The manuals, which have yet to be approved, would provide instructions on how to prepare for imminent threats, including armed conflict and natural disasters. French Prime Minister François Bayrou plans to distribute a “survival manual” to every household with instructions on how to prepare for imminent threats, amid concerns over an emboldened Russia and weakened security support from the United States. A spokesperson for the prime minister’s office told NBC News that the first-of-its-kind document, which is currently awaiting official approval, addresses preparations for armed conflict, nuclear threats and natural disasters. According to the prime minister’s office, the 20-page booklet was not designed specifically in response to the current geopolitical climate, but it would seem to align with France’s new defense posture. During a national address on March 5, French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the need to overhaul France’s security stance, saying, “We must equip ourselves better, raise our defense posture, and this for peace, even to deter.” If approved, the manual would be launched before the summer, according to French broadcaster Europe 1 radio, and aim to offer practical advice to citizens on how they can protect themselves and their loved ones in the face of immediate danger. Divided into three sections, the manual will include a list of emergency contacts for the police, fire service and ambulance, as well as which radio channels to tune in to for more information. In the face of nuclear threats, it advises closing doors and windows, along with details on how to volunteer for reserve units or firefighting groups. The recommendations include putting together a “survival kit” that consists of at least one and a half gallons of water, a dozen tins of food, a first aid kit, medicines, batteries and a flashlight. In a national address earlier this month, Macron urged his country to prepare to confront “Russian threats,” referring to changing relations between the U.S. and Europe in recent months. “I want to believe the U.S. will stay by our side, but we have to be ready if they don’t,” Macron said, according to Reuters, adding: “Russia has become, at this moment and for years to come, a threat to France and Europe.” After visiting a military base in eastern France this month, Macron announced “a major overhaul” of France’s security forces that includes increasing the number of operational reservists from 40,000 to 100,000 by 2035 and more military equipment. He added that France was willing to discuss offering the country’s nuclear capabilities to European allies given that U.S. military support was no longer guaranteed. “This is the choice we have made and will continue to make. No one can say what will happen in the months and years to come,” he said. The move follows in the footsteps of neighbors and NATO allies Finland, Norway and Sweden, which late last year also updated guidance to their citizens on how to survive war. In Sweden, a pamphlet called “Om krisen eller kriget kommer,” or “If crisis or war comes,” was distributed by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) to all 5 million households over two weeks from Nov. 18, while a digital version was available online. It was the fifth version of a brochure that was first published in World War II, placing “greater emphasis on preparing for war,” according to the MSB.

At least 45 people were killed by airstrikes across the Gaza Strip overnight Thursday as Israel's resumption of its ground and air offensive left a trail of destruction observed by an NBC News team on the ground. More than 30 of those killed in the strikes by the Israel Defense Forces were brought to the city's European Hospital, while 13 were taken to Nasser Hospital, officials there told NBC News. One family had 12 members killed, including several children. The strikes hit multiple homes in the middle of the night, with children killed as they slept, The Associated Press reported. Sirens that had become increasingly rare during the ceasefire rang out in a number of areas in central Israel on Thursday, after projectiles were launched from the Gaza Strip, the IDF said. NBC News' team in central Israel reporting heard blasts around the same time. In the hours before the strikes, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz suggested that civilians in the enclave would "pay the full price" if hostages who remain held by Hamas were not returned. “Return the hostages and eliminate Hamas — the alternative is complete destruction and annihilation,” he said Wednesday in an address to Palestinians in Gaza as the Israeli military issued evacuation orders for areas it said