SHANGHAI -- The world is expected to see the commercialization of 6G around 2030, said a report released on Sunday.

The next-generation mobile communication technology will integrate with advanced computing, big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain, according to a white paper issued by the IMT-2030 (6G) Promotion Group that was established in June 2019 under the guidance by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The report said the 6G network will realize the deep integration of the real physical world and the virtual digital one, and build a new world of "intelligent connection of everything and digital twin."

According to the report, the international organization on telecom technologies 3GPP is expected to initiate the research and development (R&D) of the 6G international technical standard by around 2025 before the expected commercialization around 2030.

China granted 5G licenses for commercial use and started 6G R&D in 2019. The country has proposed making forward-looking layout in 6G technology.

The ever-changing Torey Lakes are a wetland paradise. Two large lakes and more than 300 smaller bodies of water in the Torey Depression support 305 bird species and 42 mammal species, as well as reptiles, amphibians, fish and more than 590 species of insects. Many of these are rare and threatened, and endemic to the region.

Located in Russia, on the border of eastern Mongolia, the lakes are an important stopover point for migratory birds.

The Torey Lakes are the core of the Landscapes of Dauria, a transboundary area that straddles Russia and Mongolia. In 2017 it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as “an outstanding example of the Daurian steppe ecosystem”. Covering more than 9,000 square kilometres, its steppe landscapes are connected by the tiny Ulz river, which sustains the wetlands and lakes.

Drought and deluge

The Dauria steppe has distinct wet and dry periods. Every 25-40 years the Ulz river floods and fills the Torey Lakes. Then, over years, the lakes dry until they are again replenished. This force shapes the ecosystems and people of the region.

At the peak of the wet phase, thousands of ephemeral lakes appear across the steppe. The flood waters trigger a new cycle of life and provide habitat for a huge diversity of life.

Smaller, more frequent floods sustain core areas. The most stable floodplain wetlands of Dauria are life-support systems for wildlife and humans through all phases of the climate cycle. The last filling of the Torey Lakes by the Ulz started in autumn 2020.

During the dry phase all small rivers, most of the springs and up to 98% of lakes disappear. The Torey Lakes take about two decades to dry up completely, and are filled again by Ulz river floods after several consecutive high-water years. These ‘pulsating’ water bodies create a dynamic mosaic of habitats rich in biodiversity. Wildlife migrates and changes with the fluctuating landscape.

Threat of infrastructure projects

The area’s future as a biodiversity hotspot is by no means assured. The Ulz River Basin Management Plan proposes the construction of reservoirs for agriculture and “environmental needs”. It was supported by the United Nations Development Programme and a USD 5.5 million grant from the Adaptation Fund, which finances projects that help developing countries adapt to climate change.

In response, the Russian-Mongolian Environmental Cooperation Commission, which oversees cooperation on agreements regarding environmental protection, stated that maintaining the natural fluctuation of the water cycle is key to preserving the World Heritage Site. Objections to the early damming plans were also voiced at working meetings of Dauria International Protected Area, a 25-year-old trilateral coordination mechanism between China, Russia and Mongolia that brings together research, monitoring, education and other activities for the Darusky, Mogol-Daguur and Hulun (Dalai) protected areas.

Nevertheless, in 2020 Sh. Myagmar, head of Mongolia’s Water Authority, declared: “The first thing we implement is to restore the flow of the Ulz river, which has been dry over the past decade.” The Ulz is included in the Blue Horse programme: Mongolia’s nationwide masterplan for water infrastructure development.

In summer 2020 construction of a dam across the Ulz river upstream of the World Heritage Site started.

The reservoir will hold 27 million cubic metres of water. This is 20% of the river’s average annual flow, and more than five times the annual flow during the dry phase of its cycle. Evaporation from the reservoir could mean 7-9 million cubic metres of water is lost annually, which will deplete the flow significantly in dry years.

The Mongolian government started the construction without notifying neighbouring Russia or submitting a transboundary heritage impact assessment to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. This violates bilateral treaties and key requirements of the Ramsar and World Heritage conventions. The Third Pole invited the Permanent Delegation of Mongolia to UNESCO to comment on these concerns; a response had not been received till the time of publication.

