- President Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Leila de Lima were listed in TIME Magazine's top 100 most influential leader. Duterte was one of the 24 individuals in the list of leaders while De Lima's listed in the "Icons of the World".
- The Department of Defense Secretary, Delfin Lorenzana, personally went and inspect the disputed Pagasa Island alongside other military officials inspect the government facilities in the mentioned island that needed repair.
- The military warns that the tourist destination Palawan could become the next target for the Abu Sayyaf terrorists,
- Members of the activist group Common Cause are joining the Tax Marches from coast to coast on Saturday to demand the release of US President Donald Trump's tax returns.
- Fashion label Christian Dior launched its new Tokyo store with a fashion show in the rooftop gardens of a luxury mall, where models sported new looks from its creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri.
- Lotus unveiled an even more hardcore Exige Cup 380, which improves the previous Sport 380 with track-focused aerodynamics and handling improvements. It will be limited to 60 units and it is priced at 83,000 GBP.
- The Grandland X from Opel/Vauxhall has been unveiled, serving as the top-of-the-line crossover SUV of the Opel/Vauxhall lineup. It will make its world premiere at the 2017 IAA (International Motor Show) in Frankfurt.
Last time, I drove the one-off, GT-R-powered, Skyline saloon called the Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge Concept while moaning about how Nissan execs complaining to other people to stop including the R35 GT-R to the Skyline timeline in the same way that today's WRX is part of the Impreza bloodline even though two cars are now separate models. As true experts know, the "real" Skyline timeline started out as a midsize family saloon and continues all the way to the current Skyline known to many as the Infiniti Q50.
Continuing the Skyline's 60th anniversary celebration, I was in a middle of a quick thinking that the Q50 (which is a V37 Skyline to the Japanese market) did have a coupe version called the Q60. Since no production-spec Q60 on sight, because the Forza producers are too coward to feature it, I'm only stuck with this 2015 concept car as seen from the 2015 NAIAS but don't worry, it's almost as close to the real one.
While this is basically the concept version of the car that would be the V37 Skyline Coupe, it's been powered by its next-generation 3.0L V6 twin-turbo engine generating 400HP of power and same amount for torques. This kind of engine powers not just the production version Q60 but also the Q50 as well, although Nissan has no plans to offer the turbocharged V6 model to the Japanese model as of now. A turbocharged V6 engine with 400HP of power is what you called, in Infiniti terms, the 400 Red Sport, and it has some bits and bobs sourced from, you guessed it, the Nissan GT-R. No wonder they christened the engine code VR30DTT and it comes with two kinds of configurations with the lesser one produces 300HP of power. Need I say more?
A turbocharged V6 engine may sound like the future is happening now but when revving, this engine sounds like the it came from the RB era of Nissan sportscars. It maybe feels modern for a turbocharged six-cylinder petrol engine but it sounds very old school and that's a good thing. It's a shame that the Japanese will be missing out on this engine at this moment in time but no time to rest, let's drive it to the place "where Skylines belong". You get the point but let's do it in honor of the Skyline's 60th anniversary!
The job is over but the celebration continues. I may wish that Nissan should bring the new Skyline Coupe (now based on the Infiniti Q60) to the Japanese market along with the 400HP turbo V6 engine, which makes a nice addition to the four-door saloon model, but like all good historians, the story continues because there are still a handful of Skylines that needs to be driven in the Land Down Under while honoring the Skyline's 60th birthday with a little storytelling.
- Former Senator Bongbong Marcos is asking the Supreme Court to disregard the counter-protest from Vice President Leni Robredo. Based on the Omnibus motion of Marcos’ camp to the Supreme Court, the former Senator said that the highest court should junk Robredo’s protest because the Vice President was not able to pay the protest fee on the given date.
- President Rodrigo Duterte is offering a million peso bounty to each of the seven remaining Abu Sayyaf members who are wanted in Bohol. After a security briefing at Tagbilaran City, the President made the proposition in order to immediately corner the members of the bandit group. He wants them either dead or alive.
