Briefly

UNITED STATES

Tariffs suspended on $1.3b French goods

Washington has suspended a plan to impose new tariffs on $1.3 billion in French products in a dispute over a digital services tax, the US Trade Representative, or USTR, announced on Thursday. The punitive levies were due to take effect on Wednesday, but the USTR held off citing ongoing investigations of similar measures "adopted or under consideration in 10 other jurisdictions". The government of President Donald Trump in July announced the decision to impose 25 percent tariffs on French handbags and cosmetics, among other items, but suspended collecting the duties until Wednesday. That was in retaliation for the tax France approved in 2019 on tech firms like Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google, which were accused of moving their profits offshore.

Elon Musk becomes world's richest person

Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Tesla, has become the world's richest person. Musk was worth more than $188 billion on Thursday morning, $1.5 billion more than Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon, who held the world's wealthiest person position since 2017, the Bloomberg Billionaire Index shows. Musk reached the pinnacle thanks to Tesla's share price that has skyrocketed nearly 830 percent since March 2020. Over the past year, his net worth soared by more than $150 billion. Musk holds about 20 percent equity in Tesla. He also has some $42 billion in vested stock options, according to SEC filings.

IRAN

'No rush' to see US return to nuclear deal

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday Teheran was in no rush for the United States to rejoin a 2015 nuclear deal, but that sanctions on the Islamic republic must be lifted immediately. "We are not insisting nor in a hurry for the US to return to the deal," Khamenei said in live televised remarks. "But what is logical is our demand for the lifting of the sanctions. These brutal sanctions must be lifted immediately." Tensions have grown between Teheran and Washington since 2018, when US President Donald Trump exited the deal between Iran and world powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy.

JAPAN

Tokyo Olympics will be 'safe and secure'

Tokyo Olympics organizers insisted on Friday that the coronavirus-postponed Games will still go ahead despite Japan declaring a state of emergency less than 200 days before the opening ceremony. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Thursday announced the month-long measure covering the greater Tokyo area, taking effect from Friday, as the country battles a surge in infections. Tokyo 2020 chiefs said another postponement of the Games－set to begin on July 23-is out of the question. But International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound told the BBC that he could not "be certain" the Games will go ahead, because "the ongoing elephant in the room would be the surges in the virus".

INDONESIA

Cleric linked to Bali bombings freed

A radical cleric linked to the Bali nightclub bombings was freed from prison on Friday, stirring grief and anger among victims nearly two decades after more than 200 people, mostly foreign tourists, were killed in Indonesia's worst terror attack. Abu Bakar Bashir, 82, is seen as the spiritual leader of Islamist terror network Jemaah Islamiyah, which was responsible for the massive blasts that ripped through a pair of packed bars in October 2002. The firebrand preacher was released after completing an unrelated jail term for helping fund militant training. But he has long been suspected of involvement in the horrific holiday island bombings.

Xinhua - Agencies