Launch of the project ‘Build4Skills’ takes place www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Launch of the project ‘Strengthening vocational education and training skills’, which will be jointly run by the German Embassy in Mongolia, the Asian Development Bank and the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, took place today, January 28 at Tuushin hotel.

Mongolia to repay USD 2.9 billion external debt in 2021-2023 www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ On January 25, during the plenary session of the parliament, a response was provided to MP D.Erdenebat’s inquiry to the Prime Minister on the intervention regarding exchange rate growth, coordination of monetary and fiscal policies and the government debt.

Nigerian man arrested in Mongolia for alleged drug trafficking www.news.mn

Mongolian police have yesterday (January 28th) arrested a Nigerian citizen for alleged drug trafficking. According to official source, the suspect received a huge shipment of drugs through the postal service.

MIAT to operate nonstop Ulaanbaatar-Berlin service www.news.mn

Mongolian Airlines (MIAT) announced that they will be operating a nonstop route between Ulaanbaatar and Berlin, the capital city of Germany. These nonstop flights are expected to start from July or August 2019.

Tugstsogt Nyambayar a hit in Brooklyn; earns WBC featherweight title shot www.ringtv.com

NEW YORK — The vision is precise, and certainly tells the mind in light-speed time what to do and when to react. That’s all Tugstsogt Nyambayar, the Mongolian 2012 Olympic flyweight silver medalist, needs.

Just that sliver of an opening. Just that minute drop of a glove.

Then he strikes.

He lands with accuracy, and thudding impact, and the game southpaw Claudio Marrero was able to uphold the frequent barrages. He just couldn’t stave off the fissures in his defense that “King Tug” mined.

In his biggest challenge to date as a professional, King Tug won a twelve round unanimous decision over Marrero in the WBC world featherweight title eliminator on the FS1 portion of the PBC on Fox from Barclays Center on Saturday night.

“We had a really good camp so this is just me putting the pressure and pace that we worked on in camp and using it in the ring,” said Nyambayar, after going twelve rounds for the first time in his career. “This sets me up for big fights. Whatever big fights are presented to us, we’ll take it.”

Nyambayar (11-0, 9 knockouts) outlanded Marrero (23-3, 17 KOs) 119 to 114, but needed 509 punches to get there, for 23.4 percent, while Marrero threw a total of 714 punches (16 percent).

Perhaps the most telling stat came in the jabs. King Tug landed just 10, but he threw just 98 (10.2 percent), while Marrero landed 12 jabs of 345 (3.5 percent).

In the 10th, referee Benjy Esteves took a point away from Marrero for hitting Nyambayar on the break. With a welt building below Marrero’s left eye, King Tug engaged again and even landed a low blow, but Esteves didn’t charge Nyambayar with a point.

In the last round, Marrero wanted to battle Nyambayar, but he attacked wildly, and Nyambayar picked him apart with piercing counter rights. Then, Nyambayar thought he would have some fun in closing, hopping around the ring with his arms up.

In the end, Nyambayar had his hand raised, after judges Julie Lederman (114-113), Eric Marlinski (115-112) and John Poturaj (116-111) saw him as the winner.

If Chris Colbert wanted to garner attention, he certainly did with his fluorescent pink look on the top of his head, to the bathrobe he wore into the ring, complete with white fur around the collar.

Colbert, the Brooklyn-based fighter known as “Little B-Hop,” was facing a challenge in Joshuah Hernandez (8-2, 7 KOs) a sinewy, skilled fighter from Chicago who had just lost once prior to meeting Colbert.

The pair fought in close quarters in the first two rounds, with Hernandez sporting a bloody nose for his efforts.

In the third, Colbert (10-0, 3 KOs) showed he could fight southpaw or orthodox, switching things up on Hernandez and making him hesitant. Through four rounds, Colbert had outlanded Hernandez 76-34.

Hernandez tried crowding Colbert in a corner in the fifth, though, to no avail. Colbert bore through the slight onslaught, and even landed a hard right. Too bad Colbert doesn’t possess heavy, one-punch power.