- Magdalo Partylist Representative Gary Alejano wants the Philippines to file another protest against China after the latest bullying of alleged Chinese coast guards against some Filipino fishermen. The Chinese coast guard allegedly fired warning shots against the Filipino fishermen at the Union bank in the Spratlys, which is covered by the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone.
- A US-Russian space crew blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday for a six-hour ride to the International Space Station. A Soyuz capsule carrying NASA astronaut Jack Fischer, 43, and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, 58, lifted off at 1:13 p.m. local time with a rare empty third seat. Russia is scaling back space station staffing until its long-delayed science laboratory is flown to the orbiting outpost next year.
- Numerous attacks in Southern Thailand that killed two people reflects tension over peace talks aimed at ending violence there, according to a monitoring group, warning against similar attacks in the future.
- Two Venezuelan students and a National Guard sergeant were killed during protests against President Nicolas Maduro, increasing turmoil in the volatile nation amid a devastating economic crisis.
- Billy Monger, a 17-year-old Formula 4 Driver, has lost both of his lower legs following an incident during a BTCC support race last weekend at Donington Park. Monger suffered fatal injuries after colliding with the rear of the stationary car of Patrik Pasma during the 6th round of the 2017 Formula 4 championship.
- Actress Rosamund Pike will play the role of war reporter Marie Colvin in an upcoming biopic.
THE IDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS STARLIGHT MASTER 10 Jet to the Future
The tenth installment of THE IDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS STARLIGHT MASTER range, inspired by the Cinderella Girls Starlight Stage app game, is going to be a rocking good time because the cover song of the latest installment is just one way why you can't stop rock and roll, even in idol girl terms.
The cover song of this installment is titled "Jet to the Future" and it's performed by our favorite rockers from Cinderella Girls, Riina Tada (CV: Ruriko Aoki and Natsuki Kimura (CV: Kiyono Yasuno). Not only this rocking new song is featured in this CD but also two new songs such as たくさん! by Anastasia (CV: Sumire Uesaka) and Flip Flop by Akane Hino (CV: Chinatsu Akasaki), Aiko Takamori (CV: Yuki Kaneko), Shizuku Oikawa (CV: Yuri Noguchi), Tamami Wakiyama (CV: Misa Kayama), and Karin Domyoji (CV: Hiyori Nitta). Talk about new and familiar Cinderella Girls faces, huh?
Be sure to keep playing Starlight Stage and watch out for more on this range!
TRACK LISTINGS:
01Jet to the Future (M@STER VERSION)
02たくさん!
03Flip Flop
04Jet to the Future (M@STER VERSION) オリジナル・カラオケ
05たくさん! オリジナル・カラオケ
06Flip Flop オリジナル・カラオケ
07Jet to the Future (GAME VERSION)
2017 marks 60 years of Nissan Skyline and it's also 10 years of the R35 GT-R and while JDM fanatics are honoring the Skyline's 60th birthday this year, some Nissan experts are annoyed that most car enthusiasts are always putting the R35 GT-R in the history of Nissan Skyline rather than the V35 Skyline, which was known to some as the Infiniti G35, the V36 Skyline known by some as the new Infiniti G37, and the latest V37 Skyline known as the Q50 in saloon and Q60 in coupe. So, have you ever seen the Nissan Skyline timeline that has the R35 GT-R on it that annoys most Nissan execs?
To find out why, I'm driving this one-off Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge, which is basically a V37 Skyline with bits and bobs from the Nissan R35 GT-R on it. So, you might be thinking why the folks from Nissan want people to stop calling the R35 GT-R a Skyline and instead focus on the "real" history of the Nissan Skyline? Well, some people don't understand Japanese cars to the fullest or that's because to them, the Skyline is the epitome of the JDM car empire and when the GT-R emerged at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, most folks still call it a Skyline in the same way today's WRX STi is still called an Impreza by car enthusiasts, not Subaru.
Both the Skyline and Impreza started out in life as normal everyday cars so it's understandable that some people still call these latest hi-po JDM cars the names that no longer bear from its predecessors. Anyway, when the folks from Nissan's Infiniti brand developed this one-off Skyline, they believed that this kind of trend will stop. Although this one-off never saw the light of day, it's proof that they made a car that can break many barriers for the Skyline nameplate and show world what the Skyline is capable of rather than being Nissan's 3-Series killer.
