TOP CLICKS: The week that was in viral stories

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The Toronto Sun takes you straight to the heart of the action.

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Whether it’s local news, provincial and national politics, or the worlds of celebrity and sports, we have you covered.

Some stories set the world on fire. And these ones are the most popular online stories from the past seven days, clicked on by Sun readers like you.

Here are our top stories:

Feds expect 4.9M with expiring visas to ‘voluntarily’ leave Canada in next year

With almost five million temporary permits expected to expire over the next year, the federal government expects them to leave voluntarily.

That’s according to Immigration Minister Marc Miller, after he was confronted with that number by Conservative MP Tom Kmiec, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

While that’s what the feds are expecting, Kmiec questioned how they would be able to keep track of those who actually leave.

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Miller responded that the feds would “carefully” monitor the situation, adding the Canada Border Services Agency can “investigate and prosecute those who violate immigration laws.”

The Department of Immigration counted 1,073,435 foreign students in Canada as of last May 3.

SIMMONS: Exclusive details on Auston Matthews’ medical visit to Germany

Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews travelled to Germany recently to visit a superstar sports medicine physician, two former NHL players told Steve Simmons.

The doc in question is Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt and apparently, people travel from all over the world to meet with the 82-year-old former team physician for famed soccer club Bayern Munich.

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Muller-Wohlfahrt has worked with huge athletes including Usain Bolt, Christian McCaffrey, Boris Becker, Maurice Greene and Vitali Klitschko, so why wouldn’t Matthews get checked out by him?

The Leafs captain has been out of the lineup since Nov. 3. with a mystery injury that neither he nor the team have declared, but he is expected to return to the ice shortly.

Perhaps by the time you’re reading this, he will have already skated.

That said, the Leafs are an impressive 7-2 in the nine games (as of press time) Matthews has been out.

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Poilievre lambastes Trudeau after violent Montreal protests

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre lashed out at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a day after two separate protests in Montreal became violent last week.

Trudeau’s hometown was the sight of demonstrations for two straight days, while the city hosted about 300 delegates from NATO members and partner countries.

The pro-Palestinian protesters smashed windows, clashed with police and set two vehicles on fire, according to the Montreal Gazette, while one person was seen setting fire to an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trudeau condemned the violence in a statement a day later because on the second night of protests, the PM was dancing along to Taylor Swift (more on that in a sec) — which Poilievre slammed in a blistering attack.

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“This is what happens when a Prime Minister spends nine years pushing toxic woke identity politics, dividing and subdividing people by race, gender, vaccine status, religion, region, age, wealth, etc.,” Poilievre seethed in a lengthy X post.

The Opposition Leader went on to list all the ways Trudeau continues to drive people apart before turning to Canada’s border security and rampant criminality.

“And, while you were dancing, Montreal was burning,” he noted.

WARMINGTON: Prime Minister rocks with Swifties in Toronto as rioters roll on Montreal

The optics of Justin Trudeau dancing the night away in Toronto’s Rogers Centre alongside footage of downtown Montreal that looked apocalyptic was almost too easy.

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But the CBC, Trudeau’s public broadcaster, tried to throw him a bone by reporting that the pro-Hamas thugs were actually anti-NATO demonstrators, and referring to the effigy of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu that was burned as a “mannequin,” Joe Warmington reported.

But not even a spider could spin it. People saw exactly what was happening and where Trudeau was while it was taking place.

This is Trudeau’s Canada — where his home city was in full riot mode even if he was oblivious to it all from his expensive seat at the sold-out Eras Tour show.

Former U.S. Open tennis champion says life has turned into a ‘never-ending nightmare’

Tennis star Juan Martin del Potro revealed in a heartbreaking interview that his retirement days are filled with “daily suffering” due to ongoing knee issues that leave him in constant pain.

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The 2009 U.S. Open champion revealed that after his final match, against Federico Delbonis at the Argentina Open in February 2022, he immediately flew to Switzerland to have his fifth knee surgery, Dan Bilicki reported.

Del Potro decided to stop speaking publicly about his surgeries so he could try to recover in peace and come back to the game he loves but that hasn’t been the case, ever since his first surgery in 2019.

Eight surgeries later, Del Potro detailed his arduous daily medical routine and the changes that he has been forced to make.

That said, he’s been training for a farewell exhibition match this weekend against former rival-turned-friend Novak Djokovic.

“It’s a match to say goodbye,” the former world-ranked No. 3 said. “If at least for one, two or three hours I can be at peace and happy on a tennis court, it will be beautiful.”

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