Let's Do The News! (March 16, 2016)

- The Department of Justice is set to investigate the money laundering compliant against the RCBC by the Anti-Money Laundering Council last week. According to Prosecutor General Claro Arellano, the AMLC complaint has been assigned for preliminary investigation to determine if there is a probable cause to warrant the filing of criminal charges against RCBC branch manager Maia Santos-Deguito.

- A group of taxi drivers gathered in front of the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board office in East Avenue, Quezon City to protest against the fixed 10 peso rollback on taxi fare that will take effect this Saturday. The transport groups are also opposing the waiting time charge of P3.50 per 500m and P3.50 for every 90 seconds of waiting time, citing the worsening Metro Manila traffic.

- At the recent presidential primary, Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio announced that he will be dropping out of the presidential race while Ohio Republican Governor John Kasich defeated frontrunner Donald Trump. In the Democratic side, front runner Hilary Clinton defeated Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders by a landslide in Florida, North Carolina, and Ohio.

- The Chinese Congress has approved a set of nine proposals that includes ways to solve the country's economic slowdown. Wednesday was the last day of the 12-day annual session held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The Congress approved on measures to steer the future of China with the new 5-year plan for the next four years, aiming to achieve an annual economic growth rate of 6.5% or more -- lower than that of the previous 5 years.

- US President Barack Obama announced significant changes to its sanctions against Cuba. The new rules announced by the Treasury Department and others will allow Cubans to hold jobs in the US in a variety of fields including sports and art, and receive salaries through bank accounts. The changes could pave the way for Cuban baseball players to transfer to Major League clubs without defecting.

- Hot on the heels for its New York Auto Show debut, the all new Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 features a more powerful supercharged 6.2L V8 engine producing 640HP of power and same amount of torques, while mated with GM's first-ever 10-speed automatic gearbox.

2017 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

- Following Toyota's total takeover of Daihatsu, the Japanese small car company is more than happy to use Toyota's TNGA platform for their future vehicle portfolio, hence labelling the Toyota-derived platform as DNGA or Daihatsu New Global Architecture.

- Following last year's Biohazard/Resident Evil stageplay, a new stage musical is set to honor the survival horror franchise's 20th anniversary with former Takarazuka Revue actress Reon Yuzuki stars in her first lead role. Subtitled Voice of Gaia, it features musical elements penned by G2, which will run first in Tokyo's Akasaka ACT Theater from September 30 to October 12, and in Osaka's Umeda Arts Theater from November 11 to 16.

- The Cafe & Bar CHARACRO feat. THE IDOLM@STER ends on the 20th of May, 2016, and for the grand finale, the "Forever! We are…" finale event kicks off on the 8th of April to the last day of operations (that's the 20th of May, of course) with a barrage of menu courses and extras fans of THE IDOLM@STER series would remember forever.

- In case you missed the recent Eat Bulaga Kalyeserye, today is AlDub's 8th monthsary and Alden and Yaya Dub are here to show the lolas and everyone an exclusive sneak preview of their upcoming Eat Bulaga Lenten Special drama titled "God Gave Me You", airing this Holy Wednesday, the 23rd of March. After the preview, Cookie showed up to raise suspicions on Yaya Dub and now that Cookie learned the truth with Yaya Dub's presence, we learned that Yaya Dub's going to enter the mansion...tomorrow! Tune in next time and find out!

- The Meguiars Car Pack for Forza Motorsport 6 is now available, featuring seven additional machines including the brand new Ferrari 488 GTB and the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette Daytona Prototype, with some legendary machines to try out! This is the final car pack to be covered in the FM6 Car Pass.

Forza Motorsport 6 Meguiars Car Pack

TTFN!!!

Forza Motorsport 6: Battle of the hybrid hypercars!

Now that everything I need to know about the McLaren P1, the Ferrari LaFerrari, and the Porsche 918 Spyder in Forza Motorsport 6 are all checked and done, it's time for me to do the one thing Clarkson, Hammond, and May never got the balls to attempt this ultimate decider to show which of these three hybrid hypercars is the fastest round the Top Gear Test Track and this is the surreal test to prove if Clarkson's name is going to change to "Jennifer". As a matter of fact, I got a high probability on what's going to happen next.

