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

- Although Tropical Depression Domeng is unlikely to make landfall, it is expected to bring rains over Luzon and parts of Visayas before leaving the Philippine Area of Responsibility this Sunday. In the latest weather forecast of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, the center of the tropical depression was last seen at 470 kilometers east of Casiguran, Aurora with maximum sustained winds of 60 kilometer per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 75 kph.

- President Rodrigo Duterte has confirmed that he is in a relationship with Department of Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat. Duterte, in a speech in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, said that he and the daughter of former Senator Alberto Romulo, are just really close that their closeness is sometimes misinterpreted.

- Two South Korean companies are interested on setting weapons factory in the Philippines following President Duterte's visit to Seoul. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the government would study the proposals made by S&T Motiv and Dasan Machineries Co. Ltd. and determine which Korean firm offers the best deal to build and supply firearms to the military and police.

- Malacañang affirmed President Duterte’s lack of knowledge on the reported harassment done by Chinese forces to Filipino soldiers in the Ayungin Shoal. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made the statement despite Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Cayetano saying last week that Duterte gave him ‘strong instructions’ regarding the issue.

- G7 member states prepare for a lukewarm reception for US President Donald Trump on this week's summit.

- The World Wildlife Fund warned that the Mediterranean could become a “sea of plastic”, calling for measures to clean up one of the world’s worst affected bodies of water. The WWF said the Mediterranean had record levels of “micro-plastics,” the tiny pieces of plastic less than five millimeters in size which can be found increasingly in the food chain posing a threat to human health.

- President Daniel Ortega and Nicaragua’s Catholic bishops were set to meet Thursday in the hopes of putting stalled talks back on track, to resolve a political crisis that rights groups say has left at least 134 people dead.

- Nissan plans to end development of diesel engines, focusing on electrification instead, according to reports.

- Hyundai showcased the HDC-2 Grandmaster concept SUV at the 2018 Busan International Motor Show, previewing their next SUV offering.



- Recent MNL48 news! Just recently announced that Trixie, Van, Zen, and Mae are leaving MNL48 for personal reasons. Two of them are from the Kami 7 while the other two are from the Senbatsu, leaving Ella and Ash promoted to Kami 7 while Alyssa and Erica promoted to Senbatsu. Kenkyuuseis Rans, Nina, and Andi are now official part of MNL48 Team MII as well.

TTFN!!!

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: Discussions continue at inter-Korean border

Washington and Pyongyang continued their discussions at the inter-Korean border on Wednesday to fine-tune the details for the June 12th summit in Singapore between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The working level officials of the US and North Korea met again at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom to discuss the agenda for next week's summit. The American delegation led by US ambassador to the Philippines, Sung Kim, sat down with Choe Son-hui, North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister, for about five hours to fine-tune the details, including the speed of Pyongyang's denuclearization.

Meanwhile, Kim Chang-son, chief of staff to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, arrived on Beijing on Wednesday following his meetings with the US delegation in Singapore to discuss logistics ahead of the summit.

Sources in Beijing say Kim Chang-son will soo make his way to Pyongyang to report the outcome of the meetings to Kim Jong-un. Seeing that Kim Chang-son left Singapore following series of talks with White House Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin, sources also say general preparations for the summit may have come to an end.

Source: Arirang News

Project CARS 2: The legendary Porsche 917K

Gearing up for the upcoming Le Mans race and while in the process of celebrating 70 years of Porsche, the producers of Project CARS 2 were so kind to us to provide us one of the most iconic Porsche racing machines part of the Porsche Legends Pack. So iconic, you may have recognized it from the Le Mans film starring Steve McQueen.



Called the 917K, it is known as an the short-tail version of the legendary 917, a sports prototype race car, and it gave Porsche their first overall wins at Le Mans for two straight years since 1970. Due to its Le Mans success, Steve McQueen took behind the wheel on the 1971 film, Le Mans, and forever catapulted to the motoring hall of fame.



There is a major story about Porsche's Le Mans winner. Since March 21 1969, the eve before Sebring 12 Hours, Porsche racing director Rico Steinemann presented John Wyer, manager, an offer they can't refuse and that is if Porsche can make it to the next two racing sessions. Upon witnessing the 917 at the 1969 Geneva Motor Show, Wyer believed that this has a potential future in the world of motorsports but the GT40, in pairs, dominated Sebring with Porsche ended up second place. In 1970, JW Automotive decided to swap their prize-winning Fords with Porsches but due to the longtail's poor stability which is deemed dangerous, they gone off with the 908s instead. Besides, it managed to killed driver John Woolfe on the first lap of Le Mans. Such pitiful result let Wyer gave the dismal machine a new lease in life and after a few alterations, the 917K was born.



