Speaking on Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney during her annual State of the European Union address: "I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada being the first associate member of the EU."
Mr Trump's tariffs and repeated talk of making Canada the 51st state have pushed Canada to seek closer economic and security ties with Europe.
Mr Carney has called for a "unique alliance" with the EU as Canada seeks to reduce its heavy dependence on US trade.
Ms von der Leyen said Canada and the EU would build on their existing free trade agreement, known as CETA, with a broader "Alliance for the Future" aimed at creating "a common prosperity and economic security space".
Canada has retaliated against US tariffs and rejected trade terms Mr Carney says would weaken its sovereignty.
Ms von der Leyen emphasised the need to maintain European independence in various sectors, including energy, raw materials and clean technologies.
Read more: Carney tells Trump 'stop trying to be tough'
In her annual speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, she said strong partners like Canada would help achieve these goals.
"We want to bring the relationship with Canada to the highest level possible," she said.
Ms von der Leyen said the closer relationship was not just about trade, but also in shared democratic values.
"Europe and Canada believe in democracy," she said.
"We believe that power does not belong to the strongest, the richest or the loudest, but to all of us. That democracies have the freedom to choose with whom to work."
Ms von der Leyen said the expanded partnership would cover advanced manufacturing, technology, defence production, the Arctic, energy, critical minerals, batteries, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, cybersecurity and economic security.
"This is a partnership not against anyone else, but for our common strength," she said.
Mr Carney is due to address the European Parliament on Thursday.
Canada has retaliated against US tariffs and rejected trade terms Mr Carney said would weaken its sovereignty.
In a closely watched speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, Mr Carney urged middle powers to work together to increase their leverage in an era of great-power rivalry.
He said: "When we only negotiate bilaterally with a hegemon, we negotiate from weakness. We accept what is offered.
"This is not sovereignty. It is the performance of sovereignty while accepting subordination."
The EU has taken a different approach with the US.
It reached a trade agreement that set a 15% US tariff ceiling on the vast majority of EU exports, while Europe eliminated tariffs on US industrial goods.
Nusrat Osman, 47, was abducted in the southern city of Blantyre on Friday, Senior Superintendent Gladys Chiwaula of the Malawi Police Service (MPS) public relations department said in a statement posted on Facebook.
Ms Osman was taken at "approximately 12.30pm at Mount Pleasant," by four men believed to have used a grey Nissan Dualis, the force said.
The MPS is offering a reward of 30m Malawi Kwacha (£12,800) to anyone giving them "credible information that directly leads to the successful rescue of the victim and the arrest, prosecution and conviction of the perpetrators".
The force urged people to stay calm and "refrain from spreading unverified information that could compromise the ongoing investigation".
Police are "blitzing" the public with text messages, Malawi news outlet Nyasa Times said on Monday, as they "scramble for leads" following the "brazen daylight abduction [of Ms Osman] at her Mount Pleasant home".
Local news outlet Malawi24 said her husband, Nazil Osman, confirmed the abduction, but said: "I don't know where she is or how she is. My wife is an auditor, and I have no issues with anyone".
Ms Osman works at Audit Consult Limited's offices at Keza Office Park in Blantyre, Malawi24 said.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson said: "We are aware of reports that a British national has been abducted in Malawi and are in touch with local authorities."
Thaci, 58, was convicted by a panel of judges of murder, torture, cruel treatment and arbitrary detention, as top commander of the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the territory's violent break from Serbia in the 1990s.
The tribunal said he was guilty of the murder of 96 political opponents and perceived collaborators with Serbian security forces by Kosovo Liberation Army forces during the conflict.
Thaci was also convicted for the arbitrary illegal detention of 385 people, the torture of 303 people, and the cruel treatment of about 50.
The court said he had "actively participated in and encouraged crimes".
Thaci, who had denied the charges, stood in silence as the judge read out the conviction and the sentence.
He was on trial alongside three other former high-ranking commanders of the ethnic Albanian separatist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), who fought Serb forces in the 1998-99 war, facing multiple counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, torture and persecution.
Prosecutors at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers court in The Hague had asked for a maximum 45-year prison sentence for Thaci and the other defendants - Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi. They all denied the charges.
"Throughout my life, I stood with the people of Kosovo defending freedom, life and dignity. I was always guided by the Western ideals of democracy, equality and justice," Thaci told judges in February at the end of his almost three-year trial.
The ruling was followed closely in Kosovo and Serbia, where the legacy of the 1998-99 conflict and Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence remains a dividing force between ethnic Kosovo Albanians and Serbs.
Thaci is a revered figure for many Kosovo Albanians, while the tribunal itself is hugely unpopular in Kosovo.
Thousands rallied in Pristina in support of the four men ahead of the verdict.
