Let's Do The News! (May 10, 2016)

- A group of international journalists has published the names of companies and individuals behind over 200,000 offshore accounts in the Panama Papers. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists uncovered a database with information on nearly 214,000 offshore entities. They were created in 21 countries and territories through Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

- The acting speaker of Brazil's lower house cancelled the key impeachment vote by the chamber against President Dilma Rousseff. The recent announcement threatens to plunge the South American nation further into political turmoil. Rousseff faces impeachment for allegedly manipulating government accounts. Acting lower house speaker Waldir Maranhao said the vote last month to proceed had problems and should be revised.

- The Japanese government has decided to issue an action plan at the G7 Summit later this month to combat corruption. The government decided to include the policies in the leaders' joint declaration as an attachment, as the Panama Papers on secret offshore accounts has garnered much global attention. The plan calls for tough measures against tax evasion, including the disclosure of owners of companies established for reducing tax payments.

- The quake-hit Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan is eligible for state-run reconstruction and repair, according to the Japanese government. This means the quake-hit area can ask the government to take charge of rebuilding roads, bridges and tunnels on its behalf. Government officials will plan and order the work, lessening the prefecture's burden of finding engineers who can handle bigger projects.

- France has restored to its rightful owners a drawing of Edgar Degas that was stolen by the Nazis from its Jewish owner in 1940. In a moving ceremony in Paris, Culture Minister Audrey Azoulay said that the late 19th-century charcoal sketch of three ballerinas called "Trois danseuses en buste" was found in 1951 in a cupboard in the Occupation-era German embassy. It had since remained unclaimed in the Louvre.

- Artist Megumi Igarashi (pen name Rokudenashiko) was found guilty of breaking Japan's obscenity laws in Tokyo court on Monday. The 44-year-old female actress was arrested two years ago for disturbing 3D printer data of her own under part of her body as part of a backer reward for her crowdfunding campaign to construct something. Igarashi always maintained that her work is not obscene.

- After months of auditions, reports told that a 26-year-old Alden Ehrenreich, as seen in the Hail, Caesar! film, is set to play as the young Han Solo in the upcoming Star Wars spinoff. Shooting will commence next month with the film slated for 2018 release.

- Buick to discontinue the Verano midsize saloon by 2017 despite strong sales, probably because of the rising crossover sales.

- Check out the latest Fast & Furious 8 behind the scenes clip where the gang shooting scenes at Cuba.

- "Abandon hope, all ye who enter". Tom Hanks returns as Robert Langdon in the upcoming movie adaptation of Dan Brown's Inferno, the third chapter of The Da Vinci Code saga. In the film, Langdon woke up in a hospital with no memories at all. With the help of a certain doctor, played by Felicity Jones, Langdon must recover his memory while trying to avert a global cataclysm broadly similar from the passages of Dante's Divine Comedy. It will hit US theaters on the 28th of October.



TTFN!!!

Forza Motorsport 6: Heart Pounding. By Design

With the arrival of the all-new Ford Focus RS in Forza Motorsport 6 via the Hot Wheels Car Pack, Forza fans can finally gain access to the long-awaited hot hatch that Ford Performance ever launched to a global scale, including the US. It's been worth the wait to see the new Focus RS coming to Forza 6 and truth be told, this car should have been placed in the game since day one.

Ford unveiled their most powerful Focus yet, the all-new third-generation Ford Focus RS, at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show, and this is one of the many performance cars launched by the newly merged Ford Performance division.

The all-new Ford Focus RS features a upgraded version of the 2.3L EcoBoost 4-cylinder engine sourced from the sixth-generation Ford Mustang, which produces 350HP of power and same amount for torque.

The drivetrain is now upgraded from the former's front-wheel drive to Ford's brand new Torque-Vectoring All-Wheel-Drive system with Drive Modes, including the new Drift Mode for better oversteer drifts, and Launch Control. Mated exclusively with a 6-speed gearbox, it's capable of reaching 0-100kph in 4.7 seconds.

The Ford Focus RS is now offered exclusively, for the first time, as a 5-door hatchback and also, it's available to the USA starting at $35,900.

It's a good job Ford finally selling the all-new Focus RS to the American market. In fact, this is definitely the hot Focus the Americans have been demanding for since forever when the Americans realized that the previous generation Focus offered in the US doesn't look as good as the previous generation Focus sold outside the US. With the third-generation Focus sold globally under the One Ford approach, the dream of seeing a third-generation Focus RS as a globally-competitive hot hatch that can be sold not just the US but the rest of the world, has became a self-fulfilled prophecy from Ford's right.

