Gulf of Mexico oil production down by a quarter after Hurricane Harvey www.rt.com

The passage of Tropical Storm Harvey over the Gulf of Mexico resulted in about 22 percent of all US offshore oil production there being offline on Saturday, a rise of three percentage points since Friday.

The shortfall equates to roughly 377,117 barrels of oil per day fewer than the usual figure of roughly 1.75 million bpd pumped from the Gulf, according to the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).
About 23 percent of natural gas production in the gas, or about 748 million cubic feet per day, was also offline, the report said.
Operators evacuated 86 Gulf offshore platforms in preparation for Hurricane Harvey, compared to 737 manned platforms currently producing oil and gas in the area. Personnel were also pulled out from four out of the 10 mobile seabed-moored rigs operating in the Gulf while one dynamically-positioned rig was instead moved out of the storm’s path.
Earlier reports by BSEE suggested that the shortfall equated to 428,568 barrels of oil per day, or 25 percent of the total US offshore oil production in the region. Some 26 percent of the Gulf natural gas production went offline because of the hurricane, according to the same report, which amounts to about 835 million cubic feet per day.
The number of evacuated offshore platforms was initially put at 112.
Harvey was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm by the NHC late on Saturday. The largest storm to hit the United States since the disastrous Hurricane Katrina in 2005 has so far claimed three lives.

China to shut 6,000 non-coal mines by 2020 to improve safety www.reuters.com

BEIJING (Reuters) – China will shut 6,000 non-coal mines in an effort to reduce mining accidents and deaths by 2020, the State Administration of Work Safety said in a five-year plan.

Jeff Immelt of General Electric quits race to be Uber boss www.bbc.com

General Electric chair Jeff Immelt has ruled himself out of the race to become the new boss of taxi service Uber.

In a tweet, Mr Immelt said he had "decided not to pursue a leadership position at Uber".
Hewlett Packard Enterprise chief executive Meg Whitman is now reported to be "the most likely candidate".
Uber has been searching for a new chief executive since June after previous boss Travis Kalanick resigned following pressure from shareholders.
His resignation came after a chaotic few months at the firm and followed a review of practices there amid a series of scandals including complaints of sexual harassment, a macho culture and the departure of senior executives.
Ms Whitman has previously said she is not interested in the job, posting on Twitter that "I am not going anywhere. Uber's CEO will not be Meg Whitman."
However, the New York Times said she was "emerging as the likely candidate" to be selected as Uber's new chief.
She is currently president and chief executive of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, having split its computer and printer business (HP Inc) from its corporate hardware and services operations in 2014.
Under her tenure she has dramatically shrunk the firm, arguing a smaller firm is better able to compete with new start-up rivals.
Uber's eight-member board is expected to vote later on Sunday on the firm's new leader.

Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong jailed for corruption www.bbc.com

A court in South Korea has sentenced Samsung's billionaire heir-apparent Lee Jae-yong to five years in prison for corruption.
Mr Lee was convicted of bribery in a scandal that also saw the impeachment of South Korea's former president.
The case has gripped the public amid growing anger against South Korea's biggest companies, known as chaebols.
Mr Lee, who denied all charges, had faced a jail sentence of up to 12 years.
Also known as Jay Y Lee, the de facto head of the world's largest smartphone maker had been detained since February on a string of corruption charges.
These included bribery, embezzlement and hiding assets overseas.
What did he do?
The 49-year-old is accused of giving donations worth 41bn won ($36m; £29m) to non-profit foundations operated by Choi Soon-sil, a friend of South Korea's former President Park Geun-hye, in return for political favours.
Prosecutors said the donations were made to Ms Park's confidante to win government support for a big restructuring of Samsung that would strengthen Mr Lee's control over Samsung Electronics.
But Mr Lee's defence team said that the payments were signed off without his knowledge.

