Category Archives: International

Vatican Delays This Year’s Easter Sunday By One Week

March 16, 2018 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

THE VATICAN (The Adobo Chronicles, Rome Bureau) – Because this year’s Easter Sunday falls on April 1 — April Fool’s Day — Pope Francis has decreed a one-week delay in the celeberation of Christ’s Resurrection.

Speaking in his native Spanish from St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis said, “We cannot turn our believers into non-believers, especially on this joyous day in the Roman Catholic calendar. Easter is definitely not a joke.”

It will be recalled that the Pope in February also urged lovers to postpone their Valentine’s celebration because it fell on Ash Wednesday, a day of fasting and abstinence.

We commend the flexibility of the Pope and the Catholic Faithful!

Business, Diversity, Entertainment, International, Technology

Amazon Announces Finalists For Filipino ‘Alexa’

March 14, 2018 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

SILICON VALLEY, California (The Adobo Chronicles, San Jose Bureau) – Alexa is an intelligent personal assistant developed by Amazon, first used in the Amazon Echo and the Amazon Echo Dot devices developed by Amazon Lab126.

Like Apple’s Siri, it is capable of voice interaction, music playback, making to-do lists, setting alarms, streaming podcasts, playing audiobooks, and providing weather, traffic, and other real-time information, such as news.

Because Alexa has gained worldwide popularity, many consumers have been begging Amazon to create a multi-lingual version of the female assistant.

Today, Amazon announced the five finalists for the Filipino Alexa, following almost a year of intensive search for the voice that would do justice to the original.

Amazon’s strict criteria for the search included: standout personality, unique Filipino accent, pleasant and soothing voice and willingness to be at the command of Alexa consumers and owners.

Here are the five nominees. They are famous enough we don’t need to name them. If this were subject to a vote, who would you choose to be the Filipino Alexa?

Government, International, Politics

Donald Trump Congratulates Philippine President Duterte For Withdrawing From International Criminal Court

March 14, 2018 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

WASHINGTON, D.C. (The Adobo Chronicles, Washington Bureau) – Just minutes after Rodrigo Duterte announced that the Philippines was withdrawing from the International Criminal Court (ICC), U.S. President Donald Trump called the Philippine President to congratulate him.

In a 10-minute phone conversation, Trump expressed his admiration for Duterte for his courage in joining the Philippines’ former colonial master the United States in rejecting membership in the ICC.

Aside from the U.S., other countries that are not members or have withdrawn membership in the ICC include China, India and Indonesia, among others.

Meanwhile, Senator Antonio Trillanes and Representative Gary Alejano have both checked in at separate hospital emergency rooms, complaining about hypertension following Duterte’s announcement.

Trillanes and Alejano have traveled to the ICC headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands, to file a complaint against Duterte, accusing him of crimes against humanity in connection with the President’s war on drugs.

Well, all that is now moot and academic.