Let's Do The News! (May 2, 2017)

- According to a lawmaker, there is a 50-50 chance that the controversial DENR Secretary Regina Lopez will be confirmed in her current job. Lawmakers will vote on Wednesday on whether to confirm or reject Lopez on her post.

- Last Labor Day, President Rodrigo Duterte threatened businessmen to pay their unpaid taxes within three months or face severe consequences.

- The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas dropped its longstanding call for Israel's destruction but said it still rejected the country's right to exist and backs "armed struggle" against it. According to a policy, the group also said it would end its ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, a move apparently aimed at improving ties with Gulf Arab states and Egypt, which view the Brotherhood as a terrorist group.

- According to reports, US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin will speak via phone call on Tuesday.

- Hollywood writes and representatives of movie and television conglomerates resumed contract talks aimed at staving off a strike as early as Tuesday that could black out TV talk shows and soap operas.

- As Portland police rejected permits for May Day, the protests turned violent and police arrested numerous people and used non-lethal weaponry against protesters whom they described as anarchists. Other May Day gatherings around the world were relatively peaceful, but police geared up for confrontations in the Pacific Northwest's biggest cities, Portland and Seattle, where previous protests have created havoc.

- Ewan McGregor will star as Christopher Robin in an upcoming live-action rebirth of Disney's Winnie The Pooh.

- Actor Gardo Versoza was involved in an accident during shooting of an episode of GMA's TV drama, Destined To Be Yours.

- Seattle Seahawks player Russel Wilson and his wife Ciara gave birth to their baby girl.

- The Porsche Cayenne S diesel towed a 285-tonne Air France Airbus A380, breaking the previous “heaviest aircraft pull by a production car” Guinness World Record by 115 tonnes.

TTFN!!!

2017 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup - Toyota Owners 400

The Toyota Owners 400 race for the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup at Richmond International Raceway gave spectators the 400 laps of their lives by witnessing every NASCAR drivers' interesting moments from start to finish.

This race has became a festival of punctured tires every other lap but one of the most interesting part of this race is the photo finish at the end of the first stage where Kyle Larson snagged the line a second quicker than Martin Truex Jr. in order to obtain some stage points, while being behind Kenseth, who grabbed the 10 pointers at the end of stage one. Quite an interesting feat happened in this race. Also, at the end of Stage 2, Brad Keselowski, driving the #2, cleared the stage and earned 10 points, his first stage win of the year.

One major twist in this race is when both Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. collided each other but that didn't stop them from racing.

However, the winner of the race is Joey Logano, driving the #22 Ford Fusion, and this is his first win of the season.

The next race is on Talladega Superspeedway on the 7th of May.

Let's Do The News! (May 1, 2017)

- Numerous groups carried out protest rallies in different parts of Metro Manila during Labor Day. Workers are demanding the end of Contractualization, wage increase, and housing. These groups include the KADAMAY, KMP, Association of Genuine Labor Organizations, and many others, causing traffic to a standstill.

- Meanwhile, the Kilusang Mayo Uno is unhappy with the Duterte administration for failing to eradicate contractualization. KMU chairman Bong Labog revealed that they are disappointed with the Department Order released by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello. The group believes that the DO allows employers to practice End of Contract or ENDO, and does not obliges them to regularize employees.

- Due to the popularity of ABS-CBN's hit action drama series, FPJ's Ang Probinsyano, the morale of the members of the Philippine National Police have allegedly boosted because of the hit TV series.

- Several passengers were injured on an Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Bangkok when their Boeing 777 ran into "severe turbulence" 40 minutes before landing at the Thai capital on Monday.

- Yesterday, US President Donald Trump celebrated his 100th day as the President of the United States with cheering supporters at a campaign-style rally, touting his initial achievements and lashing out at critics who have given his tenure poor marks.

-The American service member who was killed in the bomb blast while on patrol outside Mosul was identified as 1st Lieutenant Weston Lee.

