Let's Do The News! (November 15, 2018)

To strengthen diplomatic ties with the Philippine Army, members of the Foreign Armed Forces Attaches Corps paid a collective courtesy call to Army Chief Lt. Gen. Macairog S. Alberto in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City on Wednesday, November 14, 2018. FAFA to the Philippines from Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, United States, Vietnam Turkey and Germany were all present.

- The Department of Foreign Affairs said the Philippines will never give up an iota of its claim in the West Philippine Sea despite the overwhelming presence of China in the disputed resource-filled waterway.

- Opposing groups on the “removal” of Filipino and Panitikan in the new General Education Curriculum said the “fight is not yet over.” Issuing a statement, the National Union of Students of the Philippines expressed disappointment on the recent decision of the Supreme Court. The group said that if Jose Rizal were still alive, he “would surely lash out” at the Commission on Higher Education and the SC for “removing Filipino as core subject in college.”

- Michael Avenatti, a lawyer of porn actress Stormy Daniels who got entangled in a legal fight against US President Donald Trump, was arrested for felony domestic violence. He was later bailed out.

- The death toll from the California wildfire has jumped to 56.

- HRE Wheels and GE Additive unveiled the world's first 3D-printed titanium wheel. Their prototype 3D-printed wheel was made with an advanced titanium powder and created with Electron Beam Melting technology, which uses an electron beam to melt and fuse fine layers of titanium powder into solid piece.

- Land Rover teases their next-generation Range Rover Evoque before next week's unveiling.



- Augusto Farfus bids goodbye to DTM to focus on GT racing for BMW.

- BBC's Doctor Who will spawn a New Year's Day TV special in place of its traditional Christmas Day specials.

TTFN!!!

Forza Horizon 4: Ctrl+N

Hyundai's Veloster N is the result of what happens when a normal second-generation Veloster got lost in the middle of N's castle, then captured for experiments, and then mutated into the hot hatch you're seeing it now. Sounds scary but is it as spicy as a 2X Spicy Hot Noddles you bought from the Asian store?



Being the first Hyundai N car sold in South Korea, the Veloster N inspires most of Hyundai's involvement in motorsports such as the World Rally Championship and the World Touring Car Cup. "Born in Namyang. Honed at Nurburgring", that's what the N stands for and this high-performance variant of the second-generation Veloster features specially made suspension geometry and tuning, not to mention the N Power Sense Axle, track-focused N mode on the suspension setup, N Corner-Carving Limited-slip Differential, and N Grin Control System drive mode selection system. The 2.0L 4-cylinder turbocharged engine produces up to 275PS of power output and mated exclusively with a close-ratio, short-throw six-speed manual transmission with downshift rev-matching capability.



I once said before that in the real world, the Veloster N may not be the best hot hatch in town but with its untapped potential, it's carved a whole new beginning, something that the original Veloster failed to impress from the very start. Whatever, but since this is Forza Horizon 4, there's so much for the Veloster N to pull off rather than watching someone eating a dozen bowls of 2X spicy hot noodles at the flat. In fact, I need a scenery to inspire. A scenery above 6cm...





What? This is the scenery above 6cm I can only think of. Can't a would-be king take a break from playing checkers to bring you this design that I made? Well, never mind about what I said but I hope you like the design I made for the Veloster N. I feel like I just left the N Club to pursue my own goals but anyway...



Since Hyundai was involved in the world of rallying, could the N in the Veloster N really translates to rally-inspired performance despite being a front-wheel drive hot hatch? It's gonna take more than the scenery above 6cm to figure this out and with that, let's roll the film.



On a normal corner, the Veloster N wasn't a bad car but when the turns get sharp, that's where its weakness comes into play as I can find myself struggling to get the Veloster N through a tight bend like getting wrestled by a bulldog. Although being arm-wrestled by someone goes M to the I and O, the Veloster N wasn't a hot hatch to entertain me. In fact, I'm starting to fall in love with this wonky ballistic missile that came from the abyss of Namyang. Hyundai's R&D crew knew that for a motorsport-inspired hot hatch, the Veloster N balances the things that are right and wrong and whether you love it or hate it, the N pushes the Veloster to the scenery above 6cm and that's the song I'm referring to.



If you excuse me, I got a mountain to climb. Say it with me! Aikatsu! Aikatsu! Aikatsu! What, what am I saying just now?