About how the Focus RS featured in-game. You see, prior to its launch, there was a specially-designed Ford Focus RS with the Forza 6 front cover painted all over on display at the gamescom 2015, drawing much speculation that the new Ford Focus RS might make it to the car roster of FM6 at launch. However, that car never made it on launch day, not even last November when Forza fans complained that the new Focus RS became an EA exclusivity when it got featured in the 2015 Need For Speed game. Talk about unfair competition, eh?

Well, you get the picture, but the wait is truly over because we finally got our hands on the all-new Focus RS. So, thoughts on the new RS? Well, even though it's now a 4WD hoonigan, this is still a hot hatch made to be an accessible, all-weather, track weapon. You can still feel its mild but tangy behavior beneath its new drivetrain but what matters most is, almost everyone can have fun in this ultra-powerful hot hatchback that requires a few effort to slip through corners with ease. It can be somewhat slouchy at first but don't worry, you'll get used to it as long as you drive this car harder and longer.

Since this is an entirely new car, I think it might be best to find out if this new Focus RS is worth the improvement compared to the past Focus RS models in its lifespan and to find out, I went to the Top Gear Test Track and gather every single Focus RS in history to see if the all-new Focus RS is an overall improvement through its lifetime.

Meeting its ancestors can be so much fun but comparing against its ancestors to see how much it's been grown can also be so much fun. So, without further ado, time to get these machines rolling...

And now, the results...

1:31.678 - 1st Focus RS

1:29.327 - 2nd Focus RS

1:25.685 - 3rd Focus RS

It's a clear statement that the Ford Focus RS evolved through the years and with this latest model, Ford made the new Focus RS the best Focus ever made and between you and I, this long-awaited hot hatch deserves a quick pat at the rear door because of how cool this hatchback performs. You can thank Ford for making the Focus RS available in the USA and you can thank the producers for featuring this car on FM6 via a car pack.

The Focus RS; Heart Pounding. By Design

Philippine Elections 2016 (UPDATE 4)

The story so far on the 2016 Philippine Elections...

• Liberal Party presidential aspirant Mar Roxas concedes defeat to Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, whose unofficial tallies made the controversial candidate the presumptive winner.
• Historically, the number of votes Rody Duterte gained, which is 41,752,443 votes counted, surpassed the number of votes President Benigno Aquino III got six years ago.
• As Vice Presidential candidate Chiz Escudero concedes his defeat, Chiz pleads the public to give the incoming (Duterte administration) a chance.
• Actor Richard Gomez won the mayoral elections in Leyte.
• Another election-related violence occurred as a volunteer of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting transporting elections returns was killed in an ambush in Pagadian City before dawn Tuesday. The volunteer identified as Adela Elmida and she was killed by unknown assailants while on her way to a freight company to deliver election returns at 0400 hours. Her 12-year-old daughter survived the ambushed but was hurt.
• Jaime Fresnedi was proclaimed winner of the mayoral race in Muntinlupa City despite the protests by supporters of his rival Aldrin San Pedro.
• Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, despite his impressive lead in the presidential race, visited his parents' grave and wept uncontrollably. According to his sect leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy on a TV show, Duterte proceeded to the Davao public cemetery to see his parents' grave past 0300 hours, local time. Duterte's father was a governor of the still-undivided Davao del Sur while his mother was a teacher.

...more to come.

Philippine Elections 2016 (UPDATE 3)

The story so far on the 2016 Philippine Elections...

• Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte was leading the presidential race in a partial, unofficial results with over 14 million votes counted, twice as what rivals Mar Roxas and Grace Poe had.
• Grace Poe concedes her defeat to Duterte.
• Four persons were arrested on Monday, after they were caught carrying firearms and drug paraphernalia at a checkpoint along the national highway of South Poblacion, San Fernando town.
• A village chief was arrested due to his accusations of engaging in vote-buying. Salvador Misca, age 47, the Baranga Pigsag-an chair and an alleged supporter of returning mayor Vicente Emano, was arrested by the Lumbia police and Tactical Operations Group-10 on Sunday evening. Reports state that Misca was caught in the act of vote-buying.
• In the Vice-Presidential race, Leni Robredo and Bongbong Marcos, the son of the infamous dictator Ferdinand Marco, is on a neck-and-neck race as partial, unofficial results, see these two candidates edging themselves out.
• About 150 vote counting machines were reportedly broken and voters complained of long wait. Despite problems, the election proceeds smoothly as planned.

...more to come at a later time.

Philippine Elections 2016 (UPDATE 2)

The story so far on the 2016 Philippine Elections...

