Mahmoud Khalil's attorney said she spoke with one of the ICE agents during the arrest, who said they were acting on State Department orders to revoke Khalil’s student visa. Federal immigration authorities arrested a Palestinian graduate student who played a prominent role in protests against Israel at Columbia University, according to his attorney. Mahmoud Khalil was inside a university-owned residence Saturday night near Columbia’s Manhattan campus when several Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents entered his apartment and took him into custody, his attorney, Amy Greer, told The Associated Press. Greer said she spoke by phone with one of the ICE agents during the arrest, who said they were acting on State Department orders to revoke Khalil’s student visa. Informed by the attorney that Khalil was in the United States as a permanent resident with a green card, the agent said they were revoking that too, according to the lawyer. The arrest appears to be among the first known actions under President Donald Trump’s pledge to deport international students who joined the protests against the war in Gaza that swept college campuses last spring. His administration has claimed participants forfeited their rights to remain in the country by supporting Hamas, a terror organization. When ICE agents arrived at the campus building Saturday, they also threatened to arrest Khalil’s wife, an American citizen who is eight months pregnant, Greer said. The authorities declined to say why Khalil was being arrested, according to the attorney. They were initially told he was transferred to an immigration detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey. But when Khalil’s wife tried to visit Sunday, she learned he was not there — and may have been transferred as far away as Louisiana, Greer said. “We have not been able to get any more details about why he is being detained,” Greer told the AP. “This is a clear escalation. The administration is following through on its threats.” In a statement to NBC News on Sunday, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Khalil was arrested in coordination with ICE and the State Department “in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism.” “Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” McLaughlin said. A Columbia spokesperson said law enforcement agents must produce a warrant before entering university property, but declined to say if the school had received one ahead of Khalil’s arrest. The spokesperson also declined to comment on Khalil’s detention. Messages seeking comment were left Sunday with the State Department and ICE. In a message shared on X Sunday evening, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration “will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.” DHS can initiate deportation proceedings against green card holders for a broad range alleged criminal activity, including supporting a terror group. It would ultimately be up to an immigration judge to revoke someone’s permanent resident status, according to Camille Mackler, founder of Immigrant ARC, a coalition of legal service providers in New York. “This has the appearance of a retaliatory action against someone who expressed an opinion the Trump administration didn’t like,” Mackler said. Khalil served as a negotiator for students as they bargained with university officials over an end to the tent encampment erected on campus last spring, a role that made him one of the most visible activists in support of the movement. He was also among those under investigation by a new Columbia University office that has brought disciplinary charges against dozens of students for their pro-Palestinian activism, according to records shared with the AP. The investigations come as the Trump administration has followed through on its threat to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to Columbia because of what the government describes as the Ivy League school’s failure to squelch antisemitism on campus. The university’s allegations against Khalil focused on his involvement in the Columbia University Apartheid Divest group. He faced sanctions for potentially helping to organize an “unauthorized marching event” in which participants glorified Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack and playing a “substantial role” in the circulation of social media posts criticizing Zionism, among other acts of alleged discrimination. “I have around 13 allegations against me, most of them are social media posts that I had nothing to do with,” Khalil told the AP last week. “They just want to show Congress and right-wing politicians that they’re doing something, regardless of the stakes for students,” he added. “It’s mainly an office to chill pro-Palestine speech.”