The pair finished the sixth with a wild exchange, after Colbert motioned with his glove to incite Hernandez into coming forward. The two then blasted away until the bell closed the round.

It was a spirited brawl in which Colbert came out ahead.

“He put up a great fight,” Colbert said about Hernandez. “Today I decided not to give the crowd a boxing lesson, I decided I wanted to show them that I can stand and fight with anybody if I choose to. We’re going to keep making these fights easier and easier.

“I have very high-quality fight and I’m getting better and better as we go. I’m looking forward to getting more opportunities.”

In a scheduled six-round super lightweight fight, Antuanne Russell (8-0, 8 KOs) stopped very overmatched Roberto Almazan (7-9, 2 KOs) at :59 of the second round with a pair of knockdowns, both off of right hooks off the top of the head.

It wasn’t much of an exhibition. Russell was clearly the superior fighter and Almazan appeared in survival mode from the opening bell. It didn’t take long for referee Shada Murdaugh to see enough and wave it over.

“I listened to my corner’s directions and they told me that the hook was going to be there when he shot his left hand,” Russell said after what amounted to a sparring session. “I went to my hook position and I was ready to catch and fire.

“This is nothing new to me. I just try to execute what I’m told and sharpen my craft. We’re going back to the drawing board and we’ll be patient.”

Inability to tackle air pollution to cause 5,200-14,000 deaths by 2024 www.zgm.mn

Scientists have warned that the inaction to air pollution will result in 5,200-14,000 death. Urged by the foreboding statement, the President of Mongolia Battulga Khaltmaa sent an official letter to the General Prosecutor’s Office to demand accountability from the authorities behind the potential misuse of air pollution reduction budget last week.

Facebook plans to integrate Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram. What that means for users www.cnn.com

New York (CNN Business)Facebook plans to integrate its messaging platforms, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger, according to a report from the New York Times.

The three services would remain separate apps, but their infrastructure behind the scenes would be the same.
Even with minimal changes on the surface, the move could have an impact on the billions of people who use the tools. For example, it could allow the company to build a single user profile from its different apps to better target ads.
The apps could also get end-to-end encryption, which shields messages from being read by people outside of the conversation, according to Facebook.
"We're working on making more of our messaging products end-to-end encrypted and considering ways to make it easier to reach friends and family across networks," a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. "As you would expect, there is a lot of discussion and debate as we begin the long process of figuring out all the details of how this will work."

Facebook estimates 2.6 billion people total now use Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram or Messenger each month, according to its most recent earnings report. In addition, more than 2 billion people use at least one of these Facebook-owned apps each day on average.
Debra Aho Williamson, principal analyst at research firm eMarketer, said data would likely be shared between the apps as a result of the move. That could make it easier for Facebook to track users' activities across its family of apps and target ads more effectively.
For users, increased data sharing could also mean that information about their activities on WhatsApp will be associated with what they do on Facebook, Instagram or Messenger, she added.
"If users didn't think Facebook and its messaging apps were all the same company, they will have to confront that reality now," Williamson said. "Knitting the messaging apps together shows that Facebook wants to exert more control over them, and that may lead to more internal executive conflict."

After being acquired by Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram remained relatively independent entities. However, both platforms have become increasingly important to the company as Facebook has struggled with fake news, foreign election meddling and privacy scandals.
WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook in 2014, and its CEO and co-founder Jan Koum left the company in May 2018. Koum reportedly decided to resign after disagreeing with Facebook over its approach to personal data and encryption.
In October, Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger left Facebook after reportedly clashing with CEO Mark Zuckerberg over the direction of the photo sharing app. Instagram was acquired by Facebook in 2012.
Jessica Liu, senior analyst at research firm Forrester, believes the user experience would only change slightly.
"I'm sure most users won't notice and won't think twice about it," she said. "As it is, you're already getting Facebook friend suggestions in Instagram and you're already getting kicked from Facebook to the Messenger app if you want to talk 'privately' to another Facebook user."

Why China is under pressure to make a trade deal www.bbc.com

In Washington this week, the US and China are due to hold their highest level talks since the two sides struck a temporary truce to their trade war.

