- China is eyeing a positive outlook of possible post-arbitration talks with the Philippines, with both countries to discuss “temporary arrangements” pending final settlement of their maritime dispute. China’s ministry of foreign affairs announced Beijing’s readiness to talk even as it called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations not to take sides on the issue related to arbitration.
- The Islamic State militants claimed responsibility from the recent terror attack in Nice, France that left 84 dead and more than 200 wounded. The attack occured when a truck ran over dozens of crowds during Bastille Day celebrations and then opened fire until he was gunned down by policemen. The assailant identified to be Tunisian and he was once arrested for violence but unclear of his terrorist links.
- Jeep created a WWII-themed Wrangler concept in honor of Jeep's 75th anniversary.
- Mercedes-Benz bids farewell to the CLS-Class with their Final Edition on saloon and shooting brake variants, packed with special treatments inside and out.
- Actress Liza Soberano hits back at a certain netizen questioning her absence during the premiere night of loveteam partner Enrique Gil's movie Dukot.
- Here's your first teaser image of the upcoming season of BBC's Sherlock.
Since their first split-screen encounter in the 16th of July, 2015, the love team of Alden Richards and Yaya Dub was born as well as the birth of the AlDub Nation. For fifty-two weeks, we've seen most of their Kalyeserye antics for better and for worst and so are the characters from the so-called Kalyeserye.
Here we are, the 16th of July, 2016, marks the first anniversary of AlDub and the Eat Bulaga gang have thrown the biggest Kalyeserye celebration to date. Celebrations aside, today's the day when Yaya Dub's identity was finally revealed to the world as well as her real name, which turned out to be, yep, Maine Mendoza.
At least this anniversary celebration is one heck of a ride for us so, HAPPY 1ST ANNIVERSARY, ALDUB! Congratulations!
Speaking of which, oh no! Lola Nidora's got kidnapped! Where are they taking Lola Nidora at? Keep watching Eat Bulaga for more Kalyeserye antics!
June 15, 2016 - A faction of the Turkish military attempted to over the government after dark, deploying tanks and attack helicopters at both capital city Ankara and the largest city Istanbul. Some soldiers temporarily seized the offices of the state-run media where they forced an announcer to read out a statement declaring they have seized power as well as curfew declaration. Even the Turkish branch of CNN were unsafe from this short-lived uprising as well.
Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on his supporters to take on the streets on Istanbul, where they overpowered the coup soldiers, even they're trying to called on everyone to stay indoors.
As dawn approaches, the coup plotting to overthrow the government came to a premature end and the Turkish leader announced that the coup is over, but fighting in the capital city is still going on.
Based on the reports, over 1,500 were arrested, over 90 were killed, and 1,150 injured in the failed coup attempt.
This isn't the first time Turkey faced serious coup attempts by the opposition. In 1960, military officers rebelled against the autocratic administration by detaining senior officials and assuming control of the government. The following year, they shifted the administration back to civilian rule with a general election. Two decades later, small political parties were engaged in bitter fighting and high inflation was causing economic and social upheaval. Top military officials seized power and detained the whole government. In 1982, they created a new constitution that strengthened the authority of the president and the administration was transferred to civilian rule a year later.
Well, that was an unexpected day for teleserye lovers because three endings have occured on the same day; two by ABS-CBN (My Super D and We Will Survive) and one by GMA (Poor Señorita).
In the My Super D finale, to save Dodong's friends and family from the hands of his rival Tony (known as supervillain Zulu), Dodong, as Super D, is on a race against time to settle things once and for all in a one-sided deathmatch but Zulu's powers were too powerful to be defeated by Super D and took Dodong's divorced wife, Nicole, hostage. Unable to bear this, Super D gave up his blue gem, the source of his powers, to Zulu. With Super D's real identity exposed, Zulu thinks he won the fight and with the people became very angry to Tony, his rage was unleashed. With Dodong resurfaced, he demonstrates that his love for people is his only power that grants him to be Super D and with Tony removed his red gem, the real fight begins. After taking multiple beatings by Tony, Dodong strikes back and defeated Tony once and for all. With the world back to normal, Dodong and Nicole are finally back together and they're now one happy family again. Then, Super D made his final address to the public before Dodong and his son Dennis returned the two gems to the cave where it was founded. That concludes the tale of Super D.
On the We Will Survive finale, with Maricel finally recovered fron her long comatose, everything's finally settling in, even for the love of her life, Pocholo. Later, after the baptism of Wilma's newborn baby, Pocholo wants to have a wedding with Maricel but the friends got other plans; a double wedding that shouldn't fail like last time. Day before the wedding, the two friends are recalling their bitter moments and seems that these two finally settling in. The next day, Maricel and Wilma finally got the double wedding they've deserved. This concludes the story of We Will Survive.
In the Poor Señorita finale, with Deborah got hit by the car, the kids are doing their best to help her, despite being the root cause of Rita's problems. With Rita reconciled with her mother after days of trouble, Rita faces trouble as her office is planted with a bomb and everyone's in trouble, even for Rambo who tries to search for Rita. With Rita escaped, she returns back to the office to save Rambo. The bomb explodes but the two escaped. Rambo survived but Rita's in critical condition. Meeting with her father from heaven, Rita's love with the orphaned kids she treated not just friends but as part of the family is proof that she's a good person, therefore she surrendered her fate with her father. Days passed by, everything's back to the way things were, even for the kids and friends of Rita. However, Rita makes her comeback, delighting everyone. This concludes the story of Poor Señorita.
