Let's Do The News! (May 9, 2018)

- Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson on Wednesday called on President Duterte as commander in chief of the Philippine Republic to convene the National Security Council on what the government should do with the installation by China of a battery of missiles in the contested Spratly islands in the South China Sea.

- New Department of Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat offered assurance that she will not disappoint in any way President Duterte who had placed his trust on her as the new member of the Cabinet.

- Chief ?Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno returned to the Supreme Court for the first time, ending her indefinite leave which started last March.

- US President Donald Trump announced that they will withdraw themselves from the Iran Nuclear Deal and reimposing crippling sanctions, defying European pleas and prompting international outcry. Trump poured scorn on the “disastrous” 2015 accord, describing it as an “embarrassment” to the United States that does nothing to contain Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

- CIA director nominee Gina Haspel will pledge to never revive the interrogation program that saw Al-Qaeda detainees tortured, amid oppositions over her own record. In excerpts of her prepared testimony for a confirmation hearing at the Senate Intelligence Committee, Haspel glancingly refers to her role in the 2002-2005 program.

- As the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle draws near, republican campaigner Graham Smith will heave a disapproving sigh. Smith and other members of anti-monarchy campaign group Republic regard the May 19 event as just another showbiz sideshow.

- Volkswagen revealed two concepts for the Wörthersee meeting next week; the Golf GTI Next Level Concept and the Golf Variant TGI GMotion Concept.

Golf GTI Next Level

Golf Variant TGI GMotion

- BMW unveiled the M5 Competition which features an improved 4.4L V8 engine producing 625HP of power. It will be limited to 200 units worldwide.

BMW M5 Competition

- Aston Martin unveiled the V12 Vantage V600 featuring a 6.0L V12 engine producing 600PS of power while mated to a 7-speed manual.

Aston Martin V12 Vntage V600

- The Aikatsu Photo on Stage app game will end its service on the 11th of July, 2018.

- Veteran seiyuu Masako Nozawa receives the Japanese government's child welfare award for contributions to sound upbringing children.

- J-rock band Aqua Timez announced that they will break up after 2018 as the band prepared for their final tour this weekend.

TTFN!!!

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: Inter-Korean contact channel opens

For the first time in almost a thousand days, the two Koreas are now opening up their contact channel at Panmunjom following North Korea's clock change over the weekend.

Seoul's unification ministry says North Korea first called South Korea via the Panmunjom hotline at 0903 hours.

The hotline begins at 0900 hours and end at 1600 hours, but the two Koreas haven't been able to start and end work together because of the 30-minute time difference.

Source: Arirang News

Let's Do The News! (May 8, 2018)

- The Duterte administation is set to create a panel of experts to investigate through the Dengvaxia scandal as well as leading a send-off for a group of Filipino scientists that will conduct marine research in the Philippine Rise next week.

- Former Local Water Utilities Administration chief Prospero Pichay Jr. pleaded not guilty before the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division to his three graft charges and bank violation charge in relation to the questionable purchase of Express Savings Bank Inc. way back in March 24, 2009.

- The Patikul kidnappers freed one hostage while two female police officers and a civilian is still being held captive in the jungles of Sulu.

-US  President Donald Trump determines the fate of the landmark Iran nuclear deal Tuesday, announcing his verdict on US sanctions relief underpinning the international accord, which he has repeatedly and harshly criticized.

- Taiwan accused the World Health Organization of succumbing to political pressure from Beijing Tuesday after the island failed to receive an invitation to a major international meeting.

- A goods train and a passenger train collided in southern Germany on Monday, rail operator Deutsche Bahn said, and local media reported two people were killed.

- China's top economic official will visit Washington DC next week to continue trade discussions as threatened tariffs on billions of dollars of goods could be imposed this month. The visit by Vice Premier Liu He comes after he led talks in Beijing last week with a high-level US delegation that made little headway in resolving the standoff.

- Rolls Royce will unveil the Cullinan SUV this Thursday.



- In celebration of its 50th anniversary, Hot Wheels wants car enthusiasts to turn their cars into a toy.

- This summer, the Pokemon GO Fest returns in Chicago with a special "Walk in the Park" event. In addition, there will be real-world Safari Zones scheduled for Germany and Japan as well.

TTFN!!!

Forza Motorsport 7: The Best Reason to Enjoy the new Civic Type R

At long last, after a recent May content update, Forza fans finally got the one they've desired for since the beginning; the all-new Honda Civic Type R FK8 and it's available as a free download so players are looking forward to sample Honda's ultimate hot hatch that had the whole neighborhood rattled by the sound of its VTEC Turbo engine kicking it, yo. Get it? VTEC just kicked in, yo.



Before I get too excited about taking my dibs on the all-new model, let's talk about the new Civic Type R from the top.



Following the success of the previous FK2 Civic Type R, Honda turned up the wick by regenerating the Civic Type R to an all new FK8 model, which is based on the current-generation Civic Hatchback sourced from the United Kingdom.

As the hot hatch that reigned the Nurburgring record for front wheel drive cars, with its 7:43.8 lap time, the FK8-spec Civic Type R comes with the newly improved chassis dynamics that were fine tuned to become the ultimate front-wheel drive track weapon as well as the upgraded 2.0L VTEC TURBO engine that produces 10PS more than the previous FK2, delivering 320PS of power and 400Nm of torque, while mated exclusively to a 6-speed manual gearbox. Apart from that, the new model comes with a brand new +R mode that gives the new car greater usability across a wider range of road surfaces as well as advanced dual-axis and multi-link suspension, Adaptive Damper System, Dual pinion variable-ratio EPS, Agile Handling Assist, drive-by-wire throttle, and many others.

