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controversial first round. ♪ sumi: welcome to world news america. hamas says it will delay releasing more israeli hostages until further notice because israel is violating the terms of the cease-fire agreement would hamas alleges israel is obstructing the flow of aid into gaza and it is delaying the return of displaced palestinians to the north. the last return of hostages took place saturday. the israeli defense minister said hamas' announcement is a complete violation of the cease-fire deal and is ordering the israeli army to be on its highest level of alert for any possible scenario in gaza. under the terms of the cease-fire agreement, 17 more israeli hostages are due to be released in exchange for hundreds of palestinian prisoners. we have more from jerusalem.

reporter: it is fragile and sometimes difficult to watch, but the cease-fire process has brought positive results for both sides. 21 hostages have been released from gaza, more due out in coming days. more than 500 palestinian prisoners have been freed from israeli jails and while each have accused the others of violations the agreement has held so far. but hamas claims israel delayed the return of displaced people, continues to target parts of gaza and failed to allow in aid to areas destroyed by war, so it will postpone the planned release of all hostages. israel has responded furiously accusing hamas of violating the agreement and its obligation to

release more hostages. it is really troops and tanks have been told to prepare for any possible scenario in gaza. a far right former minister said on x, the hamas announcement should have a real-life response, a massive attack on gaza from the air and land alongside a complete halt to humanitarian aid including electricity, fuel and water. there is overwhelming public support for the cease-fire to continue, made clear at this tel aviv rally tonight. many families of hostages still in captivity blame their own prime minister for wanting the agreement to fail. >> hamas' announcement is a direct result of netanyahu's reckless behavior. it is clear netanyahu's

deliberate and unnecessary boasting is sabotaging the agreement. reporter: it is small steps, but things have improved in gaza under the cease-fire. progress that would be reversed if the hostage deal breaks down and war resumes. sumi: amid those concerns egypt is refusing to back president trump's proposal to clear out gaza's palestinian population. in a statement the country said it is committed to an approach that allows the palestinian people to quote, live in peace on their land. egypt's foreign minister visited washington monday, where he met secretary of state marco rubio. on sunday donald trump doubled down on his plan for the u.s. to quote, take over gaza and remove its palestinian population. trump told fox news displaced gazans would not be able to return home. pres. trump: we will build beautiful communities, safe communities a little bit away where they are where all the

danger is. in the meantime i would on this. -- own this. think of this as a real estate development for the future. [crosstalk] no, they wouldn't. i'm talking about building a permanent place for them. if they have to return now, it will be years -- it is not habitable. sumi: our correspondent tom bateman has been following the story for us. the president doubling down on comments about gaza. tom: we are getting day by day drip of more detail from president trump. that does two things. firstly, a lot of it has been fagan -- vague. we are understanding a lot of what he means, or potentially what he means. we are learning about the sense

of compulsion in his plan. he is talking about the forcible transfer of a population they have no right to combat, and have to stay out there while the u.s. ills what he calls mediterranean resorts in gaza that will be for the people of the world he says, while palestinians would have to reside elsewhere. that is a breach of the fourth geneva convention, transfer of people is a war crime. that takes you to the second point, we are learning bits and pieces from a press conference at the oval office, questions shouted amid the roar of air force one. it is a way to convey something so consequential, it is causing significant problems and challenges. we are seeing others in the region seriously worried about what is proposed. you mentioned a statement from the egyptians and foreign minister.

they are saying they categorically reject this. it is having the effect of destabilizing that fragile cease-fire and hostage release process in terms of the phases it is hoped to go through. sumi: tell us about the impact. the agreement is so tenuous. there are accusations of violations. tom: hamas accuses israelis of violations and israel throughout this has accused hamas of mistreating of hostages and so on. it was always going to be a fragile, difficult, complicated process between two sides who detest and distrust each other. there were always going to be these problems. it seems from the hamas statement they are leaving the door open to resolution before the proposed release saturday. i think it takes us to the wider issue of where this process was

supposed to lead. under the biden administration there was meant to be a third phase, the day after the war. the u.s. at that stage was suggesting a moderate palestinian or arab control of gaza. that end point has been blown out of the water by the trump administration saying, no, this will not happen, but the u.s. will buy or take control of and sees the gaza strip, and run it and build properties. it leads to a point where we do not have an end point of this three-phase process that can be backed internationally that is equally viable. sumi: the jordanian king will be in washington. what do you think we can expect? tom: king abdullah meeting president trump sunday. one of the countries trump says he wants to take palestinian's from gaza. the egyptians adamantly

rejecting the proposal saying there can be no compromise on the palestinian right to self-determination and to stay on their land. i expect we will hear the same from king abdullah. remember the leverage trump has, a huge amount of money, military and financial assistance that goes to those two arab countries that are crucial to maintaining the historical stability between israel and its arab neighbors. sumi: thank you for your analysis. great to have you. on the economy president trump says he plans to implement a 25% import tax on steel and aluminum entering the u.s., another escalation in his trade policy. he said he would announce reciprocal tariffs later this week. trump told reporters the metals will affect everyone. pres. trump: any steel coming into the u.s. will have a 25% tariff. aluminum, too.

