Coal mine in Germany turns into hydroelectric battery www.mining.com

RAG AG-owned Prosper-Haniel hard coal mine, located in the German state of North-Rhine Westphalia, will be turned into a giant battery that stores excess solar and wind energy.

Google braces for questions as more big-name firms pull adverts www.theguardian.com

Uber president Jeff Jones steps down www.bbc.com

Government pledges continued protection for investors’ interest www.montsame.mn

On March 16, the first meeting of a Council to protect the interests of investors was held to hear reports about the current situation of the investment environment and the progress of large-scale investment agreements and arbitration cases or disputes in which the Mongolian government was involved.

China invites Mongolia to step aboard its "economic express train" www.news.mn

China's Ambassador to Mongolia, H.E. Xing Haiming has made an announcement about National People's Congress of China as well as talking about relations between Beijing and Ulaanbaatar. The statements were made earlier today (16th of March).

Thousands of saker falcons die from electrocution www.gogo.mn

Due to inefficient solutions in power lines, over 4000 saker falcons worth MNT 64 billion die annually in Mongolia. This number increases twice in some years. 
Study conducted by researchers at Wildlife Science and Conservation Center shows that the majority of the saker falcons died from sitting on power lines are baby falcons or one-year-old falcons.
"A bird needs to rest and relax while flying and the best place for them seem power lines. It is common in all over the world. Thus we need to introduce environmentally friendly power line solution in order to ensure the safety of the birds. Birds electrocute when sitting or taking off from the utility poles of power lines", said Dr. B.Nyambayar. 
Moreover study reveals that 63 percent of electrocuted falcons were females due to females are bigger than the males. Furthermore, it adversely affect fertility. 
Environment and energy industries began to focus on that issue several years ago. In regards they installed insulators to 250 utility poles of power lines connecting Bayan-Ovoo and Galuut soums of Bayankhongor aimag. 
As a result, number of electrocuted birds were decreased to 39 from 52. However 32 of them were found under the utility poles without insulators. 
Experts highlights that insulators should be installed to all utility poles. 
 The Government set ecological and economic assessment for each saker falcons at MNT 16 million and banned to hunt saker falcons until 2018. 
Bird repeller such as mirror fan was installed in power lines to ensure the safety of birds. However this method was not effective and not suitable for Mongolian climate. 
The country urgently needs to update the relevant regulations and standards in order to save the saker falcons by making 4,000 km of 15 kV power lines safe.
About 6-18 thousand saker falcons were counted nationwide 11 years ago. Since then no census were conducted until today. However thousands of saker falcons are died from electrocution every year.

Wastewater treatment technology introduced www.gogo.mn

Due to lack of law enforcement of water pollution fee and operational failure of treatment plant, Tuul river pollution exceeds the standard as Tuul river provides the only supply of water for all uses including industrial supply and drinking water for Ulaanbaatar city. 
In scope of upcoming World Water Day, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism held a press session yesterday. 
Mongolia uses 500-600 million cubic meters of water per year and produces 470 million cubic meters of waste water. However, the country does not reuse the waste water due to lack of treatment technology. 
Meanwhile many countries are using nanotechnologies in wastewater treatment and purification by removing the pollution and contamination​ with mechanistic biology, biotechnology, nanotechnology and membrane technology. 
Mongolia has testing new technologies in wastewater treatment since 2012. Until then the country successfully introduced the "Khuvsgul" wastewater technology and put into operation a wastewater treatment plant which is capable of purify 25 cubic meters of wastewater per day in Gatsuurt village in 2016.

Immigrant workers are most likely to have these jobs www.cnn.com

Immigrants have long been an integral part of the U.S. workforce. And while there isn't any one industry where immigrants make up the majority of workers, there are some jobs where foreign born workers dominate, a new report from Pew Research finds.
That's especially the case in America's beauty business, where immigrants made up 63% of those that provide services as manicurists and pedicurists, makeup artists, shampooers and skin care specialists. Slightly more than half of these workers (51%) were authorized to be in the country, while 12% of them were undocumented, Pew found in its analysis of 2014 Census Bureau data.
Pew also found that 60% of the workers who ensure that no bad fruits or vegetables get to supermarkets are immigrants.

Other jobs where immigrants made up more than half of the workforce included plasterers and stucco masons, sewing machine operators and farm workers.
immigrant jobs
Many of the jobs held by immigrants -- especially those who are undocumented -- pay low wages, said Jeffrey Passel, a senior demographer at Pew Research Center.
"Undocumented workers, as a group, tend to work in low-paying jobs that don't require certifications, which is why you often find them working as drywall hangers or stucco masons, but don't find them in plumbing and electrical work," he said.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median hourly wage for a manicurist in 2014 was $9.43 and an agricultural sorter earned $9.57. Sewing machine operators earned $10.54 an hour. Construction helpers like painters and paperhangers earned $12.46 an hour, while plasterers and stucco masons earned a much higher wage of $18.05 an hour.
The Pew researchers found that there was no particular industry where immigrants were the majority of workers.
immigrant top industries
Private household employment, which includes maids, gardeners and nannies, had the largest share of immigrant workers at 45%. Among these workers there was a nearly even split between authorized and undocumented workers, the researchers found.

Foreign born workers represented about 36% of the textile, apparel and leather manufacturing industry and 33% of the overall agriculture industry in 2014. Meanwhile, Pew found that 18% of the farming industry's foreign-born workforce was composed of undocumented immigrants, while 15% were authorized to work in the U.S.
Overall, immigrants made up 17% of the U.S. workforce in 2014, which represented about 27.6 million of the country's 161.4 million workers. Pew derived its figures from the U.S. Census American Community Survey (ACS), which includes employed, unemployed and military workers. The survey also accounts for unauthorized workers.
immigrant workforce
About 19.6 million immigrant workers -- or about 12.1% of the total U.S. workforce -- were in the U.S. legally in 2014, Pew reported. About 8 million -- or 5% of the U.S. workforce -- were undocumented. However, Pew noted that about 10% of this undocumented population were authorized to work through Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, and temporary status protection.
Pew noted the share of authorized immigrants in the U.S. workforce has grown from 9% in 1995 to 12% in 2014, while the share of undocumented workers has risen from 3% in 1995 to 5% in 2014 -- a percentage that has remained relatively stable since 2005.

As fewer migrant workers come into the country, specialty fruit and vegetable producers say they're experiencing a worker shortage that has forced them to pay higher wages. With a national average wage of roughly $12 an hour, most American workers don't want to do the work for that pay, industry sources said.
The shortage has incited the American Farm Bureau Federation to ask Congress to consider issuing more agricultural worker visas.
"This issue is critical for our farmers, who need access to a legal and stable workforce," said Kristi Boswell, director of Congressional relations for the organization. "We need Congress to pass legislation to make that happen."

Japan minister agrees to share Toshiba case information with U.S.: Kyodo www.reuters.com

Japan's industry minister said on Thursday he had agreed with the U.S. energy and commerce secretaries to share information on developments involving Toshiba Corp and its troubled U.S. nuclear affiliate, Westinghouse Electric Co, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported.

More Chinese cities further restrict housing purchases to cool market www.xinhuanet.com

FUZHOU, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in the eastern Chinese cities of Nanjing and Qingdao on Thursday unveiled more steps that will restrict housing purchases and cool the property market.