The advent of the 917K made John Wyer's masterpiece scored a 1-2 finish at the 1970 24 Hours of Daytona while smashing the record distance of 190 mils in just 724 laps. One of the most dramatic moments of this machine was in Brands Hatch while in the middle of the heavy rainfall where the #004 car and the #016 car as well as the other one driven by the de facto Porsche works team driver were present at that time. The #004 car is gone when a Ferrari driver nudged him out in lap 177 while the #016 car won the race by five laps.



Early variants were powered by a 4.5L flat-12 engine but it was increased to 4.9 liters and then, five liters, their maximum they did to the 917K. Through out its tenure, it won 7 out of 10 races ever participated and despite being used in most races except Le Mans, its numerous improvements made the 917 range one of the most successful racing machines ever to emerge from Porsche.



Given the opportunity, I am one of the many people who got the desire to try out Porsche's legendary racing prototype at Le Mans and see if it lives up to its legend. Given the layout of this machine, I find that the 917K was difficult to handle even at slow speeds but when you get your foot hard on the accelerator, you can really hear the magic of the flat-12 engine that makes you hear like it's the 1970's again and experience the car that propelled its way from victor to superstardom. Although the 917K is more of a challenge of me to master but it's a dream come true to get to know the greatest heroes of Le Mans history in a rather amusing way and as part of remembering 70 years of Porsche, this one takes the spot as one of the best racing machines from Porsche.

With that, I've prepared a little clip to see how it feels to drive the 917K.





The Porsche 917K really is one of the all-time greats in Porsche's 70-year history and no matter how hard to try and get things right with this machine, you should be thankful that you have been given the chance to drive the machine popularized by Steve McQueen from the Le Mans film and taking a bite on this machine, this racing prototype is just one of the many reasons why we love Porsche.

Be sure to check out the 917K and all the other Porsche greats in Project CARS 2's Porsche Legends Pack, available now.

Let's Do The News! (June 7, 2018)

- Senator Joel Villanueva prodded the Department of Foreign Affairs and concerned government agencies to ensure that justice is served for slain OFW Henry John Acorda in Slovakia. Acorda, 36, died last week after he was mauled in a street in Slovakia in trying to protect his female friends from being harassed by two local men. He succumbed to serious head injuries days after the attack of the suspects.

- The Philippines remains the second least peaceful country in the Asia-Pacific with North Korea remained at the top spot according to the Global Peace Index. This is due to the ongoing war on drugs by the Duterte administration and the Martial Law in Mindanao due to the 2017 Marawi Siege.

- The Department of Transportation has vowed to review its department order covering the TNVS and come up with guidelines on the regulation of motorcycles-per-hire before the end of June. DOTr Assistant Secretary Arturo Fabillar made the assurance after the House Committee on Metro Manila Development asked DOTr to amend its order to allow the classification of four-wheeled vehicles as TNVS to include motorcycles-for-hire.

- Two Airbus A380 superjumbo jets are heading to the scrapyard after failed search for new operators. Negotiations with British Airways, Iran Air and Hi Fly, a Portuguese charter specialist, ended without any deals, German investment fund Dr. Peters, which manages the planes, said in a statement to shareholders. The aircraft are already parked in the foothills of the French Pyrenees, where they will be filleted over the next two years by a specialist company and sold in parts.

- Porn star Stormy Daniels accuses her former lawyer of being a "puppet" by US President Donald Trump and of betraying her by working closely with Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen.

- New Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez unveiled a new pro-EU government with the most women in modern history, with 11 female and six male ministers. The new executive composed by the 46-year-old, who ousted conservative veteran Mariano Rajoy as prime minister last Friday in a no-confidence vote, includes astronaut Pedro Duque as science minister.

-ICYMI: Miss America will scrap the swimsuit portion from the pageant.

- Gardenia Bakeries investing two billion pesos for another fully automated world-class bread manufacturing plant in Pampanga that will serve the growing market in central and northern Luzon. Company President Simplicio Umali Jr. said the Pampanga factory will have a production capacity of 200,000 loaves and buns per day, making it Gardenia’s second largest facility in the country next to its Laguna plant.

- In Game 3 of the NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors made a come-from-behind win against Cleveland Cavaliers at the score of 110-102.

- iHOP, the International House of Pancakes, is now renamed as iHOB

- Feng Qingfeng replaces Jean-Marc Gales as CEO of Group Lotus.

- The Love Live Sunshine manholes in Numazu city got pulled out due to vandalism cases.

- pixiv Representative Director Hiroaki Nagata resigned from his position amidst a lawsuit filed by an anonymous former idol for sexual charges.