If you had asked Canadians a few months ago who would win the country's next general election, most would have predicted a decisive victory for the Conservative Party. That outcome does not look so certain now. In the wake of US President Donald Trump's threats against Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party has surged in the polls, shrinking the double-digit lead their Conservative rivals had held steadily since mid-2023. The dramatic change in the country's political landscape reflects how Trump's tariffs and his repeated calls to make Canada "the 51st state" have fundamentally altered Canadian voters' priorities. Trump's rhetoric has "pushed away all of the other issues" that were top of mind for Canadians before his inauguration on 20 January, notes Luc Turgeon, a political science professor at the University of Ottawa. It has even managed to revive the once deeply unpopular Trudeau, whose approval rating has climbed by 12 points since December. The prime minister, of course, will not be in power for much longer, having announced his resignation at the start of the year. On Sunday, his Liberals will declare the results of the leadership contest to determine who takes over a party running a precarious minority government. The new leader will have two immediate decisions to make: how to respond to Trump's threats, and when to call a general election. The answer to the first dilemma will surely influence the second. A federal election must be held on or before 20 October, but could be called as early as this week. Polls indicate that many Canadians still want a change at the top. But what that change would look like - a Liberal government under new leadership, or a complete shift to the Conservatives - is now anyone's guess, says Greg Lyle, president of the Toronto-based Innovative Research Group, which has been polling Canadians on their shifting attitudes. That is because the centre-right party led by Pierre Poilievre, has been effective in its messaging on issues that have occupied the Canadian psyche for the last few years: the rising cost of living, housing unaffordability, crime and a strained healthcare system. Poilievre successfully tied these societal problems to what he labelled Trudeau's "disastrous" policies, and promised a return to "common sense politics". But with Trudeau's resignation, and Trump's threats to Canada's economic security and even its sovereignty, that messaging has become stale, Mr Lyle says. His polling suggests the majority of the country is now most afraid of Trump's presidency and the impact it will have on Canada. Trump's 25% tariffs on all Canadian imports to the US, some of which have been paused until 2 April, could be devastating for Canada's economy, which sends three-quarters of all its products to the US. Officials have predicted up to a million job losses as a result, and Canada could head into a recession if the tax on goods persists. Trudeau left no doubt how seriously he is taking the threat, when he told reporters this week that Trump's stated reason for the US tariffs - the flow of fentanyl across the border - was bogus and unjustified. "What he wants is to see a total collapse of the Canadian economy, because that'll make it easier to annex us," the prime minister warned. "In many ways, it's an all encompassing, fundamental issue about the survival of the country," Prof Turgeon tells the BBC. Who is best placed to stand up for Canada against Trump has therefore become the key question in the forthcoming election. The Conservatives are still ahead in the polls, with the latest averages suggesting 40% of voters back them. The Liberals' fortunes, meanwhile, have been revived, with their support climbing to slightly over 30% - up 10 points from January. Liberals have attempted to highlight similarities between the Conservative leader and Republican president. At last week's leadership debate, candidates referred to Poilievre as "our little version of Trump here at home" and said he was looking to "imitate" the US president. A Liberal Party attack ad juxtaposed clips of the two using similar phrases such as "fake news" and "radical left". There are clear differences, however, between the two politicians, in terms of style and substance. And Trump himself has downplayed any parallels, telling British magazine The Spectator in a recent interview that Poilievre is "not Maga enough". Still, polls suggest a slipping of Conservative support. A recent poll by national pollster Angus Reid indicates Canadians believe Liberal leadership front-runner Mark Carney is better equipped to deal with Trump on issues of tariffs and trade than Poilievre. The former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England is touting his experience dealing with economic crises, including the 2008 financial crash and Brexit. And the shift in the political mood has forced Conservatives to recalculate their messaging. If the election is called soon, the campaign will take place at a moment when Trump's threats have inspired a fierce patriotism among Canadians. Many are boycotting American goods at their local grocery stores or even cancelling trips to the US. Prof Turgeon says this "rallying around the flag" has become a key theme of Canadian politics. The Conservatives have shifted away from their "Canada is Broken" slogan, which Mr Lyle says risked coming across as "anti-patriotic", to "Canada First". Conservatives have also redirected their attacks towards Carney. Before Trump's tariffs, they ran ads saying he is "just like Justin" in an attempt to tie him to Trudeau. But in recent weeks, the Conservatives have started digging into Carney's loyalty to Canada. Specifically, they have questioned whether he had a role in moving the headquarters of Brookfield Asset Management - a Canadian investment company - from Toronto to New York when he served as its chair. Carney has responded that he had left the firm by the time that decision was made, but company documents reported on by public broadcaster CBC show the board approved the move in October 2024, when Carney was still at Brookfield. The move, and Carney's equivocation of his involvement with it, was criticised by the editorial board of Canada's national newspaper the Globe and Mail, which wrote on Thursday that Carney must be transparent with Canadians. More broadly, the paper wrote: "Every party leader must understand that Canada is entering a years-long period of uncertainty. The next prime minister will have to call on the trust of Canadians to lead the country where it needs to head but may not want to go." Given the anxiety reverberating among Canadians, Mr Lyle says that any ambiguity about Carney's loyalty to the country could yet be damaging for him and the Liberals. Whenever the election comes, and whoever wins, one thing is certain: Trump will continue to influence and reshape Canadian politics just as he has in the United States.

