Let's Do The News! (May 2, 2017)

- According to a lawmaker, there is a 50-50 chance that the controversial DENR Secretary Regina Lopez will be confirmed in her current job. Lawmakers will vote on Wednesday on whether to confirm or reject Lopez on her post.

- Last Labor Day, President Rodrigo Duterte threatened businessmen to pay their unpaid taxes within three months or face severe consequences.

- The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas dropped its longstanding call for Israel's destruction but said it still rejected the country's right to exist and backs "armed struggle" against it. According to a policy, the group also said it would end its ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, a move apparently aimed at improving ties with Gulf Arab states and Egypt, which view the Brotherhood as a terrorist group.

- According to reports, US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin will speak via phone call on Tuesday.

- Hollywood writes and representatives of movie and television conglomerates resumed contract talks aimed at staving off a strike as early as Tuesday that could black out TV talk shows and soap operas.

- As Portland police rejected permits for May Day, the protests turned violent and police arrested numerous people and used non-lethal weaponry against protesters whom they described as anarchists. Other May Day gatherings around the world were relatively peaceful, but police geared up for confrontations in the Pacific Northwest's biggest cities, Portland and Seattle, where previous protests have created havoc.

- Ewan McGregor will star as Christopher Robin in an upcoming live-action rebirth of Disney's Winnie The Pooh.

- Actor Gardo Versoza was involved in an accident during shooting of an episode of GMA's TV drama, Destined To Be Yours.

- Seattle Seahawks player Russel Wilson and his wife Ciara gave birth to their baby girl.

- The Porsche Cayenne S diesel towed a 285-tonne Air France Airbus A380, breaking the previous “heaviest aircraft pull by a production car” Guinness World Record by 115 tonnes.

TTFN!!!