The visa deal, however, has stalled over Turkey's refusal to meet an EU demand that it relax its anti-terrorism laws. Libya is embroiled in factional violence that excludes it from any EU list of "safe countries" for migrant returns. ———11:00 a.m.A new European border and coast guard force was officially launched Thursday at a checkpoint on the European Union's external border with Turkey in Bulgaria. "From now onwards, the external EU border of one member state is the external border of all member states — both legally and operationally," said Dimitris Avramopoulos, the EU commissioner for migration, home affairs and citizenship. EU countries will establish a pool of 1,500 guards and technical equipment to rapidly deploy to countries facing heavy migration flows.

Source: ABC News October 06, 2016 13:25 UTC