Deficit
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Apr 14, 2019; Seattle, WA, USA; Houston Astros designatted hitter Aledmys Diaz (16) reacts after hitting a home run in the seventh inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Lindsey Wasson-USA TODAY Sports
April 15, 2019
Aledmys Diaz led off the seventh inning with a home run to break a tie as the Houston Astros rallied to defeat the host Seattle Mariners 3-2 on Sunday afternoon, extending their winning streak to nine games.
Jose Altuve’s homer streak ended at five consecutive games, but the Astros swept the three-game series at T-Mobile Park to pull within a game of the first-place Mariners in the American League West.
Right-hander Gerrit Cole (1-2) pitched six strong innings for his first victory of the season. He gave up two runs on four hits with no walks and 11 strikeouts.
Seattle’s Mitch Haniger led off the bottom of the first with a home run off Cole, hitting a 1-2 pitch into the bullpen in left field. That gave the Mariners homers in each of their first 18 games to begin the season, extending their major league record.
Phillies 3, Marlins 1 (14 innings)
Jean Segura slugged a two-run homer in the top of the 14th inning as Philadelphia outlasted Miami.
Andrew McCutchen started the winning rally with a one-out triple to left-center off reliever Wei-Yin Chen (0-1). Marlins center fielder Lewis Brinson, shaded to right-center, made a long run but didn’t quite get full extension at the end, as the ball hit off the wall. Segura followed by hitting an 0-2 slider over the fence in left for his first homer with the Phillies.
Victor Arano (1-0) earned the win in relief. In all, seven Phillies relievers combined to toss eight scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and striking out 14.
Rockies 4, Giants 0
Right-hander German Marquez took a no-hitter into the eighth inning en route to his first career shutout, allowing Colorado to salvage one win in a four-game series at San Francisco.
Nolan Arenado smacked his first home run of the season, a three-run shot in the fifth inning, giving Marquez (2-1) all the offense he would need as he threw his first career complete game, a one-hitter.
The 24-year-old retired the first 15 Giants in order before hitting Kevin Pillar with his second pitch of the sixth inning. Marquez rebounded to retire the next seven Giants in succession before Evan Longoria denied him a piece of history with a clean single to left field with one out in the eighth inning.
Royals 9, Indians 8
Hunter Dozier’s RBI single in the bottom of the ninth drove in Terrance Gore to give Kansas City a victory over visiting Cleveland and a three-game series sweep.
Gore, pinch-running for Ryan O’Hearn — who drew a leadoff walk off Brad Hand (0-1) — stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Roberto Perez. Wily Peralta (1-1) pitched a scoreless inning for the victory as Kansas City earned its first walk-off victory of the season.
The Indians had not been swept in a road series of at least three games since May of last year at the New York Yankees. Corey Kluber was chased after 2 2/3 innings, having allowed 11 of the 18 batters he faced to reach base safely.
White Sox 5, Yankees 2
Tim Anderson hit his first career grand slam off Masahiro Tanaka with one out in the top of the fourth inning, and Chicago beat New York at Yankee Stadium.
Anderson came into the game leading the majors with a .444 average after his season-opening 10-game hitting streak ended in Saturday’s 4-0 loss. After Chicago fell behind 2-0 early, Anderson lifted Tanaka’s 1-1 splitter to right field.
It was Chicago’s first grand slam since Yoan Moncada had one on April 18 of last season. It also was the first grand slam by a White Sox player at any version of Yankee Stadium since Frank Thomas off Roger Clemens on Aug. 26, 2003.
Pirates 4, Nationals 3
Jason Martin had an RBI ground-rule double with two outs in the ninth inning off reliever Wander Suero, as visiting Pittsburgh beat Washington, taking two of three games in the series.
Josh Bell led off with a walk off Suero (1-1) and took second on a groundout. He then scored on the Martin double to left that bounced into the Pirates bullpen. The winning pitcher was former Nationals reliever Felipe Vazquez (1-0), who delivered two scoreless innings.
Vasquez fanned Howie Kendrick with the bases loaded for the second out in the ninth before getting hot-hitting Anthony Rendon for the final out on a fly ball to center.
Rays 8, Blue Jays 4
Guillermo Heredia capped a five-run eighth inning with a two-run, pinch-hit home run to help visiting Tampa Bay defeat Toronto and win its fifth straight series to open the season.
Mike Zunino added a two-run, pinch-hit single in the eighth as the Rays took two of three games in the series and have now won six of their last seven games, all on the road. Rays starter Charlie Morton gave up four hits, three walks and one run over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out four. Adam Kolarek (1-0) pitched one perfect inning to pick up the win.
Freddy Galvis and Billy McKinney homered for Toronto, with McKinney also adding two doubles.
Rangers 8, Athletics 7
Two days after coughing up a five-run lead, Texas scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth to finish erasing its own five-run deficit and defeat visiting Oakland.