The project’s stated objective is to support the ecological flow of the Ulz river. But the forces of nature, during the current water-abundant phase of the climate cycle, will restore the flow naturally. This fact was fully recognised in Mongolia’s submission to UNESCO in April 2021.

When the dry phase comes, the dam project may degrade key habitats and prevent the successful reproduction of endangered wetland species, such as the white-naped crane, swan goose and relic gull.

In 2020, the International Union for Conservation of Nature assessed the conservation outlook for the Landscapes of Dauria. It concluded that dam construction on the Ulz river upstream of the site “is potentially a very serious threat to the natural water regime and habitat integrity of key wetlands”. It said an environmental impact assessment is urgently needed.

BY: Eugene Simonov

Eugene Simonov is a Russian environmentalist who co-founded the Rivers Without Boundaries Coalition. He has created a network of stakeholders interested in river conservation along the China-Mongolia border.

Mongolia, which has been closed for more than a year due to COVID-19, has reopened for approved scheduled international flights since June 1, 2021, the official Mongolian News Agency reports.

The Mongolian Cabinet announced the decision to reopen on May 31. The country suspended international passenger flights in mid-February last year to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Mongolian nationals could now travel to more than ten countries with open borders, including Turkey, the United States, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Greece, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil, Egypt, and India. However, only citizens who had received two doses of the COVID vaccine would be allowed to leave the country.

To increase the number of countries where Mongolians could travel, the government would issue certificates to citizens who have been vaccinated and hold diplomatic talks with China, Russia, South Korea, Kazakhstan, the UK, and Hungary, the news agency reported.

National carrier MIAT - Mongolian Airlines (OM, Ulaanbaatar) made no official announcement about the restart of its flights but has scheduled one return flight a week between Ulaanbaatar and Seoul Incheon, South Korea from June 5, 2021, using a B737-800, the ch-aviation schedules module reveals. No flights are, however, as yet bookable on the company's website.

FlightRadar24 ADS B-data reveals the movements of a MIAT B737-800, JU-1015 (msn 41318), between Ulaanbaatar, Seoul, Ekaterinburg, and Frankfurt Int'l in May. MIAT also converted select aircraft in its fleet into makeshift freighters for cargo flights during the pandemic while international passenger services remained grounded.

Hunnu Air (MR, Ulaanbaatar) appears to have conducted domestic flights between Ulaanbaatar, Ulaangom, and Ulgit, using ATR72-500, FlightRadar24 ADS-B data shows. The airline conducted repatriation flights to Delhi Int'l and Kabul during the pandemic, according to information on its website.

A total of 11 media organizations are expected to observe Mongolia’s presidential election on June 9, an official from the General Election Commission (GEC) said today.

In addition, an election observation team appointed by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), composed of 11 members representing 8 countries, will also work throughout the election. On May 25, the ODIHR formally opened a special election assessment mission (SEAM) for the presidential election in Mongolia, following an official invitation from the national authorities.

According to the ODIHR, the mission is headed by Lolita Čigāne (Latvia), and consists of a team of nine international experts based in Ulaanbaatar. The mission will assess the election for its compliance with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation. Observers will look closely at fundamental aspects of the election such as voter and candidate registration, campaign activities and the media coverage of the campaign, the work of the election administration and relevant state bodies, implementation of the legal framework, and the resolution of election disputes.

Speaking to reporters on the preparation to the tomorrow’s nationwide polls, Chairman of the GEC P.Delgernaran informed that foreign diplomatic missions in Mongolia, including the United Kingdom, United States, Japan and Russia have applied to observe the election. He also said the Philippines, who use the same automated election system as Mongolia, also deployed their election monitors to observe the election.

Earlier, the GEC reported that four local non-government organizations of Mongolia had been approved to conduct independent observation of the election.

Nationwide polling will continue between 7 AM and 10 PM of June 9, Wednesday.

Mongolia goes to the polls on Wednesday to choose its sixth democratically-elected president, with the ruling Mongolian People’s Party (MPP) on the cusp of consolidating its power following a low-key campaign crimped by COVID-19 curbs.

