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May 19 (UPI) — The Trump administration has issued temporary Russia sanctions relief for a third straight month, extending a waiver allowing the delivery and sale of Russian oil already loaded onto tankers at sea amid the ongoing energy crisis cause by the U.S. war with Iran.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the 30-day reprieve on social media, saying it will “provide the most vulnerable nations with the ability to temporarily access Russian oil currently stranded at sea.”

“This extension will provide additional flexibility, and we will work with these nations to provide specific licenses as needed. This general license will help stabilize the physical crude market and ensure oil reaches the most energy-vulnerable countries,” he said in a statement.

The United States has imposed thousands of sanctions on Russia since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022, in an effort to cut it off from a lucrative revenue source to fund its war.

The sanctions relief — first issued on March 5 to permit the sale of Russian crude to India before being broadened March 12 — may have helped Russia generate ab additional $150 million per day in oil revenue, or $3.3 billion to $5 billion in the month of March alone, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in mid-April that about $10 billion worth of Russian oil was at sea, condemning the sanctions relief by stating “every dollar paid for Russian oil is money for the war.”

Democrats and Ukrainians have been sharply critical about the sanctions relief, describing it as undercutting their years of work to try to hobble Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ability to make war.

Following the announcement of the extension on Monday, Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts described the waiver as “delivering another dangerous and indefensible gift” to Putin.

“Every additional dollar the Kremlin earns from this license helps Putin finance his illegal war against Ukraine and kill innocent Ukrainians,” the Democratic pair said in a joint statement.

The Trump administration initially issued the waiver as oil prices surged in response to the war in the Middle East, which began Feb. 28 when the United States and Israel launched joint attacks on Iran.

Shaheen, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Warren, ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, criticized the Trump administration over its reasoning that the waiver is to support vulnerable countries, stating that justification “would be more credible had it not launched this war, or if it had used policy tools to limit the prices Russia could push on those countries.”

“Instead, the Trump administration has helped Russia charge more for its oil cargoes by removing the risk of sanctions,” they said.

“Continuing to show weakness like this will only invite more aggression and put a just end to the war in Ukraine further away.”

ST. LOUIS — Andy Pages tapped the top of his helmet as plate umpire Chris Guccione wound up to punch him out, taking one final stab at extending the Dodgers’ scoring opportunity in the eighth inning.

The Busch Stadium scoreboard lit up with a graphic of the strike zone. The ball flew in, touching the top of the rectangle and turning it red. The call was confirmed. Strike three.

In a 7-2 loss to the Cardinals on Friday, that was one of six at-bats the Dodgers had with runners in scoring position. They didn’t record a hit in any of them.

Instead, the Dodgers (20-12) only scored on Max Muncy’s double with a runner on first in the second inning, and Kyle Tucker’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the sixth. It marked their third straight loss, scoring two or fewer runs in each.

“It’s been hard,” said left fielder Teoscar Hernández, who had a ground-ball single and a walk Friday. “Obviously, we don’t want to start the season the way we have started. But we have done a lot of work. Everybody knows this is not easy, hitting, being consistent. We just have to go up there trying to have good at-bats, create situations, put the ball in play, get on base.

“But I think we got unlucky. A lot of guys have been hitting the ball really good, right at people. But we control what we can control, and just leave the rest to baseball.”

Even amid a down stretch, the Dodgers still showed off their scoring power with a pair of 12-run performances in the last two weeks — even if one was at hitter-friendly Coors Field. And they entered Friday leading the majors with an .802 OPS. So all is not lost.

The top of the batting order, however, isn’t producing. Mookie Betts, who would be batting No. 3 in the order, has been out since early April with a strained right oblique.

Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Tucker have had slow starts. Freddie Freeman has been in an offensive lull since taking over the No. 2 spot last week.

The Dodgers entered Friday with the top three spots in the batting order producing a .734 OPS, ranking 22nd in MLB.

The bottom half of the order, and Pages in particular, was carrying the offense early on. But when those hitters cooled, the top of the order didn’t fill the gap.

“Unfortunately, we have a lot more guys that are not swinging the bats well than that are,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And so shuffling the lineup, I just don’t think that’s a solution right now — outside of versus left versus right [pitching matchups].”

On Friday, the Dodgers scored fewer runs than the Cardinals scored in the first inning alone.

“They swung the bat better than we did,” Roberts said. “And we didn’t play well enough.”

Dodgers right-hander Emmet Sheehan’s start went south in one at-bat.

Dodgers starting pitcher Emmet Sheehan delivers during the first inning Friday against the Cardinals.

(Dilip Vishwanat / Getty Images)

With two outs in the first inning and runners on first and second, Sheehan worked ahead to an 0-2 count against Nolan Gorman.

Dodgers catcher Will Smith then attempted a back-pick at second base, but his errant throw bounced to the opposite side of the base and past shortstop Miguel Rojas.

