North Korea has called off a cultural event to be held together with South Korea that was meant to celebrate the first Olympics held on Korean soil in 30 years.
A telegram from the North late Monday reportedly blamed "biased" and "insulting" media coverage from the South on the North's planned events for the Olympics. South Korea's unification ministry said the North's sudden decision was regrettable adding that they should uphold all the remaining agreements that have been made.
Meanwhile, the two Koreans do plan to go ahead with two days of joint ski training in the North starting tomorrow. South Korea will send skiers to the North's Masiktryong Ski Resort. The South Korean skiers will take a chartered flight to the North's Kalma Airport, which is around 45 minutes away from the ski resort.
- The Duterte administration's ruling party, PDP-Laban, will axe its members involved in drugs and corruption, according to Senate President Koko Pimentel. Pimentel assured that they are examining the past political records of every member who joins their party to validate and verify their qualifications.
- Chief Superintendent Amando Empiso, police director of the Northern Police District, called the first day of Oplan Tokhang in the area of Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, and Valenzuela City as "peaceful" as they are attempting to clear Oplan Tokhang from the public notion that it is violent.
- Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Secretary Francis Tolentino on Tuesday said that the government is exerting all its effort to comply with the needs of the 82,000 evacuees affected by the active Mayon Volcano.
- US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions appointed numerous federal prosecutors targeting states where marijuana has been legalized, however a lot of them haven't been confirmed for the job yet. Some of the appointees have a history of prosecuting marijuana cases during the George W. Bush administration and the war on drugs.
- Hyundai showcased a teaser sketch for their upcoming Santa Fe full model change.
- Reports revealed that German car companies tested diesel fumes effect on people and monkeys for academic research. A certain report noted that in 2014, a lab in Albuquerque, New Mexico conducted an experiment where 10 cynomolgus macaque monkeys inhaled fumes from a diesel Volkswagen Beetle (later found out to have been rigged with a ‘defeat device’ in Dieselgate) while watching cartoons for entertainment.
- Tokyo Governor Yurkio Koike attended last weekend's Sword Art Online AR smartphone app kickoff event in an effort to push for global tourism through anime and manga in preparation of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
- Actress Natalie Portman is joining Jude Law in an upcoming coming-of-age movie, Vox Lux.
- Actress and Eat Bulaga presenter Maine Mendoza apologizes to her fellow presenter and half of the phenomenal love duo, Alden Richards for accidentally unfollowing him on social media.
Cadillac's done it again last race weekend and to celebrate, let's take a spin round Daytona with two of the latest high-performance vehicles straight from the Cadillac V-Series just to get the sensation of what is like driving in the very spot Cadillac made headlines last weekend.
Before I took these two Cadillac V cars a spin round Daytona, let's go to the Top Gear Test Track for a quick primer of what's what with these high-performance Caddies.
We begin with the Cadillac ATS-V Coupe, that's their smallest offering of the V cars. Made to compete against the BMW M4, Audi RS5, and the Mercedes-AMG C63, the ATS-V is the first V car to be powered by a Twin Turbo 3.6L V6 engine that produces 455HP of power and 445lb-ft of torque, capable of going from 0-60mph in 3.9 seconds and onwards to 185mph. It can be mated with either a 6-speed MT with Active Rev Match or an 8-speed AT featuring launch control and Performance Algorithm Shift. We have the one with the 6-speed MT and while this is is not as fast as the AT variant, it's still one of the most enjoyable Caddies to drive since the CTS-V Coupe of yesteryears and despite being turbocharged, it can be as downright crazy as an all-American muscle car. I know, I tried.
Speaking of muscle, you can't really beat the CTS-V, which runs on the same engine as the Corvette C7 Z06. Although short on power compared to the Dodge Charger Hellcat, the CTS-V's track-honed capabilities courtesy of its Brembo brakes, Magnetic Ride Control, and many others can really upset the likes of the Germans. A lifetime ago, I drove this CTS-V round Laguna Seca and it managed to knock out the Charger Hellcat and a Tesla Model S. Just like old times.
Both are born from Cadillac's involvement in motorsports, mostly the IMSA per se, and with all that motorsports know-how, along with the added firepower and dynamics, these Caddies can really make a gearhead happy because they can do most of the things the Germans can't such as going fast everywhere while retaining the smiles on their faces. Now that's the American way I know, well only on the CTS-V that is because while I appreciate the ATS-V's dynamics, the turbocharged engine feels like a let go for me because it doesn't have the get-out-of-the-way attitude as the CTS-V's. Still, for the junior of the range, the ATS-V feels good as an all-rounder.
Anyway, let's give these two V cars for a spin round the Top Gear Track before they're going to a salutatory lap round Daytona, shall we?
And now, the time...
ATS-V - 1:27.471
CTS-V - 1:26.817
On a damp surface because of the rainy weather we're having, feels like they're showing no signs of slowing down and when the conditions are normal, seems that only one of these V cars are proven to be the better one and my money's on the CTS-V, apparently, because despite all of the Nurburgring-honed dynamics, the ATS-V wasn't enough to outpace the BMW M3. Still, now that I got to know about these V cars.
It's time to send them for a congratulatory lap round Daytona in honor of Cadillac's another win at the Daytona endurance race last weekend. Feels good to be driving with the luxury brand that made headlines at last weekend's race. However, looks like their little celebratory lap has cut short and these two wanted to duke out who's the better one and for some reason, I have to accept the request of the cars themselves and since this is Daytona, the track where Cadillac won last weekend, it's time to settle which of the V cars is the best.