A British adventurer is aiming to travel solo across Canada's Baffin Island. Battling temperatures as low as -40C, Camilla Hempleman-Adams, 32 and originally from Wiltshire, will cover 150 miles from Qikiqtarjuaq to Pangnirtung, during the two week expedition. The daughter of adventurer Sir David Hempleman-Adams, she will complete the challenge on foot and by ski while pulling a sledge in winds of up to 68 mph. Ms Hempleman-Adams, who now lives in London, said she wanted to show women "that boundaries can be broken". "I hope this expedition inspires more women to take on adventures and challenges of their own," she added. Flying out with her father on Thursday, Ms Hempleman-Adams also hopes the trip, which will go through Auyuittuq National Park, will highlight the impact of climate change on the region and its local Inuit communities. "I have two sisters and growing up in a family of explorers, our dad would always encourage us to take on challenges regardless of our gender – it's a nightmare when we get together to play games at Christmas," Ms Hempleman-Adams said. "I was part of a similar trek group across Baffin Island two years ago and I thought, I can do this solo." Ms Hempleman-Adams said she had undergone weight and cardio training, along with dragging heavy tyres, in preparation for the trek. No stranger to challenges, Ms Hempleman-Adams previously became the youngest British female to ski to the North Pole at the age of 15. Correction 8 April: A previous version of this article claimed Ms Hempleman-Adams wanted to be the first to complete this journey. We have corrected this after several claims that she would not have been the first.

Todd Brayman is no longer buying his favourite red wine, which is from California. A veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, he is one of a growing number of people in Canada, Europe, and other parts of the world, who are avoiding buying US products due to President Trump's tariffs and treatment of US allies. "I have in my life served alongside American forces. It is just profoundly upsetting and disappointing to see where we are given the historical ties that our two countries have," says Mr Brayman, who lives in Nova Scotia. "But I think right now it's time to stand up and be counted, and in my mind, that means buying local and supporting Canadian business." Together with his wife, Mr Brayman has replaced all the American products he used to buy, including his previous wine of choice, with Canadian alternatives. "Luckett Phone Box Red wine, which is from right here in Nova Scotia, is great," he says. Determining which products are Canadian isn't always easy however. "Sometimes labelling can be misleading," adds Mr Brayman. To help, he now uses an app on his phone that can scan a product's barcode and identify where it's from. If the product is identified as American, the app suggests Canadian alternatives. The app, called Maple Scan, is one of numerous emerging in Canada to help people shop local. Others include Buy Canadian, Is This Canadian? and Shop Canadian. Maple Scan's founder, Sasha Ivanov, says his app has had 100,000 downloads since it launched last month. He believes the momentum around buying Canadian is here to stay. "Lots of Canadians have told me, 'I'm not going back'. It's important that we support local regardless," he says. Canadians like Mr Brayman are boycotting American products in response to a raft of import tariffs introduced by Trump. These included tariffs of 25% on all foreign cars, steel and aluminium, and 25% tariffs on other Canadian and Mexican goods. Meanwhile, other European Union exports will get tariffs of 20%, while the UK is facing 10%. Trump says the tariffs will boost US manufacturing, raise tax revenue and reduce the US trade deficit. However, they have spooked global markets, which have fallen sharply over the past month. Trump has even expressed a desire for Canada to join the US as its 51st state, something the Canadian government was quick to strongly reject. Ottawa has also responded with C$60bn ($42bn; £32bn) in counter tariffs, as well as additional tariffs on the US auto sector. And there has been a substantial drop in the number of Canadians travelling to the US. Groups dedicated to boycotting US goods have also emerged in European countries. Momentum behind the boycott is particularly strong in Denmark, whose territory of Greenland Trump has said he wants to acquire. Denmark's largest grocery store operator, Salling Group, recently introduced a symbol, a black star, on pricing labels to denote European brands. Bo Albertus, a school principal who lives in Skovlunde, a suburb of Copenhagen, says joining the boycott was his way of taking action. "Statements that Trump made about wanting to buy Greenland, that was just too much for me," he says. "I can't do anything about the American political system, but I can vote with my credit card." One of Mr Albertus's first moves was to cancel his subscriptions to US streaming services, including Netflix, Disney Plus and Apple TV. "My 11-year-old daughter is a