were "battle zones." Hamas said in a statement late Wednesday that Israel’s ground offensive constituted a “new and dangerous violation of the signed ceasefire agreement.” Thursday's strikes came after the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said that more than 400 people had been killed overnight Tuesday when Israel resumed strikes across the enclave, breaking the fragile ceasefire after two months of relative calm. Both Israel and the United States have blamed Hamas for the renewed fighting, accusing the militant group of rejecting a proposal to extend the first phase of the current ceasefire agreement, even though that was not part of the original deal. At least 59 hostages, both dead and alive, are thought to remain in Gaza out of around 250 who were taken captive during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks, in which some 1,200 people were killed, according to Israel. Nearly 49,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its offensive in the enclave, according to local health officials, whose figures the World Health Organization has said in the past are reputable. The resumption of war has already brought renewed devastation to the Gaza Strip, with babies and pregnant mothers among those killed in Israeli strikes on the tent camps where they had sought shelter. Among those killed was Afnan Fouad Al-Ghannam, 20, who was 7 months pregnant, and her 1-year-old son, Mohammad, when their shelter in the Muwasi tent camp was hit. While Muwasi has long been designated a humanitarian zone, it has been struck on multiple occasions during the war. The boy's father could be seen cradling his son, wrapped in a bloodied white shroud, in video captured by NBC News' crew on the ground Wednesday. “I would give my life for you,” Alaa Abu Hilal said, holding Mohammed in his arms. "Your separation hurts me," the father told his son. "Take care of your mother." Israel's military sent ground troops back into Gaza on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the IDF said, a fresh escalation in its renewed attack on Gaza. The military said that its “targeted ground operation” was focused on the central and southern Gaza Strip and that ground troops had retaken about half of the Netzarim corridor — the Israeli-built roadway that bisects Gaza and has been used to cut off traffic between its north and south. While this week's strikes have shattered what had often appeared to be a fragile ceasefire, Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif Al-Qanou said Thursday in a statement that talks with mediators were ongoing. He added that he hoped negotiators would push Israel to "back down from its plan" and abide by the ceasefire deal agreed in January.

European nations have been under pressure to shore up their defenses in the face of a hostile Russia and shifts in U.S. policy under President Donald Trump. BERLIN — Germany’s parliament approved plans for a massive spending surge on Tuesday, throwing off decades of fiscal conservatism in hopes of reviving economic growth and scaling up military spending for a new era of European collective defense. The approval in the Bundestag hands conservative leader Friedrich Merz a huge boost, giving the chancellor-in-waiting a windfall of hundreds of billions of euros to ramp up investment after two years of contraction in Europe’s largest economy. Germany and other European nations have been under pressure to shore up their defenses in the face of a hostile Russia and shifts in U.S. policy under President Donald Trump, which European leaders fear could leave the Continent exposed. Merz’s conservatives and Social Democrats (SPD), who are in talks to form a centrist coalition after last month’s election, want to create a 500 billion euro ($546 billion) fund for infrastructure and to ease constitutionally enshrined borrowing rules to allow higher spending on security. “We have for at least a decade felt a false sense of security,” Merz told lawmakers ahead of the vote. “The decision we are taking today on defense readiness ... can be nothing less than the first major step towards a new European defense community,” he said. The legislation still has to go to the Bundesrat upper house, which represents the governments of Germany’s 16 federal states. The main hurdle to passage there appeared to fall on Monday when the Bavarian Free Voters agreed to back the plans. The conservatives and SPD wanted to pass the legislation through the outgoing parliament for fear it could be blocked by an enlarged contingent of far-right and far-left lawmakers in the next Bundestag starting March 25. Merz has justified the tight timetable with the rapidly changing geopolitical situation.

