Mongolia

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Tech Team Zeroes In on 'Genghis Khan's Tomb'

But University of California experts don't want to excavate

(Newser) - Everyone from archaeologists to grave robbers have been seeking Genghis Khan's tomb for the past 800 years—and now a team of techies from California may have found it, Newsweek reports. Using satellites, radar scans, and thousands of volunteers, Albert Lin's crew at the University of California in...

Mongolia Yanks Last Lenin Statue, Wants $280 for It

Ulan-Bator calls leader a 'murder

(Newser) - Mongolian capital Ulan-Bator has taken down its last statue of Vladimir Lenin, hauling it away on a truck in a small attended, the BBC reports. Mayor Bat-Uul Erdene called Lenin and his cohorts "murderers" in a brief speech—a far cry from the "Teacher Lenin" that Mongolian schoolkids...

Mongolian Election Issue: How to Spend Windfall

Mining boom helps economy grow

(Newser) - Mongolians vote for a new legislature this week facing a fortunate choice: How best can the landlocked, still poor country spend an expected windfall from its mining boom? The main political parties in tomorrow's elections are offering variations on using royalties and revenues from mammoth coal, copper, and gold...

Feds Seizing Illegal $1M Dino Skeleton

Tyrannosaurus belongs to Mongolia, court decides

(Newser) - The Department of Homeland Security has been ordered to detain a dead, 70 million-year-old, 24-foot-long illegal immigrant. The skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus Bataar—T. Rex's Mongolian cousin—was sold for $1 million at an auction in New York last month despite objections from the Mongolian government, which bans the...

'Illegal' Dinosaur Skeleton Sells for Over $1M

Heritage Auctions ignores Mongolia's restraining order

(Newser) - A New York auction house sold off a dinosaur skeleton for $1 million yesterday despite a restraining order from the Mongolian government, which said the find had been illegally exported, New Scientist reports. Heritage Auctions kept mum about the seller and winning bidder, and said it had "legal assurances"...

Explorer Finds Lost Piece of China's Great Wall

William Lindesay got an assist from Google Earth

(Newser) - The Great Wall of China is bigger than we thought. An undiscovered stretch of the wall was located last fall by a British explorer in the deserts of Mongolia, reports the Telegraph . Carbon testing reveals the 62-mile section, made of earth and branches, has been standing since the 11th or...

How You Can Join Hunt for Genghis Khan

Online volunteers examine satellite images of Mongolia

(Newser) - Armchair history buffs, take note: A University of California scientist needs all the help he can get finding the tomb of Genghis Khan. The only thing participants need to join the Valley of the Khans Project is a computer and an Internet connection, reports the Washington Post . Under the program,...

'Human Domino' Record Falls
 'Human Domino' Record Falls 

'Human Domino' Record Falls

Mongolians top decade-old mark with crowd of 10,267

(Newser) - The record for longest chain of human dominoes was set by 10,267 people in China yesterday, the AP reports. The throng wore color-coordinated clothes that spelled out, in English and Chinese, the name "Ordos"—the city where the dominoes were slowly falling. A Guinness World Records monitor...

Neo-Nazis on the Rise in Mongolia

Swastika-waving groups attack Chinese migrants

(Newser) - Adolf Hitler has a growing number of admirers in the homeland of Genghis Khan. Neo-Nazi groups fond of swastikas and seig-heiling are sprouting in Mongolia, the Guardian reports. Groups like Tsagaan Khass—White Swastika—say they admire Hitler's devotion to racial purity. The ultra-nationalist groups have been blamed for many...

Babies Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes
 Babies Big on Cute, 
 Short on Insight 
movie review

Babies Big on Cute, Short on Insight

Documentary follows four infants in four countries

(Newser) - Critics are generally won over by Babies, a documentary that follows four infants' first years in San Francisco, Mongolia, Tokyo, and Namibia. Some samples:
  • Wesley Morris, Boston Globe : "As an advertisement for the wonders of figuring out how to be alive, the movie is an engaging proposition."
  • Betsy
...