The vote is the first after constitutional amendments stripped the office of some of its powers and limited holders to a single six-year term, so keeping incumbent Khaltmaa Battulga of the opposition Democratic Party from seeking re-election.

Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, forced to resign as prime minister after protests this year, is the favourite to take over the presidency for the MPP, which already controls parliament and government.

The Democratic Party is fielding Sodnomzundui Erdene to replace Battulga.

Campaign events in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, have been kept to a minimum as it battles COVID-19. Daily infections hit a record over the last week and Mongolia's deaths stand at 325.

"Because of coronavirus there is very little election campaign information, and I will probably decide at the time," said a 22-year-old voter, Ganbayar Gantulga.

About 1,000 of Khurelsukh's supporters held a rally outside a concert hall on Saturday, but he moved his campaign online a few hours later after his Labor Party rival Dangaasuren Enkhbat, the third election candidate, tested positive for coronavirus.

Mongolia's hybrid political system gives parliament the power to make laws and appoint governments, but it also gives the president a veto over legislation.

Voters usually chose opposition party candidates as president. Although winners must relinquish party allegiance, they have tended to block legislation on party lines, creating political deadlock that some say has held back the country.

Although businessman and former wrestler Battulgahe failed to overturn the decision to exclude him from this year's elections, he remains popular among some voters.

"Battulga has done quite a lot for the people," said Tsetsegmaa Khasbat, a 67-year-old retiree. "He is a person who can get things done."

However, others have been disillusioned by his failure to take on the ruling elite, said Enkhtsetseg Dagva, elections programme manager at the Open Society Forum, a non-government group.

"Battulga struck deals with the current MPP that were detrimental to Mongolia's democracy," she said.

The MPP-controlled parliament agreed to give Battulga authority to sack and replace judges and anti-graft officials, which critics saw as part of a wider power grab.

Neither the party nor Khurelsukh responded to Reuters' requests for comment.

"MONGOLIA WITHOUT DICTATORSHIP"

The Democratic Party's campaign slogan this year is "Mongolia without Dictatorship", and candidate Erdene told Reuters that an MPP victory would see the country shift further towards a one-party state.

"Today if you are not a member (of MPP), if you are not affiliated to the ruling party, it is no longer possible to do business as you choose, study what you choose and live in the way you choose."

Both major parties have accused each other of undermining Mongolia's 30-year-old democracy.

"Both parties are right," said Sumati Luvsandendev, a political analyst and pollster with the Sant Maral Foundation, a Mongolian consultancy.

"Both sides are 'undermining democracy' and it is not easy to say which side is doing better."

Sumati said he expected the MPP to emerge victorious.

“The (Democratic Party) campaign doesn’t exist, while outsider Enkhbat is doing quite well in consolidating protest votes in urban areas...(but) his chances against the mighty MPP system are very little,” he said.

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Serbia’s President, Aleksandar Vucic, may seek voter approval for Rio Tinto’s Jadar lithium project near the city of Loznica, in western Serbia, as community opposition grows.

Speaking on local TV on Monday, Vucic said the government fully supports the project, which could become Serbia’s second largest export earner once developed. He also said his administration won’t let it happen if it doesn’t get the people’s approval first.

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Jadar has been facing local opposition due to heritage issues. Its footprint covers the area around Paulje, a Bronze Age archaeological site, as well as several classified natural monuments.

“This part of Jadra and Radjevina has been inhabited for more than 8,000 years and no one will drive us away,” activist Marija Alimpić told local media. “We give our vote to nature and there is no referendum, nor profit that is above nature,” she said.

Community group Ne Damo Jadar, which comprises 350 local property owners, says the planned underground lithium mine would force people out of the area and carries potential impacts to forests and water.

Ne Damo Jadar says Rio’s proposal covers 22 villages and mining is to occur under two riverbeds, both of which are prone to flooding.

“We own land with archaeological remains dating back to the Bronze Age and the area also contains classified natural monuments,” Ne Damo Jadar member Marijana Petkovic, said last month at a rally in front of Rio Tinto’s offices in Serbia.