The FK8 Civic Type R is priced at 4,500,360 Japanese Yen when it went on sale on the Japanese market since late September and for the first time, it's available worldwide, including North America.

In a Series 25 episode of Top Gear, Chris Harris tries out the Civic Type R round the Ebisu Circuit and then defeated the Lexus LC500, driven by Ninja Stig. When given to The Stig, it set a 1:25.6 lap time round the Top Gear track.



Having spent the first five minutes driving the new Civic Type R, I had to say that it's been an honor to get to know the ultimate hot hatch Honda has ever made. Of course, there has been some downsides to this new model such as the horrid styling at the back and the arm-breaking understeering that most front wheel drive cars do but for letting it loose, the new Civic Type R never fails to impress both returning and newcomers from across the globe. Yes, this car got one of the pages from today's Ford Mustang as this Made-In-United-Kingdom FK8 Civic Type R is now available worldwide, especially North America for the first time since forever, meaning everybody can sample the hot hatch that reclaimed the iron throne of the fastest front wheel drive car to lap the Nurburgring Nordschleife. Covering its flaws, this thing goes like a bloodied samurai that smoked little mister Pierre Le Burglar into a million chunks and I think I'm onto something here.




As you can see, I've been rejoined by the previous FK2 model and what am I going to do is to see how much the new model has improved over the old one even though the new model weighs slightly more than the previous Civic Type R but because the FK8 has the reputation of being the king of front-wheel drive cars, let's find out. Cue the tape!



At the end of their laps, here are the results;

FK8 - 1:25.088
FK2 - 1:27.732

...and there you have it. Not only the FK8 is around seconds faster than the old FK2, but I managed to beat the real-world lap time set by The Stig as well. How's that for starters? Still, that will trigger a warning shot against The Stig that I beat his lap time in this car. He he he...



This is by no means the best Civic Type R Honda has ever made and apart from the fact that it's now available to the rest of the globe, the Civic Type R's impressive performance is something to be reckoned with. It really is the king of the front wheel drive cars or perhaps is it? Besides, I'm not done with the FK8 yet because coming soon, me and the FK8 are up to something ambitious. So, what's it going to be? Watch for it.

DTM 2018 - Hockenheimring

The 2018 DTM season kicked off last weekend at the Hockenheimring but it wouldn't be without paying tribute to the most successful Audi DTM driver ever, Mattias Ekstrom, who was last year's DTM vice champion, and following Ekstrom's departure from the series, the season opener of the DTM is an all-out battle for the drivers in this two-race event.

In the first race of the season opener, one of the most experienced DTM drivers, Gary Paffett in his #2 Mercedes-AMG, won the first of this season' 20 DTM races with a margin of 1.449 seconds from Lucas Auer while Timo Glock, driving a #16 BMW, placed 3rd. In the second race, the rivalry between Timo Glock and Gary Paffett became the trending topic in the season opener, making it one of the best races ever in DTM history. In the end, Glock defeated Paffett for first place and he's first overall in the standings.

HIGHLIGHTS:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5Az0pfd5Hw&list=PLrjmhNF7Jz1x_08fjgPZbfHqRbWECONeR

Next race is at Lausitzring on the 18th to the 20th of May.

2018 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup - AAA 400 Drive for Autism

Delaware's Dover International Speedway, home of the colossal Miles the Monster statue and the battleground for the 2018 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup's AAA 400 Drive for Autism race where these titans of oval racing clashing each other for the monster of a race every American race fan wouldn't miss.

As Kevin Harvick nailed some stage wins in this race, here's what happened so far. In Lap 271, Kyle Busch's car if facing some mechanical problems and as it turned out, the drive shaft's gone. In Lap 320, the weather's turned rainy and the cars are on an immediate pause until the rain passed and with 75 laps left in the race, the race goes smoothly.

With no classic NASCAR collisions in sight, despite the weather, it turned out to be a very smooth run and after the race, Kevin Harvick sealed his 41st career win.

Next race is at Kansas Speedway for the KC Masterpiece 400 this 12th of May.

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: Singapore likely to host Trump-Kim summit in June

US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un are likely to meet in Singapore next month, reports said Monday, as anticipation builds for unprecedented talks between the mercurial leaders.

Trump said at the weekend that the two sides had settled on a date and location for the summit — the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader — without providing details.

“We’ll be announcing it soon,” Trump told reporters.

The landmark summit will take place in “mid-June”, South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo daily reported Monday, citing diplomatic sources who quoted Trump’s National Security Advisor John Bolton.

The newspaper suggested that the possibility of Singapore hosting the landmark meeting had “increased greatly”, after a decision by Trump to host South Korean president Moon Jae-in at the White House later this month, without giving further explanation.

Bolton met his South Korean counterpart Chung Eui-yong in Washington late last week to discuss plans for both locations, according to local media reports.

A similar report on the weekend from South Korea’s Yonhap news agency also said Singapore was firming as the favored location for the summit.

Trump had previously suggested that the demilitarised zone between the two Koreas — the site of a recent summit between Kim and Moon — could also be an appropriate venue for his meeting with the North’s leader.

Other possible sites reportedly included Mongolia and Switzerland.

Source: AFP