According to a US official, North Korea could buy time to build up and refine its nuclear arsenal, including a warhead able to survive re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, if it manages to drag out any talks with Washington.
Even if North Korea freezes nuclear detonations and missile tests during such talks – as South Korea has said Pyongyang offered to do – there is plenty of other technical work it could pursue while diplomatic efforts are under way, they say.
Such work could include completing development of a re-entry vehicle that can deliver a nuclear weapon, production of rocket frames, engines and mobile launchers and increasing the output of plutonium and highly enriched uranium for bomb-making.
“North Korea can be expected to proceed on all these things … unless an agreement freezes or stops these activities, something unlikely in the short run,” said David Albright, a nuclear non-proliferation expert who heads Washington’s Institute for Science and International Security.
- The House Committee on Justice has found probable cause in the impeachment complaint filed against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. 38 out of the 40 members of the committee voted in favor of the impeachment case while only Quezon City District Rep. Jose Christopher ‘Kit’ Belmonte and Dinagat Islands Rep. Arlene ‘Kaka’ Bag-ao voted against it.
- The remains of the Overseas Filipino Worker, Jeanette Plegaria-Opido, who starved to death in Kuwait was returned home. Opido was allegedly maltreated and was starved by her employer causing her to get sick for Acute Failure of Blood Circulation and other complications before dying at a hospital in the Middle Eastern country last February 23.
- As Nikolas Cruz was indicted by the Florida grand jury on 17 counts of premeditated murder in the first degree and 17 counts of attempted murder in the first degree for last month’s shooting spree at a high school in Parkland, lawmakers gave final passage on Wednesday to a bill to raise the legal age for buying rifles, impose a three-day waiting period on all gun sales and allow the arming of some school employees.
- US President Donald Trump will offer Canada and Mexico a 30-day exemption from planned tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, which could be extended based on progress in NAFTA talks, according to an official. Trump was expected to sign a presidential proclamation to establish the tariffs during a ceremony on Thursday, but a White House official said later it could slide into Friday because documents had to be cleared through a legal process.
- Meanwhile, a woman who accused failed Alabama Republican Roy Moore is running for Florida Congress as a Democrat.
- Morgan signals the end of the V8 with the launch of special edition Plus 8 and Aero 8 at the Geneva Motor Show.
- In honor of the Jaguar XJ's 50th anniversary, they've made a one-off "Greatest Hits" 1984 Series 3 XJ6 just for Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrian.
Ready for some magic to your ears, producers? The newest installment of the CINDERELLA MASTER CD lineup inspired from THE IDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls sub-franchise has arrived to bring you some magic right at the comfort at your own home.
Illusionista, as the album implies, is the newest and most magical song ever listened in this sub-franchise. Perhaps you may have played with this song on Starlight Stage several times but not when you listen to the full M@STER VERSION performed by Mio Honda (CV: Sayuri Hara), Mayu Sakuma (CV: Yui Makino), Fumika Sagisawa (CV: M·A·O), Sachiko Koshimizu (CV: Ayana Taketatsu), and Minami Nitta (CV: Aya Suzaki). When you listen to the full version never before heard, you're going to love this song even more as well as the Yes! Party Time!! song performed by Chie Sasaki (CV: Asaka Imai), Kaoru Ryuzaki (CV: Natsumi Haruse), Momoka Sakurai (CV: Haruka Terui), Miria Akagi (CV: Tomoyo Kurosawa), and Nina Ichihara (CV: Misaki Kuno).
Did you enjoyed these new songs? They make nice additions to your Cinderella Girls playlist so feel free to listen to these brand new songs brought to you, courtesy, by your favorite Cinderella Girls!
The M@STER SPARKLE range continues with the seventh installment and you can expect more from your favorite 765 MILLION STARS.
For this installment, the highlights from the 765 MILLION STARS are Arisa Matsuda (CV: Rie Murakawa), Iku Nakatani (CV: Akari Harashima), Hinata Kinoshita (CV: Nao Tamura), Karen Shinomiya (CV: Yui Kondou), and Megumi Tokoro (CV: Yukiyo Fujii). They will perform some new songs as always.
For a limited time, you will gain a chance to take part on a special release event happening later this month.
There's just one more in the M@STER SPARKLE range and with seven out in the running, what to expect next in this installment? Watch for it soon and be sure to download THE IDOLM@STER Million Live Theater Days on the App Store or Google Play. Contains in-app purchases.
North Korea seems "sincere" in its apparent willingness to halt nuclear tests if it held denuclearization talks with the United States, feeling the pressure of sanctions, according to US President Donald Trump as U.S., South Korean and Japanese officials voiced skepticism about any discussions.
Trump declined to say whether he had any preconditions for talks with Pyongyang as officials in the United States, South Korea, Japan and China responded with caution and guarded optimism to the possibility following months of insults and threats of war between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“I think that they are sincere. And I think they’re sincere also because of the sanctions and what we’re doing with respect to North Korea, including the great help that we’ve been given from China,” Trump said at a news conference after meeting with Prime Minister Stefan Lofven of Sweden, which represents U.S. interests in North Korea.
Word of possible talks was delivered by a South Korean delegation on its return from a first-ever meeting with North Korean leader Kim in Pyongyang on Monday.
- Despite the decreased alert level to three, PHIVOLCS warns of more seismic activity at Mayon Volcano. According to Department of Science and Technology Usec. Renato Solidum, director of PHIVOLCS, Alert Level 3 only means that there is only a decreased possibility of a hazardous eruption.