- The United States will begin the probe into whether thermoplastic components used in some Japanese and German cars sold in the country violate its patent laws, according to reports. The US International Trade Commission last week listed 25 companies in the probe, including BMW, Honda Motor Co Ltd, Toyota Motor Corp, along with Japanese parts suppliers Aisin Seiki Co Ltd and Denso Corp.

- The Sauber F1 team announced that their cars will be powered by Honda engines starting next season.

- See former NASCAR superstar turned endurance racing driver Jeff Gordon sample the taste of car simulation.

- Check out the latest clip for the upcoming THE IDOLM@STER Million Live Theater Days app game, coming this year.



- In last night's coronation ceremony of this year's Binibining Pilipinas, the beauty queen will represent the Philippines for the upcoming Miss Universe pageant goes to the Fil-Brit named Rachel Peters. Other winners will represent the Philippines include Binibining Pilipinas Globe Nelda Ibe, Binibining Pilipinas International Maria Angelica de Leon; Binibining Pilipinas Supranational Chanel Olive Thomas; Binibining Pilipinas Intercontinental Katarina Sonja Rodriguez; and Binibining Pilipinas Grand International Elizabeth Durado Clenci.

TTFN!!!

F1 2017 - Russian GP

For the first time in his 81st racing career, Valtteri Bottas of the Mercedes-AMG team won his first F1 race at the Russian Grand Prix, held at Sochi, while leaving both Ferraris a 2nd-3rd place finish.

Before the race, McLaren's Fernando Alonso faced problems with his vehicle during the formation lap and therefore restarted to let his vehicle recovered after another major mishap by the McLaren-Honda racing team. When the race begins, some messy stuff occurred with the collision between Renault's Jolyon Palmer and Haas' Romain Grosjean, and mechanical problems forced Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo to retire,

As the race reaches its climax, both Ferrari drivers, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, are gunning down Bottas but they couldn't make it as Bottas wins the race and placed Vettel and Raikkonen 2nd and 3rd.

Post-race, Vettel is still leading with 86 points with Lewis Hamilton 13 points behind him and Bottas, who won this race, now 10 points behind Hamilton.

Next race is on Spain this 14th of May.

Audi A5 II Cabriolet

Last time, the Audi A5 has reached in second generation and so far, only two body styles have been introduced to us; the coupe and the five-door sportback version for those who think they couldn't afford the A7. Now with the convertible version, all three body styles of the new Audi A5 are now available as promised. So, what's it all about the convertible version of the new A5?

2017 Audi A5 Cabriolet

Priced at 44,000 Euros, which is seven grand more than the coupe version, the new Audi A5

For starters, the new Cabriolet version looks vaguely identical to the normal coupe version, only this time with the retractable soft top that can be opened or closed at the touch of a button in less than 18 seconds, per se, especially on travelling speeds of up to 50kph. 

Apart from that, check out what Audi did on the inside and yes, it comes with the first ever seat belt microphones to communicate both driver and passenger even when the top is opened. Hold on. Seat belt microphones? Why they made such a noticing feature where you can talk to anyone close to you? Well, that was kind of anticlimactic for Audi to make a feature that doesn't make any sense. Anyway, while the so-called seat belt microphones are as useless as a belly button lint, this is still the same A5 interior as the others. as well as the tech array especially the available "Technology Selection" which comes with smartphone connectivity for iPhones and Androids. These tech features really put the open-top versions of the 4-Series and the C-Class out of context or so they said.

Behind the tech-laden stuff comes the performance, which isn't surprising for luxury convertible standards. We know that this convertible version slightly weighs more than the coupe version due fact that this is the stiffest in its class but for convertible standards, it weighs 40kg less than the outgoing A5 Cabriolet, meaning in the base model, that weighs 1690kg. Not bad, but don't celebrate just yet because the A5 Cabriolet offers almost the same choice of engines as the Coupe version, ranging from a 2.0 TDi, 2.0 TFSi, and the 3.0 TDi engine. The most powerful in the normal A5 Cabriolet for now is the 2.0 TFSi engine with 252PS of power while the most economical is the 2.0L TDi with combined fuel economy up to 4.6L/100km.

