21-man Gilas pool namedMANILA, Philippines — The hunt for the Gilas Pilipinas Magic 12 continues. After a long deliberation, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and the national quintet’s coaching staff cut the number of candidates for Gilas’ representatives to the FIBA World Cup to 21. Fil-Am NBA star Jordan Clarkson leads the pool with American-born Justin Brownlee and Ivorian-born Ange Kouame providing backup or even competition for the “naturalized player” slot. The pool members named by coach Chot Reyes will now have to make a case for their inclusion in the Final 12 during Gilas’ series of training camps and tuneup matches in Manila and Europe over the next three months. The pool was scheduled for its first practice last night at the Meralco Gym.

Boxing poised to get knocked out of Olympics after Paris 2024LAUSANNE, Switzerland – The International Olympic Committee on Wednesday (Thursday, Manila time) finally ran out of patience with boxing's rulers, casting doubt over the sport's inclusion in future Games after Paris 2024. The IOC's executive board (EB) meeting in Lausanne "recommended" the Olympics ceases to recognize the International Boxing Association (IBA) as the sport's governing body. The Women's World Boxing Championships in India last month went ahead with several nations boycotting the event because of the IBA's policy. Boxing only went ahead in the Covid-delayed Tokyo Olympics after the IOC stepped in to ensure the qualification criteria. After Wednesday's meeting the IOC's EB said that "in the interest of the boxing athletes and the sport of boxing" it would recommend that boxing maintain its place at the Paris Games next year.

The European Union is considering a mandatory ban on member-states using companies that might pose a security risk in their 5G networks, including China's Huawei Technologies, the Financial Times reported Tuesday. The move comes in response to increasing concerns in Brussels about certain national governments delaying action, the officials told the newspaper. In addition, the EU could introduce a mandatory ban on firms deemed to present a security risk, such as Huawei, if member states continue to delay, including Germany. Huawei said the act opposes politicising cyber security evaluation, violating fairness and non-discrimination principles. Meanwhile, Washington accused Huawei of being a criminal enterprise that had stolen from US companies, violated sanctions against North Korea and made false statements to the FBI and urged its allies to ban the company from their critical communications infrastructure.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis will undergo an operation for an abdominal hernia on Wednesday at a Rome hospital, where he is expected to stay for “several days,” the Vatican said. The 86-year-old Pope, who underwent colon surgery in 2021, is suffering from a hernia which is “causing recurrent, painful and worsening” symptoms, Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said in a statement. “In the early afternoon he will undergo a laparotomy and abdominal wall surgery… under general anaesthesia,” Bruni said. In July 2021 he underwent surgery at Gemelli for a type of diverticulitis, an inflammation of pockets that develop in the lining of the intestine. Francis was also hospitalized for three nights at the end of March with bronchitis, which was cured with antibiotics.

Authorities in Vladivostok, in the far east of Russia, are searching for the missing family of a North Korean consul general, according to Russian news outlets on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENTThe two — 43-year-old Kim Kum-sun and 15-year-old Park Kwon-ju — were last seen in Vladivostok, the report said. The cab driver who picked them up outside the consulate general office said he dropped them off near a building on the city’s Russkaya Street, which was confirmed by closed-circuit TV footage. The report said the North Korean consul general office filed a missing person report after finding both of them were out of touch with their mobile phones unreachable. Local outlets in Vladivostok published photographs of the missing North Koreans with descriptions of what they were seen wearing last.

Make that two golds for Evaristo Carbonel. After ruling the men's javelin throw F11 event last Monday, Carbonel triumphed in discus throw F11 in the 12th ASEAN Para Games at the Morodok Techo Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Wednesday, June 7. Evaristo Carbonel PSC PHOTOCarbonel made a 25.67m throw, topping Awang Raduan - Awang Haji Mataha of Brunei and Vann Chamroeun of Cambodia who finished second with a 20.99m throw and third with 14.92m throw, respectively.

The foundation works of a Kai Tak public housing project was halted yesterday by the Housing Authority after a minor settlement at an emergency exit at Sung Wong Toi station on Monday. The government said the settlement reached the 20-millimeter pre-set trigger level and all relevant foundation works of the project within 30 meters of the emergency exits were suspended. The settlement monitoring checkpoint was installed by the authorities, which was required by the MTR Corporation to protect railways, a government spokesman said. The company has been monitoring the construction of the Kai Tak public housing project since September last year. It has required the project contractors to set up multiple checkpoints between the Sung Wong Toi and Kai Tak stations, it said.