Mr Lee has previously admitted that the firm also gave a horse and money to help the equestrian career of Choi's daughter, Chung Yoo-ra, but denied seeking favours.
South Korea's presidential scandal explained
Is real reform possible at South Korea's chaebols?
The tragedy of South Korea's Park Geun-hye
His lawyer said on Friday they would appeal against the court's decision.
"We are confident the ruling will be overturned," lawyer Song Wu-cheol told reporters after the ruling, according to Reuters.
Who else is involved?
The case contributed to President Park's eventual impeachment and she now faces trial for corruption herself, something she denies.
Her friend Choi has already been jailed for three years after being found guilty of using her position of influence to solicit favours for her daughter.
On Friday, two other Samsung executives, Choi Gee-sung and Chang Choong-ki, were also convicted in the same trial as Mr Lee and sentenced to four years in prison.
Will Mr Lee serve his jail sentence?
Analysis - by the BBC's Yogita Limaye in Seoul
This isn't the first time a top executive of a big conglomerate has been convicted for corruption in South Korea.
But in the past, they've either been given suspended sentences or have been pardoned by the president.
The new president, Moon Jae-in, has already said there will be no more presidential pardons.

So if Mr Lee's sentence is upheld by higher courts and he ends up serving his complete sentence in jail or a significant part of it, that will be a departure from what we've seen in South Korea in the past.
And the new government says that will be a strong message to chaebols that they need to clean up the way they do business.
What does it mean for Samsung?
The conviction represents a huge blow to South Korea's biggest and most well-known business empire. Since the verdict, Samsung shares fell by 1%.
It also raises questions about the future leadership of the family-run conglomerate. Mr Lee has been standing in as chairman since his father, Lee Kun-hee, suffered a heart attack in 2014.
Mr Lee has two sisters, who are in management roles in different parts of the Samsung group, but it is unclear whether they could be brought in to higher positions.
Since Mr Lee's arrest six months ago, the group's business operations have continued largely unaffected.
Samsung Electronics posted a record profit of 11tn won for the latest quarter and the firm has released its new flagship Galaxy S8 smartphone, closing the book on the disastrous recall of the exploding Galaxy Note 7.
The Samsung Group, made up of 60 interlinked companies, is crucial to the South Korean economy, with sales equivalent to about a fifth of the national GDP.
The chaebol includes a shipbuilding division, a construction company, and pharmaceuticals and advertising arms. Other chaebols include LG, Lotte and Hyundai.

Spotify signs crucial Warner Music deal www.bbc.com

Spotify has signed a new licensing deal with Warner Music Group, paving the way for the music streaming service to go public.

Warner was the last of the three big record labels to agree to renewed terms to make its catalogue available to Spotify's 140 million users.
However, Spotify has been forced to agree to some limitations to get the labels to sign.
Artists and labels have in the past complained about minuscule revenue from steaming sites when compared to downloads or physical sales.
But with the deals with Sony, Universal and now Warner in place, Spotify is expected to float on the New York Stock Exchange as early as this year.
"Our partnership with Warner Music Group will help grow the new music economy where millions of artists can instantly connect with fans, and millions of fans can instantly connect with artists,” Spotify’s chief content officer Stefan Blom told the BBC.
'Inventive ways'
Posting on Instagram, Warner Music chief digital officer Ole Obermann said: "It's taken us a while to get here, but it’s been worth it, as we've arrived at a balanced set of future-focused deal terms.
"Together with Spotify, we've found inventive ways to reinforce the value of music, create additional benefits for artists, and excite their fans all over the world. Even with the current pace of growth, there’s still so much potential for music subscription to reach new audiences and territories.”
The “inventive ways” were not outlined, but if Warner Music’s deal is similar to those agreed with Sony Music and Universal, it is likely to include a clause allowing the labels to hold back certain songs from Spotify’s non-paying users for a limited period of time. Such a move would increase the royalties for artists who are unhappy at the lower earnings generated by streaming services.
Speaking about the Universal deal agreed in April, Spotify founder and chief executive Daniel Ek explained that "artists can choose to release new albums on premium only for two weeks, offering subscribers an earlier chance to explore the complete creative work, while the singles are available across Spotify for all our listeners to enjoy”.
According to the latest public figures, Spotify has 60 million paying customers - just under half of its entire user total. Its nearest competitor, Apple Music, has 27 million subscribers.
Spotify has long been expected to float on the New York Stock Exchange, but was holding off until the major deals were struck to offer clarity to investors over future expenses.
Reports suggest Spotify will not have an initial public offering (IPO) when it does go public.
Almost all companies IPO when going public to raise money and offer shares to more investors, but Spotify is expected to simply list on the NYSE without a sale. That tactic which would mean an increase in share value for its existing, private investors.

