News brief: Big stories of the day

Angel tax provisions for startups and investors withdrawn: Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a big rollback on taxation asserting that there would be no surcharge on long and short term capital gain.

Will impose new tariffs on $75 billion US imports: China

China announced Friday it will hit US imports worth $75 billion with new tariffs starting September 1 and December 15, as retaliation for Washington's planned tariff hikes in a bruising trade war.

Putin orders Russian military to prepare 'symmetric response' after US missile test

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said he has ordered the military to prepare a "symmetric response" after Washington announced this week it had tested a formerly banned missile.

Now, Ireland may block EU-Mercosur deal over Amazon fire

Ireland may vote to block a trade deal between the EU and South American nations if Brazil fails to curb record fires ravaging the Amazon, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Friday.

Cathay flight attendant says fired over Facebook posts on Hong Kong protests

A flight attendant on Friday accused Cathay Pacific of summarily firing her over Facebook posts linked to Hong Kong's political crisis, adding to concerns about a China-driven witch-hunt to root out pro-democracy supporters at major firms.