Crowds filled a central square in the capital, with many waving red and black Albanian flags. "In the name of the people, declare them innocent," one banner read.
As the verdict was read out, a mass of people watching on a big screen booed and chanted "Thaci, Thaci" as some
burst into tears.
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Wandsworth Council is set to increase council tax for a Band D property by £958 - a 94% rise - from April 2027, in response to what it describes as the "financial pressure" of government reforms.
The south London borough previously had one of the lowest council tax rates in Britain. However, following the publication of what it calls a "comprehensive" spending review, the Conservative administration says the government's Fair Funding reforms will reduce Wandsworth's funding by £84m a year.
Check how much your council tax is set to rise
The authority claims the reduction is equivalent to its combined total annual spend on parks, libraries, leisure centres, bin collection and street cleaning.
It says that new spending reforms will place "significant additional pressure on essential local services and means the council must make tough choices".
'Savage cuts'
Council leader Robert Morritt, who took over the role in July, admitted that increasing council tax was not a decision he "ever wanted us to have to make", but said the announcement was being made now to ensure "local people have the maximum amount of time to adjust".
He blamed the increase on "savage cuts from central government" and "a dramatic reduction" in the council's level of reserves.
Commenting on the outcomes of the spending review, Mr Morritt said the council was "setting out a clear plan to protect the services residents rely on while tackling the financial challenges facing the council".
He said that "difficult decisions" had been taken in a bid to help ensure that services "remain sustainable into the future".
Mr Morritt added: "There are difficult choices in this report, but there are also clear priorities: cleaner streets, safer communities, stronger housing services, support for vulnerable residents and action to put the council back on a sustainable financial footing."
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Peter Graham, deputy leader of Wandsworth Council and cabinet member for finance, said: "We promised that we'd be honest with residents.
"Council tax will need to rise unless government thinks again. And it must think again.
"We do not want to do this, and we do not take this decision lightly, but the scale of the financial pressure facing Wandsworth means additional income is now needed to protect the services people rely on."
Mr Graham insisted that the council was "fighting" for a "fairer deal", and that Wandsworth should not be "punished" for "running efficient services and keeping council tax low".
He added: "Our message to residents is clear: we are on your side, we are making your case, and we will keep fighting for the funding Wandsworth deserves."
The victims on board the NewsChopper 4 helicopter were identified by NBC Los Angeles as Eliana Moreno, an aerial photojournalist, and pilot George Marciniw.
The other person killed was in the car park where the aircraft crashed, Captain Branden Silverman, a spokesman for the LA Fire Department, told reporters during a news conference.
Two people were taken to a hospital, said Rico A. Gross, a fire department battalion chief. No detail about their conditions was released.
Capt Silverman said the incident occurred just before 7pm local time (3am UK time) on the 9100-block of North Mason Avenue in Chatsworth.
The helicopter crashed into a car park near a storage building, causing a fire to break out, the fire department said.
At least four cars and two storage containers burned after the aircraft caught fire, which was quickly put out, according to officials. The cause of the crash is being investigated.
One person killed in the crash was outside in the car park, next to the commercial building, Capt Silverman told reporters.
The incident occurred after an earlier crash on Nordhoff Street - about a mile-and-a-half (1.6km) away - at 5.03pm local time involving an SUV and a bus in which two people were killed and six others were injured.
The helicopter was one of many aircraft covering the crash at the time of the incident, NBC Los Angeles reported earlier.
"We knew it was a news chopper, we knew we'd lost contact with our people out there, and we've just received the confirmation that, in fact, NewsChopper 4 went down just before 7 o'clock tonight in Chatsworth," said Colleen Williams, an NBC4 Los Angeles anchor.
"We're going to take a couple of minutes to think about that, to process and to regroup," an emotional Ms Williams added.
The aircraft was operated by Angel City Air, an aerial production company, and affiliated with the station, which said earlier on the air that it had lost contact with those on board.
Ms Moreno joined the company's helicopter team in 2010 after graduating, NBC Los Angeles reported.
NBC4 and Telemundo, who used the aircraft for aerial news coverage, said they were "deeply saddened" in a joint statement.
More than 70 firefighters responded to the helicopter crash, according to the fire department.
Capt Silverman described the aircraft as "pretty well destroyed" and said emergency teams were going to have to search through the rubble to determine how many victims were on board.
The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation into the cause of the incident.
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Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass said she was "absolutely devastated by the loss of life", adding that "my heart is with the families and loved ones of those we lost in the tragic bus collision and helicopter crash".
Ms Bass paid tribute to the emergency teams who "responded so quickly" and urged the public to stay away from the area while officials remained on the scene.
Governor Gavin Newsom thanked the emergency crews responding to both incidents and said in a post on X that "our hearts are with the victims and families".