1.   Most recently, he served as the bishop of Abakan and Kyzyl, two towns in the Tuva region near the Mongolian border.

2.   The only other big veins of soda ash ore lie in a remote area of Turkey and in China near the Mongolian border.

3.   The Russians had hoped to free a herd near the Mongolian border, but funds dried up before they were able to finish the acclimatization corrals.

4.   The accident happened west of Chita, a city near the Mongolian border, it said.

5.   Two Bangladeshis on a Beijing-Moscow train were detained Tuesday after showing false passports at the Zabaikalsk checkpoint on the Mongolian border, ITAR-Tass said.

6.   A second team of US observers will fly Thursday to Ulan-Ude in southern Siberia, close to the Mongolian border.

7.   A second US delegation had been due to check an installation at Ulan Ude near the Mongolian border last week.