Rangers pinch hitter Danny Santana, in his first at-bat of the season, tied the game at 7-7 with a two-run triple to deep right off A’s reliever Joakim Soria (0-2) in the bottom of the eighth. He then scored the winning run on Delino DeShields’ bunt single.
Steven Piscotty and Matt Chapman went deep as Oakland set a franchise mark with its seventh consecutive multi-homer game.
Dodgers 7, Brewers 1
Ross Stripling allowed one run in eight innings to help Los Angeles end a six-game losing streak with a win against visiting Milwaukee.
Stripling (1-1) gave up four hits, struck out three and walked one with his 88 pitches, becoming the second Dodgers starter to go at least seven innings this season.
Alex Verdugo homered and drove in three runs, Chris Taylor had two hits and two RBIs, A.J. Pollock had two hits and scored two runs, and Joc Pederson homered for the second time in the series for Los Angeles.
Braves 7, Mets 3
Julio Teheran tossed six solid innings and earned the win for host Atlanta, which took advantage of a second straight subpar start by reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom in a victory over New York.
Teheran (2-1) continued to succeed against the Mets by allowing one run on six hits and two walks while striking out six. The 28-year-old right-hander is 10-7 with a 2.35 ERA in 26 career appearances (25 starts) against New York.
DeGrom (2-2) allowed three runs on five hits and four walks while striking out nine over five innings. He entered Tuesday having allowed three runs or fewer in a record 31 straight starts and with 26 straight quality starts, tying the record first set by Bob Gibson in 1967-68, before giving up nine runs over nine innings in this week’s starts.
Cardinals 9, Reds 5
Marcell Ozuna belted a pair of homers and drove in four runs as St. Louis posted a victory over Cincinnati to salvage a split of their two-game series in Monterrey, Mexico.
Tyler O’Neill went deep as part of a four-run first inning, and Matt Carpenter homered to lead off a five-run seventh for the Cardinals, who have won six of their last seven games.
Jesse Winker blasted a three-run shot for his fourth homer in five contests, and Michael Lorenzen had an RBI double for the Reds, who saw their four-game winning streak come to a halt.
Diamondbacks 8, Padres 4
Right-hander Zack Greinke pitched seven strong innings and had another big day at the plate as Arizona snapped a four-game losing streak by beating San Diego in Phoenix.
The Diamondbacks avoided a four-game series sweep to the Padres, who had won four in a row. Arizona had 13 hits, including three home runs, with pinch hitter David Peralta delivering a three-run shot in the sixth inning.
Greinke (2-1) gave up four hits and two runs, both coming on solo homers, including one to Manuel Margot to lead off the game. He struck out six, walked one and continued to swing a hot bat against the Padres, going 2-for-3 with two runs, after clubbing two homers at San Diego on April 2.
Red Sox 4, Orioles 0
David Price struck out seven over seven dominant innings as Boston blanked visiting Baltimore.
Price (1-1) gave up just three hits and walked none, and Xander Bogaerts homered and drove in all four runs as Boston won for the fourth time in six games.
The Orioles lost for the ninth time in their last 11 games, struggling on offense a day after snapping a four-game losing streak with a nine-run, 13-hit attack.
Twins 6, Tigers 4
Eddie Rosario went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs, and C.J. Cron homered and drove in three runs as Minnesota pounded out 14 hits in a victory over Detroit in Minneapolis.
Mitch Garver had two doubles and a walk, and Nelson Cruz, Byron Buxton and Jorge Polanco also each had two hits for the Twins, who swept their abbreviated two-game series with the Tigers after the series opener was snowed out on Friday.
Jose Berrios (2-1) overcame a rocky first two innings to pick up his second victory of the season. He allowed four hits and two runs over seven innings, retiring 16 of the last 18 batters he faced. Trevor Hildenberger pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth to notch his first save.
Angels-Cubs, PPD
The game between Los Angeles and Chicago at Wrigley Field was postponed due to inclement weather, with a makeup date yet to be determined.
The Chicago area woke up to a mix of rain and snow, with temperatures only expected to reach the mid-30s with wind gusts up to 40 mph.
–Field Level Media
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: Workers help unload bags of rice from a cargo ship onto a truck at Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Indonesia April 16, 2018. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside
April 15, 2019
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia posted a surprise trade surplus for a second straight month in March, data from the statistics bureau showed on Monday, confirming the central bank’s outlook of a narrowing current account deficit.
Southeast Asia’s largest economy had a surplus of $540 million in March, compared with February’s $330 million surplus and a forecast of $180 million deficit in a Reuters poll.
Exports fell 10.01 percent from a year earlier to $14.03 billion in March. This was against an 11.82 percent drop expected in the poll.