Solar smartphone charger created by Mongol engineer deployed on Seoul city www.news.gogo.mn

A solar-powered smartphone charger deployed on the street of Seoul city which called "Smart Tree" has created by N.Battulga, a Mongolian engineer. He spent eight years on implementing the idea of the charger and getting a copyright. 

N.Battulga`s partner Shin Yeun Ka, a representative of Korea Green Tech Co., Ltd, introduced his invention to the Mayor of Seoul. Later, on Aug 23, 2017, the charger was agreed to be installed in front of Seoul City Hall Plaza. 
Moreover, N.Battulga`s innovative technology which required a lot of hard work was highly appreciated by Tesla, Inc, an American automaker. Delegations of the Tesla met with N.Battulga in Laos in March 2017 to discuss cooperation possibility. 
The super capacitor solar smartphone charger is weather resistant and features solar panels. The charger not only charges the phone but it also lightens. Thus, "Smart Tree" can be used as a technology to reduce air pollution of the Ulaanbaatar city by lighting the streets and road signs, stopping the use of electricity.

Budget deficit reaches 347 thousand USD www.gogo.mn

As of July 2017, public revenue to Government amounted 1 billion 581 million USD (3 trillion and 899 billion MNT) while total expenditure and net lending amounted 1 billion 842 million USD (4 trillion and 488 billion MNT). 
Thus, the Government has a budget deficit of 348 million USD (848 billion MNT). 
The local budget has 59 million USD (143.5 billion MNT) and social insurance fund`s budget has 47 million (115 billion MNT) surplus respectively. 
Compared to the same period of previous year, public revenue to Government risen by 28 percent or 353 million USD (859 billion MNT) while total expenditure reduced by 10 percent or 216 million USD (525.4 billion). As a result, revenue growth is 38 percent higher than expenditure growth.

Japan eyes investment pacts with African nations www3.nhk.or.jp

Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono says Tokyo hopes to proceed with agreements with African nations with the aim of encouraging Japanese firms to invest in the continent.

Kono spoke at the opening ceremony of a ministerial meeting of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, or TICAD, in Mozambique on Thursday.

He pointed out the need to increase private-sector investments in Africa to help it achieve autonomous growth.

Kono said Japan plans to sign investment agreements with 13 countries, including Ethiopia and Ghana.

Apparently in reference to China's increasing maritime activities, Kono said maintaining a free and open maritime order under international law is the foundation of world peace and stability. He stressed that Japan intends to enhance the connection between Asia and Africa while ensuring free trade.

Kono told reporters that Africa needs quality infrastructure to achieve quality growth, and Tokyo needs to make the type of efforts that no other country can.

He said Japan hopes to help African countries, not only by building physical infrastructure, but by creating system in each country that unify people regardless of religion or tribe. Kono expressed hope that through such efforts, Japan will share a free and open maritime strategy throughout Asia and Africa, the fastest-growing continents in the world.

SUU JSC presents its 2017 semi-annual operational and financial report to public www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ "Suu" JSC, a Tier 1 listed company, presented its semi-annual financial and operational report to the public at MSE on August 24.

SoftBank invests additional $3 billion in shared-office startup WeWork www.reuters.com

(Reuters) - WeWork Cos said on Thursday it received an additional $3 billion investment from Japan’s SoftBank Group (9984.T) and its Vision Fund, helping the shared-office startup ramp up its expansion globally.