bit annoyed about it, but that's the way it is. She understands why I do it," he says. Mr Albertus is the administrator for a Danish Facebook group dedicated to helping people boycott US goods. In the group, which has 90,000 members, people share recommendations for local alternatives to US goods, from shoes to lawnmowers. Mr Albertus says: "It's a movement that is quite a lot bigger than just our little country, so it all that adds up." Mette Heerulff Christiansen, the owner of a grocery shop in Copenhagen called Broders has stopped stocking American products, such as Cheetos crisps and Hershey's chocolate, in her store. She is substituting them with Danish or European products where possible. Ms Christiansen is also swapping out products she uses at home. She's finding some easier to replace than others. "Coca-Cola is easy to substitute with Jolly Cola, a Danish brand," she says. "But technology, like Facebook, that's totally difficult to avoid." She believes the boycott movement in Denmark is helping people to channel their anger at Trump's policies and rhetoric. "I think it's more for the Danish people to feel good that they are doing something," she says. Douglas Irwin, a professor of economics at Dartmouth College in the US, who specializes in the history of US trade policy, believes the economic impact of the boycott may be limited. "It is hard to judge how economically significant the consumer boycotts will be in terms of reducing trade with the United States," he says. "In the past, boycotts have not lasted long and have not achieved much. It starts as a hostile reaction to some US action but tends to fade with time," he says. For now though, the rising Buy Canadian sentiment in Canada is boosting sales for many local brands. The CEO of Canadian grocer Loblaw posted on LinkedIn that weekly sales of Canadian products were up by double digits. Bianca Parsons, from Alberta in Canada, is behind an initiative to promote locally-made goods, called Made In Alberta, which she says has had a surge in interest since the tariffs were introduced. "We're now getting over 20,000 hits [to the site] every two weeks." Ms Parsons, who is the executive director of the Alberta Food Processors Association, adds: "I've had producers reach out to us and say: 'I'm selling out at stores that I would never sell out before, thank you so much'." Several Canadian provinces, including Ontario and Nova Scotia, have removed US-made alcoholic beverages from their liquor store shelves in response to tariffs, a move the boss of Jack Daniel's maker Brown-Forman has said is "worse than tariffs". Among the American businesses feeling the impact is Caledonia Spirits, a distiller based in Vermont, near the Canadian border. Ryan Christiansen, Caledonia's president and head distiller, says his business had an order on track for shipment to Quebec cancelled directly after tariffs were announced. "My sense is that everyone's just being a little too aggressive and, unfortunately, I think America started that," says Mr Christiansen. "I do understand that the action America took needed a counter reaction. "If it were up to me, I'd be at the table trying to resolve this in a friendly way, and I'm hopeful that the leaders in America take that approach." Ethan Frisch, the co-founder of Burlap & Barrel, an American spice company based in New York, which also exports to Canada, says he's more concerned with the impact of the tariffs on his company's imports and rising inflation in the US than the consumer boycott. He says: "I think there's this assumption that, if you boycott an American company, it's going to have an impact on the economy and maybe change the situation. I think that assumption, unfortunately, is not accurate. "The [US] economy is crashing all up by itself. Businesses like ours are struggling without boycotts."

The man remained on the tower for 16 hours. He has been arrested. LONDON — Traffic around the Palace of Westminster in London came to a standstill for much of Saturday as emergency crews tried to reach a man who climbed the Big Ben tower holding a Palestinian flag. Negotiators were lifted up on a fire brigade ladder platform several times before eventually talking him down. The barefoot man, who appeared to be staging a protest on a ledge several meters (yards) up Elizabeth Tower, which houses Big Ben, stepped off the building and onto a cherry picker after a long conversation with negotiators. He got into a waiting ambulance. Officials said tours of the Houses of Parliament were canceled because of the incident. Westminster Bridge and a nearby street were closed for much of the day and several emergency services vehicles were at the scene as crowds looked on. Police also blocked off all pedestrian access to Parliament Square. The Metropolitan Police said earlier that officers received reports about the man around 7 a.m. Saturday and were “working to bring the incident to a safe conclusion” alongside firefighters and ambulance services. A small group of supporters shouted “Free Palestine” from behind a police cordon nearby.