Imports dropped 6.76 percent to $13.49 billion, compared to the poll’s forecast of a 3.76 percent decline.
Trade deficit hit a record high of $8.5 billion in 2018 and authorities have been trying to reverse that by raising tariffs to halt imports and relaxing rules to support exports.
Analysts say an improvement in trade and current account deficits is a determining factor for Bank Indonesia (BI) to start loosening monetary policy, now that inflation is stable and the U.S. Federal Reserve will probably not raise rates further this year.
BI last year increased interest rates by a total of 175 basis points in response to a weak rupiah and capital outflows that were partly prompted by rising U.S. interest rates and large trade and current account deficits.
The central bank’s next policy meeting is scheduled for April 24-25.
(Reporting by Nilufar Rizki and Maikel Jefriando; Writing by Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
Source: OANN
Apr 14, 2019; Columbus, OH, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) follows the puck in play against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the second period in game three of the first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
April 15, 2019
Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves to lead Columbus to a 3-1 win over the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday night, lifting the Blue Jackets to a commanding 3-0 lead in their opening-round playoff series.
Cam Atkinson had a goal and an assist, and Matt Duchene and Oliver Bjorkstrand tallied for the Blue Jackets, who have won 10 of their last 11 games, including seven of eight to close the regular season and earn the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Bobrovsky stopped 16 shots in the third period, as Tampa Bay tried to rally from a 2-0 deficit but couldn’t do so in front of a raucous crowd at Nationwide Arena. The Blue Jackets can close out the series against club in Game 4 in Columbus on Tuesday.
Ondrej Palat scored a goal, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves for the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Lightning, who tied an NHL single-season record with 62 regular-season wins and dropped their third straight game for the first time this season.
Islanders 4, Penguins 1
Jordan Eberle scored his third goal in as many games as New York took a commanding lead in its first-round playoff series with host Pittsburgh.
Brock Nelson, Leo Komarov and Anders Lee also scored for the Islanders, who took a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, with Game 4 set for Tuesday in Pittsburgh. New York spotted Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead before netting four unanswered goals.
The Penguins, who won the Stanley Cup in 2016 and 2017, continued to be thwarted by the Islanders’ stifling pressure and the play of goaltender Robin Lehner, who made 25 saves Sunday.
Jets 6, Blues 3
Second-period goals four minutes apart by Kevin Hayes, Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor, who scored two goals in the game, sent Winnipeg off and running to a road victory over St. Louis.
The Jets, who lost the first two games of the series on their home ice, pulled to within 2-1 in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup playoffs series. Game 4 will be Tuesday in St. Louis.
Brandon Tanev and Dustin Byfuglien also scored for the Jets, who got 26 saves from Connor Hellebuyck. David Perron, Vladimir Tarasenko and Alex Steen scored for the Blues, who got 23 saves from Jordan Binnington.
–Field Level Media
Source: OANN
Apr 14, 2019; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) looks for a call from an official in the third quarter of game one of the first round of the 2019 NBA Playoffs against the Detroit Pistons at Fiserv Forum. The Bucks won 121-86. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports
April 15, 2019
Giannis Antetokounmpo racked up 24 points, 17 rebounds and four assists in only 23 minutes as the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks overwhelmed the visiting Detroit Pistons 121-86 in their Eastern Conference playoff opener on Sunday.
George Hill had 16 points off the bench for the Bucks, who led by 27 at halftime. Eric Bledsoe scored 15 points, Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton had 14 apiece, and Sterling Brown added 11 along with a team-high seven assists.
Pistons center Andre Drummond was ejected with 4:07 remaining in the third quarter for shoving Antetokounmpo to the floor. The two-handed push occurred after Antetokounmpo grabbed an offensive rebound. Drummond finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Luke Kennard’s 21 points off the bench topped Detroit, which played without All-Star forward Blake Griffin. He was sidelined by a sore left knee, which also kept him out of four of the last seven regular-season games. The Bucks were without guards Malcolm Brogdon (foot) and Tony Snell (ankle).
Trail Blazers 104, Thunder 99
Damian Lillard scored 30 points as Portland held off visiting Oklahoma City to win the opener of their first-round playoff series.
CJ McCollum added 24 points, and Enes Kanter contributed 20 points and 18 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who led by as many as 19 points in the first half. The lead shrunk to as few as three points in the fourth quarter, but Oklahoma City never had possession with a chance to tie.
Paul George collected 26 points and 10 rebounds, and Russell Westbrook compiled 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Thunder, who made only 5 of 33 3-point attempts in the game.
Celtics 84, Pacers 74
Boston held visiting Indiana without a field goal for the first 8 1/2 minutes of the second half, rallying from a halftime deficit for a victory in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.
After failing to make even one-third of their shots in the first half while falling behind 45-38, the fourth-seeded Celtics became a defensive force in the third quarter. The Pacers, seeded fifth in the East, missed their first seven shots of the second half and mixed in three turnovers as their seven-point lead turned into a 47-45 deficit.
