Mediaboss Marketing

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net

Games Today

(Taipei Peace Basketball Hall)

11 a.m. Atletas All-Stars Lithuania vs Iraq

1 p.m. Canada 150 vs Chinese Taipei B

3 p.m. India vs Japan

5 p.m. Gilas Pilipinas vs Iran

7 p.m. Chinese Taipei A vs South Korea

TAIPEI Out of the medal but already having gained a wealth of experience for his young players, coach Chot Reyes wants just one more thing as Gilas Pilipinas winds up its participation in the 39thJones Cup Invitational.

We have to finish strong, Reyes said as the Filipinos lock horns with an equally young Iran side in the second-to-last game that takes the curtains down on this 10-team, nine-nation event at Taipei Peace Basketballl Hallon Sunday.

We want to make sure that we finish this tournament on a high note, he added as his squad regarded as the Philippines future national team take on an Iranian team that also left its veterans and best players back home.

They have their upcoming players, just like us, Reyes went on as the match takes place at5 p.m.Its going to be a good test for both teams.

The Philippines will take a 5-3 card into the game, having lost to Canada 150, South Korea and Lithuania, teams that are really stronger than Gilas on paper with the Canadians parading an all-pro team, the Koreans represented by their national squad and the Lithuanians simply bigger and more talented.

Iran left the likes of Hamed Haddadi, Mohammad Jamshidi, Mahdi Khamrani and Nikka Bahrami back home, trying to keep them fresh for the World Cup Qualifying starting in November.

Team Philippines has all the momentum it needs coming into the game, having torn India to shreds, 101-70 on Saturday after getting its lesser lights to deliver.

Almond Vosotros and Von Pessumal came off the bench to shoot 14 points each as Reyes was able to rest some of his starters. They four triples each in a combined 17 attempts that helped the Filipinos break away.

We wanted to give a lot of minutes to the guys (young players), Reyes said. One of our objectives for participating here was to prepare our SEAG (Southeast Asian Games lineup) and Von and Almond are integral parts of that lineup.

Were just thankful for the opportunity to play, Pessumal, the former Eagle in the UAAP, said. We knew our teammates were tired after seven straight games and we had the mindset of helping the team. We just stayed ready while waiting for the opportunity.

Mike Tolomia, Ed Daquioag and Fonzo Gotladera also saw major minutes, with Carl Cruz giving out his usual contributions. All of them will be in Kuala Lumpur eyeing the Philippines 18thgold medal in the biennial meet.

It was just a great testament to our players that they are ready despite not getting the minutes (in the past games), Reyes said with pride. Thats why we brought the kind of players we brought here for depth.

Tolomia played 25 minutes and finished with eight points and five assists.

The Scores:

GILAS PILIPINAS101 Wright 19, Pessumal 14, Vosotros 14, Standhardinger 10, Cruz 9, Daquioag 8, Tolomia 8, Jalalon 7, Jose 4, Myers 4, Gotladera 2, Ravena 2.

INDIA70 Gill 25, Pandi 14, Sivakumar 7, Poiyamoshi 5, Philip 5, G. Hafeez 5, Gill 4, Gowda 3, Reddy 2.

Quarters: 27-24; 54-31; 80-55; 101-70.

Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.

Go here to see the original:
Gilas 'has to finish strong' as PH faces Iran in Jones Cup closer - Inquirer.net

A statement released by the White House Friday said the Trump administration is "redoubling" its efforts to bring home Americans "unjustly detained" abroad.

The statement mentioned three Americans specifically by name: Robert Levinson and Siamak and Baquer Namazi. Levinson has been held captive in Iran for over 10 years and The Namazis were taken during the Obama administration, according to the statement.

"The United States condemns hostage takers and nations that continue to take hostages and detain our citizens without just cause or due process. For nearly forty years, Iran has used detentions and hostage taking as a tool of state policy, a practice that continues to this day with the recent sentencing of Xiyue Wang to ten years in prison," the statement read.

The statement urged that Iran is responsible for the care and well being of all US citizens it has in its custody. It added that Trump is willing to impose new consequence unless all "unjustly imprisoned' American citizens are released by Iran.

The State Department announced on Friday it will authorize a geographical travel on US nationals visiting the country because of "mounting concerns over the serious risk of arrest and long-term detention."

