Electric car models to triple in Europe by 2021 www.bbc.com

The number of electric car models available to consumers in Europe is expected to triple by 2021, says a European environmental lobby group.

Boeing takes $5bn hit over grounding of 737 Max www.bbcc.com

Boeing is taking a $4.9bn hit to cover costs related to the worldwide grounding of its 737 Max aircraft.

The charge is set to wipe out profits when the world's biggest planemaker posts quarterly results next week.

In a statement, Boeing also said its "best estimate at this time" is that the aircraft will return to service in the last three months of this year.

A 737 Max crash in Indonesia in October, and another in Ethiopia in March, killed 346 people in total.

Boeing is facing one of the worst crises in its history after its best-selling aircraft was grounded worldwide after the disasters.

Crash investigators have concentrated their efforts on the aircraft's control system and Boeing has been working with regulators to roll out a software upgrade.

The manufacturer, facing intense scrutiny over the regulatory clearance for the aircraft to fly, has cut the monthly production rate from 52 to 42 as airlines hold off purchases.

Most of the $4.9bn charge will be used to compensate Boeing's customers for schedule disruptions and delays in aircraft deliveries.

"We are taking appropriate steps to manage our liquidity and increase our balance sheet flexibility the best way possible as we are working through these challenges," Boeing chief financial officer Greg Smith said in a statement.

Also in the same statement, Boeing chairman and chief executive Dennis Muilenburg, said: "This is a defining moment for Boeing. Nothing is more important to us than the safety of the flight crews and passengers who fly on our airplanes.

"The Max grounding presents significant headwinds and the financial impact recognised this quarter reflects the current challenges and helps to address future financial risks."

Cancelled flights
Boeing said it continues to work with aviation authorities to get the 737 Max back into the air, which it hopes will be in the fourth quarter of 2019.

But the statement added: "This assumption reflects the company's best estimate at this time, but actual timing of return to service could differ from this estimate."

Boeing also warned that if this timetable slips, and its anticipated resumption of deliveries to customers is delayed, that this "could result in additional financial impact".

However, in a speech on Thursday, the US transportation secretary appeared less certain that the aircraft would be cleared to fly again this year.

Elaine L Chao said the Federal Aviation Administration, "is following a thorough process, rather than a prescribed timeline... the FAA will lift the aircraft's prohibition order when it is deemed safe to do so." She was not referring directly to Boeing's statement.

Analysts knew that Boeing faced a heavy financial cost following the disasters and had been awaiting clarity. Boeing's share price rose 2% in after-hours trading on Wall Street after the announcement, a sign that investors are comfortable with the charge.

In April, Boeing halted share buybacks. The planemaker said that lowered production due to the grounding of the 737 Max fleet globally had cost it an additional charge of at least $1bn so far.

On Thursday, Southwest Airlines, the biggest user of the 737 Max, joined its US rivals in cancelling more flights until early November.

The move also prompted the low-cost carrier to freeze new pilot hiring.

China to boost imports of Russian soybeans, cutting out US crop exports www.rt.com

China’s Commerce Ministry said on Thursday that Beijing and Moscow are discussing ways to increase bilateral trade, particularly by increasing imports of Russian soybeans and other agricultural products.
Commerce Minister Zhong Shan met with Russian Minister for Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin this week. They agreed to “deepen trade in soybeans” as China looks to diversify supplies away from the United States.

Luxembourg's International Development Support for Mongolia Contributes to 50% Reduction in Infant Mortality www.chronicle.lu

The Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Action in Luxembourg's Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs has reported that Minister Paulette Lenert met Radnaabazar Altangerel, Ambassador of Mongolia in Belgium and Luxembourg on Thursday 18 July 2019.

Foreign workers in Mongolia increased by 4.8 thousand www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ At the end of second quarter of 2019, 9.7 thousand foreign workers from 95 foreign countries were employed with labour contract in Mongolia. Compared with the same period of previous year, the number of countries increased by 3, while the number of foreign workers increased by 90 people or 0.9 percent.

Mongolia's industrial output rises 12.6 percent in H1 www.xinhuanet.com

ULAN BATOR, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's industrial output reached 8.4 trillion Mongolian tugriks (3.12 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2019, a 12.6 percent increase year-on-year, the country's national statistics office said Thursday.

Kremlin Opens Door to Changing Constitution as Succession Looms www.bloomberg.com

The Kremlin raised the possibility of changing Russia’s constitution after a top lawmaker proposed bolstering parliament’s powers, in a move that could help to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule.

The idea of constitutional amendments, including allowing parliament a say in forming the government, received “a widespread response” and are “a matter for discussion,” Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on a conference call Wednesday.

Putin in 2024 must step down as president to avoid violating a constitutional ban on more than two consecutive terms. While he’s previously ruled out changing the constitution to remain as president, advisers are examining ways to effectively prolong his grip on power, which is already the longest since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

The Kremlin is considering changing the electoral system in an effort to secure its lock on the lower house of parliament in 2021 elections amid a plunge in popularity of the ruling United Russia party, according to people familiar with the preparations. Keeping a strong hold on the legislature, known as the State Duma, would widen Putin’s room for maneuver.

It could potentially allow him to switch roles to retain power as head of the ruling party and prime minister with expanded constitutional authority at the expense of the presidency, according to two people close to the Kremlin and a ruling-party legislator.