25% for both. >> are you ruling out nippon steel having a 25% stake or higher? pres. trump: nobody can have a majority stake. they can for other companies, but not for the u.s. u.s. steel was one of our great companies, but through stupidity and bad management, they lost. but it will gain it back and tariffs will help. sumi: the suggested tariffs are expected to have the biggest impact on canada, the largest exporter of steel to the u.s. the united steelworkers union condemned trump's tariffs arguing import taxes threaten thousands of canadian jobs and decades of economic cooperation. canada supplies more than half of u.s. aluminum exports and sends 6.6 million tons of steel

to the u.s. last year. china imposed retaliatory tariffs on the u.s. charging $14 billion worth of goods. including a 15% tax on imports of coal and liquefied gas and 10% on food, oil, engines and machinery. i spoke with a former senior economic advisor to president trump and current cochair of the pro-trump save america coalition. i want to ask you about what president trump says he plans to do which is slapping 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. do you think this is an negotiating tactic or something he plans to implement? steve: just about everything trump does is an negotiating tactic. i think he is serious, but also using the tactic to get other countries around the world to reduce their tariffs applied the u.s.

the u.s. has the lowest tariffs virtually in the world. i think angering trump, so many of the other countries, especially european and asian countries, have higher tariffs that when we try to stop to them when they sell services to us. i think he wants parity and is using this on steel and aluminum tariffs to get other countries to be more reasonable in their tariffs. sumi: you mentioned allies in europe and asia. when you look at the majority of u.s. steel imported from other countries the top two are canada and then mexico. two very close allies in the region. we know there was a threat wielded against them as well. why do you think trump would target these two countries as well? steve: you are quite right we import a lot of steel from

mexico and some from canada. trump wants to save steel jobs in the u.s. i personally think the steel tariffs are not accretive -- effective way to create jobs. in trump's first term we did save some steel jobs, but cost jobs in manufacturing, auto production because the steel was more expensive so i'm not a big fan of this policy. we will see if trump implements it. sumi: can you give us a sense of the impact? steel is so critical for building infrastructure in the u.s., for construction, packaging and so on. steve: you are exactly right. steel is a major input in everything we produce, just as oil and gas are. it is not, in my opinion, a strategic way for us to bring manufacturing jobs back to the u.s.

some studies show for every steel job we create we lose two to four in associated industries that use steel. i'm not sure this is a good jobs program for the u.s. sumi: surely the president's advisers would have made that point to him. why do you think he is pressing forward with this? we have not seen an executive order yet, do you think this is about making a good deal? steve: i think it is about getting the rest of the world's attention. he has assigned a number of tariffs in the last seven days. steel tariffs, talked about a 25% tariff on china, talked about canada and mexico, and also a reciprocal tariffs, which would mean we will raise our tariff rates to whatever other countries are charging us. in all these instances i think he is hoping other countries bring their tariffs down.

in a strange way, if trump can prevail, we could end up with a more free trade, not less. i'm an economist and most economists believe in the benefits of trade. both parties benefit when they freely trade with each other. stick around. we will see how this turns out. right now i think it is a shot across the bow. sumi: if he goes forward with such tariffs, last term there were carveouts for trading partners like canada and mexico. would there be the appetite for that kind of exception this time around? steve: i do because the country we are most concerned about in the u.s. is china. china is an adversary, an enemy, a dangerous country. we view china as a real threat, not just a prosperity, but world peace. i think it makes a lot of sense and trump would generally agree we treat china in a different

category from a country like canada or mexico. it is important that mexico remains as prosperous as possible and canada as well. we do have a special trading relationship with canada, mexico through our north american free-trade agreement. sumi: some critics would say trump has spent more time talking about trade imbalances with canada and mexico than china. steve: i can't say which he has talked more about. i have spent private meetings with him where he is worried about china, and appropriately so. they steal our patents, do not play by the rules. i think most americans would like to see the tariff policies focused at the bad actor, and that is china. sumi: as tariffs loom, the incoming u.k. ambassador to the u.s. lord peter mandelson says he will focus on making sure the u.k. does not become collateral damage in a u.s. trade war. mandelson, a longtime labour

party politician was controversial because he has been previously critical of resto. but he -- president trump. but he has said his views have changed. >> what i said years ago about president trump, i judged him wrong and i don't mind saying so . but what we can learn from president trump is, sometimes how you need to go quite fast and furiously in order to bring about change, i think in britain our own government has started very well at turning the dial not just a little bit here and there, but in some respects quite radically, to bring about change, changing lives and to create a future for people based absolutely on a strong and growing economy. that has to be our priority.