Kyrie Irving and Marcus Morris scored 20 points apiece for Boston, which won handily despite shooting just 36.4 percent. Cory Joseph led Indiana with 14 points, and Bojan Bogdanovic had 12, as the Pacers shot 33.3 percent for the game overall.
–Field Level Media
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: Apr 14, 2019; Columbus, OH, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) follows the puck in play against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the second period in game three of the first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
April 15, 2019
Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves to lead Columbus to a 3-1 win over the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday night, lifting the Blue Jackets to a commanding 3-0 lead in their opening-round playoff series.
Cam Atkinson had a goal and an assist, and Matt Duchene and Oliver Bjorkstrand tallied for the Blue Jackets, who have won 10 of their last 11 games, including seven of eight to close the regular season and earn the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Bobrovsky stopped 16 shots by Tampa Bay in the third period, as it tried to rally from a 2-0 deficit but couldn’t do so in front of a raucous crowd at Nationwide Arena.
Ondrej Palat scored a goal, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves for the Lightning, who dropped their third straight game for the first time this season and have lost five consecutive playoff games.
The Blue Jackets can close out the series against the Presidents’ Trophy-winning club in Game 4 in Columbus on Tuesday. Tampa Bay, which tied an NHL single-season record with 62 regular-season wins, will try to avoid being the first-ever Presidents’ Trophy winner to be swept in the first round.
The Lightning played without a pair of major contributors: right winger Nikita Kucherov and defenseman Victor Hedman.
The NHL’s leading scorer with 128 points, Kucherov was suspended one game on Saturday for a hard hit on Markus Nutivaara late in Friday’s 5-1 home loss.
Hedman, the reigning Norris Trophy winner as the top defenseman, suffered an undisclosed injury, did not skate with the team on Saturday and was scratched.
Columbus opened the scoring after defensemen Seth Jones and Zach Werenski kept the puck alive in the Tampa Bay end early in the second period. Werenski fired a shot that Atkinson redirected, and the puck caromed to the opposite circle, where Duchene swept in a backhander at 1:44 for his second career playoff goal.
Columbus soon made it 2-0 after the Lightning’s Ryan Callahan went off for interfering with Werenski.
Bjorkstrand took a pass from Jones and blasted a goal at 8:25, giving the Blue Jackets their fourth marker in eight power plays against the league’s top penalty-kill unit.
Tampa Bay finally scored at 4:40 of the third period when Palat put in his own rebound to make it 2-1.
Bobrovsky stopped a pair of quality chances late in the last five minutes before Atkinson scored an empty-netter with one minute left to seal the win.
–Field Level Media
Source: OANN
Czech Republic’s Prime Minister Andrej Babis arrives at an extraordinary European Union leaders summit to discuss Brexit, in Brussels, Belgium April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman
April 13, 2019
PRAGUE (Reuters) – The Czech government is planning to prop up state budget revenues by introducing a special tax on multinationals, Prime Minister Andrej Babis was quoted by a daily newspaper as saying on Saturday.
Its central budget plans for this year and next show expected deficits of 40 billion crowns ($1.76 billion), or 0.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), a year, versus a broadly even balance or surpluses in recent years.
Weaker growth is forcing the center-left government to cut spending and find new income to reach that goal.
“We will implement a digital tax for multinational firms which do business in the Czech Republic but don’t reside here,” Babis said in an interview published by the daily Lidove Noviny.
Babis did not name any company that would be affected by the tax or say at what level it should be set, as this was still being negotiated with Finance Minister Alena Schillerova.
The government is also looking for savings after the Finance Ministry cut the GDP outlook for the coming years.
It even signaled that the country may see its public finances – which include the central and regional budgets, plus other funds – plunge into deficit for the first time since 2015.
(Reporting by Robert Muller; Editing by Jan Harvey)
Source: OANN
Apr 12, 2019; Seattle, WA, USA; Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve (27) hits a grand slam against the Seattle Mariners during the sixth inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports
April 13, 2019
Jose Altuve and Yuli Gurriel hit grand slams as the Houston Astros defeated the host Seattle Mariners 10-6 Friday night.
It was the fourth consecutive game in which Altuve has gone deep, and he has five home runs over that span.
George Springer also homered for the Astros, who extended their winning streak to seven games. The Mariners had their six-game winning streak snapped.
Tom Murphy hit a solo homer in the ninth inning to extend the Mariners’ major league record of consecutive games with a home run to start a season to 16.
Mets 6, Braves 2
Brandon Nimmo belted a two-run homer to highlight his three-hit performance as visiting New York won at Atlanta. The Mets matched a franchise record by scoring at least six runs in their sixth straight game.