More than 1,300 people have been killed in an eruption of violence in Latakia and Tartus in the last 72 hours, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in Syria in the last 48 hours, the deadliest eruption of violence since the fall of the Assad regime in December. The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reports that at least 830 civilians have been killed in what it described as “the largest collective act of revenge in the coast and its mountains,” with the death toll expected to rise. More than 1,300 people have been killed in 72 hours, according to the organization, including security force members and militants. It is unclear which groups are involved in the killing of civilians, with reports of different militias converging in the area, and much remains unknown about what is unfolding in Syria. Interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa called for peace Sunday, amid reports of executions, firing squads and bodies piled in the streets. Clashes between Syrian government forces and fighters loyal to the deposed dictator, Bashar al-Assad, have also led to hundreds more deaths on both sides. The violence has been concentrated in the coastal areas of Tartus and Latakia, the home of the Alawite community, a small Islamic sect to which the Assad family belongs. According to the SOHR, the vast majority of the civilian dead appear to be Alawites, which NBC News has not independently confirmed. Secretary of State Marco Rubio blamed “radical Islamic terrorists” for the killings and urged Syria’s leadership to hold them accountable. Syria’s presidency announced its decision a statement Sunday to form an independent national committee to investigate the events on the Syrian coast, including "causes, circumstances, and conditions" that led to the event. The statement also promised to "identify those responsible." But as the nation grapples with this surge in violence, here’s what we know about what’s happening on the ground and what it could mean for Syria’s future. What we know Syria’s rugged Mediterranean shore was a stronghold of the Assad family’s brutal regime, which lasted 53 years before a rebel alliance led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) ousted Assad three months ago in a lightning-fast offensive that swept across the nation and led HTS leader Sharaa to become the new government’s interim president. However, Syria’s northwest coast remains a fractured battleground, with armed Assad loyalists holding on to villages and remote pockets of territory. Sharaa’s government has deployed armed forces to the region in a bid to assert control, but fierce clashes erupted last week that have left hundreds dead.Video posted on social media and verified by NBC News showed dozens of bodies piled on a blood-soaked street in Latakia. Women gathered around the bloodied corpses. One can be heard sobbing, “My dad, my brother, oh, God.” Other verified videos showed military vehicles moving through the countryside amid explosions and gunfire, while another showed soldiers indiscriminately dropping bombs from a helicopter over Latakia’s rural areas. The SOHR is a prominent information office dedicated to documenting human rights abuses in Syria. The group said that the vast majority of people killed in the current clashes were from the Alawite sect and that women and children were executed by firing squad in the countryside near Tartus. NBC News has not independently verified the death toll or methods of execution. The Associated Press reported that Sunni gunmen, perhaps loyal to the government, initiated revenge killings Friday, with residents saying that Alawites were being killed in the streets or at the gates of their homes and that their houses were looted and set on fire. SOHR also reported that 125 government security forces and 148 militants from Assad-affiliated armed groups were among the dead. Federico Jachetti, Syria country office director for the Norwegian Refugee Council, said in a statement Sunday that the escalation is “a grim reminder that the situation in the country remains fragile” and cited reports of “summary killings, widespread displacement and thousands more left trapped in their homes.” “Syrian families across the country are yearning for a respite after long years of uncertainty and fear,” he said, calling on all parties to protect civilians. Who are the Alawites? The once-ruling minority is a tight-knit Islamic sect to which the Assad family belongs. Under Assad, Alawites were appointed to key positions in the military and security forces, positioning them as the elite within Syria’s state bureaucracy and security apparatus. The rise of HTS, a former Al Qaeda affiliate with an extremist past, raised deep concerns among the Alawite community as it took power. Sunni dominance has inflicted deep scars on the region, and minorities like the Alawites, as well as Christians, Druze and Yazidis, all have reasons to fear the rise of extremist governance. Sharaa had tried to quell such fears, telling CNN in December, “No one has the right to erase another group.” But the recent surge in violence suggests a different story, challenging Sharaa’s claim that his interim government would protect all groups and foster stability.The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, urged Syria's leadership to take “swift actions to protect Syrians, including by taking all necessary measures to prevent any violations and abuses.” What does this mean for Syria? Unifying Syria’s diverse ethnic and religious groups has been one of the major challenges of a post-Assad Syria. A significant escalation of violence could threaten the country’s fragile stability and at worst threaten to tip the country back into civil war should the interim government lose control of some areas. Sharaa has actively sought to rebrand himself as a unifier willing to put down his previous extremist affiliations. For a time, this strategy appeared successful, generating a surge of goodwill and optimism. In February, a video surfaced showing Sharaa waving from the sunroof of a black vehicle, surrounded by a jubilant crowd during his first visit to Latakia, where he appeared receive a hero’s welcome. Internationally, the explosion of violence may derail the progress Sharaa has made in reassuring Western leaders that he can ferry in a Syria free of threats.

