Mongolia Promotes Energy, Financial Sector Cooperation in Tokyo www.montsame.mn

Mongolia’s energy sector, investment climate, ongoing projects and programs, and opportunities for bilateral cooperation were presented during the “Invest Mongolia: Energy and Financial Sector, Tokyo 2026” forum held in Tokyo.

According to the Government Media and Public Relations Department, discussions during the forum focused on expanding economic cooperation between Mongolia and Japan. More than 240 Japanese government agencies, private-sector organizations, and investors participated in the event, while 14 Mongolian private-sector entities presented their projects and programs. Participants also exchanged views on building business networks and exploring potential areas of cooperation.

The forum also featured discussions on renewable energy, energy transition, green financing, and sustainable investment, identifying new opportunities for cooperation and pathways toward practical partnerships.

The event, which aimed to increase investment in Mongolia, strengthen public-private partnerships, and expand international and economic cooperation, was attended by Mongolia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dorjkhand Togmid, Minister of Energy Naidalaa Badrakh, as well as representatives from the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Energy, the Investment and Trade Agency, Bank of Mongolia, the Financial Regulatory Commission, and the Embassy of Mongolia in Japan.

Foreign Minister Receives Delegation from U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation www.montsame.mn

Minister of Foreign Affairs Battsetseg Batmunkh received a delegation led by Dan Petrie, Acting Chief of Staff of the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation, on May 14.

During the meeting, Minister Battsetseg emphasized that Mongolia–United States relations and cooperation are expanding and developing across many sectors under the framework of the Strategic Third Neighbor Partnership, while also gaining tangible economic substance. She noted that the MCC Water Compact serves as a symbol of practical and effective cooperation between the two countries and expressed satisfaction that the project is addressing the critical issue of water supply in Ulaanbaatar.

The minister also expressed special gratitude to the leadership and staff of the Millennium Challenge Corporation for their support in ensuring that the Wastewater Recycling Plant and the Advanced Water Purification Plant are constructed and commissioned on schedule and within the approved budget. The sides further exchanged views on the possibility of establishing a third Compact agreement between Mongolia and the United States.

Dan Petrie expressed appreciation to Mongolia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for its close cooperation and comprehensive support in implementing the Water Compact and affirmed the MCC’s commitment to continued collaboration on future projects and programs, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Honorary Consuls of Mongolia Appointed in the U.S. States of Minnesota and Utah www.montsame.mn

Ambassador of Mongolia to the United States, Batbayar Ulziidelger, presented copies of the patents of appointment to Enkhbileg Tserenbat as Honorary Consul of Mongolia in the State of Minnesota and to Raymond Richard Price as Honorary Consul of Mongolia in the State of Utah.

On this occasion, Ambassador Batbayar emphasized that the newly appointed Honorary Consuls should focus on expanding Mongolia–United States trade and economic cooperation, supporting collaboration in tourism and education, promoting Mongolia, and paying particular attention to protecting the rights and legitimate interests of Mongolian citizens residing in the State of Minnesota, according to the Embassy of Mongolia in the United States.

Honorary Consuls of Mongolia abroad are not career diplomatic officers. They are typically respected individuals permanently residing in the host country who hold strong reputations in business, social, and public spheres within their designated jurisdictions. Acting voluntarily without financial support from the Government of Mongolia, they contribute to strengthening friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries.

In addition to representing Mongolia in their respective regions, Honorary Consuls provide information and guidance to Mongolian citizens residing within their jurisdictions, facilitate communication with the Embassy when necessary, and offer assistance during emergencies. They also work to connect business communities of the two countries, support investment promotion, expand cooperation in trade, economy, and tourism, and organize cultural, educational, and sports activities.

China, Mongolia to hold joint army training www.xinhuanet.com

China and Mongolia will carry out joint army training "Steppe Partner 2026" in north China's Inner Mongolia from late May to early June, a Chinese defense spokesperson said on Monday.