Jeff McNeil ripped a two-run double and Robinson Cano and Michael Conforto each had an RBI double for the Mets, who also scored at least six runs in six straight games in 1997, 1998 and twice in 2007.
Georgia native Zack Wheeler (1-1) allowed two runs on six hits and struck out eight to improve to 6-3 in 11 career starts versus the Braves.
Red Sox 6, Orioles 4
Eduardo Rodriguez became the first Red Sox starter to win a game this season as Boston held off visiting Baltimore in the opener of a four-game series.
Rodriguez, who entered the seventh having allowed just one hit, gave up a two-run home run to Dwight Smith Jr. with two outs in the inning, ending his night. He yielded the two runs on three hits, striking out eight and walking none. Entering the game, Boston starters had been 0-8 with a league-worst 8.79 ERA this year.
The Orioles dropped their fourth straight game and have lost eight of their past nine following a 4-1 start.
Phillies 9, Marlins 1
Andrew McCutchen went 3-for-4 with a three-run homer as Philadelphia routed host Miami. Jean Segura also had three hits, and J.T. Realmuto and Bryce Harper each had two hits and one RBI as the Phillies snapped a two-game losing streak.
This was Realmuto’s first game against the Marlins, the team that drafted him. Marlins catcher Jorge Alfaro — who arrived from the Phillies in the Realmuto trade this spring — went 2-for-3 with a run.
Jake Arrieta (2-1) struck out eight batters in seven innings to earn the win. He allowed five hits, one walk and one run.
Pirates 6, Nationals 3 (10 innings)
Pinch hitter Colin Moran hit a three-run homer in the top of the 10th off Justin Miller on an 0-2 pitch as Pittsburgh prevailed in a back-and-forth contest with Washington.
Miller has now allowed four homers this year in seven outings. Moran was batting for Jung Ho Kang after Melky Cabrera and Adam Frazier got on base against Matt Grace (0-1).
The winner was Nick Burdi (1-1), who allowed a double by Howie Kendrick in the ninth but didn’t give up a run. Former Nationals pitcher Felipe Vazquez pitched the last of the 10th for the Pirates to earn his fourth save of the season.
Rays 11, Jays 7
Austin Meadows and Brandon Lowe each homered twice — including one each into the 500 level — and visiting Tampa Bay defeated Toronto.
The blasts were the 21st and 22nd home runs hit to the 500 level of Rogers Centre since it opened in 1989. Willy Adames added a two-run homer for the Rays.
Luke Maile homered for the Blue Jays, who rallied from an 8-0 deficit to draw within one run before the Rays scored three in the ninth.
Athletics 8, Rangers 6
Khris Davis continued his slugging ways with an eighth-inning solo homer that completed visiting Oakland’s rally from a five-run deficit for a win in Arlington, Texas.
It was Davis’ fifth home run in his last three games and his 10th of the season. His grounder to third base in the sixth inning scored Mark Canha as part of a four-run rally that included an RBI double from Stephen Piscotty that shrunk a 6-1 Rangers lead to 6-5.
In his first game against his former team, A’s second baseman Jurickson Profar had two hits, drove in Oakland’s first run and scored the A’s final run, an insurance run in the ninth.
Padres 2, Diamondbacks 1
Four San Diego pitchers retired the final 19 batters, Fernando Tatis Jr. doubled home the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning, and the Padres beat Arizona in Phoenix.
Padres rookie Chris Paddack allowed three hits and one run in 5 1/3 innings. He was pulled after 88 pitches despite retiring eight consecutive batters following an RBI single by David Peralta in the third inning. Paddack struck out five and walked one in outdueling Arizona’s Luke Weaver (0-1).
Gerardo Reyes, called up from Triple-A El Paso earlier Friday, retired both batters he faced to end the sixth inning and get a win in his major league debut. Adam Warren worked two perfect innings before giving way to Kirby Yates, who earned his eighth save.
Royals 8, Indians 1
Kansas City hit for the cycle its first time through the order and grabbed its biggest lead of the season in a six-run first inning en route to a victory over visiting Cleveland. The Royals snapped a 10-game losing streak.
Brad Keller (2-1) gave up one run on three hits and five walks over 6 2/3 innings, with a career-high 10 strikeouts. He has now pitched at least six innings in nine straight starts, the longest active streak in the majors.
Alex Gordon had four hits, including three extra-base hits, and three RBIs for the Royals.
White Sox 9, Yankees 6 (7 innings)
Eloy Jimenez snapped a tie with his first career home run, a two-run shot in the fifth inning, then homered in his next at-bat in the seventh as Chicago halted a five-game losing streak with a rain-shortened victory over host New York.
In his 46th career at-bat, the rookie left fielder gave the White Sox a 7-5 lead by leaving no doubt about his milestone. Jimenez slugged a 2-1 four-seam fastball by Jonathan Holder over the center field fence and on to the netting above Monument Park.
