Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked U.S. Secretary of Commerce nominee Howard Lutnick during their meeting in Washington on Friday to give Israel a waiver that would exempt it from proposed regulatory controls on advanced AI chips, two sources with knowledge of the issue said.
Why it matters: Advanced computing chips are crucial for Israel's tech and defense industries to develop AI systems.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has issued a decree on Monday revoking the system of payments to families of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails or to families of Palestinians who were killed or wounded during attacks against Israelis.
Hamas announced on Monday it is suspending the next release of hostages planned for Saturday until further notice and claimed Israel violated the ceasefire agreement.
Why it matters: A delay in releasing the hostages would itself be a clear violation of the Gaza ceasefire deal and could lead to its collapse and the resumption of the war.
The Kremlinissued a warning on Monday about the fragility of current U.S.-Russia relations, after refusing toconfirm that President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin recently spoke, multipleoutletsreported.
Why it matters: Trump repeatedly pledged on the campaign trail to speedily end the Russia-Ukraine war, but Russian leaders said on Monday that Putin's stipulations had to be met before any resolution would be possible.
President Trump said he'll announce 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports on Monday and "reciprocal tariffs" later this week.
The big picture: Trump campaigned on using tariffs to boost the economy and revive the domestic industry, which economists have warned would hit U.S. consumers, though he's so far mostly quickly pulled back on such threats.
A federal court temporarily blocked the Trump administration on Sunday from sending three Venezuelan men from immigration detention in New Mexico to Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.
The big picture: President Trump announced in a memorandum late last month plans to house at Guantánamo Bay up to 30,000 immigrants suspected of being in the U.S. illegally as part of his immigration crackdown.