Jiang Bin, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, told a regular press conference that the training will focus on joint strikes against illegal armed groups.

This joint training will be the second of its kind, with the goal of continuously deepening friendship and mutual trust, enhancing practical cooperation, and strengthening both sides' capabilities to jointly uphold regional peace and stability, according to Jiang.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)

TMK taps local LPG giant in new Mongolian gas-to-power deal www.smh.com.au

TMK Energy has flicked the switch on a new phase of its Mongolian gas development, signing a partnering agreement with the country’s biggest LPG distributor to build a gas-to-power plant. The deal brings the company a step closer to commercial gas sales from its sprawling Gurvantes XXXV coal-seam gas project.

The company’s flagship gas asset spans 8400 square kilometres in Mongolia’s South Gobi Basin, less than 20 kilometres from the Chinese border and close to established northern Chinese gas infrastructure. The basin-scale project hosts thick bituminous coal seams stretching more than 150 kilometres across strike and holds a contingent resource of 1.2 trillion cubic feet of gas (Tcf).

The company has struck a memorandum of understanding with Dashvaanjil Group to develop an initial 1-megawatt modular power plant beside the Gurvantes XXXV pilot project. The plant will run on gas already flowing from TMK’s pilot wells and be backed by Dashvaanjil’s LPG supply as a dual-fuel setup during the ramp-up phase.

Engineering and design work has already kicked off, with Dashvaanjil undertaking downstream engineering studies at its own cost and risk while TMK handles upstream field integration, gas gathering and field works. Produced gas from the pilot wells will be commingled at a central collection point, where it can be conditioned, if required, before feeding the gas-fired power unit.

‘This is another milestone agreement, a major step forward in advancing our pathway for future commercial gas sales.’
TMK Energy chief executive officer Dougal Ferguson
The partners are targeting completion of engineering by the end of the June quarter next year, with commissioning and first power generation slated for the end of the September quarter 2027. Once the engineering phase is complete, the parties can elect to move into formal commercial agreements, locking in the project structure and outlining how investment returns will be shared between both sides.

TMK says Dashvaanjil brings a strong operational safety culture, deep infrastructure reach and technical expertise to the project, positioning the partnership as a fast and cost-effective proof-of-concept step towards future commercial gas sales.

The power plant will initially provide the company with a reliable long-term electricity source for its own pilot operations, reducing reliance on intermittent regional grid supply. The setup will also be backed by Dashvaanjil’s LPG supply and TMK’s existing grid connection to help secure uninterrupted field operations as gas production continues to build.

Notably, the project has been designed as a scalable platform rather than a standalone pilot. Excess electricity generated beyond TMK’s operational needs is expected to be sold to local industrial customers, likely nearby coal mining operations in the South Gobi region, where energy demand continues to rise.

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TMK Energy chief executive officer Dougal Ferguson said: “The Power Project will be designed to provide TMK with a reliable long-term power solution for its Pilot Well Project, while also demonstrating the broader potential for natural gas to contribute to other domestic energy users.”

The agreement follows TMK’s recent push to accelerate gas sales after securing regulatory backing to use pilot gas for on-site power generation.

Operational momentum has also continued building across the field. Seven pilot wells are now producing gas, with the company recently reporting April output had climbed to 663 cubic metres per day. That flow represents the project’s second-highest monthly production rate to date, with management steadily ramping up reservoir dewatering and pilot production activities.

Recent reservoir work has also confirmed pressure communication between wells, supporting TMK’s broader reservoir connectivity model and strengthening confidence in scalability. The company is preparing to drill additional pilot wells later this year alongside farm-out discussions aimed at bringing in strategic partners across upstream, midstream and downstream infrastructure.

Mongolia’s broader energy backdrop appears increasingly supportive. The country remains heavily dependent on coal-fired power and on imported electricity from China, while industrial expansion across the South Gobi continues to lift demand for stable domestic energy supplies.

With flare stacks now flickering across the South Gobi pilot wells, TMK’s story is shifting from proving up gas resources to building a practical, scalable and potentially pivotal domestic power play for Mongolia’s energy future.