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: President Moon plans to build closer ties with ASEAN

President Moon Jae-in, who is visiting Singapore, shared his plans to build closer economic ties between South Korea and the 10 ASEAN member nations in a speech to mark thirty years of diplomatic relations between Korea and the Southeast Asian bloc.

The president highlighted the positive trajectory in recent months, including the surge in trade volume between Korea and ASEAN, which reached 120-billion U.S. dollars this year in the period up until September.

President Moon mentioned the progress his administration has made since introducing the 'New Southern Policy' aimed at strengthening political and economic ties between Korea and South and Southeast Asia.

He also unveiled his plans for future cooperation, including holding a special Korea-ASEAN Summit next year in Seoul.

On Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said the U.S. is looking forward to rescheduling its high-level talks with North Korea when the time is right.

She added that the meeting is important to Washington, and that they are in regular communication with the North, emphasizing that the two sides remain in contact.

The meeting was supposed to take place in New York last Thursday, between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korea's vice chairman of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee Kim Young-chol.

The two were to discuss North Korea's denuclearization and the planned 2nd Pyeongyang-Washington summit, until the talks were postponed just a day before the meeting, allegedly due to North Korea's request for more time.

A seven-member, high-level delegation from Pyeongyang including two senior North Korean officials who have been involved in Pyeongyang-Washington negotiations and inter-Korean discussions respectively is making a four-day visit to the South starting today.
They're members of the North's Korea-Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, coming primarily to attend an international conference on Friday.

The conference is hosted by a South Korean organization and Gyeonggi-do Province and participants from the two Koreas AND Japan will be discussing the forced mobilization of Koreans during Japan's colonial rule.

Source: Arirang News

Let's Do The News! (November 14, 2018)

- Member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China are hopeful that the single draft document for the code of conduct in the South China Sea would be completed by 2019.

- Malacañang has condemned the brazen ambush on two local government officials in Balaoan, La Union and pledged to bring the perpetrators to justice.

- PAGASA is monitoring two low pressure areas and one of which may become typhoon this month. As of Wednesday noon, this particular LPA was last spotted at 445 kilometers south-southeast of Puerto Princesa City, Palawan. It is still expected to bring moderate to occasional heavy rains over Palawan, Eastern Visayas and Mindanao.

- US President Donald Trump named John Abizaid, a top US general from the Iraq war, as ambassador to Saudi Arabia amid growing friction between the longstanding allies.

- Former first lady Michelle Obama began her 12-stop book tour by sitting with Oprah Winfrey before a sold-out audience at the home arena of the Chicago Bulls, speaking on everything from piano lessons and washing socks to crying on a plane the day her family moved out of the White House and President Donald Trump moved in.

- An Indonesian woman fulfilled the last wish of her fiance who was among the 189 Lion Air crash victims.

- Aston Martin confirms the DBX name for their first-ever crossover from Britain's sportscar maker.

- Check out the list of nominees for next month's The Game Awards.

- Former Doctor Who actress Karen Gillan writes, directs, and stars "The Party's Just Beginning".

- ICYMI: The first Toy Story 4 trailer went out before hitting cinemas this Summer 2019.



- The Major League Baseball will investigate racism allegations against the Seattle Mariners.

- Draymond Green of Golden State Warriors got suspended for one game over his actions "detrimental to the organization."

TTFN!!!

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: S.Korea's unification minister visits United States

South Korea's unification minister embarks on a four-day trip to the U.S. today.

Seoul's unification ministry says Minister Cho Myoung-gyon will discuss inter-Korean relations with figures from the U.S. government and Congress.

It's highly likely he will also meet U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to share the latest developments in the North Korea-U.S. negotiations. and views on inter-Korean economic cooperation.

The minister will also attend a forum co-hosted by South Korean and American thinktanks and meet up with local experts to discuss Korean Peninsula issues.

South Korea and the United States will begin another round of negotiations in the coming hours on sharing the cost of stationing American troops on the peninsula.

With the existing agreement set to expire at the end of this year, South Korean officials say, they aim to strike a deal during the four-day talks that are set to open in Hawaii on Tuesday, local time.
It marks the ninth round of negotiations between the two allies on this issue.

Topping the agenda will be. the Trump administration's call for a sharp increase in South Korea's contribution.

The South Korean air force has taken delivery of its first in-flight refueling tanker.

It's a major upgrade that'll allow its fighter jets to operate for over an hour at a time.

