Hamas said it would delay the release of more Israeli hostages. Under its ceasefire deal with Israel the militant group was due to free three hostages this Saturday. It justified the delay by accusing Israel of stopping displaced Palestinians returning to Gaza. Israel Katz, Israel’s defence minister, called the announcement “a complete violation of the ceasefire agreement”.
Donald Trump said that Palestinians removed from Gaza under his plan for America to take over the enclave would have no right to return. America’s president also told Fox News that he hoped to persuade Egypt and Jordan to agree to take in displaced Palestinians, adding Gaza would become “a real-estate development for the future”. Mr Trump proposed his plan for Gaza last week.
The price of gold passed a record $2,900 per troy ounce on Monday after Mr Trump said he would impose 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports into America. Canada, China and Mexico are the country’s biggest suppliers of both metals. Mr Trump also promised to slap reciprocal tariffs on trade partners. “If they charge us, we charge them,” he said.
Elon Musk and a group of investors offered to buy OpenAI, an American artificial-intelligence startup, for $97bn. Sam Altman, OpenAI’s boss, rejected the bid, which was first reported in the Wall Street Journal. Mr Musk and Mr Altman co-chaired OpenAI when it was founded as a charity in 2015, but Mr Musk left in 2019. He has since started a rival AI firm.
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.
Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, accused Mr 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.
At least 51 people were killed in Guatemala after a bus fell from a highway bridge into a ravine. The vehicle, which was carrying around 70 people, had been travelling to Guatemala City, the capital, from San Agustín Acasaguastlán, a town some 90km away. Bernardo Arévalo, Guatemala’s president, declared a period of national mourning.
Figure of the day: 30%, the proportion of Sotheby’s total revenue which the auction house earned from private sales, up from 12% a decade ago. Read the full story.
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