They have until 1 March to come up with some sort of compromise or tariffs will be hiked again, and we march back into a trade fight that affects us all.

China watchers tell me Beijing is under increasing pressure to make a deal.

Here's why:

A slowing economy
The trade war may not have caused China's slowdown, but it is definitely making things worse.

Growth data released last week showed China posted the slowest growth rate since 1990 but that in itself is not as worrying as other data points, including that consumer sentiment and retail sales are flatlining or weakening fast.

Small and medium-sized companies in China are feeling the chill with lower orders and inventories.

Just how much pressure the Communist Party is facing because of a weakening economy was reflected in a rare acknowledgement by President Xi Jinping, whose legitimacy is based in part in keeping China strong.

Losing its factory lustre?
There is also evidence to show that foreign firms are diversifying their sourcing, production and supply chains away from China, if not pulling out altogether.

This recent survey conducted by QIMA, a leading Asian supply chain auditor, shows that 30% of more than 100 global businesses are diverting their sourcing from China to other countries.

As many as three-quarters of these companies have started sourcing suppliers in new countries.

If this trend continues then jobs in Chinese factories are at risk - a recent report looking at China's economy by JP Morgan points to rising unemployment as a major near-term risks.

Social stability is predicated on China's economic stability, and the Communist Party is well aware that its credibility lies in delivering the Chinese dream to its people.

The Huawei factor
The fate of Huawei also hangs in the balance, both from a business and diplomatic standpoint.

China is big on symbolism and "doesn't believe in coincidences" Einar Tangen, an advisor on economic affairs for the Chinese government, told me on the line from Beijing.

Mr Tangen pointed to the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei founder, which took place on the day President Xi and US President Donald Trump met at the G20 summit and declared the temporary truce between the two sides, setting the 90 day deadline for talks.

What's going on with Huawei?
The Huawei exec trapped in a gilded cage
Another date looms next week, with the latest round of talks taking place on the day the US has to file the extradition treaty for Ms Meng.

"Both of these dates are seen as attempts by the US to use Huawei as leverage in the trade talks," says Mr Tangen.

The US is also reportedly preparing an investigation into Huawei which could see it banned from buying American chips, a move that crippled China's ZTE last year.

"The Chinese see this as the US trying to push China down," he says.

"This is not about right or wrong. They view this in context of the 100 years of humiliation they suffered at the hands of the West and they don't want that repeated."

American firms want a deal
But the US is also under pressure to make a deal.

American firms in China have complained about the impact of Trump's tariffs on their business but want the US to make a good deal.

"This administration has been willing to risk the health of the US economy with tariffs," says Stephen Kho, international trade partner at law firm Akin Gump in Washington DC.

"So now that we've come this far, businesses want to take advantage of this moment and walk away from these talks with something significant. They will want to see China's offer to buy more American goods along with promises of systemic changes."

A solution to the US-China trade war is good for us all.

The longer these two superpowers slap tariffs on each other's goods, the more expensive products will be for us, companies will report lower profits, and global growth will slow.

Both sides are under pressure to make a deal. But this is ultimately, as Mr Kho also points out, "a game of chicken." Whoever blinks first could also be the biggest loser.

Alibaba lashes out at US over ‘unfair’ treatment of Huawei as tech giant faces scrutiny www.rt.com

E-commerce giant Alibaba slammed the US for attempting to curb Huawei’s access to Western markets. A senior official from the company says a political agenda lies behind Washington and its allies’ treatment of the Chinese firm.
“I think what the American government and together with the Five Eyes Alliance – what they’re trying to do with Huawei – is a bit unfair, there’s definitely a political agenda behind it,” Joe Tsai, an executive vice chairman at Alibaba, said at a Reuters event in Hong Kong on Friday.

International tourism hits 1.4 billion forecast 2 years early www.rt.com

A new report from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) showed that 2018 was a very good year for global tourism, with 1.4 billion worldwide traveler arrivals.
The UNWTO didn’t expect that figure until 2020, and it occurred in part due to stronger economic growth, greater visa facilitation, and more affordable air travel.