Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing – May 4, 2022

By Merve Berker

ANKARA (AA) – Anadolu Agency is here with a rundown of the latest developments around the world.

Ten EU member states have asked the European Commission for additional funding and more flexible spending rules to handle the arrival of Ukrainian refugees, according to a joint statement revealed Tuesday.

At least 24,200 Russian soldiers have been killed so far in Ukraine, the country's military claimed Tuesday.

The Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin on Tuesday criticized German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's refusal to visit Kyiv.

Turkiye is preparing a new project that would allow the voluntary return of 1 million Syrian refugees to their country, the nation’s president said Tuesday.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Tuesday that his country would support Sweden and Finland if the two countries decided to join NATO.

One more PKK terrorist has surrendered to security forces in Turkiye as a result of persuasion efforts, the Turkish Interior Ministry announced Tuesday.

The EU should expand its borders and welcome in Ukraine and the Western Balkans, the Italian prime minister said in a speech Tuesday focused on the bloc’s response to Russia’s war on its neighbor.

German combat jets intercepted a Russian reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea as it was approaching German airspace, local media reported Tuesday.

Turkish and Armenian envoys for the normalization of ties between the two countries reaffirmed their goal of “achieving full normalization,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

US President Joe Biden issued a full-throated defense of abortion rights Tuesday following the leak of an apparent draft Supreme Court ruling that would reverse the longstanding rights.

Ukraine will beat Russia and get free from the Russian occupation, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Ukrainian lawmakers Tuesday.

The US Supreme Court confirmed Tuesday the authenticity of a leaked draft ruling that would overturn four decades of legal abortion protections but maintained the decision is not final.

An investigation has been launched after a man shouted racist slurs and threatened to kill two Syrian children in the western German city of Kassel, authorities said Tuesday.

Nearly 700 families have left Sinjar in northern Iraq following Monday's clashes between the Iraqi army and a PKK-affiliated militia called the Sinjar Resistance Units, Iraqi Kurdish authorities said Tuesday.

Turkiye registered 1,193 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, according to official data released Tuesday.

The United Nations said Tuesday that 101 civilians have been successfully evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant in the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol and other areas in a “safe passage operation.”

German authorities identified at least 262 suspected cases of right-wing extremism in the armed forces last year, local media reported Tuesday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Albania on Tuesday to ban Russian ships from ports and impose restrictions on Russian tourists.

French President Emmanuel Macron expressed deep concern over Mariupol and Donbass in Ukraine as he resumed talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during a phone call Tuesday after a gap in communication for more than a month.

Hungary’s foreign and trade minister said Tuesday that Budapest does not support sanctions against Russian oil and gas.