DIY disaster sends Australia's Woolworths to record loss www.bbc.com

Woolworths, Australia's biggest supermarket chain, has reported a record annual loss of A$1.2bn (£690m), following its decision to quit the DIY market.
The company made a profit of A$2.1bn in the previous year.
The results were hit by a A$1.8bn write off from quitting its Masters hardware joint-venture with US firm Lowe's.
The retailer issued a series of profit warnings last year amid intense competition in the grocery market.
The financial year had been one of "unprecedented change for Woolworths", said chief executive Brad Banducci. The company's decisions had had a "material impact" on the results but were "necessary to begin the rebuilding of Woolworths", he added.
"We are seeing early signs of progress as we work to restore our competiveness and improve our culture in Australian food. We have also addressed significant issues facing the Group with the decision to exit Home Improvement and decisive action taken on BIG W [discount department store chain] to reposition the business," he said.
Mr Banducci took over earlier this year when his predecessor stepped down over the decision to abandon the controversial hardware venture.
Reform plans
On Wednesday, Woolworths announced it was quitting three of its home improvement businesses.
That decision is part of Mr Banducci's reform plans following on from February's announcement of the company's first half-year loss in 23 years.
Home Timber & Hardware is to be sold to smaller competitor Metcash.
All the Masters hardware stores will close by December and the properties sold to investor group Home Consortium.
Woolworths plans to concentrate on its supermarket business so it can compete more effectively against rival Coles, as well as discounters such as Aldi and Lidl - both relatively recent entrants to the Australian market.
"We expect trading conditions to remain highly competitive in (the coming financial year) but are confident that we have a clear plan and set of priorities," said Mr Banducci.
Shares in Woolworths jumped by more than 7% following the announcement.
Woolworths said it would pay a final dividend of 33 cents, down from 72 cents the previous year.
Australia's Woolworths has no links with chains of the same name in the US or South Africa, or the defunct UK retailer.

Big banks buckle down to build better bitcoin www.rt.com

UBS, Deutsche Bank, Santander and BNY Mellon have partnered up to create a new digital currency to facilitate intra-bank settlements, the FT reports. The cryptocurrency will use blockchain technology underpinning the Bitcoin.

A Trump presidency would benefit these businesses www.cnn.com

Honda to launch revamped NSX supercar in Japan www.nhk.or.jp

Honda Motor says it will revamp its luxury sports car NSX for release in Japan next year.

Scientists: Earth-like planet discovered www.nhk.or.jp

A group of scientists say they have discovered a potentially habitable planet around the nearest fixed star to Earth. The planet is about four light years away.

Guangzhou Auto starts building 240-mln-USD Xinjiang plant www.xinhuanet.com

China oil giants suffer from dropping crude prices www.xinhuanet.com

BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Despite rising output, China's major oil producers posted lackluster performance in the first half of the year weighed upon by dropping global crude prices.

German business confidence falls post-Brexit, says Ifo www.bbc.com

Business confidence in Europe's biggest economy, Germany, has fallen unexpectedly after the UK Brexit vote, according to a closely watched survey.
The Ifo business confidence index, based on about 7,000 company responses, fell to 106.2 points for August from 108.3 in July.
It was the steepest monthly fall in more than four years and took the index to its lowest since December 2014.
Despite the gloom, the euro was up slightly against the pound and dollar.
'Delayed reaction'
The latest drop follows a much smaller decline in confidence in July immediately after the UK voted to leave the EU.
Economist Carsten Brzeski at ING-DiBa said the ongoing decline "suggests that German businesses have suddenly woken up to Brexit reality".
"It is not the first time that the Ifo reacts with a delay of one or two months to global events,'' he said, adding that at present, the German economy remained in a "virtuous circle".
Across the sectors it examines, the Ifo found confidence had fallen in all but construction and services.
"The German economy has fallen into a summer slump," Ifo president Clemens Fuest said.
Other official figures released earlier this month showed the German economy grew 0.4% in the second quarter compared with the previous three-month period.
That was a slower pace than the 0.7% growth in the first quarter, but double what economists had expected.

Mongolia might harvest wheat to fully provide country with flour www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ At a cabinet meeting held Wednesday, a preliminary balance of harvest for this autumn was presented.

Asia Foundation wants cooperation to fight against corruption www.gogo.mn

Head of Security and Foreign Policy Standing Committee J.Enkhbayar, Head of State Structure Standing Committee N.Enkhbold and MP A.Undraa received today the representatives of Asia Foundation, a nonprofit international development organization. 
During the meeting, the parties have exchanged views on projects and programs to be implemented jointly by the Asia Foundation, State Great Khural, the Government and NGOs. Currently, Asia foundation is working in 18 countries while operating in Mongolia since 1990 to strengthen democracy, promote good governance and transparency, empower women, reduce corruption and focus on environmental restoration.