SYRIA UPRISING: $1B, 1 year needed to destroy Syria's chemical weapons

Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad promised he would surrender Syria's chemical weapons but warned that it would take at least a year to do so and cost one billion dollars. His latest appearance came as the UN envoys debated a draft resolution that would encourage the US-Russian plan to secure and neutralize his banned weapons in international law.

Story: INTERAKSYON.COM

Let's Do The News! (September 19, 2013)

Mimes blocked your path? Here are some moments that you had missed.

- Just before this week's Tokyo Game Show 2013, Microsoft announced that the XBOX One will be released in Japan next year. Not sure when but let's recap; in November 22, X1 will be available in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States for $499. The Playstation4, on the other hand, will launch in the United States and Canada on November 15, in Europe and Latin America on November 29, and in Japan on February 22, 2014 for hundred dollars less.

- Iran, once a sinister country for their nuclear regime, is also one of a few places where people love to surf. Get this, an Irish woman, named Easkey Britton, is the first ever woman to surf through Iranian tidal waves.



- Some reports regarding the Washington Navy Yard mass killings described that the man responsible for the bloodbath, 34-year-old Aaron Alexis as "obsessed with violent video games" and played them for "hours on end". Fox News interviewed University of Missouri associate professor of psychology Bruce Bartholomew who said, "More than any other media, these video games encourage active participation in violence. From a psychological perspective, video games are excellent teaching tools because they reward players for engaging in certain types of behavior. Unfortunately, in many popular video games, the behavior is violence." Wall Street Journal reported that one of Alexis' pals said he undergone marathon sessions of FPS while The Telegraph reported that he played Call of Duty and Biohazard (Resident Evil) for up to 16 hours and friends believed it could have pushed him towards becoming a killer.

- Today is the day Apple's new iOS7 went public and this latest operating system for Apple is available only to 5th generation iPod touch, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad with Retina Display, iPad Mini, as well as new models like the 5S and the 5C. So, what do you guys think of the new design? Refreshing or revolting?

- It's been less than a year when Frederator Studios' CARTOON HANGOVER went online but by the statistics, here's what Frederator Studios' CARTOON HANGOVER crunched up by the numbers;

170,000,000 minutes viewed +24%
1,000,000 subscribers +16%
60,000,000 video views +28%
14,000,000 unique visitors +27%

Providing web cartoons like Bravest Warriors, Rocket Dog, Bee & Puppycat, Superf*ckers, and others, it seems that CARTOON HANGOVER is off for a promising start with a long list of supporters everywhere for a thing that is Too ____ For TV. Well done, Frederator, another milestone passed.

- Moving on to the Zamboanga Stand-off, as recently there were two soldiers and an official were killed in a middle of a stand-off between the MNLF rebels against the military forces. The clearing operation from the military troops continues as expected.

- Here's a very sad story somewhere in Tokyo, Japan, which is the venue for the 2020 Olympics. There was once a senior Japanese man in the name of Kohei Jinno who was onced moved out from his Tokyo home ahead of the 1964 Olympics to make way for construction of the main stadium. Now, he has to move again because the public housing complex where he and his wife live, close to the stadium and the site of his former home -- currently a parking lot -- is slated to be destroyed as part of construction of a new stadium for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

The New Range Rover Sport

The Range Rover Sport, if my memory serves me correctly, the Range Rover Sport is a premiership footballer's favorite SUV but sadly, even though it's a Range Rover, it isn't a real Range Rover because in the past, what's underneath is just components from the Land Rover Discovery, so this is nothing more of a faux Range Rooney rather than a real one. Sadly though, it feels a bit more of a commoners' car rather than a rough-and-tumbling beast that loves to play with Mother Nature, before this one consign to the history books, good news! There's a new model coming up!

2014 Land Rover Range Rover Sport

This is the all new Range Rover Sport. It costs about over 20,000 less than the normal Range Rover, and on paper, the new model is now the most dynamic and the most sportiest in the Range Rover lineup. It maybe a new model but with it stay true to its promises by its name? Remember; RANGE ROVER SPORT. The words "RANGE ROVER" determines its true off-road potential while the "SPORT" determines its...well, sportiness. Does it stay true to its promises? Well, don't get to hasty because let's start with the basics.

Like its normal Range Rooney, the Range Rover Sport now sports an all-aluminum chassis, which benefitted 400kg of weight loss. That seems to be rather impressive, indeed, to have its 400kg weight lost but still, good job for those working behind the scenes. In terms of engine choices, you can have either a 3.0-litre LR-TDV6 diesel that accelerates from 0-60mph in 7.1 seconds, a 3.0-litre LR-SDV6 diesel engine that accelerates from 0 -60mph in 6.8 seconds, and for the more hardcore enthusiasts, a 5.0-litre LR-V8 supercharged petrol engine that accelerates from 0-60mph in 5.0 seconds. Well, that was unexpected, there were two diesel engines and one supercharged Jaguar engine available for the RR Sport but there's more to it than that because this car has been through a lot of challenges. In Pikes Peak, the Range Rover Sport set the record for the fastest ascent in a production SUV, which is good then but that's just the tip of an iceberg because the with the Range Rover Sport, it promises to conquer the deeper, higher, and colder challenges thanks to its cunning performance figures that really stand out against its rivals.