The head of the U.N. Office for Project Services declined to say who carried out the strike on a U.N. guesthouse in the Gaza Strip. An international United Nations staffer was killed and five others were wounded in a strike on a U.N. guesthouse in the Gaza Strip, a U.N. official said Wednesday. Jorge Moreira da Silva, head of the U.N. Office for Project Services, declined to say who carried out the strike but said the explosive ordnance was “dropped or fired” and the blast was not accidental or related to demining activity. He did not provide the nationalities of those killed and wounded. The Israeli military, which has carried out a heavy wave of airstrikes since early Tuesday, denied earlier reports that it had targeted the U.N. compound. But Moreira da Silva said strikes had hit near the compound on Monday and struck it directly on Tuesday and again on Wednesday, when the staffer was killed. He said the agency had contacted the Israeli military after the first strike and confirmed that it was aware of the facility’s location. “Israel knew this was a U.N. premises, that people were living, staying and working there,” he said. There have been no reports of rocket fire or other Palestinian militant attacks since Israel unleashed the airstrikes overnight and into Tuesday, ending a ceasefire that took hold in January. The Israeli bombardment continued into Wednesday, though at a lower intensity. The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 436 people, including 183 children and 94 women, have been killed since Israel launched the strikes early Tuesday. It said another 678 people have been wounded. The military says it only strikes militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas. Gaza’s Health Ministry records do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

More than 400 people were killed in the Israeli attacks and hundreds more were injured, according to health officials. Israel shattered its ceasefire with Hamas by launching a barrage of deadly airstrikes overnight Tuesday that killed hundreds of Palestinians across the Gaza Strip — and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that “this is just the beginning.” More than 400 people were killed and hundreds more injured, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave. Video captured by an NBC News crew at the Nasser Hospital in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis showed charred tent camps and bloodied bodies, including those of young children. On Wednesday, the Israeli military said it had launched a "targeted ground operation" in central and southern Gaza to build a partial buffer between the northern and southern parts of the enclave. Why, after nearly two months of relative peace in the enclave, did Israel break the fragile truce and what does it mean for the future of the ceasefire? Why did the ceasefire break down? Both Israel and the Trump administration have blamed Hamas for the resumption of hostilities, citing the militant group's refusal to meet Israel's demand to release more hostages in return for the resumption of talks. But this was not part of the original ceasefire agreement that went into effect Jan. 19. The first phase of that deal, which had Hamas release 25 living hostages and the bodies of eight in exchange for around 1,800 of Palestinian prisoners, ended March 1. The second phase was set to kick in 16 days later and would have included the exchange of all the remaining hostages and the establishment of a permanent ceasefire. In phase three, the bodies of all dead hostages were to be returned and a commitment made to rebuild Gaza. But the second phase never began after Netanyahu said he had accepted a plan by Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, to extend the ceasefire for 50 days to discuss phase two — a proposal that was immediately rejected by Hamas. Following Hamas' rejection, Israel blocked the flow of aid and goods into Gaza in a move condemned by rights groups. Israel's military called Tuesday’s strikes “pre-emptive” and suggested without providing any evidence that Hamas was attempting to rearm. Since the start of the war, Netanyahu has faced significant and conflicting pressures from various parties inside Israel, while drawing widespread international criticism for the Israeli military's conduct and the mounting death toll in Gaza. Families of hostages taken during Hamas' terror attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, have long called for a deal that would see the release of their loved ones. Around 250 people were taken captive that day and 1,200 killed, according to Israeli tallies. More than 48,000 people have died in Gaza in the Israeli military campaign since then, according to health officials in the enclave. But far-right members of the Israeli government, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have threatened to quit if Israel moves to the second phase of the deal, while calling for the total annihilation of Hamas. Were that to happen, it would most likely bring about early elections, and Netanyahu, who is currently on trial over graft allegations, could be pushed out of power. On Tuesday, he appeared to side with far-right members of his government who have been vocal in demanding a resumption of the war.“From now on, Israel will act against the militant group with increasing intensity,” he said, adding that negotiations to end the fighting would from now on “only take place under fire.” Almost immediately, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who resigned as minister for national security over his opposition to the ceasefire deal, rejoined the coalition along with his Otzma Yehudit party. Ending the war would also mean Netanyahu having to sacrifice at least one or two of his three war objectives in Gaza: securing the return of the hostages held by Hamas, eliminating the group's military and governmental abilities, and removing the threat of possible future attacks. While Netanyahu has been repeatedly criticized by the United Nations, the European Union and individual states about Israel’s military campaign, he does retain the support of Israel's main ally, the United States, especially under the Trump administration. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News that Israel had consulted the Trump administration before launching Tuesday’s strikes. And in a statement to the United Nations Security Council, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Dorothy Shea, said that the resumption of hostilities in Gaza lay solely with Hamas and that the U.S. supported Israel in its next steps. Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank, said he believed Israel was attempting to push Hamas to the “decision phase”with the latest strikes. With Trump in power, “Israel is very well coordinated with the American administration,” he said. What happens now? Netanyahu has maintained that any negotiations going forward will unfold amid an assault in Gaza. The Israeli military said Wednesday morning that it had continued strikes overnight. Senior Hamas official Basem Naim told NBC News on Wednesday that the group was still “committed to the agreement we signed, which must end with a ceasefire and a complete withdrawal” of Israeli forces. He said Hamas was committed to engaging in any negotiations toward that goal. As it stands, a resumption of the ceasefire would appear to require concessions on one side or both. At the moment, neither appears willing to back down.

