EU's Mediterranean leaders meet on migration

The leaders of nine Mediterranean and southern European countries, including France's Emmanuel Macron and Italy's Giorgia Meloni, meet Friday in Malta for talks set to focus on migration.

The summit comes a day after the UN refugee organisation said more than 2,500 migrants had perished or disappeared attempting to cross the Mediterranean so far this year -- substantially more than at the same point in 2022. But it also comes as EU interior ministers finally made headway Thursday on new rules for how the bloc handles asylum seekers and irregular migrants, with a deal expected in the coming days.