North Korea will never completely give up its nuclear weapons, a top defector said ahead of leader Kim Jong Un’s landmark summit with US President Donald Trump next month.
The current whirlwind of diplomacy and negotiations will not end with “a sincere and complete disarmament” but with “a reduced North Korean nuclear threat”, said Thae Yong-ho, who fled his post as the North’s deputy ambassador to Britain in August 2016.
“In the end, North Korea will remain ‘a nuclear power packaged as a non-nuclear state’,” Thae told the South’s Newsis news agency.
His remarks come ahead of an unprecedented summit between Kim and Trump in Singapore on June 12 where North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes are expected to dominate the agenda.
- Filipinos cast their votes in the barangay and SK elections where voting hours began at 0700 hours and ended at 1500 hours, local time, in nearly 42,000 villages across the Philippines. This is the first barangay polls in 5 years and the first SK polls in 8 years, following multiple postponements.
- Senator Leila de Lima renewed her call for the Duterte administration to follow Vietnam’s footsteps and demand that China withdraw the missiles it installed in the Spratly islands.
- Following his shocking election win last week that broke the six-decade stranglehold on power of a corruption-riddled regime, Malaysia's new Prime Minister Mahatir Mohamad began his first day. The elderly leader, who is starting his second stint as premier after having previously been in office for two decades, arrived at the office of a foundation he runs in the administrative capital Putrajaya.
- Two militants on a motorcycle blew themselves up at a police headquarters in Indonesia’s second biggest city Surabaya claiming at least one police casualty, authorities said, just a day after a wave of suicide bombings on churches killed at least 14 and injured dozens.
- With hours before the planned opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem, tensions are mounting ahead of the embassy opening. KEEP UP TO DATE HERE.
- After her shocking win at last weekend's Eurovision, Israeli contestant Netta Barzilai returns home and thanks fans for their support. Barzilai won the contest on Saturday night, with 529 points. Cyprus, the runner-up, had 436 points, while Austria came in third with 342 an Germany fourth with 340.
- The Aston Martin DB11 AMR was unveiled, featuring a new 5.2L V12 Twin Turbo engine producing 30hp more than the outgoing DB11.
2019 Aston Martin DB11 AMR
- Last weekend, GameStop CEO Michael Mauler resigned from his post, three months after taking the position.
- Kamen Rider 555's Toshinobu Matsuo was arrested for alleged use of stimulants.
- Resident Evil films' actress Milla Jovovich is reportedly part of the Hollywood movie adaptation of CAPCOM's Monster Hunter games and shooting will commence this September.
Wrapping up the loudest race weekend of the year is the Spanish Grand Prix leg of the F1 2018 season, held at Circuit de Catalunya, and what madness this race was from start to the finish, making this a race everybody's talking about at the end of the day.
The race is all Mercedes-AMG as Lewis Hamilton won his second grand prix of this season after an impressive 1-2 finish against his teammate Valterri Bottas by 20 seconds and following Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel's flawed pit tactics, Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen snagged his podium finish by placing 3rd. The first lap of the race is a disaster as Romain Grosjean lost control of his car, leaving Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly in a smoky crash. Moments later, Kimi Raikkonen is out of the race due to mechanical problems in lap 25 as well as Force India's Esteban Ocon on lap 40 and Stoffel Vandoorne in Lap 47.
Following the Spanish GP, Hamilton's in the lead with 95 points, 17 points ahead of Vettel, and Bottas is in 3rd with 58 points.
Rounding off the loudest race weekend of the year, the Nurburgring 24 Hour endurance race is the ultimate challenge for the bravest and the boldest drives from across the globe as they will risk everything round the clock to survive the Green Hell and win at all costs.
Started on a fine yet cloudy Saturday afternoon, then followed by some mechanical issues, spinouts, crashes, a late-night drizzle, race restarts, and ended in a dirty duel between a #912 Porsche 911 GT3 R and a #4 AMG GT3, nothing could prepare for the worst that kind of battle royale possess and all the blood, sweat, and tears have been poured in this epic 24-hour clash of the titans. It really is destiny for the best and the brightest drivers who possessed infinite possibilities until the winner snaps his fingers for an endgame.
Anyway, if you missed all of the action, let's get to know the winners of the 24h Race Nurburgring 2018;
AT - #320 Care for Climate Porsche Cayman GT4
CUP 3 - E Muhlner Motorsport Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport
Cup-X - #202 Isert Motorsport X-Bow GT4
CUP 5 - #256 Securtal Sorg Rennsport M235i Racing
SP10 - #66 Black Falcon Team Mercedes-AMG GT4
SP3 - #126 AVIA Racing Clio RS Cup
SP3T - #90 Subaru Technica International WRX STi
SP4 - #325 Scuderia Solagon 325i
SP4T - #86 MSC Sinzig Golf 5 R-Line
SP6 - #65 Proom Racing Cayman
SP7 - #55 Prosport-Performance GmbH 911 GT3 Cup
SP8 - #46 rent2Drive-FAMILIA-racing 991 GT3 Cup MR
SP8T - #190 Mercedes-AMG Team Driving Academy Mercedes-AMG GT
SP9 - #912 Manthey Racing 911 GT3 R
SP9-LG - #7 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3
SP-PRO - #56 Toyota Gazoo Racing Lexus LC
SP-X - #705 Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus SCG003c
SP-Y - #63 Dorr Motorsport Huracan Super Trofeo
TCR - #178 Bas Koeten Racing Cupra TCR
V3T - #718 Porsche Cayman
V4 - #155 Securtal Sorg Rennsport 325i
V5 - #144 Pixum Team Adrenalin Motorsport Cayman
V6 - #138 Black Falcon Team TMD Friction 991 Carrera
The Bang Dream! 5th Live concert, held at the Makuhari Messe from the 12th to the 13th of May, 2018, is where everything's about to change in front of a massive audience, especially fans of Bushiroad's Bang Dream franchise because after they got swooned by Poppin' Party on the first day and Roselia on the second day, there has been a slew of big news happening in the world of the Bang Dream franchise so in case you missed it, here's what in store for them.