The Israel Defense Forces announced the incursion just over a day after it broke the ceasefire with a sprawling bombing campaign that killed hundreds across the enclave. TEL AVIV — Israel’s military sent ground troops back into the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces announced, just over a day after it broke a two-month ceasefire with a sprawling bombing campaign that killed hundreds across the enclave. The “targeted ground operation” has focused on the central and southern Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, the IDF said in a statement. Ground troops had also retaken about half of the “Netzarim Corridor,” the IDF said, referring to the Israeli-built roadway that bisects Gaza and has been used to cut off traffic between the northern and southern parts of the enclave. Hamas said in a statement Wednesday evening that Israel’s ground incursion “constitutes a new and dangerous violation of the signed ceasefire agreement.” Israel’s defense minister issued a bellicose statement, threatening that the military would once again begin evacuating civilians from combat zones. “The air force attack against Hamas terrorists was only the first step. The rest will be much more difficult and you will pay the full price,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said in the statement. “If all the Israeli hostages are not released and Hamas is not eliminated from Gaza — Israel will act with forces you have never known before.” The return of Israeli ground forces marks the collapse of a U.S.-negotiated ceasefire that had largely quieted the fighting in Gaza for two months after 15 months of war laid it to waste. Alongside its statement, the IDF circulated a video that showed Israeli tanks, as well as infantry soldiers walking, taking up positions and gathering in groups around destroyed homes in what the IDF said was central Gaza. Under the terms of the treaty, which went came into effect Jan. 19, Israeli forces had gradually withdrawn their ground operations to Gaza’s periphery. Though the treaty dramatically diminished the intensity of the fighting, health officials in Gaza said Israeli forces had killed at least 160 people during the two-month truce. More than 400 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the renewed offensive early Tuesday, according to Palestinian health officials, and at least a dozen were killed Wednesday. An American security company and Egyptian security contractors who worked for a Qatari-Egyptian committee had been securing the Netzarim Corridor. They vacated the roadway today ahead of advancing Israeli forces. At about 9 a.m. local time Wednesday, Israel’s Arabic-language spokesman published a map on social media advising residents in Gaza to vacate areas around the perimeter and move toward the coast, highlighting two square blocks of territory in the enclave’s northeast and southeast for urgent evacuation. In the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City on Wednesday, people used hammers and other tools to dig into the rubble of a four-story building that was hit by an airstrike early that morning. Mohammed Al-Hattab said there were 30 people in the building, children and the elderly. They rescued a 6-month-old baby and a 1-year-old, but others were killed, he said. A 3-year-old boy was partially visible under the rubble — his upper body exposed, his lower half pinned beneath a heavy slab of concrete. Beside him lay his father, lifeless, yet still holding his hand. Nearby, their mother’s lifeless body was covered with a blanket. For hours, neighbors struggled to pull them out, thwarted by a lack of heavy machinery. “Enough of these wars, we are exhausted by them,” Al-Hattab said. “Enough of these wars.” The demise of the hard-won peace treaty ends a short period of calm in Gaza and threatens a return to the kind of Israeli attacks that Palestinian health officials say have already killed more than 48,000 people. Israel ended the peace treaty because, it said, Hamas refused to hand over the remaining hostages held in Gaza. Both sides agreed to a three-phase treaty in late January, with the details of each subsequent phase set to be negotiated during the proceeding period. The first phase of the treaty expired March 1, and repeated attempts to either extend the first phase or negotiate a move toward the second phase have failed. There were almost weekly exchanges of hostages for Palestinian prisoners during the ceasefire’s first phase. By the time it ended this month, Hamas had released 33 hostages for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners. But while Hamas repeatedly tried to negotiate toward the second phase of the treaty, which would lead to a more permanent truce and eventually the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, Israel pushed for a weekslong extension of the first phase. Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, presented multiple “bridging” proposals that would have extended the first phase of the treaty. After Hamas refused, hewing to its insistence on negotiating toward the second phase, Israel’s government scrapped the treaty and moved to renew the fighting.

