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With apologies for lateness, the new year tidings from Mongolia. Here Hogmanay is marked by over-indulgence in dumplings and a deadly form of alcohol called kumiss.

This time round thecelebrations were even more neuron-removing than usual because the country is marking a shift to a five-day working week from the six experienced so far. As a student from the Mongolian National University told theMongolian EDN electronic information service: "An extra day free from studies means an extra day for boozing."