An official said it arrived today at Gimhae Air Base, near Busan, and will go into operation after around a month of rigorous tests.

The tanker is made by the defense arm of the European manufacturer Airbus.

Korea plans to acquire three more next year, with the total cost coming to around one-point-three billion U.S. dollars.

Source: Arirang News

Let's Do The News! (November 13, 2018)

- The Commission on Elections will be publishing party-list groups and nominees ahead of the 2019 midterm polls. It was announced by COMELEC Commissioner Rowena Guanzon via Twitter.

- Senator Nancy Binay called on the government to fast-track the release of the implementing rules and regulations on the Filipino Sign Language Act.

- Amid urges to publicly divulge the list of ‘narco-politicians’ for the upcoming 2019 polls, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief said if things would go on his way, he will rather not release the names of officials involved in illegal drugs but instead “silently” file charges against them.

- A US combat jet from the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan crashed into the sea northeast of the Philippines on Monday, but its two pilots were rescued safely.

- The United States objects to China’s unilateral military steps in the South China Sea and the pace of U.S. freedom of navigation operations in the disputed waterway has increased, US National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Tuesday.

- Japan and the United States will negotiate a bilateral trade agreement that will serve as a “model” for other countries, US Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday in Tokyo. Speaking after talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, he reiterated Washington’s position that US businesses have faced unfair obstacles in Japan.

- Jaguar made not one but two F-Type Convertible Rally Cars that pay tribute to the XK 120's success in rally.



- Maximilian Gunther will make his Formula E debut alongside Jose Maria Lopez at Dragon team for next month's season.

- Stan Lee, the legend behind the Marvel superheroes, passed away at the age of 95.

- Check out the trailer of next year's Detective Pikachu film.



TTFN!!!

Doctor Who S11E06

A travel to the past and a matter of life and death became the topic of the sixth episode of BBC's Doctor Who as The Doctor and her companions landed on post-war India to uncover Yaz's grandmother's bitter past, not to mention some demons lurking around their backs to make things worse.

Doctor Who S11E06

The episode is titled "Demons of the Punjab" and this episode puts the spotlight on the bitter past of Yaz Khan's grandmother, Umbreen, in the time when a Muslim will marry a Hindu in the day India divided by partition until the appearance of demons and the death of the holy man alarmed The Doctor and her companions.

Viewers really appreciated that Muslims and Hindus in this episode showed how diversity played a crucial role in this season of Doctor Who and it really paints the theme of the episode rather well but aside from that, the familiar golden rule of fixed time point rings back to fans as ruled out by those so-called demons in this episode. That's classic Doctor Who rule to you.

NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW:

2018 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup - Can-Am 500

The final four is all set and the newly renovated ISM Raceway located near Phoenix, Arizona, is the battleground setting for the Can-Am 500 race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series where the latter half will be named and set for the epic Miami finale.

Throughout the action of this penultimate race of the series, Chase Elliot wins the first stage but shortly after that, caution thrown as Joey Logano got spun and then in lap 135, Clint Bowyer's car sustained damaged to the rear right badly through the wall. After that incident-packed Stage 2 where Kyle Busch wins it, the playoff pressure kicks in and in Lap 268, Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin collided and then triggered a big one which clips some drivers. Elliot included.



After an action-packed Veterans Day weekend, Kyle Busch wins and him and Martin Truex, Jr. completes the final four.

Logano, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., and Harvick. The Final 4 are all set and the question is, who will win the 2018 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup? Find out at next week's finale at the Homestead-Miami for the Ford EcoBoost 400 race on Sunday, November 18. Don't miss it!

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: South Korea-US military drills violate agreements: North Korea media

South Korea’s resumption of small-scale military drills with the United States violated a recent agreement aimed at lowering tensions on the Korean peninsula, North Korean state media said on Monday.

About 500 United States and South Korean marines began military drills last week that were among joint exercises indefinitely suspended in June as Seoul and Washington focused on engaging with North Korea.

The Korean Marine Exchange Program (KMEP) violated a Sept. 19 agreement signed by North and South Korea that called for a halt to “all hostile acts,” said the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s official party newspaper.

The joint two-week drills are “directly against the inter-Korean military agreement that promised to eliminate practical threats of war and fundamental hostile relations from the Korean peninsula,” the newspaper said.

A spokesman for South Korea’s defense ministry on Monday rejected the North’s criticism, saying they are defensive exercises involving small units under the size of a battalion.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to work toward denuclearization at their landmark June summit in Singapore, where Trump promised to end joint, U.S. South Korea military exercises.