Three endings, two stations, one day. How's that for timing?
- Former Vice President Jejomar Binay and his son, dismissed Makati Mayor Junjun Binay have posted bail for the criminal charges filed against them. The Office of the Ombudsman earlier indicted the former VP for graft, malversation of public funds and falsification of public documents in connection with the anomalous construction of the Makati City Hall Building II.
- President Rodrigo Duterte asks former president Fidel V Ramos to fly to China to begin talks with Chinese officials, two days after an international tribunal ruled that Beijing's expansive territorial claim in the South China Sea has no legal basis. Duterte said last night the interest of the Philippines and its allies would be considered as they strive to settle the territorial row through diplomacy.
- The Department of Tourism is set to negotiate with the Miss Universe organizers after getting the approval of President Duterte for the Philippines to host next year's pageant. DOT Undersecretary Kat de Castro said they will be in talks with Miss Universe president Paula Shugart and her team, who are arriving this weekend.
- 84 people were killed in a truck attack in the French resort city of Nice. The truck ran down people who had gathered for Bastille Day celebrations on Thursday night. Reports quoted officials as saying the truck drove two kilometers through the large crowd. The driver identified as a 31-year-old man of Tunisian descent who had been investigated for violence and use of weapons but authorities have no information linking him with terrorism. The truck zigzagged at a speed of 50km per hour before stopping at an area where upscale hotels are located. The driver was killed by the policemen.
- Back to the Race to the White House, presumptive Republican presidentiable Donald Trump has reported decided to name Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate. Democratic presidentiable Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, is stepping up efforts to pick her running mate in the lead-up to the Democratic Party convention later this month.
Despite having held talks over the phone, South Sudan president Salva Kiir and vice president Riek Machar failed to resolve an impasse. Fighting between government troops and opposition forces flared up earlier this month. Although the fierce fighting has subsided in recent days, the situation remains precarious.
- New British PM Theresa May has appointed pro-,anti-Brexit campaigners to key Cabinet posts, in an apparent bid to seek domestic reconciliation. May finished important Cabinet appointments on Thursday, one day after she became prime minister.
- Pokemon Go has established a new US record as the most popular smartphone game. Developed by Nintendo and Niantic Labs, Pokemon Go has about 21 million active daily users, surpassing the previous record of 20 million set by Candy Crush, according to sources.
- A PHEV variant of the flagship BMW 7-Series was added with three variations such as the BMW 740e iPerformance, BMW 740Le iPerformance and BMW 740Le xDrive iPerformance. All models come with a 4-cylinder BMW TwinPower Turbo engine and an electric motor, capable of combined power output of 326HP and promises 2.2 - 2.0 litres per 100 kilometres of fuel economy.
No, not what it seems but the Ghibli I'm referring now is Maserati's 4-door saloon, the Ghibli. Italian's take on BMW's 3-Series, Mercedes' C-Class, and Audi's A4.
As you recall, you may have drove this car in Forza Horizon 2 as a special machine that was part from the Fast & Furious car pack as Deckard Shaw's Ghibli from Furious 7. Now, I'm driving a totally normal Ghibli model, in the high-end S model with four-wheel drive and a 3.0L V6 engine that produces 404HP of power, mated to an 8-speed automatic gearbox.
Upon driving the Ghibli S Q4, I have doubts that this car is as grippy as any other four-wheel drive cars get because by normal, most of the power goes to the front wheels, but I was wrong because Maserati has been very keen on tackling its four-wheel drive powertrain very seriously since the Quattroporte and as a result, it behaves like a rear-wheel drive car by default but when necessary, it can transfer half of the power to the front. As a result, I have a luxury four-door saloon that has the sophistication of a luxury German saloon but with the feel of an Italian sports car. How fun is that. Sounds like the Italian flair really get the job done for the Ghibli, although I don't find its twin-turbo V6 engine to be more exciting even when it injects a lot of power on it. Sure, the turbocharging's all nice and easy but when it comes to excitement, it never really makes the grade for it.
In general, the Ghibli S maybe born from the company that makes grand tourers like the GranTurismo but for having fun...let's demonstrate it when I drive this car round Monza.
Then, I'm going to look for another Ghibli to make a point and looks like I found one...
What you're looking at is a limited-edition Ghibli Cup, a road-legal version of the car that was once used in Maserati's one-make race series in the mid-90's. With its 2.0L twin turbo engine producing 330PS of power, the Ghibli Cup has the strongest power output per litre compared to the Bugatti EB110 and Jaguar XJ220. Sounds cool but let's find out how does the old Ghibli and the new Ghibli face themselves off...
And now the results...
Ghibli Cup - 2:26.647
Ghibli S - 2:23.443
So, what can I say, for a four-door saloon with a four-wheel drive, the Ghibli S Q4 sure knows how to tackle a track with precision but despite its fast result, it's all serious business for the Ghibli as I'm sure why would anyone didn't mind about the hidden potential beneath Italy's 3-Series fighter. It maybe fast enough to handle a corner but for excitement, you'd better off with the old Ghibli Cup instead because with such reputation, no other motorsport-bred Maserati comes close than the legend.
However, if you wanted a saloon that balances luxury and performance, consider the Ghibli a job well done for you.
