Canadians are ‘perplexed’ by Trump’s tariffs, ambassador to the US says
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(WASHINGTON) — In an interview on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday, Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman said Canadians are “perplexed” and “disappointed” by President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
White House officials announced Saturday that Trump has imposed 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada and 10% tariffs on goods from China. Trump had long threatened tariffs against Canada and Mexico to ensure their cooperation to stop illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.
The tariffs are expected to be implemented on Tuesday but Hillman said her government is continuing to discuss the situation with the Trump administration.
“We’re hopeful that they don’t come into effect on Tuesday,” she said. “We’re ready to continue to talk to the Trump administration about that, and in particular about all the work that we’re doing with them and on our own, with respect to the border.”
Hillman said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Trump discussed Canada’s plan to meet some of his demands, although not recently, and discussions between the two governments are continuing.
“Not in recent days, but they have discussed it, and we’ve discussed it with senior members of the White House as well, and we’ve laid out our plan, and my understanding is that the plan and some of the actual outcomes, results of what we have done, have been presented to the president,” she said.
Trudeau responded to the tariffs on Saturday evening, announcing his country will implement 25% tariffs on $155 billion Canadian dollars (about $107 billion U.S. dollars) of U.S. goods. The prime minister said he has not talked to Trump since his inauguration.
Hillman said the proposed tariff’s are “disrupting an incredibly successful trading relationship.”
“The Canadian people are going to expect that our government stands firm and stands up for itself,” she said. “I don’t think we’re not at all interested in escalating, but I think that there will be a very strong demand on our government to make sure that we stand up for the deal that we have struck with the with the United States.”
“They just don’t understand where this is coming from, and probably there’s a little bit of hurt,” she added.
The U.S. and Canada have always had a “sense of common purpose,” Hillman said, and Trump’s actions constitute a significant heel turn.
“This is not something that Canada wants to do,” she said. “This is not a path that we are interested in going down. We are actually interested in being and continuing to be your best customer.”
(LONDON) — After dedicating his life to fighting the regime of Assad, Mazen Al-Hamada did not live to see it fall.
A symbol of resilience and courage, the famous Syrian activist was found dead in the “slaughterhouse” prison of Saydnaya in Damascus, as confirmed by the Syrian Emergency Task Force to ABC News.
An unverified photo circulating online shows his disfigured face and suggests he was killed just before the rebels that ousted Assad reached the prison to liberate detainees, according to independent observers.
On Thursday, hundreds gathered in Damascus for Al-Hamada’s funeral, where one of his sisters leading the procession called him “a martyr of revolution and freedom.”
Originally from Deir Ezzor, Al-Hamada was first arrested in 2011 when he organized pro-democracy rallies in the context of the Arab Spring and documented the brutal repression from the Syrian government.
In 2012, he was arrested again for trying to smuggle baby formula into a besieged suburb of Damascus, returning to prison a second time.
He left Syria in 2013 and was granted asylum in the Netherlands a year later.
Once abroad, the world got to know the horrors endured by Al-Hamada, along with thousands of detainees, as he described them to huge crowds of students, policymakers and the press. He did not spare details of the numerous ways in which he had been tortured, reliving his trauma over and over again to raise awareness.
“Mazen poured his heart into every meeting and to anyone he spoke with,” Humanitarian Programs Director at the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF) Natalie Larrison, who was on the road with him and became his close friend, told ABC News. As they traveled the United States, meeting everyone who would listen, from congress members in Washington, D.C., to students in Arkansas, Larrison said he was always “in the backseat singing and clapping and jumping up and down.”
Larrison also said Al-Hamada loved American tacos, especially from Taco Bell, and that he told her he was engaged and kept the ring even after his fiancé had been killed while he was in prison the first time.
With every testimony, Al-Hamada quickly became one of the most prominent advocates for Syrian prisoners held by Assad’s regime, at least 157,000 between 2011 and August 2024, including thousands of women and children, according to a report by the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR).
“Mazen was a gentle soul,” Sara Afshar, a friend of Al-Hamada and the director of the 2017 documentary “Syria’s Disappeared” in which he was featured, told ABC News, “A lot of people in his situation would focus on looking after themselves… but everything that motivated him, with an incredible sense of urgency, every second of the day, was how to get the other prisoners out. Because he knew what they were going through.”
Along with thousands of users on social media, Afshar called for justice for Al-Hamada and the other Syrian detainees who are dead or unaccounted for, echoing the words that Al-Hamada himself said in an interview which has been trending on social media since the news of his death.
“I will not rest until I take them to court and get justice,” Al-Hamada said in the interview, his sunken eyes in tears unable to hide the pain behind his words. “Justice for me and my friends who they killed. Even if it costs my life. Bring them to justice, no matter what.”
Al-Hamada returned to Syria four years ago in a shocking move that some people close to him described as the result of his disappointment in the international community. The last time he was active on his WhatsApp was on Feb. 22, 2020, according to the SETF.
“He became discouraged over time because he gave it his all with people promising to help, and nothing changed,” Larrison told ABC News.
Others, including his sister who spoke at his funeral on Thursday, believe the regime promised him safety if he returned to Syria in an attempt to stop his international anti-Assad campaign. She also said they threatened to hurt his family still in Syria.
“The circumstances of Mazen’s death underscore the heavy price borne by those who dared speak out against Assad’s brutal regime,” the Syrian Emergency Task Force said in a statement remembering Al-Hamada.