Nissan noticed people calling the R35 GT-R a Skyline rather than focusing on modern-day Nissan Skylines and used it as motivation to build this one-off powered by a 560HP VR38DETT engine sourced from the R35 GT-R while mated to a 7-speed DCT as well as Intelligent AWD and the Skyline's trademark Direct Adaptive Steering. With the Eau Rouge, Nissan wanted to change people's perception of the Skyline name by all means necessary.
Weird. What I have here is a battle between the car that is meant to be called the Skyline and the other that doesn't really bear the Skyline name from its predecessors and the venue for this place is, you guessed it, the Skyline View Circuit segment of the Surfers' Paradise. Get it? This is like a matchup between Yo-Kai Watch's Walkappa and Faux Kappa, with a tasty twist on it. With the V37 Skyline modified to have R35 GT-R bits on it and the "real" GT-R in place, let's find out which one is real.
So, despite everything I've witnessed between these two, it's a clear reminded that the GT-R did separated from the Skyline range in the same way what happened between Subaru's Impreza and WRX STi. It's proof that these guys know how to separate the men from the boys and because this R35 GT-R is quicker than the Skyline with the same engine from it, it's a point that will have Nissan execs want people stop putting the R35 GT-R in the Nissan Skyline timeline. A point that they will have it mentioned during the Skyline's 60th anniversary celebration.
There, it's easier to said than done but there's one Skyline I want to show you later on but for now, this will serve as a motivation that for 60 years of Nissan Skyline, the trend of putting the R35 GT-R on the Skyline history has to stop and understand the real history of the Nissan Skyline; from the Prince Skyline saloon of 1957, all the way to the Infiniti Q50 saloon that was called the Nissan Skyline V37.
Running until the 23rd of April, 2017, the 2017 New York International Auto Show features some of the finest cars from all parts of the world. From debutantes, full model changes, minor changes, concept cars, this car show's got everything for the guests to see what's new and what's hot in the American car culture.
So, it's time to jot down the stars of this year's show...
- The Department of Justice charged Superintendent Rafael Dumlao III as the mastermind behind the kidnap-slay of Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo last year. Also included in the case are Jerry Omlang, who used to work for the National Bureau of Investigation, and Gerardo Santiago, owner of the funeral home in Caloocan City where the body of Jee was cremated and flushed at the toilet to avoid getting incriminated.
- The Supreme Court declares as final the acquittal of former president and Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in connection with her plunder case. With a vote of 11-4, the Court affirmed the ruling made on the 19th of July, last year, recognizing the Demurer to Evidence presented by the former president regarding the case filed against her at the Sandiganbayan.
- Former senator Jinggoy Estrada and President Rodrigo Duterte are invited to attend the birthday party of former president and now Manila city mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada today at the Manila Hotel.
- Senator Grace Poe seeks the creation of the National Transport Safety board following the tragic bus accident in Nueva Ecija that killed over 30 people onboard.
- A gunman named Kori Ali Muhammad killed three white men in downtown Fresno, California, until he was arrested by authorities while shouting "Allahu Akhbar", according to police. Known by the nickname "Black Jesus", the suspect was wanted in connection with the fatal shooting last week of an unarmed security guard at a Motel 6 in Fresno, according to reports.
- Indonesians lined up on Wednesday to vote in an election to choose between a Muslim and a Christian candidate to govern the capital city Jakarta, after a bruising campaign marred by religious tensions in the capital of the world's third-largest democracy. This could be a close race between Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, the first Christian and ethnic Chinese leader, and former Anies Baswedan, a Muslim just like 85% of the city's population.
- The Mercedes-Benz S-Class range has been given a minor change for the 2018 model year with new tech, new features, and new engine ranges.
- Renault predicts what would a Formula One race be like in the next decade with this RS 2027 Vision Concept.
- Lexus's NX crossover has been given a minor change for the 2018 model year. The base NX200t model has now been renamed as the NX300 for this minor change.