But first, let's have a quick review of the hybrid hypercar trio. The P1 is a hybrid hypercar that incorporates most of McLaren's motorsports know-how. It's powered by an improved version of the 3.8L V8 twin-turbo engine as applied on the 12C and a single electric motor, making the combined power output of 903HP and torque output of 664ft-lb of torque.It's strictly limited to 375 units, each costing GB£866,000, and all of the units have sold out.

The 918, meanwhile, features a combination of a 4.6L V8 engine which produces 612HP of power by itself, two electric motors bolted on the axles, and a 6.8kWh Li-ion battery. The electric motors deliver around 500lb-ft of torque at 8000rpm, a torque that a Ferrari 458 deemed impossible. A Weissach Package-spec 918 Spyder, noteworthy with a unique livery and 60kg weight drop, lapped round the Nurburgring of less than 6:57, making it the fastest series production street-legal car to break the seven minute barrier.

Finally, the LaFerrari may come with the same hybrid layout as the other two, meaning its V12 engine is bolted with electric motors and a Li-ion battery, but unlike the McLaren and the Porsche that can run on electricity alone, the LaFerrari doesn't have that kind of feature because Ferrari is not heavily interested in electric power alone. Instead, the LaFerrari comes with HY-KERS (Hybrid-Kinetic Energy Recovery System), a tech similar to the one used in Formula One cars. It captures energy during braking and feeds it back when needed. That's why the engine-motor combination are all working together and cannot be separated, therefore it produces 963HP of power and 663lb-ft of torque, while mated with a 7-speed F1 gearbox. Not only that, the LaFerrari's dynamics are unique thanks to its bodywork that was built entirely from different kinds of carbon fiber as well as the lowered center of gravity but it's the high-tech active aerodynamics that sets them apart and because it's computer-controlled; the faster the LaFerrari goes through the corner, the better it works.

Now that everything is all settled out, the it's time to decide who flies and who falls from grace. The game is on!



So, how did the hyper three performed at the Top Gear Track? Well, time to read the results! The P1 did it in 1:14.976 while the LaFerrari, thanks to its active aerodynamics that work when it gets faster round the follow-through, 1:14.567, and the 918, the least powerful of the three, made it in a surprisingly quick 1:13.597, meaning the 918 is the fastest of the three and Jeremy Clarkson's going to rename himself as "Jennifer" should the three kept their hosting duties if they didn't messed up with the producers, well Clarkson that is.

Hard to believe that the 918 won the battle despite its power output but because of its Porsche motorsport DNA, its low center of gravity, its 4WD system, and lots of stuff that made the 918 great. It's no surprisingly it lapped round the Nurburgring faster than almost everything and if McLaren managed to file a full report on how fast the P1 went, it would be somewhat a second slower than the 918 and that could be the outcome I might be looking forward to.

With everything settled out, I'm going to close this case completely, concluding that the 918 is the fastest of the three round the Top Gear track but the battle is not yet over so these muscles need to hustle for more.

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: US, China in talks to implement NoKor sanctions

The head of the US Treasury stressed that both the US and Chinese government are discussing measures to effectively implement sanctions against North Korea. According to the US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, the US is working hard to ensure that the new UNSC sanctions against North Korea are implement. To conclude, the US has been holding talks with CHina and right now, Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Adam Szubin is in China in such discussions.

Like South Korea, the United States downplayed North Korea's claimed that the country has successfully simulated the ballistic missile's re-entry into the earth's atmosphere. Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook says Washington highly doubts North Korea has the ability to develop such a ballistic missile, but added the US is fully prepared to deal with any provocation launched by the regime. Cook states that the US is collaborating with South Korea and Japan to counter threats from North Korea.

Source: Arirang News

Six Nations 2016: Round 4

In the fourth round of the 2016 RBS Six Nations tournament, the long-time feud between England Rugby and the Welsh Rugby Union became one of the most exciting feats in this season and in the end of this recent feud of the two rugby teams, England takes it at the score of 25-21, all thanks to outstanding performances by Owen Farrell, Anthony Watson, and Maro Itoje. With such win, England's aim for a first Grand Slam in 13 years is drawing near.

Under cover of the fight,  The IRFU stirred a massive win against the FIR Italia at the massive score of 58-15, while Scotland edged out the FFR at the score of 29-18.

Highlights:

The final round of the 2016 RBS Six Nations starts with Wales v Italy on the 19th of March at 1430 hours local time while Ireland faces off against Scotland at the same day at 1700 hours local time, and on the next day, England takes on France at 2100 hours.

Who will win the title of this season's RBS 6 Nations? Watch for it!