2014 Land Rover Range Rover Sport

Like the Range Rover, the new Sport comes with the new generation Terrain Response which adapts the vehicle’s settings to suit the terrain automatically. It's becoming one of the most intelligent offroaders ever made and it's pretty much the same as the normal Range Rover that our Springer Spaniel drove against a self-driving military truck and won against it. Ooh, yes. That new Terrain Response really is worth the smart and oh, there's even that part where it detects the water level as well, which is great if you're trying to monitor the RR Sport's progress in the water levels. For offroading, the new Sport really is worth bearing the Range Rover name.

So, what about the Sport name? Does the new model still bears the Sport in the Sport Utility Vehicle name? Well, you remember the part where The Stig drove this and see if its faster against the Mini JCW GP in a time attack. Even though it's just an SUV made for offroad purposes, the new Range Rover Sport can also be a perfect track-day car and judging from its dynamic performance, when you set this one on DYNAMIC MODE, it feels like it wants to give a Porsche Cayenne a run from its money. It feels like blowing a lovely bunch of watermelons with TNT or blowing up sacks of flour with naphthalene. Ding dong.

2014 Land Rover Range Rover Sport interior

2014 Land Rover Range Rover Sport interior

Like the Range Rover, the Sport still features tons of luxury equipment and for an added treat, there is now a third-row seating at the back, which means the new model became the first-ever Land Rover model to come with third-row seating which allows you to seat two kids at the back and yes...expect the whole "ARE WE THERE YET?" questionnaire which annoys most parents all the time. Good thing you can shut them up with a fair bit of entertainment but sadly, entertainment stuff goes to the 2nd row seating.

But still, no matter the outcome, the new Range Rover Sport is becoming a British equivalent of the uber-ugly Porsche Cayenne and even though it's becoming a performance-oriented super SUV, it still hangs on to the promises. It has the right to bear the name Range Rover Sport.

The SE model (available from January 2014) will costs about 51,550 GBP up to 74,995 GBP for the Autobiography Dynamic, with additional costs from options and accessories.

Available Colors: Fuji White, Indus Silver, Ipanema Sand, Scotia Grey, Nara Bronze, Corris Grey, Firenze Red, Aintree Green, Loire Blue, Santorini Black, Luxor, Causeway Grey, Chile, Mariana Black, Barossa, Havana, and Barolo Black.

Photo: Jaguar Land Rover

Top Gear USA S04E03

TGUSA S04E03

On the third episode of American Top Gear, Season 4, we learn more about the basics of rallying. Tanner Foust, being adept in this sport, invited Adam and Rut for some rallying 101 but there's a twist; they have 24 hours for these two to prepare against Tanner.

While school smarts doesn't seem to work, Adam and Rut get some rallying 101 with one of Tanner Foust's most formidable rivals. While these two are busy in their training, Tanner introduced us to the all-new Mini Paceman, which is essentially a three-door version of the Countryman, and then undergo a different kind of challenge to see if this has the same rally heritage as the original Mini. In the end, the Paceman finished 5th place in the podium.

Meanwhile, Adam and Rut are being chased by Bucky in a 2-lap race without being overtaken. Sadly, it's been turned into one heck of a do-or-die match and in the end, Bucky defeated these two. Since Adam and Rut never been used to rally, they come up with a plan...

The next day, at Hell's Canyon, it's now turned into a rally car vs. road car vs. powerboat-ish thingy as Tanner's in a Subaru rally car while Rut's in the brand-new Aston Martin Vanquish, and Adam's in a 1400hp powerboat with a jet engine from a helicopter.

In the end, the 1400hp powerboat, with Adam in it, took first, Tanner with the Scooby rally car came second, and Rut with the Vanquish, despite a crack in the windshield near the finish, came last. It's an odd of  1 in 2 shots.

SYRIA UPRISING: Syrians treated in Israeli hospitals

Despite that both Syria and Israel are officially at war, there are some wounded Syrians have been treated in Israeli hospitals. Since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011 Israeli policy has remained neutral, at least publicly.

Story: FRANCE24

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: N.Korea seeks unconditional resumption of talks

North Korea's top nuclear negotiator seeks unconditional resumption of the stalled six-party talks on the country's nuclear program. First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan addressed some officials from the 6 parties and researchers at a symposium in Beijing. A Chinese Foreign Ministry think tank organized the forum for the first time in 2 years.

Story: NHK WORLD

Jobert Supladito, IHAW NA!

On the September 18, 2013's Banana Nite's IHAW NA segment, Tito Bhoy interviews one of the most prolific showbiz analysts, Jobert Supaldito. Tito Jobert used to be seen on The Buzz but despite that, he's been busy tackling scandals, intrigues, and mysteries in the world of showbizness.

Meanwhile, there's more funny pics in ETO NA POST; such as ways of cooling your laptop, cooling your car, fried chicken with a fighting stance, mop on a windshield, and bring your own...grabbing thingy on a train.