• Voting hours will be extended until 6:00PM in areas where polling precincts opened past 9:00AM according to COMELEC. The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) states the firewall would be brought down so that it could start transmitting tallies. The PPCRV also expresses worries over reports of disenfranchisement and urged voters to go to their precincts before the deadline.
• Vice presidential candidate Senator Gregorio Honasan called on Filipinos to unite regardless of the results of the 2016 polls. Honasan, Binay's running mate of the United Nationalist Alliance, arrived before the opening of his precinct at the Nativity of Our Lady Parish in Marikina City. After voting, he went around Metro Manila to thank his supporters.
• No Vote Counting Machines were present in Novotel Manila Araneta Center in Cubao, Quezon City, according to COMELEC and Smartmatic. After personally visiting and verifying reports that there were VCMs hidden in Novotel near Liberal Party standard bearer Mar Roxas' bailiwick, no such machines were present in the hotel.

...more to come at a later time.

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: N.Korea may reshuffle party leadership

North Korea's ruling Workers' Party is expected to reshuffle its party's leadership and amendments to the party rules at its first congress in 36 years.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reported to party delegates on Sunday, the third-day of the gathering, on work being carried out by the party's central committee. The N. Korean leader stressed that the country will pursue nuclear and missile development as a "responsible" nuclear power. His report was unanimously adopted by the delegates.

The assembly is expected to decide on leadership positions and amendments to the party rules on Monday, the fourth day of the congress. Kim Jong un is expected to be elected to the party's top post.

Attention is focused on whether Kim will be reelected to his current post of First Secretary of the ruling party which was newly established four years ago. He may assume the role as head of the party's central committee which is being reinstated for the first time in five decades.

Source: NHK World

Let's Do The News! (May 9, 2016)

- Reports say that federal investigations may interview Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton within a week over her use of a private email server. The Federal Bureau of Investigation recently question several aides to Clinton, who has come under fire for using her private server to exchange work emails while she was Secretary of State. Investigators found the server contained classified informations. Clinton maintains that none of the documents were classified at the time she sent or received them and investigators haven't found traces to prove her violation.

- Jeb Bush, a Republican who dropped out from the presidential race, is now one of the many Republicans who strongly oppose the presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Bush, whose older brother and father were US presidents, said on Friday he won't vote for Trump in November 2016 elections because the businessman is not a consistent conservative. Senator Lindsey Graham, also a politician who dropped out from the race, also opposes Trump.

- Schools in quake-hit Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, are set to reopen this week after series of quakes struck the region since last month. As of Friday last week, 178 schools in the prefecture, were not able to accept students, more than double at one time after the strong quake on the 14th of April.

- Following the collapsed building in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, authorities demolished buildings and urging residents to move out a week. On the 29th of April, a 6-story apartment building in a low-income neighborhood fell down after heavy rainfall, killing 49 people as reported.

- A South Korean university professor has been arrested for falsifying data from a British-based company for cash. Most babies, infants, and mothers in South Korea suffered damaged to their lungs after inhaling a humidifier disinfectant that contained harmful chemicals. The product was made by Oxy Reckitt Benckiser and sold in South Korea between 2001 and 2011. The S. Korean government recognized a casual relationship between the product and the 2011 lung damage that killed 95 people.

- A group of attackers fired a police bus near Cairo, Egypt, killing 8 police officers, according to reports. The attackers that call themselves an affiliate of Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for the attack but another group linked to the Muslim Brotherhood also claimed responsibility.

- Thousands of people took part at Tokyo's annual Rainbow Pride parade in support of the country's LGBT community. Over 5,000 LGBT individuals and their supporters marched in this year's event held in Shibuya Ward on Sunday. Some waved rainbow-colored flags while other carried signs declaring that they are homosexual.

- Hundreds of sea lions have made their annual appearance off the coast of Russia's Far East, marking the beginning of spring. About 400 northern sea lions have gathered at a pier in the port town of Nevelsk, in southern Sakhalin, where numbers are increasing since last month. The sea lions will stay until July and then move further north in search for more fish.

- Check out highlights from the annual Gumball 3000 road trip

- Moments ago, the naval anime series Highschool Fleet collaborated with the Japan Self Defense Forces' Kanagawa Provincial Cooperation Office to make a recruitment poster for the Japanese military and posted around Kanagawa Prefecture. However, this Haifuri-themed poster drew flak from observers.



TTFN!!!

Philippine Elections 2016 (UPDATE 1)

The story so far on the 2016 Philippine Elections...

