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.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the three candidates in the 9th June 2021 presidential election in Mongolia to voice their support for future press freedom reforms as the best way to improve public affairs transparency and combat corruption.

With presidential elections in Mongolia to be held on 9th June 2021, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges the three presidential candidates, Enkhbat Dangaasuren (Right Person Electorate Coalition), Erdene Sodnomzundui (Democratic Party), and Khurelsukh Ukhnaa (Mongolian People's Party) to commit to supporting future reforms strengthening press freedom and editorial independence, as the best way to improve the transparency of public affairs and combat the country’s endemic corruption.

“When Mongolian journalists can work independently from political or commercial pressure, including from their own boardroom, they will be able to more easily bring corruption cases to the attention of the public which will benefit the country’s democratic institutions,” says Cédric Alviani, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) East Asia bureau head.

Although Mongolia broadly respects the principles of press freedom and media pluralism, its media environment is plagued by conflicts of interest that hinder editorial independence. On 26th April 2017, a few weeks before the previous presidential election, Mongolian television stations replaced their normal programming with blank screens in protest against plans to increase the penalties for defamation, which they feared would force journalists into self-censorship.

Mongolia ranked 68th out of 180 in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index.

Osaka: A first half header from Mijiddorj Oyunbaatar saw Mongolia sign off their Group F campaign with a 1-0 win over Kyrgyz Republic on Monday in the second round of the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and the AFC Asian Cup China 2023.

The result is a setback for Kyrgyz Republic who missed out on the chance to go level on points with regional rivals Tajikistan in second and saw Mongolia avenge their 2-1 defeat in the first meeting between the sides in October 2019.

Due to a positive COVID-19 case among the squad that affected several playing and coaching staff, Kyrgyz Republic kicked off the tie with defender Aizar Akmatov pulling on the gloves in goal.

While Akmatov was untroubled for the opening quarter of an hour, on 17 minutes Baljinnyam Batbold should have tested the stand-in’s skills, but the Mongolia midfielder sliced his effort wide after pouncing on a loose clearance and driving into the area.

However just after the half hour mark, with their next significant chance on goal, Mongolia took the lead.

A fine in-swinging free-kick from the captain Tsend-Ayush Khurelbaatar found Oyunbaatar, and his header, ricocheting off Kyrgyz Republic defender Mustafa Iusupov, left Akmatov with no chance.

Gulzhigit Alykulov sought an immediate reply for the Central Asians, but after he worked space for a shot, lacked sufficient power to trouble Munkh-Erdene Enkhtaivan.

The second half began in much the same vein as the first as Kyrgyz Republic continued to control possession with Enkhtaivan needing to be alert to deny Alimardon Shukurov’s angled cross-cum-shot at his near post eight minutes after the restart.

Opportunities on goal remained at a premium but Kyrgyz Republic substitute Abai Bokoleev could have grabbed a share of the points with four minutes remaining only to be denied by a fine one-handed save from Enkhtaivan.

While Mongolia’s focus will now switch to the next stage of qualifying for AFC Asian Cup China 2023, Kyrgyz Republic will return to Yanmar Stadium Nagai to face Myanmar on Friday, before signing off their Group F campaign four days later against hosts Japan in Suita.

June 7 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia confirmed 1,177 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, raising the national count to 66,443, the country's Health Ministry said Monday.

A total of 6,248 samples were tested across the country in the past day, the ministry said in a statement, adding that the latest confirmed cases were local infections.

Meanwhile, 300 more patients recovered from the disease, taking the total recoveries to 54,081, while the deaths totaled 327, with two more fatalities registered over the past day.

The Asian country launched a national vaccination campaign against COVID-19 in late February, in a bid to inoculate at least 60 percent of its 3.3 million population against the coronavirus.

So far, more than 1,525,500 Mongolians have been fully vaccinated, according to the ministry.

The country reported its first imported COVID-19 case in March 2020 and confirmed its first locally transmitted case in November.

Bilateral trade between Russia and China saw significant growth in the first five months of the current year, the latest data from China’s General Administration of Customs shows.

