On February 15, 609 new cases of COVID-19 have been detected after conducting PCR tests nationwide within the past 24 hours, reported the Ministry of Health. More specifically, 286 new cases were detected in the capital city, with 323 cases in rural regions.

Furthermore, two new COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, raising the country’s death toll to 2,076. Currently, 6,520 people are receiving hospital treatment for COVID-19, while 21,783 people with mild symptoms of COVID-19 are being isolated at home.

Of the total patients currently undergoing treatment at hospitals, there are 570 patients in critical, and 54 patients in very critical condition.

As much of the nation watched pre-game Super Bowl hype, five soldiers with the Illinois Army National Guard were launched Sunday on a super showdown of their own. But this team’s big game won’t be held in sunny California, but the ancient Asian land of Mongolia.

A logistics advisor team of five soldiers from the Illinois Army National Guard’s elite 6th Battalion, 54th Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) held a deployment ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 13, at the Rock Island Arsenal. After a short training in Texas, the team will join the active-duty Army’s 5th SFAB based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., to deploy to Mongolia. The six-month deployment is the first for the Illinois National Guard’s SFAB unit and represents the first SFAB to support the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, according to a Monday release.

The SFAB is an elite unit with a core mission to conduct training, advising, assisting, enabling and accompanying operations with allied and partner nations. The Illinois Army National Guard’s SFAB unit was activated in 2020, after about a year and a half of organizing the unit. The 6th Battalion, based at Rock Island Arsenal, represents the logistics experts in the 54th SFAB. The 54th SFAB headquarters is in Indiana.

“We just feel a tremendous amount of pride sending this team off,” said Maj. Keri Wolf, the officer-in-charge of 6th Battalion and one of the original full-time Active Guard-Reserve (AGR) officers charged with manning, equipping and training the new unit. “To see this all come to fruition is just a great feeling.”

Lt. Col. Bradley Roach, the 6th Battalion Commander, said he was “jealous” of the deploying team. “Although you are few in numbers, the positive effect you can have on the future relations between the United States and Mongolia is great.” Roach said the SFAB doesn’t just advise foreign defense forces, it also builds lasting relationships and trust between nations. Mongolia is an independent Asian nation sandwiched between China and Russia.

The logistics advisory team, designated Team 6621, consists of an officer-in-charge, a noncommissioned officer-in-charge/transportation expert, a supply/quartermaster expert, a maintenance expert, and a medical expert. “While they are all experts in their own field, they are also cross-trained in the other areas so they can effectively advise in any of the areas of Army logistics,” Wolf said.

Col. Tim Newman, the Commander of the 108th Sustainment Brigade, the 6th Battalion’s higher headquarters in Illinois, told the families of the deploying Guard members to please reach out if they needed support. “We are here for you,” Newman said.

Capt. Cameron Worley, a native of Peoria and officer-in-charge of the team, said he was excited for the deployment and promised to take good care of the soldiers while they are in Mongolia. In six months the team is slated to be replaced in Mongolia with another team from 6th Battalion.

“I’m honored to lead this first team and to go do what this unit is designed to do,” he said.

Following a new long-term agreement between Rio Tinto, Turquoise Hill Resources (TRQ) and the Government of Mongolia, underground production has formally started at Oyu Tolgoi. In a major step forward, and after excavation of over 90 km of tunnels over 11 years, the first undercut rings were recently fired at the Oyu Tolgoi underground block cave copper mine in Mongolia by teams from Oyu Tolgoi including Technical Services Drill and Blast & Production working with blasting services partners Orica and Mera, and underground services contractor Redpath. The commencement of undercut blasting marks the start of the production phase of the Oyu Tolgoi underground mine and the mine is now beginning caving operations. The underground mine is expected to achieve sustainable production for Panel 0 in the first half of 2023.

The first undercut blast created a vertical void from the Apex to the undercut level (UCL) and involved 114 holes being charged with 6 t of explosives. Once charging was complete, the blast was initiated remotely using an electronic blasting system. The Hugo-Dummett deposit will be mined in a series of lifts, the first stage being Hugo North Lift 1 (500 Mt) that will utilise the panel caving mining technique. The Lift 1 mining levels are approximately 1,300 m below surface. Six distinct levels have been developed to mine Lift 1. The Apex level is 17 m above the undercut level, which in turn is 17 m above the extraction level (floor to floor). The haulage level is 44 m below the extraction level. In the footprint area, the exhaust ventilation level lies between the extraction and haulage levels.

