Austrian Prime Minister Werner Faymann (R) meets with visiting Mongolian Prime Minister Suchbaatar Batbold in Vienna, capital of Austria, March 9, 2010. Werner Faymann welcomed the increasing importance of Mongolia as a partner of the European Union (EU) in Central and East Asia, at a reception he hosted for his Mongolian counterpart on Tuesday in Vienna. (Xinhua Photo)

Austrian Prime Minister Werner Faymann welcomed the increasing importance of Mongolia as a partner of the European Union (EU) in Central and East Asia, at a reception he hosted for visiting Mongolian Prime Minister Suchbaatar Batbold on Tuesday in Vienna.

Hunnu Coal (ASX: HUN) has been granted an option to acquire an 80% interest in the Erdenes Thermal Coal Project (EL14733) which is located in the Dornogobi Province of south eastern Mongolia.

The Project is located 380 km from the capital city of Ulaanbaatar and 56 km from a bulk commodity loading rail facility at Bor Undur, which is connected to the Mongolian railway grid.

President Barack Obama called Iraq’s election an “important milestone” on Sunday despite deadly violence which killed dozens of civilians, and praised Iraqi security forces. Meanwhile, Obama repeated his end-2011 goal for removing all U.S. troops from the country.

Scores of mortar rounds, rockets and roadside bombs exploded near polling stations across the country, killing 38 people, in an apparent effort to scare voters participating in the election for Iraq’s second full-term parliament since the 2003 U.S. invasion.Obama praised millions of Iraqis who voted despite the attacks and U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates qualified the election turn out of high(55-60%). The US president’s emphasis on Iraqi security forces’ success and performances during the elections supports his argument and hopes that U.S. troops will leave the country as scheduled to focus more squarely on the war in Afghanistan.

As Mongolia is about to present its first ever Universal Periodic Review (UPR) to the Human Rights Council in 2010, three of the four soldiers who killed three of their colleagues in the Ulaan-Uul frontier outpost were sentenced to death this Thursday. M. Tulga, L. Lhagvajav and E. Oyunbold were given the maximum penalty while R. Enkhjargal was given a 25 years in the heavy discipline prison.

Global miner BHP Billiton has reached terms for a “significant portion” of its hard coking coal volumes for 2010 with customers in China, Japan, India and Europe, the company said on Monday.

Its contracts are based on shorter-term, market based pricing, reflecting BHP’s efforts to move to market clearing prices over time across all bulk commodities, the company said in a statement.

Eznis Airways line to Bulgan in Khovd has reopened after about almost 18 months.

The resumption of service was prompted by concern for the people who were living in isolation in Bulgan and its two adjacent districts -- Altai and Uench -- in the Khovd province.