According to the data, the total volume of trade between the two countries during the period amounted to $50.65 billion, marking year-on-year growth of 23.6%. In May alone, Russia-China trade turnover reached $10.449 billion.

Exports of Chinese goods to Russia increased by 35.3% to $22.921 billion, while imports of Russian products surged 15.4%, and reached $27.735 billion.

Mutual trade between the nations has returned to positive growth this year after pandemic-hit 2020 saw a nearly 3% year-on-year decline.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that despite the economic disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, trade between Russia and China still exceeded $100 billion, and reached $104 billion last year.

Putin added that Russia-China bilateral trade is expected to reach $200 billion by 2024.

China's imports grew at their fastest pace in 10 years in May, fuelled by surging demand for raw materials, although export growth slowed more than expected amid disruptions caused by COVID-19 cases at the country's major southern ports.

While a brisk recovery in developed markets has bolstered demand for Chinese products, a global semiconductor shortage, higher raw material and freight costs, logistics bottlenecks and a strengthening yuan have dimmed the outlook for the world's largest exporting nation.

China's exports in dollar terms in May grew 27.9% from a year earlier, slower than the 32.3% growth reported in April and missing analysts' forecast of 32.1%.

"Exports surprised a bit on the downside, maybe due to the COVID cases in Guangdong province which slowed down the turnover in Shenzhen and Guangzhou ports," said Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, adding that turnover at ports in Guangdong will likely remain slow in June.

Major shipping companies warned clients of worsening congestion at Shenzhen's Yantian port in Guangdong province after the discovery of several cases among port staff. read more

On the ground in Guangdong, factories have yet to report widespread capacity cuts over the outbreak but admitted efficiency issues as they tried to meet overseas demand.

Chen Linsheng, chief operating officer at Anlan, a Shenzhen-based manufacturer of skincare and beauty-care devices, told Reuters while there was no impact on production, staff are now subject to a series of COVID tests and not allowed back into the factory without a negative result.

"We are not allowed going out (of the city). We need to report in advance and cannot even go to Guangzhou or Foshan on our own," said Chen, adding that a lot of meetings have moved back online.

Besides the impact of COVID cases in Guangdong, the global chip shortage has started to hit all of China's export items related to semiconductors, said Iris Pang, Greater China chief economist at ING.

For example, auto processing products and parts, the biggest export item, fell 4% from a year earlier, Pang added.

Two-year average growth for exports dropped to 23.4% in May from 36.3% in April, pointing to weaker export momentum as the reopening of developed economies reduce demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) and work-from-home (WFH) products, analysts at Nomura said in a note.

At the same time, the currency's extended rally in recent weeks to near three-year highs against the dollar could further saddle U.S. consumers with higher prices.

PRICE-DRIVEN SURGE

Imports increased 51.1% on year last month in dollar terms, the fastest growth since January 2011 but slower than the 51.5% rise tipped by the Reuters poll.

However, that figure -- a gauge of import values, not volumes -- was partly flattered by hot raw materials prices with demand for commodities such as coal, steel, iron ore and copper driven by easing pandemic lockdowns in many countries and ample global liquidity.

Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics, said while import prices increased at a rapid pace, import volumes probably edged down in May.

"Once again, supply constraints are partly to blame – inbound shipments of semiconductors continued to drop back," he said. "So too did imports of industrial metals."

Indeed, iron ore futures dipped more than 3% on Monday as the trade data cast a shadow over demand prospects.

China posted a $45.53 billion trade surplus for the month, wider than the $42.86 billion surplus in April but less than the $50.5 billion expected.

The Biden administration is conducting a review of U.S.-China trade policy, ahead of the expiry of the Trump-era "Phase 1" deal at the end of 2021, which called for China to increase purchases of U.S. agricultural goods and manufactured products.

Since President Joe Biden took office in January, China has increased engagement with U.S. trade and economic chiefs. China's Vice Premier Liu He spoke with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen last week, just days after talks with U.S. Trade chief Katherine Tai.