Undercut blasting extends 18 m (one drawbell spacing) from the centre of draw in each production drive to ensure cave propagation for drawbells along the cave edge. The undercut and Apex level perimeter drives are located a minimum of 32.5 m outside the undercut blasting area to protect against cave abutment stress. After blasting an undercut ring approximately 60% of the blasted tonnage (the swell) from the ring will be mucked from the undercut level. On the extraction level, an El Teniente-style drawpoint layout is proposed for the entire footprint with drawpoints angled at 60⁰ to the extraction drives.

Mine access and ventilation of workings is enabled by a series of five shafts as well as the C2S conveyor access. Shaft 1 (6.7 m diameter) and Shaft 2 (10 m diameter) are multipurpose service, production, and intake ventilation shafts sunk to a depth of 1,385 m and 1,284 m respectively. Shaft 3 is a 10 m diameter concrete-lined intake shaft, with a depth of 1,148 m. Shaft 4 is an 11 m diameter concrete-lined exhaust shaft, with a depth of 1,209 m. Shaft 5 is a 6.7 m diameter concrete lined exhaust shaft, with two underground ventilation stations and a depth of 1,178 m. The conveyor to surface (C2S) system comprises three identical 2,202 m long 1.6 m wide steel cord conveyors operating at 6 m/s and capable of conveying the full planned production rate of 32 Mt/y. The conveyors have been installed in a 6 m wide by 5.4 m high conveyor decline.

Mongolia confirmed 553 new cases of the coronavirus infection, including 315 in the capital and 238 in the regions, said the Ministry of Health on Monday.

The total number of cases has risen to 457,032.

1,808 hospitalized patients are in mild condition, 4,341 are in moderate condition, 615 are in serious condition, and 58 are in very serious condition.

1 coronavirus-linked death was recorded per day raising the COVID-19 death toll in Mongolia to 2,074.

With over 1000 licenses issued across the country, a diverse range of mineral extraction operations are transforming in Mongolia. The Gobi region is crowded with both mega mines and smaller-scale operations. The Gobi also has excellent conditions for renewable energy and is poised to be a site for significant investment in this industry.

Solar and wind farms are already starting to pop up in SouthGobi /Umnugobi/ and Dornogovi provinces reflecting Mongolia’s commitment to reduce its reliance on coal power under the State Policy on Energy 2015-2030.

“Mongolia is attractive for deploying green hydrogen production and more renewable energy projects can be developed in the Central Asian region”, Elixir Energy Managing Director and CEO Neil Young said in an interview. “Mongolia has very high-quality wind and solar resources – and our analysis shows that in addition, these 2 renewable sources are highly complementary in terms of combining to produce very strong annual capacity factors. However, Mongolia’s primary attractiveness as a green H2 project location is its immediate proximity to potentially very large Chinese H2 markets. H2 is very expensive to move – so location close to markets is arguably the most important source of competitive advantage,” Young told

“Our analysis shows that shipping H2 from Mongolia to China by pipeline would cost ~10% of the cost of liquefying and shipping it by boat from distant countries like Australia. If our view is correct, then we expect many others to follow us – the renewable resources available are massive in scale – as is the potential market in China in the decades to come,” he added.

Mongolia has only a small electricity grid – ~1,000 MW – with limited interconnection to Russia and China. A number of grid-scale wind and solar farms are already present in the system – but the immediate scope for more will need to await more energy storage to back them up and/or higher inter-country interconnectivity.

There was no specific legislation on green hydrogen in Mongolia

Today (14 February), Mongolian Government has scrapped almost all remaining Covid-19 restrictions, but keeping face mask, hand sanitizing and the one-metre rules. Majority of measures that have been in place for almost three years are now lifted. Mongolia is the one of the continent’s highest uptake of booster vaccines, which has helped keep the number of seriously ill people well below the previous peak.

All levels of educational institutions in Mongolia has resumed in-person classes starting from today. Now, Mongolia opens its borders fully to foreign travellers. Previously, the Central Asian country reopened its air border to resume international passenger flights on June, 2021 after more than a year of closure because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On same day, Mongolia has downgraded emergency levels related to Covid-19 from orange to yellow. The four levels are represented by a color and lays out detailed rules and guidelines for operations and activities to be carried out by government organizations, individuals and private businesses under each level.

