Lab tests confirmed that two unidentified individuals had contracted the “marmot plague” in the region of Khovd, Mongolia’s National Center for Zoonotic Disease (NCZD) said in a statement.

The NCZD said it moved to quarantine the provincial capital and one of the region’s districts about 500 kilometers south of the southern Siberian republics of Tyva and Altai.

Vehicles are temporarily banned from entering the region, the state-run TASS news agency cited Mongolian media as saying.

The NCZD said it has analyzed samples taken from 146 people who it said had contacts with the two infected persons and identified 504 second-contact individuals. Media reports suggested that the victims were a 27-year-old male and a young woman of an unknown age.

Mongolia closed a key border crossing with Russia in May 2019 on suspicion that it may have played a role in an outbreak of the plague, stranding several Russian tourists. A husband and wife had died after eating marmot meat in that incident.

Experts say the direct descendants of the same bubonic plague that killed 50 million people in the 14th century still exist today, killing around 2,000 people a year.

A sovereign loan of up to US$ 7 million will help the northern Mongolian town, located in the valley between the Selenga and Orkhon rivers, implement modern flood-protection measures and improve its water supply system.

It will help address the consequences of decades of underinvestment in the municipal water networks. This will improve the resilience of Erdenet’s water infrastructure to climate change and address public health challenges.

The investment is aiming to increase by 3,200 the number of households connected to the central water supply and to reduce the volume of annual water losses by 15 per cent or 0.8 million cubic metres.

The coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated the critical importance of the highest hygiene and sanitation standards, and water supply and treatment are among most serious longstanding challenges that the country is facsing.

In Mongolia the EBRD works to help build a diverse economy by developing the private sector and supporting infrastructure improvements. The Bank has invested more than €1.7 billion in 104 projects in the country since it started operations there in 2006.

The "Shireg Shireg" video is the newest teaser for THE HU's upcoming deluxe version of "The Gereg", out on July 10. Also on the album are fantastic collaborations with Jacoby Shaddix (PAPA ROACH), Danny Case (FROM ASHES TO NEW) and Lzzy Hale (HALESTORM). The original version has sold 130,000 copies globally thus far.

Last weekend saw THE HU play a homecoming show after a sold-out world tour, performing at White Rock Centre in Ulaanbaatar in aid of the Mongolian COVID-19 relief. The concert was aired on TV in Mongolia, raising 53 million MNT (approximately $19,000), and made available to a global audience through streaming on Facebook and YouTube, raising $5,000 and counting.

THE HU stands for the Mongolian root word for human being, inspiring the band's original style of music that it calls "Hunnu Rock." The group pulls inspiration from the Hunnu, an ancient Mongolian empire better known as The Huns in western culture. Their music is deeply embedded with their ancient culture, even integrating old Mongolian war cries and poetry into their lyrics.

The group was founded in 2016 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia by their producer Dashka, along with band members Gala, Jaya, Temka and Enkush. Together they create rock music with traditional Mongolian instrumentation such as the morin khuur (horsehead fiddle), tovshuur (Mongolian guitar), tumur khuur (jaw harp), guttural throat singing built around the pillars of heavy rock: distorted guitars, bombastic drums, and aggressive rhythms. All four members have earned Bachelor's or higher degrees in classical music and have gained several years of touring experience throughout Asia and the Pacific Rim.

Separately, another MIAT chartered aircraft left for Seoul today (2 July) at 12.10 p.m. and is expected to return at 8.00 p.m. with more 252 passengers.

This month, Mongolia plans to repatriate some 3000 its nationals with 10 charter flights to Seoul, Frankfurt, Tokyo and Istanbul.

The Mongolian People’s Party, which is the country’s ruling party, won 62 seats on the 24 June parliamentary election.

The measure passed by unanimous consent, reflecting concern in Washington over China’s enactment of a security law seen as ending the autonomy that allowed the former British colony to thrive as an international financial center.

The U.S. Senate passed similar legislation last week, but under congressional rules the bill must return to the Senate and be passed there before being sent to the White House for President Donald Trump to sign into law or veto.

Earlier, Pelosi made an unusual appearance at a committee hearing on the situation in Hong Kong to say the security law marked the death of the “One Country, Two Systems” principle.

“The law is a brutal, sweeping crackdown against the people of Hong Kong, intended to destroy the freedoms they were promised,” Pelosi said at the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the security law was an affront to all nations and Washington would continue to implement Trump’s directive to end the territory’s special status.

The United States has already begun eliminating Hong Kong’s special status, halting defense exports and restricting the territory’s access to high technology products.

Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Sandra Maler and David Gregorio

Originating from the Mongolian Empire of Chinggis Khaan, Naadam is a festival of which the nation is proud and a symbol of unity among the nomads. Meaning, ‘the games’, Naadam is celebrated every year across Mongolia and focuses on the three traditional sports of horseracing, wrestling and archery.

This year, will mark the 2229th anniversary of the nation; the 814th anniversary of the Great Mongol Empire and the 99th anniversary of the People’s Revolution in Mongolia, which brought independence from Chinese occupation.

Even the recent positive developments in the epidemic situation in some countries that allowed them to at least partly reopen have not helped to change the gloomy projections. The IMF said it had to downgrade the economic outlook for most countries in the region as they are dependent on global supply chains, making growth “impossible” while the “whole world is suffering.”

Although the IMF expects Asia to rebound strongly to 6.6 percent as early as next year, it noted that the pandemic is likely to have far-reaching consequences. While regional driver China has already started to return to normal after becoming the first country to be hit by Covid-19, positive developments there are not enough to bring Asia’s economic output back to pre-crisis levels. According to the IMF, the region’s economic output in 2022 will be about five percent lower compared with earlier predictions.

While the Washington-based agency assumes a strong rebound in private demand, it warned that there are “clouds on the horizon” which could undermine recovery. Those worrying signs include shrinking trade, longer than expected lockdowns, rising inequality, weak balance sheets, and geopolitical tensions.

Earlier this month, the IMF said that it expects “a deeper recession in 2020 and a slower recovery in 2021” as the virus had an uneven impact on sectors and countries, and there is still no medical solution for it. According to its recent outlook, the global real GDP could shrink by 4.9 percent this year, followed by a partial recovery, with growth at 5.4 percent in 2021. This would result into a cumulative loss to the global economy over two years of over $12 trillion from this crisis.