Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan put Sweden's Nato membership bid on hold as he demanded Stockholm show that it was committed to fulfilling its commitments on security.
Mr Erdogan outlined his demands as he emerged from an official meeting with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Istanbul on Tuesday.
He also said recent resumption of arms exports to Turkey was a positive step, but said more must be done to combat the threat from Kurdish terror groups operating in the Nordic country.
Finland and Sweden are hoping that Mr Erdogan will clear their path to joining the alliance following Russia's invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.
"I want to reassure all Turks, Sweden will live up to all the obligations made Turkey in countering the terrorist threat," Mr Kristersson said.
Before leaving for Ankara, Mr Kristersson announced 10 million Swedish crowns ($923,000) of support for a Nato counter-terrorism fund.
He said Sweden would do “significantly more” to fight extremists at home, with new legislation to strengthen the hand of counter-terrorism authorities.
These are the latest steps taken by Sweden to assuage accusations from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that it is soft on terrorism.
“The fact that the Swedish government takes terrorism and violent extremism very seriously is of course an important message to President Erdogan and to the Turkish government,” Mr Kristersson said.
“Ahead of our meeting in Ankara, I would like to tell you today that Sweden is further strengthening our international co-operation against terrorism.”
Nato's voluntary counter-terrorism fund supports projects such as preparing soldiers for improvised explosives and training weapons intelligence experts.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu described the meeting on Tuesday as critical.
Although Sweden and Finland have taken “some steps” to secure Turkey’s approval, it is “difficult to say they’ve fulfilled their pledges at this stage,” he said.
The three countries signed a pact in June in which Sweden and Finland agreed to take measures against Kurdish groups that Turkey considers terrorists.
However, Turkey has said it will not be content until it sees their promises turned into reality.
Mr Erdogan's office said the leaders would discuss Nato as well as Ankara's relations with the European Union, which recently said Turkey was no closer to joining the bloc.
Mr Kristersson, who replaced Magdalena Andersson as Sweden's prime minister last month, has promised to implement the deal without making further concessions to Turkey.
Since taking office, Mr Kristersson's government has ditched Sweden's flagship “feminist foreign policy” and opened the door to stationing Nato's nuclear weapons on its territory.
Both he and Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin have rejected the notion, hinted at by Mr Erdogan, that Finland could be allowed into Nato before Sweden.
Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also visited Ankara last week to urge Turkey to lift its veto.
The two Nordic countries turned a page on decades of neutrality to seek Nato membership after Russia's invasion of Ukraine redrew the security picture in Europe's far north.
Hungary, the only other Nato member yet to ratify Sweden and Finland's applications, has said its parliament will consider the matter next month.
The biog
Favourite book: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Favourite holiday destination: Spain
Favourite film: Bohemian Rhapsody
Favourite place to visit in the UAE: The beach or Satwa
Children: Stepdaughter Tyler 27, daughter Quito 22 and son Dali 19
The struggle is on for active managers
David Einhorn closed out 2018 with his biggest annual loss ever for the 22-year-old Greenlight Capital.
The firm’s main hedge fund fell 9 per cent in December, extending this year’s decline to 34 percent, according to an investor update viewed by Bloomberg.
Greenlight posted some of the industry’s best returns in its early years, but has stumbled since losing more than 20 per cent in 2015.
Other value-investing managers have also struggled, as a decade of historically low interest rates and the rise of passive investing and quant trading pushed growth stocks past their inexpensive brethren. Three Bays Capital and SPO Partners & Co., which sought to make wagers on undervalued stocks, closed in 2018. Mr Einhorn has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the poor performance this year, while remaining steadfast in his commitment to value investing.
Greenlight, which posted gains only in May and October, underperformed both the broader market and its peers in 2018. The S&P 500 Index dropped 4.4 per cent, including dividends, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, an early indicator of industry performance, fell 7 per cent through December. 28.
At the start of the year, Greenlight managed $6.3 billion in assets, according to a regulatory filing. By May, the firm was down to $5.5bn.
UAE Premiership
Results
Dubai Exiles 24-28 Jebel Ali Dragons
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 43-27 Dubai Hurricanes
Fixture
Friday, March 29, Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Jebel Ali Dragons, The Sevens, Dubai
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
INDIA SQUAD
Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami
Australia World Cup squad
Aaron Finch (capt), Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa
Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 5
Keita 1', Mane 23', 66', Salah 45' 1, 83'
Huddersfield 0
BRAZIL SQUAD
Alisson (Liverpool), Daniel Fuzato (Roma), Ederson (Man City); Alex Sandro (Juventus), Danilo (Juventus), Eder Militao (Real Madrid), Emerson (Real Betis), Felipe (Atletico Madrid), Marquinhos (PSG), Renan Lodi (Atletico Madrid), Thiago Silva (PSG); Arthur (Barcelona), Casemiro (Real Madrid), Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa), Fabinho (Liverpool), Lucas Paqueta (AC Milan), Philippe Coutinho (Bayern Munich); David Neres (Ajax), Gabriel Jesus (Man City), Richarlison (Everton), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Willian (Chelsea).
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
The National photo project
Chris Whiteoak, a photographer at The National, spent months taking some of Jacqui Allan's props around the UAE, positioning them perfectly in front of some of the country's most recognisable landmarks. He placed a pirate on Kite Beach, in front of the Burj Al Arab, the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland at the Burj Khalifa, and brought one of Allan's snails (Freddie, which represents her grandfather) to the Dubai Frame. In Abu Dhabi, a dinosaur went to Al Ain's Jebel Hafeet. And a flamingo was taken all the way to the Hatta Mountains. This special project suitably brings to life the quirky nature of Allan's prop shop (and Allan herself!).
Match info
Huddersfield Town 0
Chelsea 3
Kante (34'), Jorginho (45' pen), Pedro (80')
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The specs
Price: From Dh529,000
Engine: 5-litre V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 520hp
Torque: 625Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.8L/100km
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