• At the start of the elections, there are some vote-counting machines (VCMs) facing technical difficulties during voting procedures. Most precincts nationwide were set to open at 0500 hours Philippine time but Tacloban City's precinct 0306 caused long lines as the machine was not functioning, according to election watchdog group Kontradaya, as it received numerous complaints on VCM errors in the first hours of polling day.
• Presidential candidates Jejomar Binay, Mar Roxas, and Miriam Defensor-Santiago, cast their votes in their respective polling precincts in the first few hours of voting.
• Former president and Pampanga representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo casts her vote in a polling precinct in Lubao.
• Following the approval by the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division to vote outside his detention quarters, detained Senator Jinggoy Estrada voted at Xavier School in San Juan City.
• Vice Presidential candidate and Rodrigo Duterte's running mate, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano is confident that he is going to win in today's elections despite his poor performance in previous pre-election surveys.
• The Commission of Elections (COMELEC) said that they will validate reports on problems encountered in the automated election system.
• Teen stars Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo got criticized in social media regarding their photos showing them with their election ballots. There is a well known election rule that no one should take a picture or a selfie with you holding a ballot for secrecy reasons.

...more to come later.

Forza Motorsport 6: Sushi vs. Hamburger Redux

Remember several years ago when then-Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson tested an old Lotus Exige S (the one with the supercharged 2ZZ-GE engine in the middle) round the Top Gear Test Track and then raced against The Stig in a Ford Mustang and won? It was the old sushi vs. hamburger debate and now, that tale's about to be retold in its modern-day equivalents.



These are the modern-day equivalents I am talking about. Here, I've been rejoined by the V6-powered Lotus Exige S, the car capable of balancing big power and light weight at the same pace on the track. As for the Mustang side, I've gone for the most track-honed Mustang yet, the all-new GT350. Specifically, a specially-made GT350R. Let's hope this Mustang sounds as it should be because it's been updated twice after problems faced with the GT350's exhaust sound.

Anyway, what can you expect about these two? Well, both of these track-day, road-legal machines are well in tune with the racetracks thanks to its motorsport-derived dynamics that allows themselves to go through the corners as smooth as a baby's buttocks like those triplets in the picture. Although the Lotus Exige S V6 is a bulkier Lotus due to the bulk of its engine, its midship layout and its crafty dynamics still feels like the lightweight Lotus of yesteryears, making it the ideal track toy that you can use it harder and longer, as long as you don't pit in against ultra-lightweight machines like the Atom or the Mono because that would be suicidal.

The GT350R, a special model based on the GT350, is basically a hardcore sixth-generation Mustang I am really like and in fact, I like this one better than the old 1960's GT350 because the old GT350 is for Gran Turismo losers and the new GT350 is fit for Forza faithfuls like you and me. However, there are some idiots, presumably Gran Turismo fans, listed numerous things why they hate the new GT350 as well as many reasons not to buy one. One of the main reasons why is because it's a Forza car and you know how idiots react to cars featured in a Forza game. Anyway, while the V8 engine it powers it is not as powerful as the old GT500, its race-derived dynamics really compensates it and you can really set very fast lap times in this pony car if you set things right. Word of warning, however, is despite its newly sophisticated suspension setup like in the standard Mustang, it can still kick you off like a mechanical bull on the bar.




Now it's time to compare these two round the Top Gear Test Track and see if the whole sushi and hamburger debate still applies in this modern-day equivalents. Let's get crackin...


And now the results. The Lotus Exige S did it in 1:23.130 while the new Shelby GT350 did it in 1:23.389, meaning that light is right when it comes to track-day sportscars and looks like the sushi trumped the hamburger, but only just.

130 Years of Coca-cola

Today marks the 130th anniversary of Coca-cola, the world's number one softdrink everyone in the world loves to quench their first on. It's been years since the pharmacist John Pemberton invented the drink we all know and now, here we are, 130 years on, this drink can withstand the test of time. Shall we get started then?

Coke Emoticon Bottles

It was the year 1886 when Dr. John S. Pemberton invented this drink in Atlanta, Georgia and tried selling it to consumers at a local drugstore. When it went on sale, the crowd goes nuts over his invention, which he priced it for five cents back then. Two years after the first servings of Coca-cola served to the public, Pemberton died but he sold portions of his business to various parties, with the majority of the interest sold to Atlanta mogul Asa G. Candler. Under Candler's rule, distribution of Coca-cola expanded to soda fountains beyond Atlanta.

Why is it called "Coca-cola", you dare ask? Dr. Pemberton called for five ounces of coca leaf per gallon of syrup, which is a fair dose for this drink. In 1891, Candler claimed his formula contained only a tenth of this amount. Once, this drink contained an estimated nine milligrams of cocaine per glass and that formula was subsequently removed in 1903.