First and foremost, they've given us a teaser for a male band group calling themselves Argonavis with Shuta Morishima, Seiji Maeda, and Daisuke Hyuga taking charge to it. This new all-male band from the world of Bang Dream! will have their first live in July and that's pretty much all the info heard round the world so stay tuned for more.
In addition, the Bang Dream! anime series will return for Seasons 2 and 3 this next year. One by January 2019 and the latter by October 2019. The new seasons will be taken care by Sanzigen, replacing ISSEN and Xebec as the studio in charge of it. In addition to the new seasons, there's a new Girls Band Party PICO anime skits airing on July 5 during the course of the Bang Dream! TV variety show. Think of it like Puchimas or Cinderella Girls Gekijo but the skits will star the bands from the Bang Dream! Girls Band Party app game from Poppin' Party, Roselia, Afterglow, Pastel*Palettes, and Hello Happy World! Of course, we already know that the Pastel*Palettes are getting a spinoff anime soon so there's more to expect for Bang Dreamers worldwide.
Lastly, and the most important one, is who will be taking over the role of Roselia bassist Lisa Imai in the franchise. Late last year, Yurika Endo announced that she will be retiring from being a seiyuu after her final live show later in the summer due to health concerns, shocking fans on who will take her place on the Lisa Imai role and at the end of the second day of the Bang Dream 5th Live concert, they're happy to announced that the role of Lisa Imai will be handed over to (drumroll please, Ako)...Yuki Nakashima, also known as Yuuki Otokura from THE IDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS. Yuki Nakashima will begin voicing the character soon so stay tuned. This situation is vaguely similar to what happened in THE IDOLM@STER franchise when the role of Yukiho Hagiwara, originally voiced by Yukari Ochiai until she left the franchise for security reasons, was handed over to Azumi Asakura.
Handover aside, much to the disgrace to Pokemon fans too many, Roselia will be having their fan meeting at the Culttz Kawasaki on Monday, the 17th of September, 2018, so if you're one of the yobs who like messing up field trips to the rocking sounds of Roselia, here's your chance to be part of it.
Anyway, that's pretty much about everything as announced at the recently concluded Bang Dream! 5th Live concert so which one are you excited about the most?
Continuing on this loudest race weekend of the year, the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series whisked the drivers to Kansas Speedway for the KC Masterpiece 400. Ain't no Wizard of Oz here but this race will determine who is the wizard of this oval track.
Following Ryan Blaney's Stage 1 win and Kyle Larson's Stage 2 win, chaos ensues at Kansas Speedway as in Lap 236, the #88 car had turned into a fireworks display at the back while the #19 got a bump through the wall. On Lap 247, the #12 and the #42 got involved in a collision and then in Lap 252, disaster brews in as seven cars got involved in a fiery crash.
At the end of this chaotic Kansas weekend, Kevin Harvick is named the victor of the KC Masterpiece 400 race.
Next race is at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race on the 19th of May.
May is the month of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and it's the start of the loudest race weekend of the year as IndyCar's finest welcomed Indianapolis with the INDYCAR GP race of this season, tackling the Grand Prix layout of the said track before getting ready for the ultimate INDY experience, the INDY 500, at the end of May.
Summing up the INDYCAR Grand Prix in a pinch, Will Power leads the race at the first lap but at Lap 7, Simon Pagenaud and Jordan King spun themselves out of bounds. Also, Spencer Pigot leapt his car through the Turn 6 curb and knocked Takuma Sato out of the track, slapping Pigot a penalty. With the race restarted, Robert Wickens tensioned up to overtake Sebastien Bourdais for second place. The impressive surprise comes from Zachary Claman De Melo, who served as a substitute driver for the injured Pietro Fittipaldi, as he charged the car to the top ten spot in the early leg of the race but ended on 12th place. Following the first wave of pit stops, Wickens used the advantage to gun down Power but several miles later, Power returns to the top spot. Last year's champion, Josef Newgarden, turned up the wick, trying to outgun Bourdais in the south end of the track but later got spun and finished in 11th place. After a race restart and a pit stop, Scott Dixon caught Wickens by surprise by overtaking him for 2nd place but Will Power kept going until he reached Victory Lane.
Power nailed his 33rd career win of the series and his third INDYCAR GP win at Indianapolis. For Team Penske, their 200th IndyCar wins was a milestone all thanks to Will Power himself. Dixon's placed 2nd and Wickens' in 3rd.
That is the end of this year's INDYCAR Grand Prix but the drivers will return to the IMS for the INDY 500 on the 27th of May.