The remains of two indigenous women murdered by a serial killer have been found after a search of a landfill in the Canadian province of Manitoba, police say. The remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran were recovered at the Prairie Green Landfill, north of the city of Winnipeg, said officials. Authorities had been searching for the bodies of Ms Harris and Ms Myran, both of Long Plain First Nation. The two victims were among four indigenous women killed in 2022 by convicted murderer Jeremy Skibicki. The search of the Prairie Green Landfill began late last year following a lengthy pressure campaign by indigenous leaders. Ms Myran's remains were officially identified by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Manitoba on Monday, while the remains of Ms Harris were identified earlier this month. In a news release, the Manitoba government said Ms Myran's family has been notified of the discovery and has asked for privacy. Cambria Harris, Morgan Harris's daughter, said in a Facebook post earlier this month that the discovery of her mother's remains was a "very bittersweet moment". "Please keep our families in your hearts tonight and every day going forward as we trust this process," she said. Police and province initially declined to search the landfill for the remains of the women, and a federal government study concluded that a search could take three years and cost up to C$184m (£100m; $128m), with workers exposed to hazardous chemicals. Following pressure from the families and a change in government, Manitoba's new premier, Wab Kinew, eventually pledged C$20m for the search. The funds were matched by the federal government. The search officially began in December. In late February, search crews recovered human remains, later identified as that of Ms Harris and Ms Myran. The Manitoba Progressive Conservatives, who had rejected a landfill search when they formed government, issued a formal apology in the legislature to the families this month. "Our government erred. It's as simple as that," said interim PC Leader Wayne Ewasko. Premier Kinew has said that "many Canadians always understood that this was the right thing to do to search the landfill". "But now, we can also say with confidence, that this was also the realistic and reasonable thing to do," he added. Skibicki was convicted last July of the murders of Ms Harris,39, and Ms Myran,26, as well as of killing a third woman, Rebecca Contois, 24, of O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation. A fourth victim is still unidentified, and has been given the name Buffalo Woman. Their murders went undetected for months until a man looking for scrap metal in a bin outside Skibicki's apartment found partial human remains, identified as belonging to Ms Contois. Canada has long faced a crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, indigenous women make up 10% of the population of missing women in Canada and 16% of female homicides. Indigenous women make up about 4% of the female population in Canada.