FIA Formula E 2015-2016: Mexico City

There's a big major twist occurred at the end of the Mexico City ePrix of the 2015-2016 FIA Formula E championship. Even though Lucas di Grassi from Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport is named as the winner, his car used for the first half of the race turned out to be underweight and he was thereby excluded. As a result, Jerome D'Ambrosio is named 1st after his qualifying pole-position. Even though D'Ambrosio set the fastest lap, it was revoked after he was found to have cut the chicane.

This mean, di Grassi lost his lead by Sebastien Buemi. After five rounds passed, Buemi's now 2nd place overall with 98 points while Di Grassi's 22 points behind and Sam Bird's 3rd overall with 60 points.

Highlights:

The next race is set at Long Beach, California, on the 2nd of April, 2016.

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: NoKor conducted missile test

The North Korean newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, reported that the country has successfully simulated the ballistic missile's re-entry into the earth's atmosphere. According to the paper, the simulation was designed to evaluate the heat stability of a warhead, and that it was able to achieve all of the technical targets. Pictures of the paper show fire blowing against what appears to be a missile warhead, as well as an apparently discolored warhead after the test.

South Korean Defense Ministry debunked North Korea's report of successful missile test, calling the North's claim one-sided. South Korean military officials believe Pyongyang doesn't have the capability to bring missiles back into the atmosphere but it is unclear if the experiment would constitute an additional nuclear test. But such move would clearly violate UNSC resolutions.

The South Korean government says the global community will not tolerate any further provocations from the North. Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Jun-hyuk told reporters that NoKor raised its threat level by declaring that it will continue its provocations as they will face retaliation from the international community that would lead to its self-destruction.

Source: NHK World

Let's Do The News! (March 15, 2016)

- The People Power Monument, the symbol of every Filipino's freedom against the Marcos regime, has been vandalized with pro-Marcos graffiti. A pic posted by an instagram user went viral, showing that the lower part of the monument adorned with orange and yellow tiles was covered in scrawls exalting the family name of the late Ferdinand Marcos, the former president whose 20-year regime ended by the People Power. The late dictator's son, Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., is running for vice president in the May 2016 elections.

- During his visit to the Philippines, former US Vice President and environmental activist Al Gore  warned that at least 13.6 million Filipinos will be affected by global warming which triggered continuous rise in sea levels. He also urged Filipinos to demand government action on climate change to continue what he called a "moral struggle" amid the Philippines' continued support for coal-powered plants.

- The Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee is set to probe onto the alleged money laundering activities involving 81 million US Dollars coursed through the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC). The Senate panel summoned the top RCBC officials to explain about the alleged money laundering transaction.

- Turkey has launched simultaneous airstrikes against the Kurdish militant camps in Iraq following last night's car bomb attack in the Turkish capital Ankara that killed 37 people. Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu said that an investigation found the PKK held responsible for the bombing. Davutoglu added that Turkish fighter jets bombed targets of the PKK in northern Iraq, serving as a retaliation for the car bomb attack.

- The Burmese parliament has elected the nation's first civilian leader in over five decades. Htin Kyaw of the National League for Democracy, gained the most votes in Tuesday's joint session of parliament's two house. Htin Kyaw is a former bureaucrat who has graduated from a certain British university. He is Burma's first democratically elected president since the military seized power in the 1962 coup. He's also a close ally to Aung San Suu Kyi. Aung San Suu Kyi was banned by the constitution from becoming president because her children are foreign nationals but she is widely expected to wield power through Htin Kyaw.

- The Malaysia Insider, a top Malaysian internet media site, will be shutting down following its reports covering a political funding scandal involving Prime Minister Najib Razak. The government had been blocking access within the country to the internet site, citing a violation of the law on Internet use.

- A UN human rights investigator says the North Korean leadership should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity. During a meeting with the Human Rights Council in Geneva, North Korea's leadership is pouring a large amount of resources into developing weapons of mass destruction, while its people are suffering from food insecurity, and added that the global community should take steps to hold NoKor leader Kim Jong Un and other top-ranking officials responsible for the crimes.

- Actress Claudine Barretto visited the grave of her former boyfriend and the late matinee idol Rico Yan, who would have been 41 years old yesterday.  Rico Yan died on the 29th of March, 2002, (during Holy Week) due to acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis.

