Category Archives: Travel

MAYWEATHER WITHDRAWS FROM REMATCH WITH MAIDANA, WILL FIGHT PACQUIAO INSTEAD

Mayweather, left, vs. Pacquiao
Mayweather, left, vs. Pacquiao

Las Vegas, Nevada (Exclusive to The Adobo Chronicles) – As temperatures in this desert city rose to a sweltering 113 degrees Farenheit (45 degrees Celsius), the hot news of the day was not about the September 13 boxing rematch between Floyd Mayweather and Argentine challenger Marcos Maidana. It was about the rematch being cancelled (Mayweather narrowly defeated Maidana last May).

Mayweather announced that he was withdrawing from the September fight at the MGM Grand arena and will instead face Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao on the exact same day. The much-awaited Mayweather- Pacquiao face-off will be held at the new Philippine Arena, now the world’s largest indoor arena.

For years, Mayweather has refused to fight Pacquiao because the Filipino congressman has repeatedly refused to undergo a blood test to screen for performance-enhancing drugs. Pacquiao has said that he becomes too weak whenever blood is drawn from him.

What changed?

Apparently, Mayweather is sick and tired of the dry heat that is characteristic of Las Vegas, especially in the summer months. Yesterday, Mayweather  hang up his boxing gloves during his training bout in an undisclosed location on the Las Vegas Strip, complaining about the extreme heat, even with indoor airconditioning.

But the deal breaker for Mayweather was the fact that the Philippine church group, Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church of Christ), offered to increase his prize money – win or lose – for a match with Pacquiao.

Iglesia Ni Cristo owns the 60,000-capacity Philippine Arena located just a few miles north of Manila.

As for the weather in the Philippines, Mayweather was assured that temperatures in September average about 80 degrees Farenheit (26 degrees Celsius) which the Amercan boxer finds to be the perfect weather for his fights.

The Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is being billed as ‘Extreme Weatha in Manila,’ following in the footsteps of the infamous  ‘Thrilla in Manila ‘ between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazer.

 

 

ANDERSON COOPER TO TESTIFY AT AQUINO IMPEACHMENT HEARING

 

Cooper reporting on typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) - file photo
Cooper reporting on typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) – file photo

Manila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – In less than 24 hours since NoyNoy Aquino delivered his 5th State of the Nation Address (SONA), the beleaguered Philippine president is facing yet another impeachment complaint. This time it is from the Philippine Senate.

The new complaint is based on what senators called “presidential lies” in connection with Aquino’s claim during his televised speech that in less than 24 hours, the government and the Aquino administration were on the ground in Leyte and other Cental Philippine cities and towns, providing assistance and relief to victims of typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda). The strongest typhoon ever to hit landfall left thousands dead and homeless and resulted in billions of pesos in damage to public and private property and infrastructure.

“Aquino violated his presidential oath to tell the truth and nothing but the truth to the Filipino people, and that is an impeachable offense,” the senators said.

A senate hearing on this new impeachment complaint is scheduled later this week. The first witness to testify will be CNN correspondent Anderson Cooper who was among the first among international journalists to report on Haiyan from ground zero.  Cooper’s reports and first-hand accounts pointed to the exact opposite of what Aquino said in his SONA.

Here is one of CNN’s broadcasts in which Cooper describes what he saw on the ground in Tacloban, Cebu and other cities.

REPUBLICANS SEEK COMPROMISE ON IMMIGRATION REFORM

imageWashington, D.C. (The Adobo Chronicles) – Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, told Fox News Sunday that Republicans were considering a compromise with the Obama administration that would reinstate bipartisan talks and possibly a  bill that would establish true comprehensive immigration reform this year.

The compromise will not only authorize the release of  President Obama’s $3.7 Billion emergency spending request to Congress to stem the flow of children across the southwest U.S. border but permanently fix the broken immigration system of the United States.

“We are prepared to  give in to all of Obama’s proposed immigration policies, including the granting of amnesty to the estimated 11 Million undocumented immigrants currently living in the country in exchange for a no-nonsense border security plan,” McCaul said.

When asked by The Adobo Chronicles  what one major compromise the Republicans were seeking, McCaul said, “Very simple: close all existing gaps in the U.S.-Mexico borders in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.  But in addition, we would like to construct  steel fences in the waters on either side of the U.S. territory, in the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.”

In an analysis of the Republican proposal, it was determined that the proposed steel fences will be built at 12 nautical miles around the state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean and 12 nautical miles around all eastern states that look out into the Atlantic Ocean.

The Obama administration is currently reviewing the Republican proposal and is expected to issue a statement in the next couple of days.

Will this finally put at end to the immigration impasse?