Israel's military on Tuesday launched the deadliest strikes on the Gaza Strip since the agreement of its ceasefire with Hamas, killing hundreds of people and shattering the fragile truce. The Israeli military was "conducting extensive strikes" against Hamas throughout Gaza, aimed at “the release of all our hostages — living and dead,” the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. “From now on, Israel will act against Hamas with increasing military force,” it said, with the Israeli military later issuing evacuation orders to several neighborhoods across the enclave. At a news briefing Tuesday evening, Netanyahu warned that the strikes were "just the beginning" and that his aim is to "destroy Hamas and make sure Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel.” The health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, whose figures the World Health Organization has previously said it considers to be reliable, said hospitals across the enclave had received the bodies of at least 404 people killed, with more than 560 injured. It added that people were still buried under rubble, with recovery efforts underway. Dr. Muneer Al-Boursh, the ministry's director-general said "most of the victims" were women and children as he called on Gaza's residents to donate blood. While Tuesday's strikes are not the first to happen during the ceasefire, their scale puts the two-month-old ceasefire on shaky ground, although neither Israel or Hamas have explicitly said they considered the current ceasefire to be over. Still, Hamas accused Israeli officials of having violated the terms of the truce. “Netanyahu and his extremist government have decided to overturn the ceasefire agreement and are exposing the prisoners in Gaza to an unknown fate,” Hamas said in a statement. Video captured by NBC News' crew on the ground in southern Gaza's Khan Younis showed scenes of people being rushed to Nasser Hospital, while bloodied bodies could be seen being laid down on the floor and on metal stretchers, including those of young children. Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, a volunteer with Medical Aid for Palestinians' emergency medical team at Nasser Hospital described the "frenzy" Tuesday morning as having "felt like Armageddon." “The windows were shaking, the doors flew open, it was non-stop and then within about ten minutes we started hearing the sirens," she said in a statement shared by MAP with NBC News. Gaza Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal said early Tuesday that dozens of people had been killed and wounded, following attacks on homes. “Our crews are unable to deal with the attacks due to limited resources and the dangerous situation,” Basal said. “We call on the world to stop this aggression.” The Israeli military issued evacuation orders Tuesday morning to Palestinians in neighborhoods across the enclave in Beit Hanoun, Khirbet Khuza’a, Abasan al-Kabira, and al-Jadidah, saying they were "dangerous combat zones." Residents were told to evacuate to known shelters in western Gaza City and Khan Younis. The strikes were the heaviest Israeli military bombardment in Gaza since the ceasefire deal was reached in January and brought a pause to fighting that followed the Hamas-led Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, when more than 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage. Since then, more than 48,500 people have been killed in Gaza, with much of the infrastructure across the enclave destroyed. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum on Tuesday morning called for an immediate “return to a ceasefire” amid Israel’s airstrikes. “The lives of our loved ones hang by a thread and cannot endure much longer,” the forum, which represents the families of those held hostage in Gaza, said in a statement. “After surviving months in captivity against all odds, they are now in critical danger.” Farhan Haq, spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said the UN chief was "shocked by the Israeli airstrikes" and that Guterres "strongly appeals for the ceasefire to be respected, for unimpeded humanitarian assistance to be reestablished and for the remaining hostages to be released unconditionally." White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News that Israel consulted the Trump administration and the White House about the strikes. The IDF said Saturday that it had identified two Hamas operatives “operating a drone that posed a threat to IDF troops” and saw others collecting drone-operating equipment. Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire deal in January, but since then, both sides have accused one another of breaching the truce's agreements. The first phase of the deal — which included the release of hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023 — expired this month. The second phase, designed to release male hostages, is intended to initiate talks for a long-term end to the war. Prominent human rights advocate Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch, condemned the way Israel appeared to be attempting to “pressure Hamas into making further concessions” in negotiations to maintain the current ceasefire. Netanyahu’s office said in Tuesday’s statement that he and Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the military “to act forcefully against