Day: April 20, 2022

Inter Milan dominated the second leg derby of the 2022 Italian Cup (Coppa Italia) semifinal against AC Milan on Tuesday with the match ending 3-0.

Argentine star Lautaro Martinez led the Nerazzurri to the derby victory with two goals in the fourth and 40th minutes at the Giuseepe Meazza Stadium.

The other goal of the Internazionale came from Robin Gosens in the 82nd minute.

Inter Milan reached the final with a 3-0 aggregate and will take on the winner of Wednesday’s Juventus-Fiorentina match in the final match on May 11.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Anadolu Efes beat AX Armani Exchange Milan 64-48 in the opening game of the playoff round in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague on Tuesday.

Shane Larkin and Vasilije Micic scored 16 points each and carried the Istanbul team to victory at the Mediolanum Forum in Assago, near Milan.

In the other playoff match, Barcelona defeated Bayern Munich 77-67.

Brandon Davies became the top scorer of the game for the Spanish team with 19 points at the Palau Blaugrana in Barcelona.

Greek team Olympiacos Piraeus will take on French team AS Monaco, while Spanish club Real Madrid will play against Israeli team Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in the playoffs on Wednesday.

The playoff games will conclude on May 4.

Teams with three wins in the series will reach the Final Four round which will be played in Belgrade, Serbia on May 19-21.

Source: Anadolu Agency

English Championship division club Fulham have been promoted to the English Premier League for the 2022-23 season.

Leaders Fulham on Tuesday beat Preston North End 3-0 at home to secure their return to the top-flight Premier League. The Cottagers were relegated to the Sky Bet Championship in May 2021.?

Fulham’s Serbian forward Aleksandar Mitrovic scored two goals against Preston North End, while Portuguese midfielder Fabio Carvalho put the ball into net once for the Cottagers.

Mitrovic is having a dream season at Fulham as the 27-year-old scored 40 league goals in 40 matches, which is a record in a single Championship season.

Fulham have 86 points in 42 matches to ensure a top-two finish in the second-tier league. Second-place Bournemouth have 77, while third-place Huddersfield Town have bagged 73 points.

The 2021-22 Sky Bet Championship season will end after the matchday 46 on May 7.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The Phoenix Suns suffered a 125-114 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, who tied the West first round playoff series at 1-1 on Tuesday.

Top-seed Suns’ Booker displayed a prolific performance in the second game. He scored 31 points in the first half, but a hamstring injury at the beginning of the second half held him down at Phoenix’s Footprint Center.

The Pelicans were leading the game 77-74, with 4:45 to go in the third quarter, when Booker had to be subbed out.

New Orleans small forward Brandon Ingram flirted with a triple-double as he scored 37 points, took 11 rebounds and made 9 assists.

CJ McCollum – a Pelicans guard – added 23 points to the away win, also contributing with nine assists and grabbing eight rebounds.

In addition to Booker, Suns’ Mikal Bridges scored 19 points, and the team’s veteran point guard Chris Paul tallied 17 points and 14 assists.

Game 3 will be at New Orleans’ home court Smoothie King Center on Friday.

Irving fined $50,000 for offensive gestures against Celtics fans

NBA said it fined Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving $50,000 for “obscene gestures” on a basketball court and “profane language toward the spectator stands” in the game one against the Boston Celtics.

Irving, 30, has been a Nets member since 2019. Before his move to the Nets, Irving played for the Celtics (2017-2019).

The Nets lost against the Celtics 115-114 on April 17 at Boston’s TD Garden.

The Celtics are leading the series 1-0, and the game two will be played in Boston on Wednesday.

Results:

Miami Heat – Atlanta Hawks: 115-105 (Heat are leading series 2-0)

Memphis Grizzlies – Minnesota Timberwolves: 124-96 (Series tied 1-1)

Phoenix Suns – New Orleans Pelicans: 114-125 (Series tied 1-1)

Source: Anadolu Agency

Hungary’s foreign and trade minister said Tuesday that Budapest does not support sanctions against Russian oil and gas and will not allow transit of weapons to Ukraine through its territory.

“We cannot force the Hungarian people to pay the price of this war. That is why we do not approve of sanctions on oil or natural gas against Russia,’ said Peter Szijjarto after a joint news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in the Turkish capital of Ankara.

He pointed out that some countries allow their territory to transport weapons to Ukraine but Hungary will not do it and added it supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.

Regarding natural gas shipment from Russia to Hungary, Szijjarto said Turkiye has a great role as a transit country.