After a lap round Daytona, here are the results...
CTS-V - 2:07.129
ATS-V - 2:14.065
The CTS-V performed brilliantly on high speeds while the ATS-V, being the lightest and the smallest offering in the range, done rather well on the corners, but in the end, looks like the one with the supercharged V8 trumps the little man with its turbo V6. Still, I'd rest my case here.
As manufacturers try to shorten the engine sizes and adding whatever means necessary to make it more powerful, they're losing the one important thing about how a car is made, the will to make drivers happy. With the V cars from Cadillac, they always keep the promise by doing what they're good at; more power to upset the Europeans while keeping its customers happy, now that is the American way all good high performance makers should learn from as long as they're making stuff that will keep them happy for longer.
I hope this celebratory lap round Daytona with the Cadillac V cars will serve as a reminded of how great high-performance cars can be when they stick to the winning formula that works, something that the Germans failed to achieve.
A team of North Korean athletes will be heading to South Korea later this week and a joint cultural event will be held in the North.
Both delegates have completed their inspection of the facilities where joint events will be held in the lead-up to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
The pre-Olympic events are likely to start with joint ski training in the Masikryong Ski Resort. From a soon as Wednesday, alpine ski and cross-country skiers from both sides will be at the resort to train for two days. They have also settled on holding a joint cultural event at the North's Mt. Kumgang resort on the 4th of February. The event is likely to consist of an hour-long performance by each side, with around 600 members of the audience coming from South and North.
The North's Samjiyon Orchestra, which has 140 members, is due to come to the South to perform in Seoul and Gangeung.
They will use the Gyeonggui Line train route on the western side of the Peninsula on the 6th of February.
- Vice President Leni Robredo said in a radio interview that she prefers to amend the 1987 Constitution through a Constitutional Convention rather than the Constituent Assembly. According to Robredo, before diving into talks regarding the amendment of the 30-year-old constitution, the government should first implement the controversial anti-dynasty law.
- Former president Benigno Aquino III and former Health secretaries Janette Garin and Paulyn Ubial should be held liable for the controversy created by the anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia. According to Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, Aquino was clearly involved with the procurement of the said vaccine.
- The alleged negligence of the personnel of the Office of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Al-Khobar, and the consular of the Philippine embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has gone viral. A video post of an Overseas Filipino Worker, which was shared by the Facebook page Pinoy OFW Pautwasan, showed the POLO-OWWA office in Al-Khobar during its office hours from 10:00AM – 4PM.
- Senator Bam Aquino warns that an estimate of 200,000 to 250,000 jobs will be at risk as technology progresses. According to him, some 20 to 30 percent of employees in the Business Process Outsourcing industry will be lost if companies decide to forge forward with artificial intelligence.
- US President Donald Trump believes he can negotiate Brexit with "tougher" attitude than PM Therese May. In the interview with British channel ITV, Trump said the European Union was “not cracked up to what it’s supposed to be” and claimed he had predicted the result of the June 2016 referendum in which Britons voted to leave the EU. Trump was elected to the U.S. presidency later the same year.
- Singer Bruno Mars nearly won most of the awards from this year's Grammys but with 17 out of 86 awards given to women or female-fronted bands, an emotional performance made headlines as part of campaigns targeted against sexual harassment and inequality and if that wasn't enough, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton popped up on the show for that very matter.
- Another teaser for Mercedes-Benz A-Class is up...
- Another teaser for the upcoming Series 25 of BBC Top Gear is here!
The 2018 World Rally Championship kicked off with the Rallye Monte Carlo, which is definitely a cool way to start this new season with some icy stages that test the mettle of new and returning rally drivers, especially machines both manufacturer-supported and owned by private teams alike.
In the opening stages of the first day, reining world champion, Sebastien Ogier, driving for M-Sport Ford rally team, took an early lead, and on the second day, despite the impressive performance by Toyota's new driver, Ott Tanak, Ogier is still going on strong despite some fatal errors during wet conditions. Saturday stages, meanwhile, shows no signs of slowing down Ogier even though Tanak's performance continues to gun down last year's world champion.
In the latter Sunday stages, the Frenchman's on the brink of of nicking his fifth Rallye Monte Carlo win after extending his lead to 46.2 seconds and then on the latter stages, Ogier's the clear winner of the Rallye Monte Carlo. Overall, Ogier is 58.3 seconds ahead of newcomer Tanak while Jari-Matti Latvala, also a Toyota driver, placed 3rd place overall in the Rallye Monte Carlo.
Cadillac Racing's done it again as the #5 Action Express Racing DPi-V.R, driven by Filipe Albuquerque, Christian Fittipaldi, and Joao Barbosa, won the annual Rolex 24 Hours endurance race at Daytona International Speedway with a record-breaking 808 laps completed.
Photo: Official IMSA Twitter
Both the #5 and the #31 DPi-V.R race cars made a one-two finish at the final hour of this endurance race. the #31 was driven by Felipe Nasr, Mike Conway, Eric Curran, and Stuart Middleton. The #54 ORECA LMP2 finished 3rd.
As the #5 Cadillac DPi is the clear winner of the race, Ford's done it again with a one-two finish in the GTLM category as the #67 GT of Ryan Briscoe, Scott Dixon, and Richard Westbrook, and the #66 of Joey Hand, Dirk Muller, and Sebastien Bourdais made headlines in this category, while the #11 Grasser Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Mirko Bortolotti, Franck Perera, Rolf Ineichen, and Rik Breukers nicked the GTD class win respectively, among many others.