1. Green Level – Guidelines for the green level transmission are issued when the country has gone 28 days straight with zero COVID-19 cases. Operations of public and private organizations and individuals are not suspended, only health preventative guidelines and recommendations are in place.

2. Yellow Level – issued when the coronavirus cases registered in the past 14 days are ‘imported’ from abroad and taken under control or the local cases confirmed in the past two weeks are not directly related to each other in terms of their timing and locations. Under the Yellow Level transmission, complete or partial heightened state of readiness is declared and operations of public and private organizations and individuals are restricted to a certain extent.

3. Orange Level – issued when cluster infections are confirmed and local cases recorded in the past 14 days are related to each other in terms of their timing and locations. Under the Orange Level transmission, complete or partial heightened state of readiness is declared and operations of public and private organizations and individuals are restricted to a certain extent depending on the situation.

4. Red Level – issued when large-scale community infections of COVID-19 are recorded, positive coronavirus cases recorded in the past 14 days are found to have been virally transmitted among general population or the cluster source of 25 percent of newly confirmed cases cannot be identified or mortality rate per 10,000 people is higher than 0.1. Under the Red Level transmission, all-out readiness regime is issued in full or partial manners and operations of public and private organizations and individuals are restricted and special measures for lockdown and quarantine are implemented.

The country has been one of the most cautious countries on the risks of COVID-19, putting in place toughest restrictions. The country of three million shut its borders with China on 27 January 2020 and closed all schools, kindergartens and public gatherings as preventive measures against the COVID-19 outbreak.

Today, on Feb 14, 2022 H.E.Mr. Jan Vytopil Ambassador of Czech Republic and Mr. Ser-Od Ichinkhorloo Founder/CEO of MBD (Mongolian Business Datasase) signed the contract for PROPEA (Czech Business Support) project in Mongolia.

The long-term goal of the PROPEA program is:

 provide quality services to Czech companies on foreign markets,

 reduce Czech companies' risks associated with entering demanding foreign markets,

 to support Czech companies in the future, whose activities abroad are not limited to exports, but rather have an investment character,

 strengthen the capacity of the Czech Republic to support a more permanent presence of companies in foreign markets.

The PROPEA program is funded by inter-ministerial funds to support economic diplomacy. The services provided within the PROPEA projects are cost-effective for companies and, namely, in Mongolia they represent a supplement to the individual services provided by the embassy, inter alia, in the form of PROPED economic diplomacy projects. 70% of the PROPEA budget subsidizes 70% of the price of the service, the remaining 30% is co-financed by interested Czech companies. The complete tariff of services that Czech companies can use within PROPEA projects contains the following items:

 elaboration of a business plan for market entry or investment,

 preparation of legal, tax, financial and legislative analysis,

 launching products on the market (assistance in negotiations with financial institutions, support in setting up an account and securing financing, setting up a company, etc.),

 securing licenses, certifications, product registrations and trademarks,

 provision and verification of documentation for import / export and logistics,

 creation and coordination of supplier and partner networks,

 provision of promotional, marketing and PR services,

 start-up / start-up support for service companies use of technical background,

 Representation of the company on the spot (on a commercial contractual basis between a Czech company and a foreign representative, without financial support from the PROPEA budget).

Big banks are pumping billions into new oil and gas production despite net zero pledges, campaigners have said.

Banks including HSBC, Barclays and Deutsche Bank are still backing new oil and gas despite being part of a green banking group, ShareAction said.

Investors should force banks to demand green plans from fossil fuel firms before funding them, it said.

HSBC and Barclays said they were focused on achieving environmental goals.

"Net zero" means not adding to greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere by cutting and trying to balance out emissions.

If the Earth is to avoid damaging environmental effects, including more extreme weather, it needs to limit average global warming to below 1.5 degrees centigrade.

To achieve this, we need to get to net zero by 2050, experts have said.

As part of getting to net zero, the International Energy Agency has said there should be no new oil and natural gas fields.

But big banks are continuing to fund oil and gas expansion with billions of dollars, ShareAction said, despite being part of a UN-led group called the Net Zero Banking Alliance.

What is net zero and how are the UK and other countries doing?

Is a new oil field climate change hypocrisy?

