Let's Do The News! (January 11, 2016)

- The Commission on Elections en banc filed before the Supreme Court its 50-page comment on Senator Grace Poe's appeal on one of the petitions to disqualify her, in compliance to the directive of the high tribunal. In the TRO issued and amended late last month, the SC asked the COMELEC to submit its comment regarding Poe's disqualification case. According to COMELEC, Poe has to manifestly show that they committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction when it promulgated its resolution.

- The Supreme Court upheld Smartmatic's eligibility for the lease of 23,00 optical mark readers to be used by COMELEC for the May 2016 elections. In a 41-page decision filed last month, the high court dismissed the petition assailing the poll body's resolution in June last year, which allowed Smartmatic to bid for the 2.2 billion peso contract that the firm eventually bagged.

- The Arab League ministers have condemned Iran, accusing the country of intentionally inciting sectarian strife and interfering in the Arab nations' internal affairs. At the emergency meeting held in Cairo, Egypt, on Sunday, the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister told his colleagues that Iran failed to protect its diplomatic mission.

- France has marked one year since the deadly attack in the offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket that killed 17 people. A large memorial was held at Republic Square in the center of Paris on Sunday. French president Francois Hollande joined thousands of people including relatives of those killed a year ago as well as last November's Paris attacks.

- An American B-52 bomber plane has flown over the Osan airbase near Seoul, while escorted by US and South Korean fighter jets in response to the recent nuclear test done by North Korea. According to officials, the bomber, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, was dispatched from Guam.

- A production version of Infiniti Q60 coupe has unveiled before its 2016 NAIAS debut this week. It will feature Infiniti's brand new 3.0L V6 Twin Turbo engine as seen on its Q50 saloon counterpart.

2017 Infiniti Q60

- The Chrysler Pacifica name has been resurrected as the replacement of the Town & Country minivan. It's been offered with a petrol variant powered by a 3.6L Pentastar V6 engine and for the first time, a hybrid variant with the same V6 engine connected to a 16kWh li-ion battery.

2017 Chrysler Pacifica

- Some say, action star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is making a Fast and Furious-like TV spinoff for Fox television.

- Legendary rock star David Bowie passed away at the age of 69 after succumbing to cancer.

- In case you missed the 2016 Golden Globe Awards, here are the list of winners;

BEST MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA: The Revenant

BEST MOTION PICTURE - COMEDY OR MUSICAL: The Martian

BEST DIRECTOR - MOTION PICTURE: Alejandro G. Iñárritu (The Revenant)

BEST ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

BEST ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA: Brie Larson (Room)

BEST ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - COMEDY OR MUSICAL: Matt Damon (The Martian)

BEST ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - COMEDY OR MUSICAL: Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE: Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE: Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

BEST SCREENPLAY - MOTION PICTURE: Aaron Sorkin (Steve Jobs)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Ennio Morricone (The Hateful Eight)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG: Writing's on the Wall from 007: SPECTRE

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: Disney's Inside Out

BEST MOTION PICTURE - FOREIGN LANGUAGE: Son of Saul

BEST TV SERIES - DRAMA: Mr. Robot

BEST TV SERIES - COMEDY: Mozart in the Jungle

BEST TV MOVIE OR LIMITED-SERIES: Wolf Hall

BEST ACTOR IN A TV SERIES - DRAMA: Jon Hamm (Mad Men)

BEST ACTRESS IN A TV SERIES - DRAMA: Taraji P. Henson (Empire)

BEST ACTOR IN A TV SERIES - COMEDY: Gael Garcia Bernal (Mozart in the Jungle)

BEST ACTRESS IN A TV SERIES - COMEDY: Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex Girlfriend)

BEST ACTOR IN A LIMITED-SERIES OR TV MOVIE: Oscar Isaac (Show Me a Hero)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LIMITED-SERIES OR TV MOVIE: Lady Gaga (AHS: Hotel)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A SERIES, LIMITED-SERIES OR TV MOVIE: Christian Slater (Mr. Robot)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A SERIES, LIMITED-SERIES OR TV MOVIE: Maura Tierney (The Affair)

TTFN!!!