- In case you missed the recent Eat Bulaga Kalyeserye, Cookie is still here, messing around with the lolas in search for answers regarding the particular "Divina" who owns the mansion. The bothersome continues until pics of Yaya Dub showed up on Lola Nidora's phone, raising suspicion from Cookie into thinking that woman in the pic really is Divina. More answers will be revealed next time so watch out.

- Pagani confirmed that the Roadster version of their Huayra hypercar will be revealed at the Monterey Car Week.

- If you have 11,000 Yen on your checking account, why not book one with the brand new DreamTech figure from Wave? This figured is modeled after THE IDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls' Miku Maekawa, in her school uniform, and comes with different expressions and accessories.

Miku Maekawa
(School Uniform ver.)

TTFN!!!

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: NoKor plans to conduct warhead tests soon

North Korea announced that they will conduct tests for nuclear warheads ballistic missiles "soon", continuing their provocation following their nuclear test last January.

According to the Korean Central News Agency, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered a test for estimating the heat stability of rocket warhead tip, designed and manufactured with domestic efforts and technology.

It also states that a nuclear warhead explosion test and test-firing different kinds with ballistic missiles equipped with those warheads will be conducted in a short time to further enhance the nuclear attack capability.

Source: Arirang News

Let's Do The News! (March 14, 2016)

- The issue of the citizenship of Senator Grace Poe and how it affects her eligibility to run for the May 2016 elections is still on the air despite the Supreme Court's ruling last week to allow her to run for presidency. According to Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, in his 55-page dissenting opinion, there was a ruling on Poe's qualification as a natural-born citizen due to SC's voting on the issue of citizenship was 7-5-3, meaning there is no majority of this Court that holds the petitioner a natural-born Filipino citizen.

- A student of the Philippines Los Banos on Monday cleared himself from criticisms and maintained that he has no intention to disrespect Davao Mayor and presidential aspirant Rodrigo Duterte following the video report on the Q&A portion of the university's academic forum went viral and earned negative reactions from netizens. Stephen Villena, the student, participated in the academic forum about governance, transparency, and social transformation with Duterte as guest, said that Duterte's supporters are angry at him for supposedly being disrespectful and no way of questioning the mayor.

- So far, there have been no confirmed cases of the Zika virus in the Philippines, according to the Department of Health after 827 patients tested for the mosquito-borne virus turned out to be negative. According to the press briefing, Health Secretary Janette Garin disclosed that patients referred to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine who were suspected of having dengue or chikungunya were also tested for Zika and returned negative. The DOH listed Zika as a Category I disease, meaning cases of suspected infection must be reported within a day.

- The personnel from the Japanese Self Defense Forces and Coast Guard will be sent to Indonesia at the end of March to further boost the country's naval capabilities. Indonesian diplomatic sources say the officers will provide Indonesia's navy with technical instructions on how to create charts that record seabed topography and other information. Last year, the two ministers agreed that they will deepen defense collaboration through measures such as boosting SDF support to help improve Indonesian military capabilities.

- The Syrian opposition group says they will continue to insist the removal of President Bashar al-Assad in the peace talks to resume in Geneva on Monday. Negotiations to find the solution to the ongoing Syrian civil war have been stalled for over a month.

- As of right now, about 34 people were reportedly killed in a explosion in the Turkish capital city Ankara. No one was claimed responsibility for the blast but Interior Minister Efkan Ala believes that it was a car bombing. He said evidence has been found and the name of the terrorist group behind the attack will be released when the investigation is complete.

- Recently, Maine "Yaya Dub" Mendoza defeated Kathryn Bernardo, James Reid, and Enrique Gil as the Favorite Pinoy Personality at the 2016 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards. La Salle Green Archers' Jeron Teng was named Favorite Asian Sports Star as well.

- In case you missed the recent Eat Bulaga Kalyeserye, a new warning has approached the lolas as the arrival of Cookie caused a new tension to the lolas. Cookie told about what's going on with the mansion the lolas used to live and Cookie wants to know who now owns the mansion. Some say, it could be a child or grandchild but when Lola Nidora's phone rings, Divina is said. Could Yaya Dub be the one who owned the mansion? Tune in next time and find out.

- When two online worlds collide; two RPG app games; Sword Art Online: Code Register, and the .hack//-inspired New World: Vol. 1, are running a collaboration campaign packed with crossover outfits, accessories, bonuses, and other extras.