The Dutch government never commented on his departure, fostering rumors that it failed to support the refugee and his efforts to raise awareness for the Syrian cause.
When asked about Al-Hamada’s legacy, the people who knew him said it would be justice and his contribution to freeing Syria from Assad’s five decadeslong regime.
“Seeing his funeral service today in Damascus is a testimony to what he meant to the Syrian people. His tireless journey has not been for nothing and his legacy will continue to live on in a free Syria, and he will be remembered always for helping his people be free,” Larrison told ABC News.
“We talked about justice and accountability when he recounted the horrors he had experienced. He didn’t want revenge. What he wanted was justice in a court of law,” Afshar told ABC News. “The world failed him and the other disappeared, and now they are dead. But with all the evidence that is being gathered and the work that so many Syrians have done for years, I have hope that there will be justice. That will be Mazen’s legacy.”
Rescuers of the State Emergency Service work to put out a fire in a private house after a drone strike in Kharkiv, on December 25, 2024, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (Photo by SERGEY BOBOK/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Ukrainians faced fresh Russian drone and missile strikes on energy infrastructure nationwide on Tuesday night into Christmas Day morning, with the energy minister in Kyiv warning of immediate power cuts.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram, “Every Russian massive strike takes time to prepare. It is never a spontaneous decision. It is a conscious choice not only of targets, but also of time and date.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zelenskyy said, “deliberately chose Christmas for an attack. What could be more inhuman? More than 70 missiles, including ballistic ones, and more than a hundred strike drones. The targets are our energy sector. They continue to fight for a blackout in Ukraine.”
“According to preliminary data, our defenders managed to shoot down more than 50 missiles and a significant part of the drones,” Zelenskyy said. “Unfortunately, there are hits. As of now, there are outages in several regions. Energy workers are working to restore the power supply as soon as possible.”
Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired 78 missiles of various types into the country, of which 59 were shot down. Russia also launched 106 strike drones, of which 54 were shot down and 52 were lost in flight, the air force added.
“The enemy attacks energy again massively,” Energy Minister German Galushchenko wrote in a statement posted to Facebook early Wednesday. Grid operators, he added, were implementing “necessary consumption restriction measures to minimize negative consequences for the energy system.”
When the security situation allows, “the power companies will specify the damage caused,” Galushchenko added. “Stay tuned for official announcements. While the danger lasts — stay in shelters!”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a statement posted to X, “This Christmas terror is Putin’s response to those who spoke about illusionary ‘Christmas ceasefire’.”
“One Russian missile passed Moldovan and Romanian airspace, reminding that Russia threatens not only Ukraine,” Sybiha added.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement posted to Telegram that it “carried out a massive strike with long-range precision weapons and strike drones on critical energy infrastructure facilities in Ukraine that ensure the operation of the military-industrial complex.”
“The strike’s goal was achieved,” the ministry said. “All facilities were hit.”
The ministry said its forces also shot down 59 Ukrainian drones overnight.
This year is the second in which Ukraine will officially celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25. Previously, many Ukrainians celebrated Christmas in January per the Orthodox calendar, as Russian Orthodox adherents still do.
“For the second time, we celebrate Christmas on the same date as one big family, one country,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram on Tuesday. “For the second time in modern history, Christmas unites all Ukrainians.”
“Today, we stand side by side, and we will not be lost,” Zelenskyy added. “In person, from afar, or in our hearts — Ukrainians are together today. And as long as we do this, evil has no chance.”
(GAZA CITY) — Alma Ja’arour is not like most children her age. Instead of talking about school and friends, her days are filled with memories of the family she lost and the uncertainty of her future after Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement on Jan. 15.
Alma, who is 12 years old, is the sole survivor of her family after her home was bombed in December 2023 in Gaza City.
Soon, she will return — not to the home she once knew, but to a graveyard where her parents and siblings rest.
“My mother, father, and brothers are all buried in one grave in our home in Gaza City,” she told ABC News. “I want to see them, say goodbye. But what will I do after that? There is no home to return to, no one waiting for me.”
After 15 months of living in displacement camps because of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, Alma and others like her will be allowed to return to northern Gaza on Saturday.
But for Alma, returning without her family is difficult, she told ABC News.
Alma’s story is one of countless others unfolding across Gaza, where children like her face unimaginable challenges. The ongoing conflict has left over 17,000 children separated from their parents, according to UNICEF.
Amid the challenges Alma has faced, she has one wish.
“I want to make my parents proud of me in heaven,” Alma told ABC News.
Her hope is to become a doctor, fulfilling a desire that her late father always encouraged, she said.
“Through education, I can achieve my goals. I will work hard to make my father proud,” Alma added.
Alma has been living in a tent at the Al-Barakah Orphanage Camp in Khan Younis.
Mahmoud Kalakh, the camp’s director, said the children in the orphanage display resilience, despite the tragedy around them.
“These children carry the weight of tragedy, yet they still dream of a better future,” he said. “Our role is to provide them with the support they need to heal and rebuild their lives.”
UNICEF and other humanitarian organizations have called for urgent support for children like Alma. The loss of family, education and basic necessities has created a crisis that requires immediate global attention, global aid organizations say.
“Children are the most vulnerable in conflicts,” a UNICEF spokesperson said. “We must ensure they have the resources and care they need to survive and thrive.”