Not long after the US imposed their tariffs on Canada, a local neighbourhood pub in Toronto began removing all American products off their menu. That means nachos, wings - and of course, beer - must all be made now with local Canadian ingredients, or wherever not possible, non-US products from Europe or Mexico. For Leah Russell, manager at Toronto's Madison Avenue pub, the boycott was a no-brainer. She adds that it is "pretty set in stone," even if the tariffs themselves are not. "I'm glad that we're getting rid of American products and supporting local businesses," Ms Russell told the BBC on Thursday. "I think it's an important thing to do." This defiant stance in response to President Donald Trump's tariffs and threats against Canada has been unfolding across the northern country, even as it braces for economic blowback that it could ultimately do little to avoid in the event of a full-blown trade war. Just ask actor Jeff Douglas, once the face of Molson Canadian Beer's "I Am Canadian" advertisements, who has filmed and posted a light-hearted, but deeply-patriotic video on Youtube this week addressing Trump's "51st state" rhetoric. "We're not the 51st anything," declares Mr Douglas in the video, which has since gone viral in Canada. Some of the backlash has been more symbolic, like one Montreal café changing the Americano on their menu to a "Canadiano" - a small gesture that the owners say is meant to display unity and support for their community and country. Even the CBC, the country's public broadcaster, is feeling the full force of this wave of patriotism, after it dared run a programme asking Canadians what they think about Canada becoming "the 51st state", as Trump has suggested many times. The show sparked intense backlash and accusations of "treason," "sedition" and even "betrayal". Although Trump has since lifted some of the tariffs imposed this week and put others on pause until 2 April, many Canadians say the damage has already been done. After Thursday's reversal, foreign minister Melanie Joly told CNN that Canada has been shown "too much disrespect by the Trump administration at this point, calling us a 51st state, calling our prime minister 'governor.'" Meanwhile, Doug Ford, who is the leader of Canada's most populous province, did not back down from his plan to slap export tariffs on electricity that Canada supplies some US states. The 25% surcharge will affect up to 1.5 million American homes. "I feel terrible for the American people because it's not the American people, and it's not even elected officials, it's one person," he told a local radio show on Thursday in reference to Trump. "He's coming after his closest friends, closest allies in the world and it's going to absolutely devastate both economies," Ford said. Canadians support their country's reciprocal actions, saying they should remain in place until US tariffs are completely off the table. "You go to bed every night and don't have any idea where you stand," said Andrew, a shopper at a Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) store in Toronto, which has stopped stocking US-made alcoholic drinks, like bourbon from Kentucky. Trump says he will delay the tariffs, "but what does that mean?" he asks. "Let's keep [American-made drinks] off the shelves until we know what things are going to be from day to day." The tariffs have been met with deep anxiety in Canada, whose majority of exports are sold to companies and clients in the US. Officials predict up to a million job losses if a 25% across the board levy went ahead, while economists warn that a recession is imminent if they persist. The potential impact is devastating enough that the Canadian government has announced it will bring in relief measures, similar to those implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic, to help impacted individuals and businesses. Even with the tariffs being scaled back temporarily, the uncertainty alone is hurting both American and Canadian economies, says Rob Gillezeau, an assistant professor of economic analysis and policy at the University of Toronto. "The most sensitive thing to uncertainty is business investment," Prof Gillezeau says, adding that firms are "not going to want to spend a dime anywhere" until they have some clarity. Analysts suggest the mere whiff of a trade war is likely costing Canadian companies hundreds of thousands of dollars as they try to navigate through these changes, and are likely delaying deals and disrupting trade due to the confusion. That trepidation is also seen in the stock market, which had erased virtually all its gains since Trump won the presidency in November. Trump has repeatedly said that tariffs are a response to Mexico and Canada's role in the fentanyl crisis, which has killed over 250,000 American since 2018. While only a small portion of the drug originates from Canada, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that even those numbers are significant for "families in this country who have lost loved ones to this deadly poison". Even small amounts of fentanyl can kill large number of people, she added. Outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has condemned the tariffs, suggesting they align with Trump's stated desire to see Canada become "the 51st state." "What he wants is to see a total collapse of the Canadian economy, because that'll make it easier to annex us," Trudeau told media in Ottawa Thursday. Prof Gillezeau notes that it is an especially deep wound from a neighbour whom Canada had long considered its closest friend and ally. The US and Canada have fought wars together, have boasted about having the longest "undefended" shared border in the world and have even engaged in joint security missions in the Arctic to defend each other's sovereignty. "We've been allies for 100 years," he says, adding that many Canadians are likely upset not just with how the US has been treating Canada, but also other allies like Ukraine. "We're a decent, honourable people, and we stand by our allies," Prof Gillezeau says. "I think that's what is driving the real depth of the discontent we see." The Canadian boycotts are already having material impact. Canadian outlet Global News has reported that leisure travel bookings to the US have plunged 40% year over year, citing data from Flight Centre Canada. That decline has also been observed in land border crossings between British Columbia and Washington State. Before the tariffs, the US was the number one international travel destination for Canadians, who have spent $20.5bn (£15.89bn) into the American tourism economy in 2024 alone. Asked if this trend will hold, Prof Gillezeau says Canadians ideally want relations to go back to normal with their neighbour. But in absence of that, the consensus in the country is that "Canada needs to find friends elsewhere".