The decision follows the June release of US citizen Otto Warmbier, who was arrested last year while on a sightseeing tour to North Korea. After being held prisoner by North Korea for 17 months, Warmbier was handed over to the US in a vegetative state. He died a few days later in Ohio.

Read the original post:
White House demands release of US prisoners in Iran or face 'serious consequences' - CNN

The future of U.S. relations with Iran hinges on Tehran coming clean about the whereabouts of a former FBI agent who vanished a decade ago in the Islamic republic, Sen. Marco Rubio told Fox News.

Robert Bob Levinson disappeared in 2007 from Irans Kish Island, where the retired FBI agent had traveled on an unauthorized mission to recruit an intelligence source for the CIA. With the exception of a proof-of-life video in late 2010, there has been no credible sighting of Levinson or confirmation of who, specifically, is holding him and why. Iranian leaders deny knowing his whereabouts a claim U.S. officials categorically reject.

"Bob Levinson went missing because of the Iranian regime, Rubio, R-Fla., said Friday. I believe with all my heart they know where he is, they know whats happened to him and we should hold them completely and entirely responsible for his fate, his whereabouts and the outcome of this.

It should influence everything we do with Iran moving forward, Rubio said. How this case is handled up to this point and from this point forward will in many ways determine U.S. policy towards Iran.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. (AP)

Rubio, who among several other lawmakers has been closely involved with the case -- Levinson is from Coral Springs, Fla. said its not known whether he is still alive but said U.S. officials should be operating as if he is. Levinsons wife, Christine, told Fox News in April the FBI believes her husband is alive a theory that, if true, makes Levinson the longest-held hostage in American history.

I certainly believe that everything we do whether its pressure on Iran, outreach to Iran or working through third parties should all be predicated on the assumption that he is alive and that his return to his family is still possible, said Rubio, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Rubio said there were a lot of missed opportunities in the past at bringing Levinson home, though he did not fault the previous administration, acknowledging the complexity of a case spanning a decade. He stressed that Iran should face consequences if it continues to evade questions about Levinsons whereabouts.

What those consequences are, obviously the administration will make a determination, he said.

Levinson, a father of seven and 20-year veteran of the FBI, traveled to Kish Island on March 8, 2007, on a 24-hour rogue assignment. He was last seen leaving the Hotel Miriam on the island and getting into a taxi for the airport. Iranian state-run television reported at the time that Levinson was in the hands of Iranian security forces but no group officially claimed responsibility for taking him.

On Thursday, Levinsons family met with State Department officials in Washington to discuss efforts to locate him, according to The Associated Press, which cited an unnamed U.S. official. The source who spoke on condition of anonymity told the AP many U.S. government officials believe Levinson is no longer alive.

The reported meeting follows a July 11 letter from U.S. lawmakers, spearheaded by Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., to President Trump, calling on the administration to re-engage with the Islamic Republic over Levinsons whereabouts.

Bobs return is an urgent humanitarian issue, the letter reads. It is critical that the United States maintain pressure on Iran to see that he is returned as soon as possible.

Bob has suffered long enough, the lawmakers said. We must never rest until he is returned to his family. We owe them nothing less.

A senior administration official said President Trump is committed to bringing Levinson home.

"Iran has previously committed to cooperating with the United States to determine the whereabouts of Mr. Levinson," the official said. "We will continue to press Iran to cooperate in working to bring Mr. Levinson home."

CristinaCorbin is a Fox News reporter based in New York. Follow her on Twitter@CristinaCorbin.

Follow this link:
Rubio: Iran must face 'consequences' if it does not return ex-FBI agent Bob Levinson - Fox News

Irans mullahs must be jealous of all the attention Kim Jong-un got after the death of US college student Otto Warmbier shortly after Pyongyang returned him from North Korean captivity.

Last week, after all, their kangaroo courts slapped a 10-year prison sentence on another US student, Xiyue Wang, whos pursing a doctorate at Princeton. Tehran claims Wang, a Chinese American, is a US spy who took 4,500 pictures of Iranian documents.

Wang joins four other US citizens held hostage in Iran. Baquer and Siamak Namazi, an 80-year-old father and son, are being held in the countrys notorious Evin prison, along with art-gallery owner Karan Vafadari. Robert Levinson, an ex-FBI agent who disappeared in 2007, is also believed to be an Iranian hostage.