1.6M Chinese in Deep Freeze
 1.6M Chinese in Deep Freeze 

1.6M Chinese in Deep Freeze

Northern China battles worst winter weather in decades

(Newser) - Some of the worst winter weather ever recorded has left thousands of people homeless in northern China. Close to 1.6 million people have been affected by blizzards and record-low temperatures, AP reports. More than 100,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged in Xinjiang, and 100,000 head of...

'Ballerina-Like' T. Rex Cousin Discovered

Size, light skeleton and delicate teeth suggest different prey from larger relative

(Newser) - A smaller, more agile cousin of the Tyrannosaurus rex has been identified. The skull and a nearly complete skeleton of Alioramus altai was discovered in Mongolia in 2001, and has features that distinguish it from its more lumbering cousin. Unlike its “big bad boy” relatives, a study author tells...

Mongolia Votes for Change, Too
 Mongolia Votes 
 for Change, Too 
analysis

Mongolia Votes for Change, Too

(Newser) - In a lot of ways, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj looks a lot like another newly elected president. A young, Harvard-educated orator, Elbegdorj rode into power Sunday on a message of change, with most of his support coming from cities. His opponents cried that he was part Chinese. Sound familiar? Elbegdorj isn’t...

Banks Seize Herds as Recession Hits Mongolia

Badly managed loans and overconfidence in cashmere have Mongolians in default

(Newser) - Proving the recession is truly global, banks in Mongolia are threatening to foreclose on herders’ goats, sheep, and camels, the Wall Street Journal reports. Mongolians call it a financial “zud,” a local term for unusually devastating winters. Falling cashmere prices stemming from the West’s recession—the high-end...

Eclipse Draws 15K to Siberia
 Eclipse Draws 15K to Siberia 

Eclipse Draws 15K to Siberia

Thousands flock to Russia for rare solar spectacle despite threat of rain

(Newser) - Prospects of rare total solar eclipse have drawn thousands of sky-watchers to the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, where the moon’s passage between the earth and sun will create 140 seconds of darkness at 5:45 pm local time today. Hotels in the city—Russia’s third-largest—are fully booked,...

Riots Imperil Democracy in Mongolia

Government crackdown worries citizens in region's freest state

(Newser) - Last week hundreds of drunken rioters in Mongolia's capital vented their frustration at parliamentary elections by smashing the headquarters of the ruling party, killing five people. The violence shocked many in this peaceful, democratic nation. But many Mongolians were equally shocked by the government's reaction: a four-day state of emergency,...

5 Killed in Mongolian Election Riots

Protesters clash with police, burn government buildings

(Newser) - Five people died and hundreds were injured in rioting yesterday against election results in the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator, reports the BBC. Hordes of angry protesters supporting the opposition party took to the streets yesterday after victory was declared for the ruling party. Its headquarters and other government buildings...

'Mickey Mouse of the Desert'
'Mickey Mouse of the Desert'

'Mickey Mouse of the Desert'

Scientists film endangered critter for the first time

(Newser) - A rare rodent with jumbo ears and a kangaroo hop has been nabbed on video for possibly the first time, the BBC reports. Scientists who braved the Gobi desert recently observed the jerboa as part of a plan to help the endangered and extremely rare mammal. The critter amazed them...

Big Boys Do Cry
Big Boys
Do Cry

Big Boys Do Cry

Sumo wrestler in tears after Japanese association won't let him go home

(Newser) - Japan's Sumo Association forbid a Mongolian wrestler from returning home after the ponderous athlete was in tears—diagnosed with a near breakdown. The organization, which suspended defending champion Asashoryu from two tournaments, said it wants the bawling behemoth to seek treatment at a Japanese hospital, against his doctor’s orders...

Stories 21 - 39 | << Prev