THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: Indonesia invites Korean leaders Moon, Kim to Asian Games

The leaders of the two Koreas have been invited to next month’s Asian Games in Indonesia, Jakarta said Monday, after the neighbors agreed to field several joint teams at the event.

Indonesian president Joko Widodo sent a formal invitation Friday to South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Widodo’s spokesman said, but it was not immediately clear if either has responded.

“The invitation letters have been sent to the leaders,” spokesman Johan Budi told AFP.

Last month, Asian Games organizers announced that North and South Korea will field joint teams in three sports — canoeing, rowing and women’s basketball — in a sign of thawing tensions.

The two countries — which are technically still at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice instead of a peace treaty — will also march together at the opening and closing ceremonies for the showpiece event from August 18-September 2.

The two Koreas formed their first-ever unified Olympic team — a joint women’s ice hockey squad — for last February’s Winter Games in the South, with the North’s participation kicking off a thaw between the two neighbors.

The diplomatic detente also triggered a rapid improvement in relations between Pyongyang and Washington, culminating in last month’s summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump in Singapore.

The Asian Games, to be held in Jakarta and Palembang on Sumatra island, will feature some 11,000 athletes competing in 40 sports — the second-biggest multi-sport event behind the Olympics.

Source: AFP

Let's Do The News! (July 16, 2018)

- The Department of Health has revived the Botika ng Bayan after a seven-year hiatus, providing free medicines for common diseases to indigent residents. Relaunched last weekend, the program, according to the DOH, will provide access to free essential medicines for common diseases in the community targeting indigent and marginalized sectors of the population.

- Although Manny Pacquiao won last weekend's fight in Malaysia, his colleagues wanted him to retire, echoing the same preference that President Rodrigo Duterte said while watching the fight.

- Officials and employees of the Bureau of Immigration thanked President Rodrigo Duterte for ordering the release of their augmentation pay which the latter promised to give them early this year to increase their meager salaries.

- ABS-CBN winded down their network sharing agreement with Globe Telecom because their ABS-CBNmobile service turned out to be "financially unsustainable", therefore not renewing the deal with Globe that was forged five years ago. The network sharing agreement will expire this year.

- Efforts for the recovering of the flood-stricken western Japan were hampered by the ongoing heat wave as survivors and relief workers toil in stifling temperatures a week after the flood that killed over 200 people.

- The Taliban killed seven policemen at the eastern Nangahar province in Afghanistan.

- US President Donald Trump told in a TV interview that Queen Elizabeth II told him Brexit is “complex.” Trump’s interview with Good Morning Britain was broadcast Monday. The president spoke to Piers Morgan on Air Force One Friday evening. Right now, he's currently meeting up Russian leader Vladimir Putin at Helsinki.

- Comedian-presenter Vice Ganda thanked PBA player Arnold Van Opstal for standing up against homophobia.

- Today marks the third anniversary of AlDub

TTFN!!!

FIFA WORLD CUP RUSSIA 2018 FINAL

FIFA World Cup Russia 2018

Over the course of the month, the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 event has became one heck of a rollercoaster sports fans got into. There has been some controversies, heartbreaks, sense of humor, upsides, downsides, it's everything this match had from start to finish.

And now, all roads ended to this, France vs. Croatia at the heart of the Russian capital city Moscow. The crowds gathered at the Luzhniki Stadium to witness the day of verdict, a game where everything ends, everything begins, and what a thriller the epic finale delivered.

On that game, as Croatians got shocked when Mario Mandzukic scored at both sides, either an accidental own goal or a proper goal, the French gave it all to end the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 by defeating it at the score of 4-2. Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe's goals were more than enough to secure their second World Cup title.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Allez Les Bleus! Congratulations to the French for winning the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018! That match became one heck of a controversy given Russia's drastic sports records that sparked numerous sports governing bodies but with them out of the way, it turned out to be the best World Cup in ages and the Les Bleus fought all the way to the very end.

And that is the end of the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018. See you again in Qatar this 2022 and in the meantime, enjoy the best of the World Cup from start to finish.