2017 Audi S5 Cabriolet

Of course, if you're unhappy with those above, there's the S5 Cabriolet, a semi-hot version of the A5 Cabriolet that is priced at 67,800 Euros plus tax and delivery, now with a 3.0 TFSI engine producing 354 PS of power and top speed normally limited to 250kph, while mated with a tiptronic gearbox. Again, not so sporty as it sounds for a semi-high performance convertible.

Yes, the new model may not be as dynamic and attractive than the competition, the tech, the quattro all-wheel drive system, and its cruising character shows that you don't need to prove a thing to drive a luxury convertible that can get you from points A to B just like the next guy and it wants to follow its own path. Let's face it, folks, while this is not the ideal luxury convertible to thrash around the streets like a maniac, this refined beauty is something worth beholding on the road, even on weekends.

In other words, while it may not be a great convertible to have it around, this is still as civilized as the next person and it's hard to fathom what to do with it when you got your hands on the new A5 Cabriolet. While this is an improvement from the previous A5 Cabriolet, it's still beyond regular for a luxury convertible of this caliber.

Photo: AUDI AG

Doctor Who S10E03

The third episode of BBC Doctor Who Series 10 sees The Doctor and Bill Potts entered the wintery 19th Century London where an enjoyable experience at a World's Fair on the frozen River Thames became a risk-taking, decision-making, mission that tests The Doctor's judgment.

A string of mysterious disappearance at the World's Fair on the River Thames led to them to investigate what's going on in the depths of the frozen waters but there's more to it than that because while there are some risky decisions to make for The Doctor, they got to the bottom of the truth and settle things once and for all to save the people before getting submerged into thin ice.

Now that was worth the risk for the two of them but there's an even riskier one coming next week so in the meantime, check out the behind the scenes footage from this week's episode.



NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW:

2017 Radio Disney Music Awards

Ever since this year's Radio Disney Music Awards was announced a few months ago, listeners voted for their favorite artists in hopes that they will take home the ARDYs. This year's performers are Train, Hailee Steinfeld, Noah Cyrus, Julia Michaels, Grace Vanderwaal, and many others as well as presenters of this year's awards such as Kelsea Ballerini, Jordan Fisher, Descendants 2's Sofia Carson, Alex Aiono, and Stuck in the Middle's Jenna Ortega.

So, in case you never been in the Microsoft Theater at Los Angeles or if you don't want to watch the primetime telecast of this year's awards, here are the list of this year's winners;

Favorite Tour - Selena Gomez's Revival Tour

Best Breakup Song - Shout Out To My Ex by Little Mix

Fiercest Fans - Harmonizers

Best Song That Makes You Smile - 24K Magic by Bruno Mars

Radio Disney Country Best New Artist - Maren Morris

Best Crush Song - Let Me Love You (feat. Justin Bieber) by DJ Snake

Best Collaboration - Bad Things by MGK x Camila Cabello

Best New Artist - Grace Vanderwaal

Favorite Social Media Star - Jake Paul

Best Song To Lip Sync To - Work by Rihanna

Radio Disney Country Favorite Artist - Kelsea Ballerini

Best Group - Fifth Harmony

Best Dance Track - Cold Water (feat. Justin Bieber and Mo) by Major Lazer

Best Male Artist - Niall Horan

Best Female Artist - Ariana Grande

Song of the Year - Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes

Radio Disney Country Favorite Song - Peter Pan by Kelsea Ballerini

HERO AWARD - Nick Jonas

ICON AWARD - Britney Spears

Breakout Artist of the Year - Alessia Cara