Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing - May 26, 2022

Anadolu Agency is here with a rundown of the latest developments around the world.

Turkiye has made clear to Sweden and Finland during a meeting in the capital Ankara that their NATO bids cannot progress unless Ankara's security concerns are met through concrete steps and a certain timeframe, the presidential spokesman said Wednesday.Noting that the PKK, YPG and PYD are all the same terrorist group, Turkiye conveyed its expectations on this matter to the delegations from Sweden and Finland during the meeting, Ibrahim Kalin told a news conference following the closed-door consultative meeting, which lasted nearly five hours.

NATO is working on 30 allies to agree on the potential membership of Sweden and Finland, the bloc's secretary-general said.

"I'm confident that we will find a solution. All Allies agree that NATO's open-door (policy) has been and is a great historic success."

Meanwhile, Russia will open sea corridors for foreign ships to the Black Sea, according to local media.

"In order to ensure the safe exit of foreign vessels from the port of Mariupol, a 115-mile-long and two-mile-wide corridor towards the Black Sea will be organized," said the state-run TASS news agency, citing Russian Defense Ministry sources.

The US, EU and UK announced Wednesday that they established a joint mechanism to help Ukrainian authorities document alleged war crimes by Russia.

The mission of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA) is "to support the War Crimes Units of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine (OPG) in its investigation and prosecution of conflict-related crimes," the group of nations said in a statement.

The shooter that killed 19 children at an elementary school in the US state of Texas posted on social media that he would shoot up a school, the state's governor said Wednesday.

"There was no meaningful forewarning of this crime other than what I'm about to tell you," Governor Greg Abbott said at a news conference. "As of this time, the only information that was known in advance was posted by the gunman on Facebook, approximately 30 minutes before reaching the school."

President Joe Biden also signed sweeping reforms for federal law enforcement agencies Wednesday as the US marked the second anniversary of George Floyd's murder at the hands of police.

"Two summers ago, in the middle of a pandemic, we saw protests across the nation the likes of which we hadn't seen since the 1960s," Biden said at the White House, reflecting on nationwide demonstrations that erupted after Floyd's killing in Minneapolis, Minnesota. "Their message was clear: enough, just enough."

Meanwhile, the Israeli president said he is pleased to have an open and sincere dialogue with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the two countries move to improve bilateral ties.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Isaac Herzog said: "I am very pleased that I have an open, frank dialogue with President Erdogan, which is leading in the right direction."

In sports news, Roma defeated Feyenoord 1-0 on Wednesday to win the Europa Conference League title.

With this result, the Italian football club ended their 61-year trophy drought in Europe since 1961.

Roma claimed the 1961 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup after beating Birmingham City. The football competition was abolished in 1971 and replaced by the UEFA Cup. -