The game was halted after a delay in the top of the seventh inning.
Brewers 8, Dodgers 5
Yasmani Grandal had three hits, including a two-run home run that gave visiting Milwaukee the lead for good against Los Angeles.
Hernan Perez also hit a two-run homer for the Brewers to erase an early one-run deficit in the opener of the three-game series. Matt Albers (1-0) got the win in relief.
The Dodgers received home runs from Corey Seager, Cody Bellinger and Joc Pederson.
Cubs 5, Angels 1
Willson Contreras had three hits, including two solo home runs, and Chicago won the opener of the three-game series against visiting Los Angeles, which had its six-game winning streak halted.
Cole Hamels (2-0) gave up one run and four hits over eight innings, striking out six without walking a batter. Hamels improved to 5-2 and lowered his ERA to 2.63 in his career against the Angels.
Anthony Rizzo and David Bote also homered for the Cubs, who have won two straight for the first time this season.
Tigers at Twins, ppd
The game between Minnesota and Detroit at Target Field was postponed due to a snow storm. The contest will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader on May 11.
–Field Level Media
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara wave as Netanyahu speaks following the announcement of exit polls in Israel’s parliamentary election at the party headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo
April 12, 2019
By Maayan Lubell
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party has won 36 of the 120 seats in Israel’s parliament, according to final results of Tuesday’s election, putting him in pole position in negotiations to form a right-wing coalition.
Netanyahu is heading toward a record fifth term in office confident of being able to put together a bloc of religious-rightist parties.
It would be a slim majority against an opposition that is likely to be led by the centrist-left Blue and White party, which won 35 seats. No single party has ever won an outright majority in the Knesset.
Here’s a quick guide to the various parties, who gained, who lost and what is likely to happen next:
WHAT COALITION WILL NETANYAHU SEEK?
Most likely, a replica of his outgoing right-wing government. In his victory speech, Netanyahu, 69, said he intends to form his new cabinet with right-wing and religious parties.
WHAT’S THE NEXT STEP?
Coalition-building. Next week Israel’s president consults with the leaders of each party about their preference for prime minister. He then names the person who he believes has the best chance of putting together a government.
Netanyahu is the obvious choice as leader of the largest party. If nominated to form a government, he will have up to 42 days to form a government. If he fails, the president asks another politician to try.
Past coalition negotiations have dragged on. Smaller parties will demand cabinet seats, and will have their own financial and legislative demands to fulfil campaign promises made to their own voters. Netanyahu will have to balance these against his own party’s priorities.
Graphic Israel 2019 parliamentary elections: https://tmsnrt.rs/2D916Uv
WHICH PARTIES ARE BACKING NETANYAHU?
LIKUD
Thirty-six seats, up from 30 before the election. Leader: Benjamin Netanyahu.
The spearhead of right-wing politics in Israel for decades. Likud first came to power in 1977 under former Irgun leader, later Nobel Peace Prize-winner, Menachem Begin.
Its current leader, Netanyahu, personifies Likud’s traditionally hawkish positions on security in matters such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and foreign policy, with Iran currently as the focus.
Many Likud members of parliament oppose the creation of a Palestinian state and during the election Netanyahu said he would annex Israel’s settlements in the West Bank.
About 400,000 Jewish settlers live alongside 2.9 million Palestinians in the territory that Israel captured in a 1967 war, and has held under military occupation ever since, but never formally annexed.
Netanyahu’s base rallied around him, even though he faces possible indictment in three corruption cases.
Interactive graphic: Israeli election – number of votes won by party – https://tmsnrt.rs/2IeButC
THE RIGHT WING UNION
Five seats, no change. Leader: Rafi Peretz.
Israel’s national-religious party is the most prominent political representative of the settler movement. It repudiates the idea of a Palestinian state, underlining the Jewish people’s biblical and religious connections to the land that Palestinians seek for a state.
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to unveil his long-awaited Middle East peace plan in the coming months. If the plan requires Israeli territorial concessions to the Palestinians, the Right Wing Union is likely to raise fierce objections.
ISRAEL BEITENU (‘Israel is our Home’)
Five seats, no change. Leader: Avigdor Lieberman.
A secularist, nationalist and far-right party whose base is immigrants from the former Soviet Union.
Its Moldovan-born leader, Lieberman, is a former defense minister who seeks to out-hawk Netanyahu. His policies include swapping Arab towns inside Israel – home to the country’s 21 percent Arab Palestinian minority – in return for ceding territory in the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the Palestinian Authority.
UNITED TORAH JUDAISM (UTJ)
Seven seats, up from six. Leader: Yakov Litzman.
It represents ultra-Orthodox Jews, or haredim, of European origin. A Netanyahu coalition, like many before it, is likely to rely on ultra-Orhodox support.
