Good morning. We’re covering the widening trade war and a hearing of a detained activist in the U.S. Plus, a new season of books.
E.U. and Canada retaliated for Trump’s latest tariffsThe trade fight widened yesterday as the E.U. and Canada announced billions of dollars in retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports, hours after President Trump’s levies on steel and aluminum imports took effect. Here’s the latest. Europe The E.U. said tariffs would take effect April 1, a response to about $26 billion in tariffs applied by the U.S. But bloc officials emphasized that they were ready to strike a deal. Their response will come in two parts. A tariff suspension implemented under Joe Biden will be allowed to lapse on April 1, raising tariffs on billions of euros’ worth of products that include boats, bourbon and motorcycles. The second step will be to place tariffs on about 18 billion euros’ worth of additional products, a list of which has yet to be finalized. Canada The Canadian government said that it would impose new tariffs on $20 billion worth of U.S. imports. This round is centered on steel and aluminum, but also applies to tools, computers, sporting goods and cast iron. Here’s a breakdown of all the tariffs so far. Other allies Britain has chosen not to retaliate, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer looks to sign a long-term trade deal with the U.S. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia said his country would not impose reciprocal tariffs because they would hurt domestic consumers.
Detained activist was kept from speaking privately with lawyersA Columbia University graduate and pro-Palestinian activist, who was detained by federal immigration authorities last weekend, has been unable to hold private conversations with his lawyers since his arrest, a court hearing revealed yesterday. He has yet to be charged with a crime. The Trump administration has accused Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent U.S. legal resident, of participating in protests that support Hamas, and has justified his detention with a little-used statute that grants the power to declare someone “adversarial” to the U.S. and subject to deportation. Quote: “This is not about free speech,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. “This is about people that don’t have a right to be in the United States to begin with. No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card.” What’s next: The judge said that he would order the government to let Khalil’s lawyers speak with him. He also told a government lawyer to prepare to address a Supreme Court opinion that could allow Khalil’s lawyers to keep his case in New York.
Tracking sectarian violence and revenge killings in SyriaArmed groups and foreign fighters linked to the Syrian government were behind this week’s massacres on the country’s coast, a conflict monitor based in Britain found. The tensions have threatened efforts to unify the country. The violence “included extrajudicial killings, field executions and systematic mass killings motivated by revenge and sectarianism,” the Syrian Network for Human Rights said in a report released Tuesday. The Times could not confirm the findings. Background: Hundreds of civilians were killed in the Latakia and Tartus Provinces, areas dominated by the Alawite religious minority. The ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad was an Alawite, and some fellow members enjoyed a privileged status under his rule. Conflict: Turkey kept bombing armed Kurdish insurgents in Iraq and Syria, even after the militants’ leader urged them to disband, and their group declared a cease-fire.
War in Ukraine
Elsewhere
Sports
A 17-acre expanse in the Bahamas has been acquired by an unlikely developer: the Royal Caribbean cruise line. The company is building an exclusive beach club with the world’s largest swim-up bar, causing alarm among locals who say they’re being priced out of their homes. Bahamian businesses have been promised lucrative contracts, but islanders are shocked by how the land has been razed for tourism.
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A sea of new books to readEvery season brings its share of books to look forward to, and this one is no different. The Times has picked dozens of its favorite page-turners for you. A “Hunger Games” prequel follows Katniss Everdeen’s eventual mentor at the 50th Hunger Games. Ocean Vuong’s new novel traces the relationship between a Vietnamese man and a widow in a fictional Connecticut town. Read the fiction list here. In nonfiction, “Notes to John,” Joan Didion’s first newly published work in more than a decade, features descriptions of her therapy sessions in journal entries addressed to her husband. And a new biography aims to demystify and defend Yoko Ono. |