the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip.” "This, after Hamas repeatedly refused to release our hostages and rejected all offers it received from the US presidential envoy, Steve Witkoff, and from the mediators," Netanyahu's office said in reference to talks between international teams of negotiators in recent weeks. Witkoff, the special American envoy to the Middle East, told CNN on Sunday that the U.S. favored a proposal that would include the release of five living hostages in return for the release of a “substantial” number of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Made in Canada. Three words that are now a common presence on Canadian shelves, after Donald Trump's tariffs sparked a trade war with the US's northern neighbour. In Canada the economic measures against it have been met with a wave of patriotism, with some consumers and businesses boycotting American products. Others with operations in the US face a choice - ride out the uncertainty or bring their enterprise back home. "Right now, I'm a little angry. I don't want to invest in American companies," says Joanna Goodman, owner of Au Lit Fine Linens, a Toronto-based bedding and nightwear company. "It's about having your eggs in one basket. And right now, that basket is very reckless and very precarious," she continues. On a tour around one of her firm's two stores, housed in a giant warehouse, Ms Goodman highlights elegantly made-up beds, mannequins in silk pyjamas, and shelves full of sweet-smelling candles – most of it made in Canada. But one fifth of the stock currently comes from the US. Ms Goodman is quick to point out, "you see how big the store is, so even 20% is a lot". "I have a lot of inventory here of American brands that I've had relationships with for 20 years. I'm not going to throw it away," she says. "The question is, will I reorder?" To show Au Lit Fine Linens' commitment to Canadian manufacturers, its stores now highlight everything that is Canadian made. This is mirrored on its website, which has a "shop all made in Canada" section, and says "made right here at home".

Teaching Irish is no problem for Clíodhna Ní Chorráin, a fluent speaker who has passed on a cúpla focal (a few words) to students from around the world. But doing it live on TV for one of Canada's national broadcasters ahead of St Patrick's Day? That was a real "pinch me" moment for the County Armagh woman. "It's one thing to teach Irish in Canada, but to teach it on national television to the entire country – that was something else," she told BBC News NI. It came about after a CTV producer discovered her Irish language content on TikTok – and helped gain Clíodhna's work national attention. Clíodhna's TV appearance sparked a wave of interest in learning Irish, and she received messages from viewers asking if she could teach them. She is an Irish language instructor at the University of Ottawa, and there is a waiting list for her class every year. It is all part of a growing interest in the language in Canada, which is home to the only officially sanctioned Gaeltacht (Irish speaking area) outside of Ireland. With almost 15% of Canadians claiming Irish heritage, many are keen to reconnect with their roots. "Irish belongs to everyone," she said. "When you are in North America there are no political ties to the language - everyone loves it because it is cool and unique." Clíodhna's interest in Irish started in secondary school, where she instantly fell in love with it. "I could not believe we had this thing that I had never heard of." After studying Irish and Spanish at Queen's University Belfast, she landed scholarships to teach Irish abroad, firstly in the US and then Canada. In Ottawa, she has taught more than 230 undergraduate students over two years. Her students come from diverse backgrounds. "I have Chinese, Arab, Indian and Australian students. "It is a really mixed bag." Clíodhna says she loves to teach students in Canada the language as "they grab it with both hands and own it". One of those students is Gabriella Moro, 23, whose great-great-grandparents have roots in Dublin and Antrim. "My favourite thing about learning Irish has to be how warm, friendly, and open the community are and the pride they have in the language," she said. Clíodhna believes the reason for the high interest in learning Irish overseas is twofold. "There is a huge Irish diaspora in Canada, but many have lost the language along the way," she said. "It's like a lost thread but learning the language can weave it back into their Irish identity." Clíodhna also believes it is part of a wider global movement to reclaim indigenous and minority languages, a point that is echoed by another one of her students, Elizabeth Jerome, 23, who has both Indigenous Canadian and Irish roots. "Canada is very much a melting pot of backgrounds and nationalities and reclaiming old languages is a big thing right now," Elizabeth told BBC News NI. "It is surprising to see interest in the Irish language spreading and everyone I tell says: 'Wait, can I learn too?'" Beyond university classes, Clíodhna also runs a weekly session in an Irish pub, where students range from university graduates to people in their 70s. The demand for Clíodhna's classes shows no sign of subsiding. "There's no way I could teach all the people who have asked me to," she added. "We just need more people to come over and teach Irish."