‘The Minister (Cavusoglu) confirmed in our meeting that Turkey will continue this transit role. We hope that this natural gas will arrive through Turkey without any problems,’ he said.

The Hungarian foreign minister welcomed Turkiye’s efforts for peace and an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees have sought refuge in Hungary.

Russia’s war on Ukraine, which began Feb. 24, has led to thousands of deaths, millions being displaced and a broad range of sanctions on Moscow, in particular by the EU and the US.

It has also spurred an exodus of global firms from Russia, ranging from technology to automotive, energy, retail and various others sectors.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The World Cup will be a real achievement in all aspects, because it carries a sustainable legacy for future generations in Qatar and the countries of the region,” said Mohammed Rashid al-Khanji, local and regional media expert at the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, which is responsible for the delivery of the required infrastructure for the tournament.

“The world is eagerly awaiting this exceptional tournament in Qatar,” he added, noting that the pace of work has increased.

Regarding media arrangements for the world event, al-Khanji expressed his aspiration to invite the largest number of Arab and regional media outlets.

“We look forward to seeing and participating on the Arab level with major media outlets, such as news agencies, newspapers, and various Arab channels,” he said.

“We hope that they will be present in the tournament to live with us the atmosphere of the event, and convey to the Arab masses all the details of the World Cup,” al-Khanji added.

On Dec. 2, 2010, Qatar won the right to host the tournament, which will take place between Nov. 21 and Dec. 18, 2022, with the participation of 32 teams.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Oil prices increased on Wednesday due to production outages in Libya, supply concerns from the Russia-Ukraine war and expectations of a more-than-expected drop in US oil stocks.

International benchmark Brent crude cost $108.27 per barrel at 0630 GMT for an 0.95% increase after closing the previous session at $107.25 a barrel.

American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at $103 per barrel at the same time for a 0.93% raise after the previous session closed at $102.05 a barrel.

A warning from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday over the economic impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war put pressure on prices. The global body advised that central banks worldwide act decisively against inflation as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine raised global financial stability risks.

‘Severity of disruptions in commodity markets and to supply chains are creating downside risks by weighing adversely on macrofinancial stability, inflation, and the global economy,’ the IMF said in its latest report.

However, production cuts from Libya have supported an upward price trajectory, as the country declared a force majeure in a new oil field, Brega, on Tuesday.

The closure of the oil field, which is situated 600 kilometers east of the capital Tripoli, is the fourth in two days after similar shutdowns. The El-Feel and El-Sharara oil fields and the Zuwetina oil port were shut down after a group of people stormed the facilities and prevented employees from working. The oil company, however, did not identify this group of people.

Libya has the ninth-largest known oil reserves globally and the largest oil reserves in Africa.

Supporting higher oil prices, the American Petroleum Institute (API) announced late Tuesday its estimate of a fall of 4.5 million barrels in US crude oil inventories, compared to the market expectation of a rise of 2.5 million barrels.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) will release official oil stock data later on Wednesday. Oil prices are predicted to rise if the EIA signals a drop in stocks.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Greece has seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker off the Evia Island as part of EU sanctions imposed on Moscow over its war on Ukraine, local media reported on Tuesday.

The ship, named Pegas, with 19-member crew on board anchored near the port of Karystos in the southern part of the island due to bad weather conditions, according to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.

The tanker was heading to the Peloponnese region to transfer oil to another ship.

?According to the news agency, the tanker’s oil cargo has not been confiscated.

Earlier this month, Greece declared 12 members of Russia’s diplomatic and consular missions in the country “persona non grata.”

At least 2,072 civilians have been killed and 2,818 injured in Ukraine so far in the war which started on Feb. 24, according to UN estimates, with the true figure believed to be much higher.

More than 4.9 million Ukrainians have fled to other countries, with over 7 million more internally displaced, said the UN refugee agency.

Source: Anadolu Agency

German wind energy company Nordex received orders for 229 turbines at a total capacity of 1,165 megawatts in the first quarter of 2022, the company announced on Wednesday.

In the same quarter last year, order intakes totaled 1,247 megawatts.

The company said that it received orders from ten European countries.

Overall, the European region accounted for 89% of the total order intake, and the largest individual European markets were Finland, Germany and Croatia.

The Latin American region accounted for 11%.

‘The order intake for the first quarter was over 90% again, driven by turbines of the successful Delta4000 series,’ said Jose Luis Blanco, CEO of the Nordex Group.

Source: Anadolu Agency