pandemic start and 301 recoveries. No deaths occurred in Mongolia from Covid-19.

BEIJING, Sept. 17 (Xinhua): China, Russia, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia have agreed to jointly build an anti-pandemic fortress, a Health Silk Road and a community of health, Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Wednesday (Sept 16).

The decision was made after he exchanged views with foreign ministers of Russia, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia on deepening anti-pandemic cooperation to defeat the virus, Wang, who attended the meeting of foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member countries in Moscow and visited the four countries on Sept 10-16, told Xinhua in an interview.

China and the four countries have supported each other through thick and thin and conducted effective anti-pandemic cooperation since the epidemic broke out, Wang said.

Recalling Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga's China visit in February, the telephone talks held between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his counterparts in Russia, Kazakstan and Kyrgyzstan, namely Vladimir Putin, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Sooronbai Jeenbekov, Wang said China and the four countries have offered support and aid to each other to fight against the pandemic.

In a bid to deepen the anti-pandemic cooperation, the ministers have agreed to take measures in four areas, Wang said.

First, China and the four countries will strengthen anti-pandemic cooperation, firmly support the World Health Organization in playing a coordinative role and oppose any attempt to politicize the pandemic and attach a geographical label to the virus.

Second, they will consolidate and expand anti-pandemic achievements.

Wang said China stands ready to continue to provide other countries with assistance within its capacity, such as the purchase of anti-pandemic supplies, expertise training, experience sharing and cooperation in drug development, and to accelerate the building of communication mechanisms with concerned parties on pandemic information.

Third, they will actively promote the cooperation in the development, production and purchase of vaccine.

Fourth, they will make a concerted effort on Chinese traditional medicine cooperation as China, for the sake of people's health, is ready to promote the use of Chinese traditional medicine to meet the needs of various countries, Wang said.

Ulaanbaatar /Mongolia/. Millennium Challenge Account Mongolia (MCA-Mongolia) senior management held a working meeting with representatives of new Central Wastewater Treatment Plant (CWWTP) Project Implementation Unit (PIU) on September 11, 2020 at the MCA-Mongolia office.

MCA-Mongolia CEO E.Sodontogos, Deputy CEO S.Zorigt and Director of Wastewater Recycling Activity T.Khishigt and new CWWTP PIU Coordinator Ch.Bolorchuluun and Project Engineer D.Ankhbat took part in the meeting and had constructive discussions on important issues where the two projects could develop effective synergies.

Parties exchanged updates on the current status of both the Program implementation under the Mongolia Water Compact and the construction of new CWWTP, and discussed further cooperation in advancing Government progress on new CWWTP-related conditions precedent to entry-into-force of the Compact and other relevant areas.

The Mongolia Water Compact is funding the construction of a Wastewater Recycling Plant, a part of its three closely-related activities, that will treat 50,000 cubic meters/day of the effluent from new CWWTP and convey the recycled water to Combined Heating and Power plants number three and four (CHP-3 and CHP-4) for technical use. This will be the largest example of wastewater recycling in Mongolia and further promote the conservation of potable water.

MCA-Mongolia CEO also emphasized the importance of close cooperation on reducing the chemical loads of wastewater discharged from commercial and industrial sites into the CWWTP to the levels observed on 2013 or lower and suggested to use Tuul River Sediment Sampling study, funded by MCC, on exploring opportunities to remove accumulated sludge in the river. Meanwhile, representatives of new CWWTP PIU expressed their willingness to cooperate in preparing and training qualified water sector professionals, especially wastewater treatment plant engineers.

In addition to the construction of a Wastewater Recycling Plant and accompanying infrastructure, Mongolia Water Compact is also funding the development of two new groundwater wellfields, as well as the construction of an Advanced Water Purification Plant to treat up to 50 million cubic meters/year of water extracted from the new wellfields to the highest drinking water quality standards. The Compact also includes a Water Sector Sustainability Activity which will enhance the long-term sustainability of UB city water and wastewater system while ensuring that the Compact activities have lasting benefits.

Background

Millennium Challenge Account - Mongolia is a state-owned enterprise established by the decision of the Government of Mongolia on October 3, 2018, pursuant to Government Resolution No 297 in accordance with Section 3.2 of the Compact to implement the Program under the 350 million USD Mongolia Water Compact signed with the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a U.S. government foreign aid agency.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation is an independent U.S. government agency working to reduce global poverty through economic growth. Created in 2004, MCC provides time-limited grants and assistance to poor countries that meet rigorous standards for good governance, from fighting corruption to respecting democratic rights. Learn more about MCC at www.mcc.gov.

MCA-Mongolia

Elixir Energy Limited has provided an update on operations in its 100% owned Nomgon IX coal bed methane PSC in the south Gobi region of Mongolia.

Following the positive results recently generated from the drilling of the Nomgon-2 core-hole and Nomgon 3S and Nomgon 4S strat-holes, Elixir has decided to follow up with another appraisal strat-hole in the Nomgon sub-basin before it moves onto other exploration targets across its 30,000 km2 landholding.

This new well — Nomgon 5S – spudded on Wednesday afternoon. Its location within the Nomgon sub-basin is illustrated below:

Immediately following the drilling of Nomgon 5S, Elixir will move to drill three to four exploration strat-holes over the balance of this calendar year.

Further announcements on well locations (which may themselves evolve as new data comes in) will follow in due course.

Laboratory testing work on coals sampled from the Nomgon-2 corehole is still progressing, with results due to be progressively announced in the coming weeks.

Processing of the 106 kilometres of 2D seismic data acquired in recent months has now been finalised and interpretation is underway.

Elixir’s Managing Director, Mr Neil Young, said: “Our CSG appraisal and exploration program in Mongolia continues to go to plan. The Nomgon 5S strat-hole is a low cost appraisal well we have added to the program immediately prior to the move away from the Nomgon sub-basin to new exploration targets, which we look forward providing more information on in early course.

Earlier this month EXR reported that the Nomgon 4S appraisal strat-hole had been completed. That strat-hole stepped out in a different direction than the previous Nomgon-S3 strat-hole logging 35 metres of net coals and further confirming the presence of coal in the Nomgon sub-basin.

Having made Mongolia’s first ever gas discovery at Nomgon-1 in February, Elixir continues to push ahead with exploration in the Nomgon sub-basin — just one if many sub-basins within the company’s massive landholding located on the Mongolian border with China.

The stock is now up 690% since its February 2020 discovery. (source: finfeed)