UTJ is primarily concerned with safeguarding state benefits for Haredi men, many of whom devote themselves to full-time religious study, do not work and do not serve in Israel’s conscript military.
Demands for more government payouts will make it harder for Netanyahu to rein in a growing budget deficit.
SHAS
Eight seats, up from seven. Leader: Aryeh Deri.
SHAS represents Haredi Jews of Middle Eastern origin. Allied with UTJ and with similar demands, it has also served as kingmaker in successive governments.
KULANU (‘All Of Us’)
Four seats, down from 10. Leader: Moshe Kahlon
The party casts itself as moderate right-wing. Kahlon, the current finance minister, has met Palestinian officials on economic matters, even though the two political leaderships have not held negotiations since 2014.
Kahlon wants to keep the finance ministry but his party is now much weaker in parliament, so will have less clout in post-election coalition negotiations.
Israel’s economy barely featured in the election campaign, but the central bank has warned that the new government will need to cut spending and raise taxes to rein in a growing budget deficit.
WHO IS THE OPPOSITION?
BLUE AND WHITE
Thirty-five seats, in its first election. Leaders: Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid.
A centrist party whose figurehead, former military chief Gantz, emerged as a serious rival to Netanyahu. But the political novice failed to unseat the veteran, and lost credibility by claiming victory too soon on election night.
Gantz joined forces with right-wing Moshe Yaalon, a former defense minister, and center-left former finance minister Yair Lapid.
The party vowed to combine clean government with peace and security. Conceding defeat on Wednesday, Lapid said his party will “make Likud’s life hell in the opposition.”
LABOUR
Six seats, down from 18. Leader: Avi Gabbay.
The left-wing party which ruled Israel throughout the early decades of the state was dealt a devastating blow on April 9. With Netanyahu reflecting the rightward shift of the Israeli electorate, Labour highlighted social and economic reform, and the pursuit of peace and a two-state solution with the Palestinians.
HADASH-TA’AL – Leaders: Ayman Odeh and Ahmad Tibi.
Six seats. The larger of two mostly Arab blocs in parliament. All the Arab-dominated parties joined forces in 2015 but split in two this year, and saw their combined seat tally falling from 13 to 10.
The group has one Jewish member of parliament, and advocates an Arab-Jewish alliance to fight racism and social inequality. But Arab parties have never joined governing coalitions in Israel, and this year faced a boycott movement by Arabs dismayed at a 2018 “nation-state” law which declared that only Jews have the right of self-determination in the country.
By most estimates, this election saw exceptionally low turnout by Israel’s Arab citizens, some of whom increasingly prefer the designation “Palestinian” to “Israeli-Arab.”
RAAM-BALAD – Leaders: Mansour Abbas and Mtanes Shihadeh.
Four seats. Raam-Balad’s leaders are a mix of Islamist and Arab nationalists. It describes itself as a democratic movement opposed to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory.
MERETZ – Leader: Tamar Zandberg.
Four seats, down from five.
The left-wing party has not been part of government in the past two decades. Popular with liberal middle-class Israelis, it advocates a two-state solution with the Palestinians.
WHO LOST BIG?
THE NEW RIGHT – Leaders: Naftali Bennet and Ayelet Shaked.
No seats, down from three.
Once seen as rising young stars in Israeli politics, Bennett, a high-tech millionaire, was Israel’s Education Minister and Shaked was Justice Minister in the outgoing government.
They split from a larger national-religious faction to form a new far-right party that would appeal to more secular constituents. Shaked frequently criticized Israel’s Supreme Court as being too liberal and interventionist.
The party did not win over enough voters to enter the Knesset.
ZEHUT – Leader: Moshe Feiglin.
No seats. Soaring in pre-election opinion polls and crashing at the ballot, the new ultra-nationalist libertarian Zehut will not be part of the incoming Knesset.
Its campaign demands for marijuana legalization appeared to be a huge draw for many young voters, who ultimately failed to come through for it.
Its other policies included proposals to annex the West Bank, the voluntary ‘transfer’ of Palestinians to other countries and the eventual construction of a third Jewish temple.
(Writing by Maayan Lubell, Editing by Stephen Farrell and Timothy Heritage)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: A street vendor stands next to his stall in front of a jewellery shop in Istanbul, Turkey, April 11, 2019. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo
April 12, 2019
By Nevzat Devranoglu
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s economy is expected to contract in 2019 after a decade of strong growth, and economists are predicting a longer recession ahead after a recent bout of volatility in the lira, a Reuters poll showed on Friday.
The Turkish economy contracted 3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year after a currency crisis devalued the lira by nearly 30 percent against the dollar. It drove inflation to a 15-year high, severely limited companies’ ability to service foreign debt and multiplied bad loans in the banking sector.
