The ex-spy-chief has been accused of breaching the laws on intelligence procedures by using torture to obtain confessions from defendants of the much-publicised murder case of the politician S.Zorig.

Following an investigation lasting two decades – in which there have been accusations of cover-ups and during which numerous people, including the victim’s wife, have been detained – Ts.Amgalanbaatar and two others were sentenced to 24-25 years in prison for the murder of S.Zorig, who was one of the heroes of Mongolia’s peaceful transition to democracy and a likely future prime-minister.

In 2003 B.Khurts organized a covert operation to kidnap Enkhbat Damiran from a restaurant in the French city of Le Havre, from where he was taken via Belgium to the Mongolian Embassy in Berlin, where he was drugged and returned to Mongolia. Here E.Damiran was subject to torture including being beaten in the liver with a pistol and an alleged mock execution in order to confess to the murder of S.Zorig; he died in custody. In September 2010 B.Khurts was arrested in London and put in Wandsworth Prison under a European Arrest Warrant issued by the German Government. Subsequently, German Chancellor Angela Merkel allowed him to return to Mongolia. Although, Ulaanbaatar issued an official apology for the E,Damiran abduction, B.Khurts continued to play an active public role and was considered for a diplomatic appointment.

The WB Task Team Leader in Mongolia expressed his hope that the bilateral energy cooperation will smoothly continue between the country’s new government recently formed after the general election and WB.

Showing his appreciation with the Bank’s investments and cooperation in the energy sector, Minister N.Tavinbekh expressed his views on the projects and programs the two sides will be working together on in the future.

The sides talked about speeding up the Second Energy Sector Project and the construction of 10 MWt solar power plant in Khovd aimag. Under the Second Energy Sector Project, a total of USD 54.4 million will be provided for Erdenet-Bulgan Energy Distribution Network SOE (USD 16.1 million), Baganuur Southeastern Region Electricity Distribution Network SOE (USD 25 million), and the National Electricity Transmission Network (USD 630 thousand) and some improvements will be made to reduce the losses of the distribution networks.

At the energy ministry's request, WB is carrying out a feasibility study into building hydro power plants and a completed study on a spot along the Kherlen River on which a hydro power plant could be built has been submitted. The WB side has also been informed of another spot found around the Baidrag River in Bayankhongor aimag that could be suitable for the project.

During today’s press briefing of the Operative Staff, Director General of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs L.Munkhtushig also noted that although the SEC had previously arranged to operate 11 charter flights in July to bring its citizens home, three more charter flights will be conducted thanks to the increase of the capacity of isolation facilities and other favorable conditions. As a result, repatriation activities are underway this month, with 14 charter flights to Mongolia on the plan to bring 2,445 citizens home. A total of 11,951 citizens have submitted their requests to return home immediately as of now.

The Mongolian Embassies started receiving requests of the citizens, who have wishes to return home, in March 2020. The number of requested citizens was over 3000 at that time, whereas the number has reached 11.951 by today. While the number of repatriated citizens on charter flights by air has exceeded over 14 thousand. Most of the citizens, who expressed their requests to arrive home, are in the Republic of Korea.

Furthermore, according to a directive given by Minister of Foreign Affairs N.Enkhtaivan on making information related to repatriation activities transparent, it has begun disclosing the names of citizens, who requested to return to their home country, to the public by an order of the date when their requests were submitted.

“Schedules on flights to be conducted in August 2020 are being developed based on the citizens’ requests. Final decision will be made at the SEC’s meeting, which will convene soon,” he added.

Musk noted on a second-quarter earnings call that the high price of electric car batteries continues to be one of the main hurdles for Tesla.

“The real limitation on Tesla growth is cell production at an affordable price. That’s the real limit,” he said, adding the company would expand its business with battery-partners Japan’s Panasonic Corp., China’s CATL and “possibly with others.”

The electric vehicles (EVs) maker’s primary battery technology is based on a blend of nickel, cobalt and aluminum (NCA). However, as it shifts away from using cobalt over ethical mining and cost concerns, Tesla is placing a greater emphasis on the need for a steady supply of nickel.

A reportedly signed deal between the Tesla and Glencore (LON: GLEN) in June has cast doubts on the company’s statement that it’s close to eliminating cobalt from its batteries altogether.

The contract would involve supplies of 6,000 tonnes of cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo for Tesla’s new Shanghai factory.