The bottling became a major challenge back then because of the imitations of the beverage by competitors as well as lack of packaging consistency among the thousand bottling plants at the time. So, in 1916, the Cocal-cola bottle was created with the shape so recognizable even in the dark and then trademarked in 1977.

For more Coke history lessons, go to www.coca-colacompany.com and find the History section.

But now, Coca-cola has over 1.9 billion servings sold globally and with presence in all corners of the world including Asia, Europe, South America, Africa, and the Middle East, the whole world's gone Coke crazy. You turn yourself in a nearby store and say "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke", which is somewhat a legendary in the history of Coke advertising. From football player Mean Joe Greene tossing a Coke to a fan saying "hey kid, catch!", to the iconic Coca-cola polar bear. To open happiness, and now Taste the Feeling, nothing's more fun than sharing a Coke with everyone in the world with their names on it. I mean hey, that's the evolution of Coke advertising, if you know what I mean?

Coca-cola isn't more than just a drink because for most of us, it's a way of life. We use it to energize ourselves, for entertainment, for relaxation, there are so many reasons why we like to have a world of Coca-cola for ourselves but for us, we all share the same decision to stock ourselves some Coca-cola at home. Now, there are so many Coca-cola variants to choose from and whatever you are feeling, there's a Coca-cola that fits for you.

Here's for 130 years of Taste the Feeling with Coca-cola!

For more Coke-related videos, go to youtube.com/cocacola

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: N. Korea airs special Kim Jong-un speech

North Korea flagged a special announcement on state television Sunday, which turned out to be a recording of leader Kim Jong-un's speech the day before to a rare ruling party congress.

Long time ago, special announcements has preceded major events, such as a nuclear test or even the death of a top leader. However, state television simply began airing its recording of Mim's lengthy report to the congress on Saturday - a transcript of which had already been published by state media.

In his address, Kim unveiled a five-year economic plan and stressed that North Korea was a "responsible" nuclear power with no first-use policy and a commitment to non-proliferation.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer

The New MINI (F56) Convertible

It's been two long years since the new MINI took the world like a tsunami walk and even though this is an entirely new model designed from scratch, its enlarged dimensions no longer made it called the MINI, perhaps the funny word Wumbo would have sound better because its sizing is a MINI no more. Because the F56 MINI has been around for two years (and no video game in sight to feature it just like the BMW i8), another variant has been added and this time, it's an open-top version.

2017 Mini Convertible

The new convertible version features all the similar bits and bobs from the new MINI, only this time with a soft-top roof that makes you think you're somewhat special on a hot summer. With the roof opened, this four-seater compact makes it the ideal barkada trip car that can take you from one point of interest after another, as long as you don't make it to places with very heavy traffic because you'd better close the roof and the windows until you smell crud in your lungs.

Under the hood, the open-top version offers the same engine choices as the hardtop model. In the high-end Cooper S model, it comes with the 2.0L petrol engine producing 192PS of power and 300Nm of torque. The One, meanwhile, comes with a 1.2L petrol, the normal Cooper comes with the 1.5L petrol, D with the 1.5L diesel engine, and the SD with the 2.0L turbodiesel engine. Of course, like all good convertibles in the world, it's slightly heavier than the hardtop equivalent, meaning the handling isn't what you call...ahem...MINIMALISM.

2017 Mini JCW Convertible

Even the high-performance John Cooper Works model couldn't cut it. Sure, it's got a turbocharged 2.0L petrol engine generating 231PS of power and 320Nm of torque as well as race-derived dynamics, but because this is heavier than the JCW hardtop, there is a slight difference between how it behaves on the road and how it feels on the track. If you didn't bother about how either the normal Mini Convertible or the Mini JCW Convertible behaves in both sides, it's still a stylish go-getter that you can use it on the road. Think a husky bodyguard who ended up having an ambition to become a beauty queen at a beauty pageant. That sounds awkward, though, and in partial terms of awkwardness, having the roof closed is the main idea of awkwardness because that roof kinda spoils its flavor of the month.

Should you drive this one with the roof open while on a moving traffic, the new Mini Convertible is not so bad to have one because you get the urban lifestyle you expect on a four-seater convertible of that size. However, if things get a little soggy or dirty, you'd better off with a public transport rather than driving with the roof closed. Wouldn't recommend it though.

Price? The all-new Mini Convertible starts at 21,900 Euros for the One, up to 35,350 Euros for the JCW Cabrio with the Steptronic gearbox on, so it's slightly costly to own than the hardtop.