we have to put everything into that. we're going to depend, our economy, on private investment, foreign investment, the large amount of which will come from the u.s. sumi: now to ecuador where the presidential election will go to a runoff in april after a closely contested first round failed to produce an outright winner. authorities call the election a technical tie. conservative incumbent candidate daniel noboa and his far left opponent luisa gonzales received nearly identical votes. there was a secure -- there was a third place candidate securing 5% of the vote. it is seen as a referendum on the struggling economy. mr. noboa has had a hard-line approach to crime, declaring a state of emergency, deploying military cross the country and

building maximum-security prisons. our correspondent is standing by, covering the election in ecuador. good to see you. where do things stand? reporter: this election will go to a runoff in april, after the vote was closer than anticipated with both daniel noboa and luisa gonzales receiving identical shares of the vote which led they authorities to say this was a tie with this is not a good result for daniel noboa, the incumbent. opinion polls were suggesting even if he did not win outright he was set to gain more of the vote than luisa gonzález. on the night of the election in early election pulse adjusted he might win outright which led supporters to take to the streets preemptively celebrating which turned out to be premature

because the result was much closer than anticipated and it will not go to a runoff in april. it is just those candidates now. the next few weeks we will see both candidates vying to pick up votes which other candidates got to boost their support and what is looking to be a close race. sumi: violence, crime and the economy appeared to be issues driving voters. ione: that is every voter i spoke to mentioned security as their top issue because violent crime, kidnappings, murders are high in ecuador and president daniel noboa has consigned himself during this invite -- crackdown, militarization of the streets, prisons, giving security forces more power to tackle violent games -- gangs, it is something luisa gonzalez

said she would continue to do. a key difference, she emphasized the need for more social spending plans in areas where violence is higher. we saw that play out in the results. she received a higher share of the vote in areas where there is violent crime, poorer neighborhoods as well. that approach seems to a resonated with some voters. it is now looking incredibly close. whoever wins in april will have a big task on their hands to continue tackling violent crime, and also boost the economy with youth unemployment being a very big issue right now. sumi: our south american correspondent reporting from ecuador. that election heading to a runoff in april. thank you for that update. two day global summit on artificial intelligence underway in france point by leading politicians, tech bosses and academics. the artificial intelligence action summit billed as how to

balance ai with society and the environment. this is nations scramble to invest in the technology. among those attending are the u.s. vice president, indian prime minister and chinese vice premier as well as bosses of google and openai. we were at day one of the summit and have this report. reporter: world leaders, tax ceo's, many standing behind me today, and academics gathered in paris to talk about all things ai. cybersecurity, sustainability, the future of work, and building large language models. there is a lot of talk about nations collaborating, in terms of evaluation metrics and sharing public data but the devil is in the details. as soon as they talk about what data to share the issue of sovereignty comes up.

the community is slightly unsettled. since mention of deepseek in china we are watching a live race for ai dominance between the u.s. and china and tech companies. while it is about action, it is different from the london summit two years ago about safety. who are these opportunities for? for which governments? for which citizens and for which companies? >> to my vantage point from -- we optimize for the public interest. that means focusing more on the data and the things that matter to people's lives. a year and a half ago in the run-up to bletchley park, there was talk of ai potentially curing cancer. we will not cure cancer with ai unless we have better access to genetic data and longitudinal outcome data. that means doing it in privacy preserving ways, working with

patient organizations. that is critical. we have an ambitious new partnership that will be announced tomorrow. i think this question from a data perspective, such a societal imperative, to get the collective benefit from sharing data, and preserve individual privacy is critical. we have to be able to do that as a society. this is what we are coming together to do and work on. sumi: priya reporting from paris. other headlines -- at least 51 people killed and others injured after a bus plunged off a bridge in guatemala. it had been traveling from the capital to a town when it fell into the ravine. the president declared three days of national mourning and deployed the army and a disaster

agency for efforts. a man accused of stabbing the author salman rushdie, leaving him blind in one eye. hadi matar pleaded not guilty. he is accused of attacking him in 2022 in new york where he ran on stage and stabbed the writer. a 12 person jury will decide the outcome of the trial. meta laying off 5% of its workforce, affecting 3500 jobs. some employees received a this mission notices monday, while other countries will get them over the week. they say they are performance terminations first announced in january. the sri lankan government says a monkey is to blame for a nationwide black that plunged millions into darkness. the energy minister says the

offending animal came into contact with a grid transformer after entering a power station. power is gradually being restored across the island nation. remember you can find more of our news on our website, bbc.com/news, or follow us on your favorite social media site. i'm sumi somaskanda. thank you for watching world news america. stay with us. narrator: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... bdo, accountants and advisors, funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation, the judy and peter blum kovler foundation, upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. ♪ ♪ usa today calls it "arguably the best bargain in streaming"

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♪ amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the news hour tonight, states sue to block massive cuts to medical research, while a federal judge says the trump administration is ignoring his court order to pause a broader funding freeze. amna: president trump announces new tariffs on steel and