N.Uchral: Mayor Kh.Nyambaatar dismissed from his post www.gogo.mn

On May 16, 2026, Prime Minister N.Uchral visited the “Khuchit Shonkhor” meat market, in connection with rising meat prices. Following the visit, he announced that Mayor Kh.Nyambaatar had been dismissed from his post effective immediately.

Prime Minister N.Uchral said, “Theft and corruption have gone too far. Projects and tenders have been stolen. Now it has even affected people’s livelihoods and food. Today, I went to the meat market, and beef is selling for MNT 40,000. Meat prices are being controlled in the countryside, but not in the capital.

Last year, around 8,000 tons of meat were reserved. This year, about 5,000 tons were reserved. Contracts were signed with nine supplier companies and commercial banks. We agreed to sell beef at MNT 15,000 and not increase the price beyond that level, with sales organized at 386 locations.

However, not a single reserve meat supply has arrived at these locations, and I inspected the situation myself today. Where has this meat gone? For example, one citizen purchased 15 tons of meat for MNT 211 million and reserved it. Now even the citizens’ reserve meat is being stolen. What happened to the Tuul Highway project? Finish it. What interests are behind it?

This has caused price increases, and the grounds are clear. Therefore, I am dismissing Mayor Kh.Nyambaatar from his post. I will also establish a special working group together with intelligence and police organizations to investigate all projects, tenders, and activities related to the capital city,” he said.

At the Cannes Film Festival, a presentation of eight Mongolian film projects took place www.open.kg

On May 13, as part of the Cannes Film Festival, one of the most significant film forums in the world, a collection of eight Mongolian film projects was presented. The presentation was held under the auspices of the Mongolian Film Arts Council and was the third of its kind at the festival.

Among the presented projects, special attention is drawn to the following films and series:

the documentary film "For Forty Years We Carried Salt" by director BADRALMAA Batbaatar;

the feature film "Watermelon" by producer TUVSHINSAIKHAN Ganbayar;

the film "Jinjiy's Birthday" directed by TAMIR Bat-Ölziy;

the animated project "Snowball" by producer TAMIR Erdenebayar;

the feature film "Falcon" by producer TEMÜÜJINA Zolbayar;

the feature film "Mirage of the Yellow Steppe" by producer MANDAKHA Gantogso;

the documentary film "Those Who Went to Study in Distant Lands" by director SANCHIR Bulgan;

the TV series project "No Drug 2" by producer ALTANTUYA Tömörbaatar.

Among these films, "Watermelon" stands out, telling the story of a teenager from a remote village in the Gobi Desert. In 1999, a 16-year-old boy tries to grow a watermelon—a promise made to his first love. This impossible task becomes the foundation for his personal growth and self-discovery.

The film was created in collaboration with young director Ganbayar, exploring important themes of adolescence, sexuality, and the experiences of first love.

The event was attended by more than 40 representatives of the international film industry, including producers and investors. Mongolian cinema is traditionally showcased at the Cannes Festival, and one of the most notable achievements was the film "If Only I Could Fall Asleep," which became the first Mongolian film selected for the "Un Certain Regard" program.

Which Countries Were Never Invaded By Britain? www.worldatlas.com

The claim that only 22 countries in the world have never been invaded by Britain comes from historian Stuart Laycock's 2012 book All the Countries We've Ever Invaded: And the Few We Never Got Round To. Laycock spent roughly two years working alphabetically through every UN member state, plus Kosovo, examining whether British forces had at any point conducted what he counts as an invasion: military presence, force, threat of force, raid, or armed incursion sanctioned by the Crown. Out of the roughly 193 countries he examined, he found British military activity in 171. That leaves 22 countries the British have never reached in any military capacity.

At its 1920 territorial peak, the British Empire covered roughly 35.5 million square kilometres, about 24% of Earth's land area, and held some 412 million subjects, about 23% of the world population at the time. It is the largest empire in recorded history by both measures. The 22 countries that escaped British military attention according to Laycock's count are listed alphabetically below.