With runners at second and third, Sheehan did not declare he was going to switch to throwing from the stretch instead of the hybrid position. So, he was called for a balk, bringing the first run of the game across the plate.

“Mental mistake,” Sheehan said. “I know the rule. It was just in the moment, I didn’t declare it. And, yeah, unacceptable.”

Gorman battled Sheehan to a full count. Then Sheehan left a high fastball over the plate, and Gorman sent it into the right-field stands for a two-run blast.

Sheehan bounced back with a 1-2-3 second inning. But he surrendered a solo homer to slugger Alec Burleson in the third.

By the time Sheehan exited with two outs in the fifth inning, before Gorman was due up again, he’d given up a season-high eight hits.

“I feel like we’ve been making progress and then taking a step back,” Sheehan said. “And, yeah, it’s definitely frustrating. But we know we need to work on, it’s just fixing it now.”

The Cardinals (19-13) widened their lead in the seventh inning, putting together a three-run rally against reliever Edgardo Henriquez. And the Dodgers offense never threatened a comeback.

“We’re in a little funk offensively, which is certainly obvious,” Roberts said. “But you’ve just got to keep going. I believe in the guys, the hitting coaches do, the guys do. You’ve got to keep working and know that it will click one night and we all come together. But it’s not one at-bat. It’s not one particular hitter that is bringing the group down. We’ve all got to come together and expect things to change.”

CHICAGO — Rookie Sam Antonnaci hit a tying triple with two outs in the ninth inning and Colson Montgomery had a winning single in the 10th, lifting the Chicago White Sox to a 3-2 victory Wednesday for a three-game sweep that extended the Angels’ losing streak to six.

Mike Trout hit his 10th home run of the season for the Angels, who have lost 10 of 11 and dropped to 12-20. Additionally, Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi left after two innings with left shoulder tightness.

Kikuchi gave up no runs on two hits and a walk with one strikeout before exiting. His average fastball velocity dropped from 94.9 mph in the first inning to 92.8 mph in the second.

A 34-year-old from Japan, Kikuchi was an All-Star last season with the Angels. He is 0-3 with a 5.81 ERA in 31 innings over seven starts.

With the White Sox trailing 2-1, Tristan Peters was hit by a Ryan Zeferjahn pitch with one out in the ninth and scored on Antonacci’s triple.

Montgomery singled with one out in the 10th off Drew Pomeranz (0-3) for his first big league walk-off hit, giving the White Sox their second series sweep this season.

Seranthony Domínguez pitched a perfect 10th.

Former Dodger Miguel Vargas had an RBI single in the third off Mitch Farris, recalled from triple-A before the game, and Trout’s homer tied the score in the fourth.

Vaughn Grissom’s first big league homer since Sept. 7, 2022, for Atlanta gave the Angels a 2-1 lead in the seventh against Erick Fedde, who gave up five hits, struck out six and walked none in a season-high seven innings.

Up next

Angels: RHP Walbert Ureña (0-3, 4.77 ERA) takes the mound at home Friday against the New York Mets and RHP Christian Scott (0-0. 6.75).

White Sox: Rookie LHP Noah Schultz (1-1, 3.52) makes his fourth career start for the White Sox on Friday when they open a trip Friday at San Diego, which starts RHP Germán Márquez (3-1, 4.38).

April 18 (Asia Today) — Average gasoline and diesel prices at South Korean gas stations rose for a third straight week, putting both fuels on the verge of topping 2,000 won per liter.

The average nationwide gasoline price for April 12-18 stood at 1,996.3 won per liter, or about $1.36 a liter and $5.15 a gallon. That was up 28.7 won from 1,967.6 won a week earlier. Diesel averaged 1,990.2 won per liter, or about $1.36 a liter and $5.13 a gallon, up 31.1 won from the previous week.

With both fuels nearing the 2,000 won threshold, the government is set to announce its fourth maximum-price notice on Thursday. The current system partially reflects changes in global oil prices while slowing the pace of retail price increases.

By brand, SK Energy had the highest gasoline price at 2,001.8 won per liter, or about $5.16 a gallon, while self-service budget stations were the cheapest at 1,974.7 won. For diesel, SK Energy was also the highest at 1,995.2 won per liter, while budget stations posted the lowest average at 1,966.1 won.

By region, Jeju had the country’s highest average gasoline price this week at 2,029 won per liter, or about $5.23 a gallon. Seoul followed at 2,026.7 won, or about $5.23 a gallon.

International oil prices have recently eased on expectations that the conflict involving the United States and Iran could wind down. Dubai crude, the benchmark for South Korea’s imported oil, stood at $101.8 a barrel on Wednesday, down $4.7 from $106.5 on Sunday. Changes in global oil prices usually reach domestic pump prices with a two- to three-week lag.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260418010005586