MOST of us feel comfortable with the form "used to + verb" when used to mean a past condition or habitual practice, as in "They used to be very close friends" and "She used to jog early in the morning." For the first, do we say, "They didn't used to be very close friends" ("used" with the "-d") or "They didn't use to be very close friends" ("use" without the "-d")? And for the second, do we say, "She didn't used to jog early in the morning" or "She didn't use to jog early in the morning"? The strongly recommended usage for negative "used to" statements is therefore this: "They didn't use to be very close friends." For negative "used to" constructions, these grammarians recommend this form instead: "They used not to be very close friends."

Sport climber Praj dela Cruz on winning Asia Cup, Olympic dreamSport Climbing isn’t a mainstream sport but is one that is fast gaining ground, especially since it’s now an Olympic Sport, and will be included in France 2024! It has been popular in the Philippines for quite some time, mainly for the youth since some regard this as an extreme sport. One name who is making waves is Praj dela Cruz, who brought honor to the country by winning in the recent Asia Cup. I’m the only kid in the competition, so if I win there it will be a great accomplishment. But the sport I’m progressing in is climbing, so it looks like I'm sticking to this sport.

MANILA, Philippines — The appointment of Defense Secretary Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro came in the midst of increased territorial tensions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). A political analyst and a lawmaker believe Teodoro has the legal expertise to tackle the issues. Salceda believed the new Defense chief’s civilian status was an edge. “Gibo carries with him a resolutely civilian – and therefore broader – perspective on the country’s defense situation,” he said. “As a middle-power in global affairs, our national defense is necessarily more complex than simply (about) military firepower,” he added.

Continuing the world's love for this genre, Netflix will be introducing six new Korean romance series over the upcoming five months. "See You in My 19th Life," premiering June 17. Netflix will be introducing six new Korean romance series in the next five months. NETFLIX PHOTOS Netflix will be introducing six new Korean romance series in the next five months. Their relationship starts out as one of mutual misunderstanding and dislike, and grows over time into one of love and trust.

DAKAR: A Senegalese Quran teacher suspected of raping 27 of his female students was arrested on Monday after several weeks on the run, a police source told Agence France-Presse (AFP). The man is accused of assaulting the students at his school in the holy city of Touba in central Senegal, a local police official said. The suspect went missing after the accusations emerged earlier this year following a complaint from alleged victims who produced medical certificates, the source added. The source said the teacher was accused of "raping 27 students," but did not provide precise details on the dates of the alleged crimes or the age of the complainants. Touba is considered a holy city by the Mourides, a major Islamic brotherhood in the Muslim-majority West African country.

“That is the most logical, if you are going to have a basis, it [should] be the rest of the government.”However, Veloso said it was ultimately up to Congress to structure the MUP pension system. The executive branch likewise recommended that the MUP pension system reforms cover both active personnel and new entrants, with all of them making contributions for their pension — a move opposed by uniformed personnel who argued that the new pension system should be applied only to new entrants. The MUP system is fully funded by the national government, unlike the GSIS and the Social Security System whose members contribute part of their monthly salary to the retirement fund. Veloso said the GSIS was also preparing to manage funds from the prospective MUP system. However, Veloso noted that each of the entities under the MUP system had different policies.

Rune claims epic winNo sweat for swiatekPARIS – Holger Rune and Beatriz Haddad Maia triumphed in marathon French Open epics which took almost eight hours to complete on Monday while Iga Swiatek required just 31 minutes to move into the quarterfinals. 6 Rune reached a second successive quarter-final in Paris with his first ever five-set win. Rune was jeered by the Court Philippe Chatrier crowd for hitting the ball on a double bounce in the fourth game of the third set. Rune finished the match with 48 winners and 73 unforced errors. Haddad Maia battled from a set and 3-0 down to defeat Sara Sorribes Tormo in three hours and 51 minutes.

The Maharlika Investment FundThe last day of May marked the enactment of the law creating the Maharlika Investment Fund. Purpose of the Maharlika Fund. The Maharlika Investment Fund is a sovereign wealth fund. By their nature, investment funds suffer from volatilities of some kind. From the looks of it, the MIF will be generally a conservative investment fund, primarily because of its public functions.