🇬🇧 Piddington has voted to “declare independence” from the UK in protest against plans to house up to 1,256 male asylum seekers nearby.

In a non-binding referendum, 285 of 312 voters backed the move, citing a lack of consultation and the proposed site’s proximity to homes and a children’s park.

📎 Europa

🇺🇸⚡️- Americans should drive less if they want gas prices to go down, according to U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

🇪🇺 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 E.U. Talks of Making Canada first 'Associate Member as US. Ties Weaken

Details are scant, and the linkup is not a done deal, but the announcement was the boldest step yet in a joint quest by the European Union and Canada for tighter global partnerships. Both economies have been trying to build stronger alliances with a variety of countries as they find themselves caught between a competitive China and an at-times-hostile United States.

Mr. Carney gave a headline-grabbing speech at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this year during which he argued that the world order that emerged from the Cold War was facing a “rupture, not a transition,” and that “middle powers must act together because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.”

The move on Wednesday was a clear demonstration of that strategy.

Ms. von der Leyen did not lay out in detail what associate membership to the European Union might entail. But European diplomats and officials in recent days have made it clear that Canada and the European Union, which will meet for a summit at the end of October, are working toward closer cooperation on technology regulation, trade and the supply of critical minerals.

Since trade talks between Canada and the United States collapsed last month, the two countries have been locked in a trade war. President Trump has also repeatedly called for Canada to become the 51st state, prompting a wave of patriotism among Canadians.

By contrast, polls suggest that four out of five Canadians want Mr. Carney to bring their country closer to the European Union and that more than half would like Canada to join the bloc as a member.

Mr. Carney often calls Canada “the most European non-European country.” Already, Ottawa and Brussels have a free-trade agreement, though the deal has not been approved by 10 of the 27 E.U. member states. Nonetheless, about 90 percent of trade between the European Union and Canada is tariff-free. Total trade between the two was $150 billion last year, compared with the United States-Canada trade relationship, which was worth more than $800 billion.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/world/europe/eu-canada-associate-member.html

📎 The New York Times