Andorra
Belarus
Bolivia
Burundi
Central African Republic
Chad
Republic of the Congo
Guatemala
Ivory Coast
Kyrgyzstan
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Mali
Marshall Islands
Monaco
Mongolia
Paraguay
São Tomé and Príncipe
Sweden
Tajikistan
Uzbekistan
Vatican City

Several entries on this list have wiggle room and are noted as borderline cases in Laycock's own analysis. Mongolia, for example, may have seen British military presence during the international intervention in the Russian Civil War (1918-1922), but Laycock could find evidence of a British mission only within about 80 km of the Mongolian border, not inside Mongolia itself. Sweden is another borderline case: the Anglo-Swedish War of 1810-1812 was declared but produced no actual fighting, and Britain was even permitted to maintain ships off Hanö Island for trade purposes. Laycock counts that as non-invasion, though others have argued the formal state of war should disqualify Sweden from the list.

The British state itself only formally exists from the Acts of Union of 1707, which joined the kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain. The earlier military history captured in Laycock's count therefore includes English (and sometimes Scottish) forces before that date. English military expansion begins with the Norman Conquest of 1066, which brought a new ruling dynasty into a Kingdom of England that had already existed under Anglo-Saxon rule since Athelstan unified the country in 927. It continued through the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453), in which English kings held large parts of France for extended periods but ultimately lost almost everything except Calais by the war's end.

The empire reached its territorial maximum in the years after World War I, when Britain absorbed former German colonies and Ottoman territories under League of Nations mandates. The Victorian era (1837-1901) is often described as the high point culturally, with Queen Victoria proclaimed Empress of India in 1876, but the empire continued growing geographically into the 1920s.

The 171 invaded countries fall into several categories: formal colonies, protectorates, mandate territories, raid targets, and countries Britain simply passed through during world wars. Below are a few representative examples from across that range.

Afghanistan
The First Anglo-Afghan War began in 1839 when Britain invaded Afghanistan to install a friendly ruler in Kabul and check Russian expansion in Central Asia. The campaign ended catastrophically in 1842 when the retreating British garrison and accompanying civilians were almost completely wiped out during their withdrawal toward Jalalabad, with reports that only one British survivor reached the safety of British India. Britain returned for the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1880) and the Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919), the latter ending Britain's claim to control Afghan foreign affairs.

Burma (Myanmar)
Britain annexed Burma in three stages through the 19th century, beginning with the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-1826) and ending with the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885, after which Burma was absorbed into British India in 1886. Burma was administered as a province of India until 1937, when it was separated as a distinct colony. The Burmese independence movement gained strength under figures including Aung San and the country achieved independence in January 1948.

Kenya
Britain established the East Africa Protectorate in 1895 over the territory that is now Kenya, formally declaring it the Colony of Kenya in 1920. British colonial rule was particularly contested in the central highlands, where settler land seizures fuelled the Mau Mau Uprising of 1952-1960. The British response was brutal, with mass detention in camps, executions, and acts of torture later documented in detailed British government records that were unsealed in the 2010s and led to a 2013 financial settlement with surviving victims. Kenya achieved independence on 12 December 1963.

Egypt
Britain invaded Egypt in 1882, ostensibly to protect European financial interests after Egyptian unrest threatened repayment of foreign debt. The invasion led to a 74-year British military presence. The 1919 Egyptian Revolution achieved nominal independence in 1922 but Britain retained control of the Suez Canal, the Sudan, and significant military rights. Final British withdrawal did not occur until the 1954 Anglo-Egyptian Agreement and the 1956 Suez Crisis, which finally ended British military presence on Egyptian soil.