- Love Live! character designer Yuhei Murota revealed on his Twitter account that he had gotten married last month. No one knows the woman who married him but he explained that he chose that day to tell everyone because it was his new wife's birthday.

TTFN!!!

Ankara explosion kills 27

There was a fatal explosion occured in the transit hub somewhere at the Turkish capital city Ankara, where 27 people are killed while 75 people are injured, according to reports.

Based on the findings, this is believed to be a terrorist attack carried out by the Kurdish militants PKK or its affiliates.

People who witnessed the explosions posted images online of the carnage occured in the Turkish capital.

Report: https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/13/people-killed-explosion-ankara-park-turkey-reports

The 2016 Nick Kids Choice Awards

Earlier, kids from all over the world are taking part into the biggest event of the year known as the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards. With Blake Shelton taking role as this year's presenter, the 2016 KCA couldn't get even more surprising than ever. From the Foot Soldiers attacking the stage, musical performances, The Game Shakers does Super Mario, pranks, and the biggest of all...slime! There's even special previews of upcoming films as well!

So, in case you missed the recent KCAs, time to mention the winners of this year's KCA. First and foremost, Hotel Transylvania 2 was named as the best animated film while Star Wars: The Force Awakens is named as the best film. Zendaya was named as the best actress on a kids show, The Thundermans named as the best TV kids show, Amy Poehler was named as the best voice in an animated film, Fifth Harmony as the best musical group, and Cake Boss named as the best cooking show.

Other winners include;
The Voice - Favorite Talent Competition Show
Justin Bieber - Favorite Male Singer
Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth - Favorite Collaboration
Just Dance 2016 - Favorite Video Game
Jennifer Lawrence - Favorite Movie Actress
The Muppets - Favorite TV Show
Sofia Vergara - Favorite Female TV Star
Hello - Favorite Song of the Year
Shawn Mendes - Favorite New Artist
Ariana Grande - Favorite Female Singer
Spongebob Squarepants - Favorite Cartoon
Will Ferrell - Favorite Movie Actor
Jim Parsons - Favorite Male TV Star

Forza Motorsport 6: The Ferrari LaFerrari

The McLaren P1 and the Porsche 918 are the hypercars that know how to balance motorsport-inspired performance and everyday ecology at the same pace to deliver an unbiased blend no supercars had done before, serving the template for future sportscars for many years to come. If the P1 and the 918 wanted to have a battle to decide who's superior, it must first face this; the Ferrari LaFerrari, a hybrid hypercar served as the pinnacle of Maranello engineering.



No miserable V8s, no puny little turbochargers, the sound of the LaFerrari's 6.3L V12 naturally-aspirated engine are in synched in perfect harmony and that is how a supercar should sound like. It's no wonder how James May found his admiration to this car and this car can edge out the likes of the P1 and the 918 in terms of performance.

Of course, this is a hybrid just like the other two, meaning the V12 engine that powers it to the middle is bolted with an electric motor and a battery. However, unlike the McLaren and the Porsche that can run on electricity alone, the LaFerrari doesn't have that kind of feature because Ferrari is not heavily interested in electric power alone. Instead, the LaFerrari comes with HY-KERS (Hybrid-Kinetic Energy Recovery System), a tech similar to the one used in Formula One cars. It captures energy during braking and feeds it back when needed. That's why the engine-motor combination are all working together and cannot be separated, therefore it produces 963HP of power and 663lb-ft of torque, while mated with a 7-speed F1 gearbox.

Now normally, I was going to try the LaFerrari in its private track to show just how it lives up to be the fastest Ferrari ever made but sadly, Forza Motorsport 6 doesn't have one. However, I just found the next best thing to try out the LaFerrari; Monza.

 



With such power output, the LaFerrari can easily take down the P1 and the 918 at ease and with the 218mph top speed, it's the fastest of the hybrid hypercar trio as well. It's not just the speed it delivers, it's the dynamics is what made the LaFerrari unique thanks to its bodywork that was built entirely from different kinds of carbon fiber as well as the lowered center of gravity but it's the high-tech active aerodynamics that sets them apart and because it's computer-controlled; the faster the LaFerrari goes through the corner, the better it works. Sure, this is as dynamic to drive as the P1 because of its rear-wheel drive but it's not merely a widowmaker.



Humor me, now with the evaluation over the LaFerrari is well done, I believe that I can now do a quick comparo between the three hybrid hypercars round the Top Gear track later on. I can't wait to see which of these three is the greatest.