- Riko Sakurauchi is the third addition of the Love Live! Sunshine!! Blu-Ray cover figure range by With Fans!. It's available to order starting at 13,704 Yen plus tax and delivery and arrives this March 2019.

Riko Sakurauchi
Blu-Ray cover version

TTFN!!!

THE IDOLM@STER SHINY COLORS BRILLI@NT WING 01 Spread the Wings!!

The year 2018 will be remembered as the year a new addition to THE IDOLM@STER franchise was born as the all-new THE IDOLM@STER SHINY COLORS smartphone browser game introduces a new way to play IDOLM@STER. Instead of the traditional rhythm gameplay, Shiny Colors is a turn-based role-playing game reminiscent of those you are familiar with. As the producer of the newly established 283 Production, you can collect new idols, raise them, and take on on stage, either solo or online co-op. Simple.

THE IDOLM@STER SHINY COLORS
BRILLI@NT WING 01 Spread the Wings!!

As a welcoming treat from the folks from 283 Production, the first installment of the new BRILLI@NT WING CD range based on Shiny Colors has arrived, featuring the game's official theme song, Spread the Wings!!, performed by the rest of the 283 Production idols, known as the Shiny Colors. There's Illumination Stars, L'antica, Alstroemeria, and Houkago Climax Girls. The girls are all here and we can't wait to see what's in store for next installments on this new lineup.

Enjoy the first two songs in the first installment of the BRILLI@NT WING CD range based on Shiny Colors and be sure to look out for more on this range. And be sure to keep playing THE IDOLM@STER Shiny Colors game for more!

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: South Korea's Memorial Day

Today is South Korea's Memorial Day and a ceremony was held this morning at the Daejeon National Cemetery.

Thousands of people gathered at the cemetery to pay tribute to the soldiers who went through pain and struggle for the nation. At this 63rd Memorial Day ceremony, South Korean leader Moon Jae-in and the leadership of the ruling and opposition parties were present.

The ceremony started by paying respect in front of the gravestone of a soldier who passed away at the Yanggu Battle and who does not have any relatives alive. The ceremony ended with a memorial ceremony for the three firefighters that lost their lives during duty last March.

Source: Arirang News

Let's Do The News! (June 6, 2018)

- The Philippines is stepping up their collaboration with South Korea to enhance their broadcasting capabilities. A memorandum of understanding on broadcasting cooperation between the Presidential Communications Operations Office and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea on has been signed last Tuesday on the sidelines of President Duterte’s visit to Seoul. Under the agreement, the two countries would cooperate for the purpose of mutual staff visits, training, and exchange in the field of broadcasting. The Korean ministry regulates KTV, the local news TV, and Arirang TV its international affiliate.

- About 745 policemen have been promoted by the NAPOLCOM for gallantry during last year's Marawi siege. The commission stressed the heroic acts of the police officers resulted in the neutralization of 920 local terrorist groups, rescue of 1,777 hostages and the recovery of 479 units of assorted high-powered firearms, several rounds of ammunition, and ordnance and improvised explosive devices.

- The Japanese government asks the Philippines to life the ban on the importation of agricultural and other food products coming from areas affected by the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown. Mitsuhiro Miyakoshi, Special Advisor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and in charge of promoting the export of Japanese agricultural products, relayed this message to the Philippine government during a three-day official visit in Manila last week.

- OPAPP Secretary Jesus Dureza warned the public against scam on the government's PAMANA project. Dureza issued the warning after he met with a complainant who lost a considerable amount of hard-earned money due to misrepresentations on OPAPP’s PAMANA projects.

- Troubled film mogul Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty to rape and criminal sex act charges. After his arraignment, Weinstein's attorney Benjamin Brafman said "as terrible a crime as rape is, it is equally reprehensible to be falsely accused of rape."

- China offered to buy nearly $70 billion in American farm, manufacturing and energy products to persuade Washington to drop threatened tariffs, according to a news report on Tuesday.

- Britain’s government on Tuesday gave the go-ahead to building a third runway at London Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, a long-awaited decision that has stoked decades of division and debate.

- The first ever Audi Q8 has been revealed, featuring a new face for the Q-series crossovers as well as loads of technology and other features fit for an SUV coupe.

2019 Audi Q8

- The fourth-generation BMW X5 has been revealed.

2019 BMW X5

- The second-generation Peugeot 508 is now available with the new SW variant.

2019 Peugeot 508 SW

- Ferrari's 3.9L biturbo V8 has topped the 2018 International engine of the year awards as well as the 6.5L V12 engine used on the 812.

- The teaser trailer for the Bumblebee movie is now out, showcasing Bumblebee's back to roots as a classic Beetle as seen in cartoons. It will hit theaters this Christmas 2018.

TTFN!!!