FIA WTCR 2018 - Race of Slovakia

Slovakia Ring became the next battleground for the 2018 FIA World Touring Car Cup presented by OSCARO and the tables kept on turning on the best of the best as the battle for the title keeps on heating up in a middle of this incident-packed race weekend.

At the first race, Pepe Oriola of Team OSCORA gave the Cupra TCR the first win of its career, which isn't so bad for a fresh newcomer to the TCR grid. The second race, meanwhile, Gabriele Tarquini regain his championship lead after nicking his fourth win of the season after his duel with Norbert Nagy of Zengo Motorsports. And on the third race, BRC Racing Team's Norbert Michelisz scored his first victory, all thanks to his pole position advantage.

After Slovakia Ring, Tarquini's back in the lead with a two-point gap ahead of Yvan Muller, 202 vs. 200, while Yann Ehrlacher's in 3rd with 171 points.

The next race is at Ningbo for the Race of China-Ningbo on the 29th to the 30th of September, 2018.

I Love You, Hater

For the month of July, Star Cinema offered us another one of their rom-com offerings and while some of you are starting to believe that too much rom-coms are gonna bore you for no reason, take note that this new movie sees some fresh new talents and a return of someone you know.

I Love You, Hater

I Love You, Hater is a film stars Joshua Garcia, Julia Barretto, and formerly the queen of all media Kris Aquino. In this film, Joshua plays the role of a young man who tries so hard to support his family while Julia plays the role of a young woman who tries to prove herself to the world. When Sasha, played by Aquino, pits these two, the two young people ended up competing for who gets to be her new personal assistant.

This film is rather unheard for a rom-com because this film is turning into a lighthearted survival of the fittest as these two characters are going all out to vie for a new job, making viewers harder to decide which one will be with through the very end. Bitter rivalries aside, the love-hate scenario this film delivers maybe more sickening to the viewers' stomachs but they get the feeling that there will be a lot of people talking about this rather unique rom-com film that never fails to stil up some smiles on their faces and I Love You, Hater really hammers where it hits on the viewers' perspectives.

Satisfactory? Well, you can consider this film to be it, especially when you are seeing a film featuring the fresh faces from the showbiz industry and the former queen of all media who went AWOL for numerous reasons.

My rating: 3.4 out of 5.

Pacquiao wins Kuala Lumpur fight against Matthysse

The People's Champ, Manny Pacquiao, took on WBA Welterweight champion, Lucas Matthysse, in Kuala Lumpur's Axiata Arena. This is the first time the legendary Pacquiao, who is also a sitting senator in the Philippines, took on a battle without the supervision of his former coach, Freddie Roach, since the controversial Battle of Brisbane last year that tasted his loss.

At the start of the match, it looks like the WBA Welterweight Champion from Argentina is feeling a pinch by a flurry of punches thrown by Pacquiao and then, on the fifth round, Pacquiao's left punches really put a drop on Matthysse, literally. When the seventh round came, it's all over for Matthysse as Pacquiao's hard left is simply too much to bear for him and with that, The People's Champ has snagged the WBA Welterweight belt from Matthysse after a victory by a technical knock-out.

This is the first time Pacquiao won a match by a knockout since 2009.

URL: http://tv5.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/24100683/manny-pacquiao-ko-lucas-matthysse-7th-round-claim-wba-welterweight-title

After his dominating success at Malaysia, what's next for the People's Champ? It's only up to him to decide on that. Anyway, congratulations to Manny Pacquiao for another smashing success at this bout.

2018 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup - Quaker State 400

As summertime in America continues to heat up, the Kentucky Speedway is open for the Quaker State 400 race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Series and with only eight races to go before the playoffs, things are heating up for the racers as they are warming themselves up before the big show kicks off.

Last year's champion Martin Truex Jr. dominated Kentucky before and now he's doing it again by winning all two stages and continues all the way to the end of the race, where he placed himself onto Victory Lane once again. That's it. No explanations needed.

Next race is at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 on the 22nd of July.