A brash businessman with martial arts skills clinched Mongolia’s first-ever presidential runoff election Saturday after his opponent conceded defeat in the scandal-plagued race to take the helm of the resource-rich but debt-laden country. Khaltmaa Battulga of the opposition Democratic Party (DP), a 54-year-old former world champion in the Soviet martial art Sambo, had 50.6 percent … Read more
Mongolians head to the polls on Monday to choose between a horse breeder, a judoka and a feng shui master after a presidential campaign rife with corruption scandals and nationalist rhetoric. The sprawling, resource-rich country of just three million sandwiched between Russia and China was once viewed as an oasis of democracy full of economic … Read more
The waving flags, triumphant song and rousing speeches of a Mongolian presidential campaign rally were interrupted by a fight that broke out in the crowd. A group of men had entered the event for Democratic Party candidate Khaltmaa Battulga on Friday carrying posters denouncing the businessman, prompting his supporters to shove the interlopers and tear … Read more
Mongolians pick a new president Monday after a campaign marred by corruption scandals plaguing all three candidates, from jobs for cash to offshore accounts and donations from an alleged cult. The allegations have sapped enthusiasm among voters in a country that remains mired in poverty despite having billions of dollars worth of natural resources buried … Read more
Mongolian courts banned them, human rights groups slammed them and the labour ministry demands they cease, but none of that has stopped Mongolia’s politicians from letting child jockeys saddle up. Despite the outcry, coaches still hire child riders to race at breakneck speeds across the freezing steppe in high stakes contests with powerful backers. The … Read more
Thousands of Mongolian herders face disastrous livestock losses from a dreaded severe weather phenomenon known as the “dzud”, the Red Cross said Thursday in launching an international emergency aid appeal. Landlocked Mongolia is grappling for the second straight year with dzud conditions — a dry summer followed by brutal winter cold that leaves livestock and … Read more