But the agreement was short on specifics and negotiations have made little headway.

Trump, Macron agree on European defence after army spat
Last week North Korea called off a planned meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in New York “because they weren’t ready,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Friday.

North Korean media mentioned the canceled meeting for the first time on Saturday, when the Chosun Sinbo website reported that the talks could still be productive. But it repeated North Korean warnings that the country could restart its nuclear weapons development if the U.S. does not make more concessions.

The biggest combat-readiness war game ever staged in and around Japan also went ahead last week, with the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan joining Japanese destroyers and a Canadian warship in the ocean off Japan — another key player in the effort to pressure North Korea.

“It’s an anachronistic military move to openly hold war drills aimed at others while the United States naval forces residing in Japan are also participating,” Rodong Sinmun said.

Source: Reuters

Let's Do The News! (November 12, 2018)

- House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez finds "reasonable" the Philippine National Police's pronouncement that it would consider the age and health of Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos once it implements an arrest warrant on the former First Lady.

- The military said that it supports peace initiatives and dialogues that will help bring about lasting peace to the country. Armed Forces of the Philippines Public Affairs chief Col. Noel Detoyato made the remark after President Rodrigo Duterte revealed over the weekend that National Democratic Front of the Philippines negotiators Fidel Agcaoili and Luis Jalandoni relayed information to him about their intention to return to the country to talk to him.

- Operatives of the Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group arrested actress Keanna Reeves in Quezon City on Monday afternoon over cyberlibel charge.

- US President Donald Trump's tweet blaming "gross mismanagement" for the devastating California wildfires is sparking a backlash from top firefighters' associations, politicians and celebrities.

- As of now, the death toll from the ongoing California wildfires has risen to 29, matching the deadliest in California history.

- Seven Palestinians and an Israeli soldier were killed in a fresh wave of fighting in the Gaza Strip.

- Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena said he dissolved Parliament and called elections to avoid possible violence inside Parliament and around the country if a vote had to be taken to decide whether his chosen prime minister or his sacked rival had the majority support.

- Performance variants of the Tesla Model 3 saloon will gain a new Track Mode, giving drivers the ability to take it to race days.

- Sepang will return in Super GT in 2020 as a night race.

- ICYMI: Strategy guide publisher Prima Games is shutting down after 28 years.

TTFN!!!

F1 2018 - Brazil GP

Brazil may be on the verge of a political crisis due to the rise of the Duterte-esque (or rather Trump-esque?) leader Jair Bolsonaro but that doesn't stop the famed Interlagos from running the penultimate race of the F1 2018 season. Lewis Hamilton may have won the world champion title back in Mexico but the battle in Interlagos is all about the race of the Constructor's Champion title as Mercedes and Ferrari are gunning each other for that title.

World Champion Lewis Hamilton's done it again as his win catapulted Mercedes-AMG for its fifth constructor's championship win followed by Max Verstappen of Red Bull, whose lead was lost following a collision with Force India's Esteban Ocon, and Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari. Valtteri Bottas set the fastest lap time of the race with 1:10.540. Fastest pit stop of the race? Credit goes to Ferrari's Vettel with 1.97 seconds of pit stop time.

Mercedes-AMG may have dominated the F1 2018 season but we have one last race of the season and that is Abu Dhabi on the 25th of November so don't miss the finale.

SUPER GT 2018 FINALE

Twin Ring Motegi is the final battleground of the 2018 Autobacs Super GT Championship and in the season finale before the big one happening next season, the drivers are going all out to see who will emerge as the victor of this season.

The 53-lap epic finale of this season packed some surprises from start to finish and in the endgame, the #8 ARTA NSX-GT driven by Tomoki Nojiri and Takuya Izawa won their second race of the season for the GT500 class but the champion of this season goes to the #100 RAYBRIG NSX-GT driven by Naoki Yamamoto and former Formula 1 driver Jenson Button. In the GT300 class, the #65 LEON CVSTOS AMG driven by Haruki Kurosawa and Naoya Gamou delivered their biggest upset to the GT300 class with their come-from-behind win that nailed their championship title.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Congratulations to the title winners of this season and that is the end of the 2018 Autobacs Super GT Championship. See you next year as the big one will occur in this season as the dream match between the Super GT machines and the DTM machines of Germany come collide for a race unlike any other.