State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, a key Putin ally, used an op-ed article Wednesday in Parlamentskaya Gazeta, the official publication of parliament, to argue that Russia must fix the “lack of a necessary balance between the work of the legislative and executive branches.”

Selecting ministers
This means “at a minimum” allowing lawmakers to take part in selecting government ministers, and “this will require changes to the Constitution,” Volodin said. Currently, parliament votes to approve the prime minister and the government team he or she selects.

Volodin said he was arguing for only minor “targeted” changes that didn’t fundamentally alter the balance of power in Russia, and his article didn’t mention the succession issue.

While pro-government members of Parliament mostly backed the idea, one senior United Russia lawmaker urged caution and the head of the Kremlin’s human rights commission, Mikhail Fedotov, said he opposed any change to the constitution.

The Kremlin’s efforts to find alternative means of keeping Putin in power haven’t gotten very far.

Efforts to coax the leader of neighboring Belarus into a potential merger with Russia — which would enable Putin to take over as head of the united state — have floundered. Meanwhile, the move earlier this year by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to step down while retaining a foreign policy and security role isn’t seen by many as a realistic model in Russia because the new president could theoretically still challenge Putin.

Mongolia and Spain to develop cooperation in the field of environmental protection www.qazaqtimes.com

On July 17, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia B. Battsetsg received Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain in Mongolia, concurrently Rafael Deskallar, reports Montsame. R. Descallar noted that he was pleased to take part in the presentation of the book Spanish Stories, translated from Spanish into Mongolian in conjunction with the bookshop Intern. The ambassador also spoke about the planned work that will contribute to the expansion of Mongolian-Spanish relations and cooperation in the field of tourism, sustainable development and the environment, the organization of inter-MFA consultations in Madrid and the formation of new opportunities for Mongolian youth in learning Spanish. Vice-Minister B. Battseg supported the proposals and initiatives voiced by the Ambassador of Spain at the meeting and expressed her readiness to make efforts to develop bilateral cooperation.

President receives invitation to visit Kazakhstan www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev sent an invitation to the President of Mongolia Kh.Battulga to visit Kazakhstan.

The invitation was sent in the greeting to the President on the occasion of National Naadam holiday. The greeting reads, “On behalf of the people of Kazakhstan and my own behalf, please accept my sincere congratulations on the National holiday-Naadam. It is my pleasure to note that the friendly bilateral relations between our two countries is expanding. I am confident that the strong bilateral relations will flourish and strengthen for the good of the people of the two countries in the future. At the same time in order to stimulate friendly relations between our two countries, I would like to invite Your Excellency to visit Kazakhstan at any convenient for you time.”

On the occasion of National Naadam holiday, Kazakh Senate speaker Dariga Nazabayeva and Minister of Foreign Affairs Beibut Atamkulov also sent greetings to their Mongolian counterparts Parliament Speaker G.Zandanshatar and Foreign Minister D.Tsogtbaatar. 

Chinese domestic meat supply enough for rest of 2019 www.chinadaily.com.cn

Pork prices to continue rising in latter half of year as swine fever woes persist

The supply of meat can satisfy domestic demand in the latter half of the year as the decrease in pork production continues due to African swine fever outbreaks, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on Wednesday.

Tang Ke, chief of the market and economic information department at the ministry, said at a news conference that pork prices in China have kept rising since March, and at an accelerated pace recently.

The average wholesale price of pork－the most commonly consumed meat in China－reached 21.6 yuan a kilogram ($3.10) in June, an increase of 4.7 percent compared with that in May and a rise of nearly 30 percent compared with June last year, he said.

Prices of pork will continue rising in the latter half of the year as the effect of African swine fever on the industry becomes more prominent, Tang said.

More than 140 African swine fever outbreaks have been reported in China since the first outbreak in the country was reported in Liaoning province in August. The outbreaks have resulted in the slaughter of 1.2 million hogs for prevention and control, the ministry said earlier, adding that the frequency of the outbreaks has reduced greatly this year. The illness is deadly to pigs but there has been no report that the virus could affect humans, according to the ministry.

Xin Guochang, an information monitoring official at the ministry, said despite the overall transparency of information being disclosed regarding the outbreaks, it cannot be ruled out that some farmers deliberately concealed outbreaks from authorities for various reasons.

Tang said that due to the outbreaks, the stock of female pigs for reproduction in 400 counties under its monitoring decreased by nearly 6 percent in October year-on-year, higher than the warning line of 5 percent, and the decline has been accelerating since－reaching nearly 27 percent year-on-year last month.

It takes usually 10 months between the birth of a pig and the time that it's ready to be slaughtered for the market, he said.

"Reduction in the reproduction of pigs since October has made the pork supply problem more prominent, resulting in a sustained increase in prices," he said.

However, "the supply of meat in general will be guaranteed due to increasing production of other livestock meat, … and increasing imports of pork and its products," he said.

China is the world's largest producer and consumer of pork, which accounts for more than 60 percent of the total meat production in China, according to the ministry.

Zhu Zengyong, a researcher in pork industry at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, predicted the stock of pigs may stop declining and the number of female pigs used for reproduction will start to rebound gradually before the end of the year once there is greater control of African swine fever outbreaks.

With the decline in the supply of pork, consumption has also started to drop, partly due to the psychological effect of the virus, which has made some people reluctant to eat pork and so they turn to other meat, he said.

"The supply of alternatives to pork, such as poultry, will increase in the next two years, which will help ease the gap between the supply and demand of pork."