- President Rodrigo Duterte held a dinner at the Malacanang Palace especially for former New People's Army members last night. Addressing the rebel returnees, Duterte said that the battle between the government side and the communist group that has been going on for years now, have brought nothing but pain and misery.
- The top economic adviser to US President Donald Trump, Gary Cohn, resigned from his post, a move that came after he lost a fight over Trump’s plans for hefty steel and aluminium import tariffs. The departure of Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, was expected to be finalised in a few weeks and will blow a hole in Trump’s already depleted advisory team at a time when the economy is growing but markets are volatile.
- Reports told that possible decisions on $10 billion of wide-body plane orders could shape the fate of the Airbus A330neo even before the recently upgraded jet completes flight trials. Even Boeing’s most vigorous supporters doubt Airbus would give up on the A330neo, which is key for its bottom line, but the contest marks the latest in a series of battles between Boeing’s newest long-haul jet in the air, the 787 Dreamliner, and upcoming A330neo – a market-share feud that has consumed the two planemakers for the past nine months or more.
- Turkey, Russia, and Iran, will hold a summit next month to deal with Syria and potential steps in the region, according to the Turkish foreign ministry.
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- SUPRA COMES BACK! Toyota unveiled the GR Supra Racing Concept at the Geneva Motor Show, signalling the return of "The Sports of Toyota". It's set to be a playable car at an upcoming update in GT SPORT as well.
Toyota GT Supra Racing Concept
- The Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in two variants with the V6-powered GT53 and the V8-powered GT63.
2019 Mercedes-AMG GT63 S 4-Door
- Fresh from the Concept_One, Rimac unveiled their newest electric hypercar, the C_Two. With a new and more powerful electric powertrain, it generates 1914HP of power and 2,300Nm of torque, promising a top speed of 412kph and a 0-100kph time of 1.85 seconds.
Rimac C-Two
- The Bugatti Chiron gains a lighter Sport version with dynamic handling package and lighter weight, including the world's first carbon fiber windscreen wiper.
Bugatti Chiron Sport
- Good news! Nintendo reinstates Mario as a Plumber!
- Kia Motors showed their teaser sketch for the all-new K9 premium saloon.
With the March Car Pack arrived on Forza Motorsport 7, the world's wandering that does this game focused mostly on motorsports, hence the name, need another irrelevant offroader that doesn't work on racetracks in-game? To explain what I'm on about, I picked up one of the cars offered in the pack, which is basically a Chevrolet Colorado.
It's not just any Colorado you're familiar with, this is the offroad-oriented ZR2 variant and while folks are muttering that does this game need more irrelevant and idiotic SUVs and offroaders, it's time to knock myself out with a little drive with Chevrolet's world-proven pickup truck, but first, what's it all about it?
Chevrolet revived the mid-size pickup truck segment with the launch of the second-generation Colorado in 2014 for the North American market after its critically-acclaimed success worldwide and was later heralded as Motor Trend's Truck of the Year for two years in 2015 and 2016. Such success prompted Chevrolet to add an offroad-oriented ZR2 variant to cater offroad enthusiasts.
Based on the Z71 variant, the ZR2 features exclusive features and parts made for offroad driving in mind such as the 17x8 Wheels with 31" tyres, Off-Road Mode which shifts throttle progression, shift calibration, traction control, stability control, and ABS in different terrain conditions, Multimatic Dynamic Suspension Spool Valve Dampers, Electronic Locking Front and Rear Differentials, Longer, Cast Iron Control Arms, 3.5" Wider Track, 2" Lift, and many others.
The ZR2 can be offered in two body styles such as the crew cab and the extended cab as well as two different configurations such as the 2.8L Duramax Diesel engine and the more powerful 3.6L LGZ V6 petrol engine with Variable Valve Timing.
Yes, I know, those off-road oriented upgrades really made the commoners' Colorado, a midsize truck favored by people living in the red state as right-wing nutjobs, more capable at all sorts of terrain but in reality, it's almost irrelevant on the track and overall, some might say it might not cut through corners like what a high-performance sports car goes. Yes, that got me concerned knowing that it wasn't as agile and as sharp as your Camaro or Corvette but it sounded like a challenge for the ZR2 truck. To find out, I need to go to a red state where the Colorado will have a moment to shine...and I think I know one. Folks, we're going to Texas.
Yes, I know, Texas is the biggest state in the United States but that one place in Texas I'm looking for? The venue used for the United States Grand Prix of the Formula 1 championship; Circuit of the Americas, located in Austin, Texas. It will be the perfect ground for me to challenge the full capability of the Colorado ZR2 not just being an offroader but for breaking the glass on the typical FM7 murmurs noting that it's idiotic and irrelevant to have offroaders on a motorsport-oriented racing game.
You should know that the year 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of Chevy Trucks and it's the perfect time to mark that very occasion by going all out in this US Grand Prix track while driving an offroader truck that is more off-road, less on track duty. Of course, you might be asking that it's impossible for a truck like this to get round the twists and turns this US GP track had and I said hey, give me three minutes. Give me three minutes to drive one full lap round COTA with the Colorado without going out of bounds. Challenge accepted. Let's roll the tape.
And now, the results. How did I do? I gave them three minutes and I did it in...2:58.177. So, who's laughing now, skeptics?
It's no wonder why the Forza producers are celebrating 100 years of Chevy trucks by adding the Colorado ZR2 on the March Car Pack because we wanted to mark the occasion by doing something wonderful with this off-road-oriented Colorado. The Chevrolet Colorado has been proven round the world and in the world of Forza, they consider driving the Colorado is a challenge only the brave can master it. Talking about here, I did something special to mark this occasion.