The economy will contract 0.3 percent this year, the median of a Reuters poll of 43 economists showed – well below the government’s sharply lowered forecasts of 2.3 percent growth. There was a wide range of estimates, from growth of 2.3 percent and a contraction of 5.0 percent.
Turkey’s economy last contracted in 2009, by 4.7 percent. From 2010 to 2017 its compound growth rate was 6.6 percent thanks to a construction boom driven by cheap capital following the global financial crisis.
The economy is expected to contract 3.4 percent and 1.2 percent in the first two quarters of 2019, respectively, before returning to growth of about 2.1 percent in the third, according to the poll’s median.
The first quarter GDP reading is expected to be published on May 31.
The poll also showed that growth is expected to stand at 2.7 percent in 2020. The International Monetary Fund this week forecast a 2.5 percent contraction in Turkey this year, and 2.5 percent growth in 2020.
Forecast in Friday’s poll were generally revised down from a similar poll conducted three months ago, displaying a further deterioration in sentiment toward Turkey.
“We expect the economy to return to positive growth zone in the second half of the year,” Muammer Komurcuoglu, economist at Is Investment, said of his “soft landing” scenario. “Yet, this recovery is fragile and depends on political and geopolitical developments.”
THE QUESTION OF REFORMS
Last year’s currency crisis was driven by concerns over the central bank’s independence and deteriorating ties between Ankara and Washington.
Confidence remains shaky as the two NATO allies remain at odds over policies in Syria and over Turkey’s push to purchase a Russian missile defense system.
Finance Minister Berat Albayrak announced a reform package on Wednesday that mainly aims to recapitalize state banks squeezed by large companies restructuring debt.
Analysts have said that investor confidence could be restored if such reforms were implemented under the supervision of the IMF, a move Turkey has strongly rejected.
Yet when asked whether Turkey would seek funding from the IMF or another outside institution, six poll respondents said no. Nor is Turkey expected to hold early elections ahead of 2023, when presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled, according to five respondents.
Among Albayrak’s reforms were plans to lower inflation, which hit a 15-year high of above 25 percent in October. It stood around 20 percent in March.
The poll showed that annual inflation is expected to decline to 17.5 percent by the end of the second quarter and drop to 15.5 percent by year-end, in line with government forecasts. It is expected to drop to 11.8 percent by end-2020 and 9.1 percent by end-2021.
The poll also showed the current account deficit – which ballooned last year but has since receded as the economy slowed – is expected to stand at 2.4 percent of the GDP this year, lower than a government forecast and down from 6 percent in the previous year.
The central bank hiked its policy rate to 24 percent in September and has left it unchanged since, though some investors worry about a premature easing of monetary policy.
President Tayyip Erdogan, a self-described “enemy” of interest rates, has in the past called on the central bank to lower its rates. Central bank Governor Murat Cetinkaya has said its tight monetary stance will be maintained until inflation shows a “convincing improvement.”
In a separate poll last week, economists predicted the central bank will gradually lower its key rate to 19.25 percent by year end, and to delay any cuts until around July, and to ease less aggressively than previously thought.
(Polling by Hari Kishan in Bengaluru, Nevzat Devranoğlu in Ankara; Additional reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Jonathan Spicer)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: Workers help unload bags of rice from a cargo ship onto a truck at Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Indonesia April 16, 2018. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside/File Photo
April 12, 2019
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia probably swung back to a trade deficit in March after the previous month’s surprise surplus, as imports likely fell less sharply than exports did, a Reuters poll showed.
The poll’s range of predictions was wide, with one analyst seeing a surplus of $1.3 billion and another forecasting a $460 million deficit. But the median was for a $180 million deficit in March.
However, the central bank found indications that there was a surplus in March, senior deputy governor Mirza Adityaswara told reporters on Friday.
Except for February, when there was a $330 million surplus, Southeast Asia’s largest economy has had a trade deficit every month since October.
In the poll for March, exports were seen falling from a year earlier for a fifth straight month, with a contraction of 11.82 percent, compared with February’s revised 11.16 percent fall.
The March shrinkage in imports was predicted to slow to 3.76 percent, from a revised 13.81 percent drop in the previous month.
The 2018 trade deficit was a record $8.5 billion and authorities have been trying to reverse that by raising tariffs to halt imports and relaxing rules to support exports.
Masyita Crystallin, a DBS economist, said with the U.S. Federal Reserve becoming more dovish, inflation stable, and the rupiah no longer under intense pressure, “deterioration in trade balance would be the only factor left for Bank Indonesia (BI) to contemplate a policy rate cut this year”.
BI has kept interest rates steady after raising them by 175 basis points in a 2018 tightening cycle, in response to a weak rupiah and capital outflows that were partly prompted by large trade and current account deficits.
(Reporting by Nilufar Rizki; Writing by Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by Richard Borsuk)
Source: OANN
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