Wangs sentencing may be an escalation of Irans hostage war against the United States. As Michael Rubin noted last week, the mullahs usually target Americans with Iranian passports. But Wang may not have had one because hes not an Iranian citizen and is believed to have been traveling on an Iran-issued visa.

That may mean the Islamic Republic is crossing lines even they have long avoided, says Rubin.

The move on top of Irans violations of the 2015 nuclear deal, attacks on US ships in international waters, fueling wars in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, support for terrorism and missile tests raises a key question: Will President Trump do anything about any of this?

Just last week, he re-certified that Iran is in compliance with the nuke deal. Uh, whats up with that?

Several reports suggest Trump OKd re-certification only reluctantly and is set to change course soon. Its also true that its only been six months since he took office; his team is expected to complete a policy review on Iran this summer.

But the clock is ticking and Trump is being tested. As James Carafano, a one-time Trump foreign-affairs adviser, notes, Our friends and allies clearly need to see where were going.

Unless Trump moves fast, Wang wont be the last of Irans US victims.

Originally posted here:
Iran ratchets up its US hostage-taking game - New York Post

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani takes part in a news conference near the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 22, 2016.

Lucas Jackson / Reuters

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's president said Wednesday that it will stand up to the United States and reciprocate for any new sanctions that Washington imposes on the Islamic republic.

Hassan Rouhani's remarks came a day after the Trump administration announced new, non-nuclear sanctions while at the same time warning Tehran that it would face consequences for breaching "the spirit" of the nuclear deal with world powers.

The new sanctions, perceived as the latest attempt to clamp down on Iran's military financing, target 18 Iranian individuals and groups, ranging from an Iran-based company accused of aiding the country's drone program to a Turkey-based provider of naval equipment and a China-based network that helped secure electronics for Tehran.

Play Video

Iran is pushing back against new sanctions imposed by the Trump administration. Its top diplomat, Javad Zarif, says Mr. Trump is trying to underm...

Foreign Minister Javad Zarif told CBS News the new sanctions could jeopardize the landmark nuclear deal.

"It violates the spirit of the deal. We will look at it and see whether it violates the letter of the deal, and we will act accordingly," Zarif said in an interview with CBS News' Margaret Brennan.

If Washington, under any pretext, imposes new sanctions against Iran, "we will stand up to the United States," Rouhani said, adding that the "great nation of Iran will have an appropriate answer" and that the Iranian parliament will also act.

He did not elaborate. His speech, at a weekly Cabinet meeting, was broadcast on state TV.

Rouhani, a 68-year-old cleric and political moderate who secured a resounding re-election over a hard-line opponent in May, has been increasingly outspoken against the U.S., calling relations with Washington "a curvy road" even as he touts the 2015 nuclear accord.

The Trump administration on Monday confirmed that Iran had met its obligations under the nuclear deal but warned it would face consequences for breaching "the spirit" of the accord -- a reference to Iran's continued pursued of a ballistic missile program.

Play Video

Just one day after certifying Iran's compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, the United States is placing new economic sanctions on the Islamic re...

Rouhani speculated that such statements seek to dissuade Iran from continuing to comply with the nuclear deal. The International Atomic Energy Agency has verified that Iran has lived up to its nuclear commitments.

"This plot will never succeed," he added. "We will always remain loyal to our international commitments."

Iran's Foreign Ministry in a statement Tuesday condemned the latest U.S. sanctions, calling them "mean and pointless," and said it will retaliate with sanctions on more Americans. Iran in April and May imposed reciprocal sanctions on dozens of American companies and individuals, alleging they support terrorism and repression against people in the region such as the Palestinians.

Later on Wednesday, Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, head of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, warned the U.S. against imposing sanctions on the paramilitary group. He said the Guard's missile program is not negotiable and hinted that new sanctions could put U.S. military bases in the region in danger.

"If the U.S. intends to pursue sanctions on the Guard, it should first disassemble its military bases within 1,000 kilometers, or 620 miles," Jafari was quoted as saying by state TV, apparently referring to the range of Iranian missiles.

2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Excerpt from:
Iranian president says country will "stand up to" US over sanctions - CBS News