Trending on X, 10 AM: 2027 budget cuts, Nömrög, UN at 65, fuel and bus fares, Lula, Harry Kane, Korean border, Bilbao, Toshiba

These are the topics Mongolian users discussed most on X between 06:13 and 10:31 on October 27, ranked by engagement. Activity was relatively light in the morning hours, but nine topics checked against news sites made the list. Topics from earlier roundups were included only when there was a new development. Posts containing unverified claims or accusing named people without evidence were left out. Post metrics were taken at 10:30.

1. 2027 budget: MP J. Bayarmaa's proposal to cut 1.12 trillion togrog fails in standing committees (new development)

The most-engaged post of the morning concerned the debate on the 2027 budget. In a post tagged "#нийтийн_төсөв_2027" (public budget 2027), MP J. Bayarmaa criticized the draft as "hugely expanded" and seemingly "tailored to the election cycle", and said she had submitted amendments to cut a total of 1.12 trillion togrog. By her account, 662 billion togrog would come from 2027 funding for new investment projects, such as information, training and research centers, a building for the National Human Rights Commission, an extension for the Constitutional Court and archive buildings, and 458 billion togrog from current spending such as office rent, domestic travel and hospitality. She said the proposals had been voted down in standing committees, but some would be put to a vote again at the plenary session.

According to the national broadcaster MNB, the parliamentary subcommittee on budget expenditure oversight rejected 10 amendments from J. Bayarmaa and Ch. Lodoisambuu, including cuts of 36.1 billion togrog in office rent, 11.2 billion in transport and fuel costs, and 6.7 billion in hospitality spending. UBN also reported that the Budget Standing Committee is scheduled to discuss today the Prime Minister's answer to an interpellation from 10 MPs, led by J. Zoljargal, on the capital city's budget spending and investment.

2. Nömrög: Chinese firefighters' footage and the border agency chief's explanation (new development)

Cao Li, chargé d'affaires ad interim of the Chinese Embassy in Mongolia, posted a video in Mongolian and English of Chinese firefighters guiding wild animals to safety during the wildfire in the Nömrög Strictly Protected Area, saying he hoped the animals would soon return home. GolMedee.mn reported earlier that the fire stretched more than 330 km along the Mongolia-China border, and that Chinese rescue services worked for a week to keep it from spreading into China.

Elch.mn published remarks by J. Byambasüren, head of the General Authority for Border Protection, who said a border unit had given Mobicom staff a two-day permit to enter the protected area. As reported in an earlier roundup, Prime Minister N. Uchral on October 26 instructed the border agency chief to hold B. Gantögs, commander of unit 0198, accountable and dismiss him. Separately, the Mongolian Fact-Checking Center (MFCC) flagged a video of a herd of white-tailed gazelles caught in a fire as misleading: it was filmed during a 2023 wildfire but was being shared as footage from Nömrög. According to MFCC, the Nömrög fire broke out on October 8 and was fully extinguished on October 16.

3. Mongolia marks 65 years of UN membership

Many users noted that today, October 27, marks 65 years since Mongolia became a full member of the United Nations. Mongolia joined the UN as its 101st member on October 27, 1961. Economist R. Davaadorj shared an archive photo from the time, writing that from that day the world came to know Mongolia as a fully sovereign state. The state news agency MONTSAME marked the anniversary with a series of articles on Mongolia-UN relations, tracing the country's path from UN peacekeeping to a role in shaping global policy. In the week before the anniversary, events included a discussion of Mongolia's contribution to UN peacekeeping.

4. Fuel queues continue as intercity bus fares are set to rise from November 5 (new development)

Long queues at filling stations again frustrated users this morning. @Dulmaamaaa wrote that people were waiting in line all night and getting cold in cars that had stalled, and warned that running gas heaters inside cars is a fire risk. @Ironman_mn complained that stations pumping from a single nozzle were making the queues longer and slowing traffic across the city.

The new development is that the National Road Transport Center announced it will raise intercity public bus fares from November 5, 2026, citing higher gasoline and diesel prices and rising vehicle operating costs. According to iSee.mn and UBN, it has not yet said by how much fares will rise or on which routes. Politiko newspaper noted that rural bus fares were last raised on June 1, 2022. As of October 22, MNB reported that Mongolia had 10 days of AI-92 gasoline and 28 days of diesel in reserve.

5. Lula da Silva wins a fourth term as Brazil's president

In Brazil's presidential runoff on October 25, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won 51.79 percent of the vote, defeating Flávio Bolsonaro (48.21 percent) to secure a fourth term. Citing The Wall Street Journal, user @KhurelbaatarCh wrote that Flávio Bolsonaro had refused to accept the result. MONTSAME reported that Brazilian stocks fell after Lula's victory. Lula will begin his new term on January 5, 2027.

6. Harry Kane wins the Ballon d'Or

England captain and Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane has won the 2026 Ballon d'Or. According to BBC Sport, the 33-year-old is the first English player to win the award since Michael Owen in 2001. Last season he scored 61 goals in 51 matches for his club, and 73 in 65 matches including England games. Kylian Mbappé finished second and Lamine Yamal third, while Yamal became the first player to win the Kopa Trophy, awarded to the best player under 21, three years in a row. In the women's category, Alexia Putellas won for the third time.

7. North Korea places 122mm self-propelled guns near the border

News that North Korea had openly deployed 122mm self-propelled howitzers on the coast of Kaepung County, which borders South Korea, with their barrels pointed south, was also discussed by Mongolian users. According to South Korean media including Yonhap News TV and SBS, the guns were positioned about 1.5 km from the Aegibong observatory in Gimpo, and analysts described the move as a show of force rather than a concealed deployment. The guns have a range of 15 to 24 km, which could put parts of northern Gyeonggi Province within reach.

8. Protest turns into riots in Bilbao, Spain

Videos of a protest that turned violent in Bilbao, Spain, on October 26 were widely shared. According to Spanish media including RTVE and El País, after a planned event by right-wing activist and journalist Vito Quiles at the University of Deusto was called off, groups of masked people set fire to waste containers and several cars, attacked police and looted shops. Basque police arrested at least 19 people, including minors.

9. Toshiba begins manufacturing battery storage for a Darkhan substation

Japan's Toshiba said it has received an order for, and started manufacturing, an energy management system and battery storage to be installed at a substation in Darkhan under Mongolia's Project for Improvement of Power Supply, funded by Japanese government grant aid. According to the company, a 2 MW SCiB battery will work alongside 15.33 MWh of storage capacity and a 10 MW solar power plant, with operations planned for December 2027. The aim is to feed renewable power into the central grid more reliably.

Methodology: We ranked posts from about 200 major news and influential accounts found through X search, plus more than 50 keyword searches, by an engagement score (likes + 2× reposts + views/100), and checked the facts against news sites. Posts that could not be verified or that carried a risk of defamation were left out. Views expressed by individuals on X do not represent the position of egov.mn.