EU-UK trade war looming as Northern Ireland protocol tensions hit boiling point

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and Italy's premier Giorgia Meloni have visited a migrant center on Italy's southernmost island after a surge in the number of migrants arriving there.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been fighting for control of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is mainly populated by Armenians but internationally recognised as lying within Azerbaijan's borders. A particularly bloody conflict in 2020 enabled Baku to recover a large part of the territory. Both countries have been accused of committing war crimes over the years.

Syrian President Bashar Assad is due to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. China has long provided diplomatic support to Assad's regime, and could play a role in reconstructing war-battered Syria.

Cooperation between Tunisia and the EU to limit irregular migration is proving difficult. Both parties have something to win and much to lose.

Not for the first time, EU leaders are facing growing calls to take a firmer line with Azerbaijan. With a gas deal in place and myriad geopolitical considerations, hopeful Armenians shouldn't hold their breath.

Germany's president is in Italy amid tensions between Rome and Berlin over migration. He and his Italian counterpart appealed for a peace deal in flood-hit and wartorn Libya, one of the key launching points in Africa.

Josep Borrell, the EU's high representative for foreign and security policy, speaks to Talking Europe from New York, where he is attending the annual United Nations General Assembly. We discuss the big issues facing the EU in the world: Ukrainian grain exports and food security; the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia; the EU's strategy in the Sahel, and migration.

The UN chief has called it an epidemic of coups. In Africa, since 2020, military officers have seized power, or attempted to do so, in numerous sub-Saharan countries. Just in the last two and a half months, soldiers in Gabon announced a takeover of power, while in Niger, members of the presidential guard detained President Mohamed Bazoum and announced that they were seizing power.

Poland's Foreign Ministry has rejected accusations that officials accepted bribes in exchange for visas. But the EU isn't satisfied with the explanations coming from Warsaw.

The EU has approved changes to its asylum policy but a late amendment is now on the table. The German foreign minister warned Berlin won't back plans to allow more flexibility during periods of large-scale migration.

Malaysia intends to double the quantity of palm oil it exports to China, in an effort to counterbalance the EU's push to cut down on its own imports.

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