Three suspects are still at large after 12 people were injured in a shooting at a pub in Toronto, police in the Canadian city say. The shooting took place at 22:39 on Friday local time (03:39 GMT Saturday) near Scarborough city centre in eastern Toronto. Authorities said six people suffered bullet wounds and others were hurt by flying or broken glass. The injuries were not life-threatening, they said. Toronto police said the three men, armed with an assault rifle and handguns, had entered the pub and "opened fire indiscriminately". A motive "right now remains unclear and we're chasing down all leads", said Police Supt Paul MacIntyre. "This was a brazen and reckless act of violence that's really shaken our community and the city itself," he added. Police said they were deploying all available resources to find the suspects. Earlier, they said that one suspect, wearing a black balaclava, had been seen fleeing the scene in a silver car. The victims ranged in age from 20s to mid-50, according to police. "I'm happy to report, by the grace of God, that there have been no fatalities," Supt MacIntyre said, which he called "extremely lucky." He said he and other officers were "horrified" by video of the shooting. "These guys just looked at the crowd and opened fire. It was horrible." Glass walls were shattered and there was "blood all over the floor", including in the basement, where some people ran to hide before police arrived, he said. Mayor Olivia Chow expressed deep concern over the mass shooting, telling reporters on Saturday that she was "deeply troubled" by the incident. "It is troubling because of the magnitude of the shooting and the number of people hurt," Mayor Chow said. She said that police have been actively investigating the case throughout the night and into the morning. Ontario Premier Doug Ford also condemned the violence, stating in an X post on Saturday that he fully supports the Toronto Police Service in their search for the suspects. The number of those injured in this incident is high compared to other shootings in the area in 2024. Last year, eight people were injured and two killed in shootings and firearm discharges in the police division where Friday's incident occurred, the department's data shows. In Toronto, which has a three million population, 43 people were killed in shootings last year. Canada has a lower rate of firearm homicides than its neighbour the US, with 0.6 per 100,000 people compared to 4.5 per 100,000, according to 2021 data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

One local activist told NBC News he was glad to see the spotlight on the displacement of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta, but also feared being targeted by Israeli settlers and forces. Each morning, the first thing Alaa Hathleen does is anxiously check his WhatsApp messages with a single question on his mind: “Who will be homeless today?” Just over two weeks ago, it was his turn. Early on Feb. 18, Hathleen, 25, was still asleep at his family home in the village of Umm Al-Kheir on the outskirts of Masafer Yatta in the Israeli-occupied West Bank when his mother raced into the room, terrified. Israeli soldiers and excavators were outside, she yelled. Less than half an hour later, they were standing outside their home, watching in horror as an excavator tore through the building, crushing its walls to rubble and snapping its metal roof in half. The Israel Defense Forces said Hathleen's home was "built illegally in a closed military area," and that it was demolished "in accordance with the law." Masafer Yatta’s landscape of rolling hills and small hamlets gained renewed international attention when “No Other Land,” a documentary by Basel Adra, a Palestinian activist, and Yuval Abraham, an Israeli investigative journalist, won an Oscar on Sunday. The film highlighted the violence and abuses committed by Israeli forces and settlers against Palestinians in Masafer Yatta — but Hathleen said he feared it could “open the gates of hell” for those who lived there, worried that Israeli settlers and forces might increase their attacks in angry retaliation for the film. Hathleen said he believed it was important to highlight the reality Palestinians face in the occupied West Bank, but in the weeks since the documentary was announced as an Academy Award nominee, he said there had been fresh violence in the area, with Amnesty International warning last week that another village nearby was under “imminent threat of forcible transfer.” Hathleen, a physical therapist and activist, now sleeps in a large tent outside his brother’s house with other relatives. They feared rebuilding their home only to have it torn down again by Israeli forces, while the threat of a violent settler attack hangs over him and his family. “It’s so hard, but what should we do?” he said in a phone interview on Thursday. “This is what they want — to kick us out of our land.” Like Hathleen, Mohammad Hureini, the son of prominent activist Hafez Hureini, who has made headlines for his fight to remain in At-Tuwani in Masafer Yatta, said he was glad the documentary was bringing “good attention to the situation.” But, Hureini, 20, an activist and university student studying English literature, added: “It’s not enough to stop what Israel is committing.” Violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers and forces has soared since the start of the war in Gaza. According to OCHA, the United Nations’ humanitarian aid agency, at least 895 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem between Oct. 7, 2023, and March 4 of this year. So far this year, 89 Palestinians in the territory have been killed, with 17 of them children under the age of 19. Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Six Day War, with Israeli settlers building and expanding Jewish settlements there that have been condemned as illegal under international humanitarian law and counter to U.N. Security Council resolutions, a charge Israel rejects. Masafar Yatta has been a focus of Israeli demolitions since the 1980s, after the Israeli military declared the area a restricted military zone, dubbing it “Firing Zone 918.” A decadeslong legal battle saw the displacement and return of Palestinian families to the area, but that ended in May 2022, when Israel’s High Court of Justice authorized the state to demolish villages in the area and expel its residents. OCHA has called forced evictions resulting from demolitions a “gross violation of human rights,” while human rights organizations including Israel-based Peace Now and B’Tselem have condemned Israel’s mounting destruction of Palestinian homes in the area. “The Israeli government concocts one excuse after the other to expel Palestinians from their land,” Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch, told NBC News over WhatsApp on Thursday. Accepting the award for best documentary at the Oscars, Adra, who co-directed “No Other Land,” called on the international community to “take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people.” Both Hureini and Hathleen expressed fears for the future of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza with the Trump administration’s return to power. As one of his first acts in office, President Donald Trump rescinded U.S. sanctions on far-right settlers accused of violence against Palestinians, and more recently, as he looks to force an end to the war in Gaza, threatened the lives of Palestinians if hostages held by Hamas are not released. NBC News reached out to the White House for comment, but did not receive a response. “We are so worried about Donald Trump because he doesn’t care about the Palestinians,” Hathleen said. “He just cares about Israel.”

The clashes raise concerns about Syria’s stability and interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa’s ability to reunify the country after 13 years of civil war. At least 400 people have been killed in northwest Syria after days of clashes between government forces and loyalists of former President Bashar al-Assad marked the deadliest violence since the fall of Assad three months ago. According to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), more than 350 civilians have been killed. The SOHR framed the killings as a collective act of revenge, adding that women and children were executed by firing squad in the countryside near Tartus, an Assad stronghold. NBC News has not independently verified the death toll or methods of execution, and it is currently unclear which groups are involved in the killing of civilians. In addition, SOHR said that some 50 government troops and 45 Assad loyalists have been killed in the fighting. Video posted on social media and verified by NBC News showed the bodies of dozens of men piled on a blood-soaked street in the small town of Latakia, another Assad stronghold on Syria’s Mediterranean coast. Women gathered around the bloodied corpses, wailing and clutching the dead. One can be heard sobbing, “My dad, my brother, oh, God.” The victims are reportedly from the Alawite community, the small Islamic sect to which the Assad family belongs. Under Assad, Alawites were appointed to key positions in the military and security forces. NBC News was unable to confirm that the bodies in the video were members of the Alawite community. The SOHR said the vast majority of people killed in the current clashes were from the minority Islamic sect. The clashes erupted last week near the coastal city of Jableh when government forces attempted to detain a wanted person but were ambushed by Assad loyalists, triggering a wave of retaliatory attacks and two days of intense fighting. The coastal stronghold of Assad’s Alawite sect has become a major security flashpoint for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa as he struggles to assert control three months after his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group led the overthrow of Assad. Tensions are especially high in the mountainous coastal region, where government forces are heavily deployed. In a video statement, Sharaa urged armed groups still loyal to the former government to surrender their weapons. He also called on pro-government forces to avoid harming civilians or mistreating prisoners. Despite this appeal, the Syrian Observatory reported Friday that Jableh, the coastal town of Baniyas and several nearby Alawite villages — including Assad’s hometown of Qardaha in the mountains overlooking Latakia — remain under the control of Assad loyalists. The clashes raise concerns about Syria’s stability and Sharaa’s ability to reunify Syria after 13 years of civil war. In February, Sharaa appeared to receive a hero’s welcome during his first visit to Latakia and Tartus. Video showed him waving from a balcony as crowds cheered below. But the recent violence has raised fears that underlying divisions remain unresolved. Western nations continue to watch Sharaa’s rise cautiously, weighing his past ties to jihadist groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda against his efforts to present himself as a reformed leader advocating for an inclusive Syria that represents its diverse religious and ethnic communities.