Decolonisation accelerated sharply after World War II, when Britain emerged victorious but financially exhausted and indebted to the United States. India and Pakistan gained independence in August 1947, followed by Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Burma in 1948. The Suez Crisis of 1956 marked the political end of Britain's status as an independent imperial power; the failed Anglo-French-Israeli operation to retake the Suez Canal was halted under American financial pressure and demonstrated that London could no longer project force without Washington's consent. Most African colonies achieved independence between 1957 (Ghana) and 1968 (Mauritius and Eswatini). Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997, generally considered the end of the empire proper, though 14 British Overseas Territories remain under British sovereignty.

Laycock's threshold for what constitutes an invasion is intentionally broad. He counts state-sanctioned acts of piracy, transitory military presence during a wider war, and even single landings by armed explorers operating with royal approval. Under stricter definitions of invasion (sustained occupation, territorial annexation, formal colonisation), the count of never-invaded countries would be much larger. Under looser definitions, including British naval blockades and sanctions enforcement, it would shrink further. The 22-country figure has stuck partly because Laycock's book is well sourced and partly because the answer is satisfying: even a list this loose still misses most of the small principalities of Europe, the landlocked Central Asian republics, and a handful of West African and Latin American nations Britain simply had no reason to enter.

Vail International Hockey to travel to Mongolia, China and South Korea on ‘puck diplomacy’ mission www.validaily.com

This June, a delegation of youth hockey players, coaches, and parents will represent Vail International Hockey abroad, traveling to Mongolia, China, and South Korea on a unique international exchange centered on sport, culture, and people-to-people connection.

Organizers describe the journey as a “puck diplomacy” mission — using the shared language of hockey to build global perspective, mutual understanding, and lasting relationships across borders.

The delegation will participate in friendly games, joint practices, and cultural exchanges with local teams and families in each country. Beyond competition, the emphasis is on curiosity, respect, and learning how the game is growing in different parts of the world.

“In a world that often feels divided, we believe sport still brings people together,” said trip organizer Eric Eves. “Hockey gives young people a way to connect instantly. When you step on the ice, you share something universal — teamwork, discipline, and joy in the game.”

The trip is designed not only as an athletic experience, but as an educational one. Participants will explore cultural landmarks, learn about regional history, and engage directly with peers their age in each destination. Parents and coaches traveling with the group will help guide discussions focused on global awareness, leadership, and responsible travel.

The delegation represents a growing movement in youth sports that views international exchange as an extension of education — preparing young athletes to become thoughtful global citizens.

Through this journey, organizers hope players return home with broadened perspectives, deeper empathy, and friendships that stretch well beyond the rink.

The organization aims to collect 100 pairs of used hockey skates, along with used sticks and helmets, to donate during the trip. For more information, contact Sean Koenig at 970-470-9154 or visit vailinternationalhockey.org.

France to Send Large Delegation for COP17 Conference www.montsame.mn

France will send a large delegation of government officials, private sector representatives, scientists, and researchers to attend the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), which will take place in August in Ulaanbaatar.

The announcement was made by the Ambassador of France to Mongolia, Corinne Pereira Da Silva, during a meeting with the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Sandag-Ochir Tsend. The two sides discussed expanding bilateral environmental cooperation and working together on preparations for COP17. Discussions also focused on cooperation on water, forests, biodiversity conservation, and waste management.

Minister Sandag-Ochir expressed appreciation for France’s support of agreements reached at the recent G7 Environment Ministers’ Meeting in Paris on combating desertification and mitigating climate change.

He noted that cooperation between the two countries has expanded in the areas of meteorology, water, forestry, biodiversity, and waste management. The Minister also thanked the French government for deciding to provide approximately EUR 1 million in funding for the “Combating Desertification in Mongolia” project, which will be implemented in cooperation with Mongolia’s meteorological agency, Forestry Agency, and Water Agency. He described the funding as significant support for efforts to combat desertification and reduce soil degradation.

The project aims to strengthen scientific and technical cooperation in weather forecasting, wildfire prevention and management, and sustainable water resource management, particularly groundwater. The project will deepen environmental cooperation between the two countries, contribute to Mongolia’s environmental and climate change sector, and deliver substantial long-term benefits.