HSBC put an estimated $8.7bn (£6.4bn) into new oil and gas in 2021, while Barclays put in $4.5bn, and Deutsche Bank loaned $5.7bn, the campaign group estimated.

The fossil fuel giants receiving the funding included Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, and Saudi Aramco.

This is a big drop from 2020, when HSBC alone pumped more than $18bn into new oil and gas, and there were big drops in funding across the board between 2020 and 2021, according to figures from consultancy Profundo.

ShareAction said this was due to banks focussing on providing pandemic-related loans to keep fossil fuel firms afloat during the pandemic, and that in 2021 funding returned to pre-pandemic levels.

'Lose-lose'

Since joining the Net Zero Banking Alliance last year, 24 big banks have provided $33bn for new oil and gas projects, with more than half of that amount ($19bn) coming from four of the founding members - HSBC, Barclays, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank, the campaigners said.

ShareAction urged big investors to demand that banks restrict finance for oil and gas expansion, saying funding new oil and gas is a lose-lose for banks and investors.

Xavier Lerin, ShareAction senior research manager, said: "If oil and gas demand decreases in line with 1.5C scenarios, prices will fall and assets will become stranded.

"On the other hand, if demand does not fall enough to limit global warming to 1.5C, the economy will suffer from severe physical climate impacts.

"Either way, value will be destroyed for energy companies, banks and their investors."

The campaign group added: "Banks say that they want to help their clients to transition away from fossil fuels, but there is little evidence for this claim."

"Most banks - HSBC included - are not demanding transition plans from clients, raising doubts about their commitment to this transition," it added.

But an HSBC spokesman said the bank was "committed to working with our customers to achieve a transition towards a thriving low carbon economy".

The bank published its policy to phase out funding coal for energy production in December, and said its oil and gas net zero financing plans would be published on 22 February in its annual report.

Barclays said it "continues to engage with a broad range of stakeholders on climate and sustainability topics".

"We continue to focus on our ambition to become a net zero bank by 2050, and our commitment to align our financing with the goals and timelines of the Paris Agreement," a spokeswoman said.

Barclays has a target of a 15% reduction in financed emissions from energy, including coal, oil and gas, by 2025.

"We also have restrictions around the direct financing of new oil and gas exploration projects in the Arctic or financing for companies primarily engaged in oil and gas exploration and production in this region," the spokeswoman added.

A Deutsche Bank spokesman said: "Carbon intensive sectors account for only a small share of our loan book and based on publicly available data our lending and underwriting activity in fossil fuels is significantly smaller than global peers'.

"Moreover, our aim is to support all of our customers as we transition to a net zero world."

Deutsche Bank said it was "well under way" to hitting green and social targets of €200bn (£170bn) by 2023, including "an intense dialogue with clients to move from high-carbon business models towards low and no-carbon ones".

The spokesman added: "We have committed to align the operational and attributable emissions from our portfolio with pathways to net-zero by 2050 or sooner.

"This includes measuring and subsequently disclosing the carbon intensity of our loan portfolio and developing and disclosing plans to adjust its footprint in accordance with national and international climate targets by end of this year."

BNP Paribas, which was also named in the ShareAction report, said: "As the leading bank in continental Europe, BNP Paribas is a major financier of European energy companies that are largely committed to transitioning their model through strong investments in developing renewable energies."

The bank said it is "convinced that these players, due to their technical and financial capacities, have the levers necessary to accelerate transition by developing renewable energy and other transformative solutions".

'Investment needed'

Meanwhile, oil giant Exxon Mobil said that the International Energy Agency and the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change "agree that significant investment in oil and gas is still needed in Paris-aligned scenarios".

It said that even in the IEA net zero scenario, "additional investment of approximately $11tn through 2050 would be required in both oil and natural gas development to meet the world's energy demand".

BP said it "has a net zero ambition and we have set out a strategy to deliver it".

"Resilient hydrocarbons are a core part of our strategy, but we are not aiming to grow our oil and gas production - we expect to see production fall 40% from 2019 to 2030.

"We expect to hold investment in oil and gas flat over this decade as output falls, while at the same time expanding our spending in transition growth businesses - including EV charging, convenience, renewables, hydrogen and bioenergy - to around 50% of the total by 2030," BP added.

Shell declined to comment, and Saudi Aramco was approached for comment.