“How can Rio Tinto’s CEO be serious about making protecting cultural heritage a centre-issue, when at the same time in Serbia the company wants to develop a mine that will swallow-up natural monuments and heritage dating back to the 14th century BC?” Petkovic said.

Coordinated protests against the proposed mine were held in April in London, at the time of Rio’s annual general meeting, as well as at the miner’s offices in Belgrade and Washington DC.

Jadar, discovered by Rio Tinto geologists in 2004, is one of the largest greenfield lithium projects currently in development. It has the potential to produce about 55,000 tonnes of battery grade lithium carbonate.

In 2020, Rio approved an almost $200 million investment to complete the final phase of a feasibility study that is expected to be finalized this year, with a final decision to follow.

Both products expected from the project – lithium and borates – play important roles in a more energy-efficient future. The first is widely regarded as “key” ingredient in the making of the batteries that power electric vehicles (EVs) and high tech devices. Borates, in turn, are used in insulation in fibreglass and wind turbines.

Sourcing Europe

Jadar mine would supply mainly the European market, one of the world’s largest growing EV markets.

In only three years, British car makers will have to source local electric car batteries as set by the Brexit free trade deal inked in 2020.

Under the agreement, all European trade in cars and parts will continue to be free of tariffs or quotas after the Brexit transition period ended on December 31, as long as they contain enough content from either UK or EU factories.

Batteries will at first be allowed to have up to 70% of materials from countries outside the EU. From 2024 onwards, that requirement will tighten to 50%.

The EU is currently constructing large-scale battery cell factories. European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic has said that by 2025, the planned facilities would produce cells to power at last six million electric vehicles.

In September 2019, the UK government launched the Faraday Battery Challenge as part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF), to spur research and innovation.

Li4UK (Securing a Domestic Lithium Supply Chain for the UK) was one of the projects to secure financial backing from the pioneering program, soon to open a fifth round.

Rio has said it plans to start production in 2023, assuming that feasibility studies confirm Jadar’s viability and all necessary approvals are obtained.

At the regular press briefing of the Ministry of Health today on June 8, it was reported that 1,267 new cases were detected in Mongolia after testing 9,631 people nationwide within the past 24 hours. More specifically, 962 new cases were detected in the capital city, with 305 cases in rural regions.

As of today, the total number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in Mongolia now stands at 67,710. In the past 24 hours, 632 patients made recovery, bringing the total recoveries to 54,713.

Furthermore, five new COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, raising the country's death toll to 318. Of the 6,423 patients currently undergoing treatment, there are 3,892 patients in mild, 1,892 in serious, 506 in critical, and 133 in very critical condition.

The nationwide polls for the 2021 presidential election of Mongolia are about to begin in less than 24 hours - at 7 AM, June 9, Wednesday. Election campaigning for Mongolia’s presidential election has officially ended at 12 AM, June 8, after running for 15 days, with the election silence period now launched.

Candidates - U.Khurelsukh from the Mongolian People’s Party, S.Erdene from the Democratic Party and D.Enkhbat from the Right Person Electorate Coalition - are vying for the presidency. Throughout the campaigning period, the three candidates had travelled throughout the country to meet with voters and undertake campaign activities, including distribution of promotional materials to voters, political advertising on radios, TVs and online, outdoor billboard advertisements and operating campaign offices.

On June 5, Saturday, candidate from the Right Person Electorate Coalition D.Enkhbat tested positive for coronavirus while touring across rural aimags for political campaigning. He cancelled all of his future campaign activities and arrived in Ulaanbaatar for mandatory isolation and treatment at a state hospital. With urging from the Right Person Electorate Coalition, with one seat in the current parliament, the Mongolian People’s Party’s candidate office also agreed to move their presidential campaign online amid the increasing transmission rate of COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

On June 7, the Mongolian National Broadcaster - public service broadcaster of Mongolia, which had been planning to hold a presidential debate on the evening of the same day, announced that it was cancelling the only presidential debate for the 2021 election.

There are a total of 2,151,329 eligible voters registered to vote for the presidential election on the polling day, which is to run from 7 AM to 10 PM of June 9. Out of them, 1,009,755 voters are in Ulaanbaatar city and 1,141,574 voters in the rest of the country.