Nickel advantage
Using nickel in battery cells helps to make them energy-dense. This means that those batteries can be smaller, lighter and can make cars run further on a single charge.

Musk’s call for greater nickel mining comes as prices for battery materials, particularly the silvery-white metal, have hit historic lows in recent months.

Nickel dropped to a 14-month low of $10,865 a tonne CMNI3 in March, recovering since to $13,180. That’s still around 30% less than the prices reached in September, when nickel traded at five-year peaks.

“[Musk] needs nickel, so he hopes nickel prices will go lower and lower,” a Chinese nickel trader told Reuters. “Prices will not be impacted in the short-term because the market is in surplus.”

Supplies of battery-grade nickel, however, could run short as early as 2023, according to Bloomberg’s market research division. BNEF expects a tight balance in the next two to three years as lithium-ion battery demand picks up.

Tesla is expected to make announcements on its battery tech developments in September at its “Battery Day” event.

The brave NEMA officers have been saved 260 people since the patrol began on 10 June. The boat patrol has been implemented every summer season since 2010 for the safety of public. This year, heavy rain has resulted in the Tuul being swollen by fast-flowing flood water.

“The number of the people who want to stay on the river banks and cool off in the water has been increasing due to high temperatures across the country in recent day,” the agency said.

The boat patrol will be in service until 10 September when summer officially ends in Mongolia.

Meanwhile, one more patient has recovered from the disease, taking the total number of recoveries in the country to 214, NCCD director Dulmaa Nyamkhuu told a daily briefing.

As of Thursday, Mongolia has recorded 287 COVID-19 cases, all of which were imported, with no local transmissions or deaths reported. Enditem

Customers exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, including fever (37.8 degrees Celsius and above), coughs or difficulty breathing will be helped to reschedule their application submission for another day and will be advised to seek medical attention at the nearest healthcare facility of their choice.

Mongolia went into lockdown from 24 February and this intrepid German, like so many of his colleagues globally, had a bit of spare time on his hands. He was out horseback riding with the local representative of Germany’s cultural trade mission, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ). They hatched a plan to introduce Mongolia to a wider world via unique marketing at barely any financial outlay.

GIZ provided a Toyota Land Cruiser and VW Touareg and drove Bansemer and colleagues 300 kilometres to Dulaan Khan Village, in Selenge Province. The hotel’s team included its IT director and one of the signature Kempinski lobby hostesses (a lady in red), who took along her scarlet outfit for the actual streaming.

Mongolian villages consist of portable ger or yurt, felt-covered circular tents about 15 metres in diameter; as weather and animal migration demand, they can easily be moved. Dulaan Khan Village has nine such gers. One was given over for this project to Kempinski’s male team, another to ladies from the hotel and GIZ. Baggage included lots of tech equipment, plus a generator and a solar panel to supplement the village’s own power, which they correctly expected to be somewhat inconsistent.

For the first sessions, about 280 tuned in from all over the world. There were seven sessions, each 15-45 minutes long and all interactive. Kempinski’s corporate commercial director Amanda Elder has since widely shared how she was ‘chatting’ with a septuagenarian male, as he prepared such popular local Mongolian dishes as khorkhog, bits of lamb still on the bone cooked with onions over hot stones. The ‘Lady in Red’ translated throughout: all customer-facing employees at the 99-room hotel, currently housing diplomats and others stranded by closed borders, speak good English.

GM Dirk Bansemer is currently supporting, in 2021, a 10-week horseback expedition covering 3,000 kilometres from east to west of Mongolia, benefitting Misheel Kids Foundation

Mary Gostelow’s daily travelogue is at girlahead.com

Minister A.Ariunzaya underlined the timeliness of the Government’s COVID-19 response in social protection and that the United Nation’s support has been of great importance in the implementation of the economic stimulus measures. She also informed the Resident Representative of the adoption of the Vision 2050 long-term development policy document, while mentioning the country’s development policy planning law that requires short-, medium-, and long-term development policies, and undertook to place special emphasis on the implementation of SDGs.

Informing that as part of the assistance from the European Union, EUR 7.4 million technical assistance will be provided for Mongolia to support employment and the implementation of SDGs, Ms. Elaine Conkievich said it may become necessary to provide social protection for the citizens who work and study abroad, but have returned home due to COVID-19. “We are now joining our efforts to support employment and small and medium enterprises in pandemic response,” the Resident Representative said, undertaking to focus on domestic violence prevention and improvement of youth engagement in SDGs implementation in the future.