Donald Trump said he would impose 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports into America. The new levies would take effect on Monday. Canada, China and Mexico are the country’s biggest suppliers of the metals. Mr Trump also promised to slap reciprocal tariffs on trade partners. “If they charge us, we charge them,” he said. Asian stockmarkets and currencies fell in response to Mr Trump’s announcements.
Mr Trump also said America was losing patience with the ceasefire deal in Gaza because of the “horrible condition” of the “emaciated” hostages Hamas is releasing. On Saturday the militant group set free three men. Earlier, as part of the ceasefire agreement, Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave’s Netzarim corridor. Mr Trump reaffirmed that he was “committed to buying and owning Gaza”.
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, announced investments worth €109bn ($113bn) for projects related to artificial intelligence. He warned that European countries must do more to catch up with America and China on the technology. Mr Macron made the comments before an AI summit in Paris; world leaders and leading tech executives, such as Sam Altman of OpenAI, are set to attend.
Klaus Iohannis, Romania’s president, said he would resign after the country’s hard-right opposition tried to impeach him. The process could have triggered a referendum to remove him. Mr Iohannis’s successor was supposed to be chosen in December, but he remained in office after Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election, citing Russian interference. The election is due to be re-run in May.
DBS, Singapore’s largest bank, reported bumper profits of S$2.56bn ($1.9bn) in the final quarter of 2024, an increase of 11% over a year earlier. The stellar results were driven by the lender’s retail-banking and wealth-management divisions. DBS’s share price rose by as much as 4% in early trading.
Ecuador’s presidential election will proceed to a run-off after a “technical tie” between the two leading candidates in Sunday’s first round. Daniel Noboa, the 37-year-old incumbent, received 44.3% of the vote; his closest challenger, Luisa González, a leftist, got 43.8%. Since winning power in October 2023, Mr Noboa has tried to crack down on gang violence. The second round will take place in April.
Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, accused Donald Trump of trying to bring the country “to its knees”. He made the comments in a speech to mark the anniversary of the revolution of 1979. On Friday Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rejected the idea of starting negotiations with America over his country’s nuclear programme. Mr Trump has threatened to increase sanctions on Iran.
Fact of the day: 1.9bn, the number of users TikTok has worldwide. Read the full story.
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