Mobile voting using sealed ballot boxes are currently underway today, beginning from 9 AM to run until 8 PM, with election officers accompanied by observers and security officers are carrying sealed mobile ballot boxes to the places of residency of the voters. In accordance with the law on presidential election, voters, who are unable to come to the polling station by themselves are allowed to be polled through a mobile box on the day before the polling day.

Those voters include people, who cannot come to the polling station in person due to their health conditions, who are undergoing public mobilization, who are apprehended, detained, or convicted due to administrative offences or who are apprehended or imprisoned due to legal procedure, and who are serving at army and border troop units. The ballot boxes will be opened on the actual polling day and the ballot papers will be put into the voting machines tomorrow morning at the same time of the launch of the polls.

As reported by the General Election Commission, there are 25,619 voters who are eligible for mobile voting, including around 7,000 people who are staying under compulsory isolation at home or hospitals due to COVID-19 infection or coming into close contacts with COVID-19 patients. The presidential election for 2021 is the first election to enable those under COVID-19 isolation to vote, as approved by the government’s temporary regulation on prevention of COVID-19 during the 2021 presidential election.

By the presidential election law, sales and serving of alcoholic beverages between June 8 and 10 will be prohibited as well as any art and cultural performances and sports tournaments involving a large groups of people will not be organized during these days.

For the presidential election, the candidate winning more than 50 percent of the votes cast is awarded the contested seat. If no candidate secures a majority in the first round of the tomorrow's election, another round will be organized with two candidates with the most votes. With latest amendments to the Constitution of Mongolia made in December 2019, the new president will be appointed for a single six-year term, instead of the renewable four-year term.

The Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has said he will fly to space with his brother on the first human flight launched by his space company, Blue Origin.

In an Instagram post, Mr Bezos said space flight was something he had wanted to do "all my life".

Blue Origin is also auctioning off a seat in the capsule, for someone who will join the pair on the inaugural manned flight.

Jeff Bezos is one of the world's richest people.

He has a net worth of $186.2bn (£131.5bn), according to Forbes magazine.

"On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother," he wrote in the Instagram post. "The greatest adventure, with my best friend."

Mr Bezos's brother Mark called it a "remarkable opportunity" in the video.

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Bidding for a seat on the New Shepard - the name of the Blue Origin vehicle - had reached $2.8m when Mr Bezos announced his plan to take the flight. The auction concludes on 12 June.

The New Shepard booster can land vertically on the ground after returning from space. It is named after Alan Shepard, the second person and first US citizen to fly into space.

According to Blue Origin's website the company plans to launch its passengers more than 100km (62 miles) above the Earth's surface, allowing them to experience microgravity. The six-berth capsule will return to Earth under parachutes.

The first manned flight comes just two weeks after Mr Bezos plans to step down as CEO of Amazon.

Instead he will serve as executive chairman of the e-commerce giant he founded 30 years ago in his garage, allowing him "time and energy" to focus on other ventures.

In observance of World Environment Day in Mongolia and to support the National Government to implement their ‘Vision-2050’ development policy to protect and increase the forest zones, People in Need INGO in cooperation with Czech Republic Embassy, and Caritas Czech Republic INGO planted trees in Bogd-Khan Mountain.

Caritas Czech Republic and People in Need (PIN) INGOs have implement numerous projects funded by the Czech Republic and European Union in Mongolia, most of which aim to protect the environment, avert climate change, and promote sustainable livelihoods.

“My wife and I are very pleased to take part in this event organized by two Czech NGOs operating in Mongolia. The Czech Republic has been cooperating with Mongolia in forestry for many years. Our experts from Mendel University and Forest Management Institute have provided Mongolian partners with tools for long-term forest development and management, methodology for identifying and registering forest stands with extraordinary genetic qualities, introduce an effective way for the production of reproductive material, and offer a complex approach to planting, including initial planning, soil preparation, effective planting and protection of seedlings and saplings. Mendel University in Brno has been training young Mongolian forestry experts and it will lead international university consortium in a bigger forestry project funded by the European Union as of this year.” said H.E. Jiri Brodsky, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Mongolia.