LOS ANGELES — Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House — the tell-all President Donald Trump has said is “full of lies” — is to be adapted for television, US media reported Wednesday. Rights to Michael Wolff’s book, an explosive behind-the-scenes account that questions the president’s fitness for office, have been snapped up by Endeavor Content, according to The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. They said Wolff would be executive producer of the series. — AFP
THE Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. secured the go-signal from the Securities and Exchange Commission to proceed with its P3.16-billion stock rights offering (SRO) this February.
In an e-mail to reporters, the country’s corporate regulator said it has approved the PSE’s registration for the sale of up to 11.5 million shares priced at P275 apiece.
The PSE expects to raise P3.12 billion in net proceeds from the offer. Of the amount, the PSE said 51% or P1.58 billion will “(service) future corporate debt accessed through bridge financing” for its acquisition of Philippine Dealing System Holdings Corp. (PDSHC).
The PSE has already taken term loan facilities from BDO Unibank, Inc., Bank of Commerce, Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. worth P1.15 billion, for the acquisition.
The SRO has been a necessary step in the PSE’s acquisition of PDSHC, as it will bring down broker ownership to less than 20%. Bringing down the ownership of trading participants in the local bourse is a key feature in securing the SEC’s approval for the merger.
SEC approval for the PSE-PDSHC merger is one of the final steps in closing the deal that began back in 2013, when the PSE proposed to merge the two markets for synergies in operations. To recall, the Philippine Competition Commission approved the merger last December 2017.
At the same time, the PSE said 29% of the net proceeds or P900 million will be used for product development, as the PSE looks to introduce new products until 2020.
In the first quarter of 2018, the PSE will launch corporate bonds and name-on-central-depository facility, as well as allow short-selling.
By the fourth quarter, the market will see the launch of structured warrants and securities lending transactions.
In the next four years, the PSE is planning to introduce project bond financing, commodities trading, fixed income and foreign exchange derivatives, and equity derivatives.
The SEC, however, noted that commodities trading, fixed income and foreign exchange derivatives, and equity derivatives are still outside the current authority of the PSE.
The remaining proceeds from the SRO, or P636.9 million will be used for working capital requirements, as the PSE moves to its new headquarters in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig by the first quarter of 2018.
Shares in PSE shed a peso or 0.41% to close at P240 each on Thursday. — Arra B. Francia
GT CAPITAL Holdings, Inc. on Thursday told the stock exchange it plans to “fully subscribe” in the stock rights offering (SRO) of its banking arm Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank).
At present, GT Capital owns 36.09% of Metrobank.
Metrobank on Wednesday said its board of directors approved to conduct an SRO to sell 819.83 million common shares, equivalent to the remaining unissued shares from the lender’s authorized capital stock.
Proceeds from the offer will be used to fund the Ty-led bank’s loans and fully acquire its credit card arm.
Metrobank said in October that it entered into an agreement with ANZ Funds Pty. Ltd. (ANZ) for the bank’s purchase of the latter’s 40% stake in credit card provider Metrobank Card Corp. (MCC).
MCC is a joint venture between Metrobank and ANZ formed in 2003, with the local lender holding the majority 60% stake.
“The capital raising exercise is expected to enable the bank to pursue these business prospects to sustain the loan growth momentum, leveraging on the bank’s sales and distribution network that has rapidly expanded in the preceding years,” Metrobank said. — K.A.N. Vidal
THE PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) headquarters yesterday ordered the relief of Chief Superintendent Jose Mario M. Espino as head of the Police Regional Office (PRO)-7 (Central Visayas) police office, along with 12 other police officials, effective immediately. Mr. Espino was directed to report to PRO-10 (Northern Mindanao) “as soon as possible via shortest route by any means of transportation.” His relief comes three days before Cebu City marks its Sinulog on Sunday, one of the country’s biggest annual festivals. Chief Superintendent Robert G. Quenery from Cagayan Valley Region will succeed Mr. Espino. The head of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations in the Visayas, Rolando B. Felix, said the reshuffling of officials is PNP routine. Mr. Felix also said that Mr. Quenery will not have a problem leading the Sinulog operations since he only has to oversee the plan implementation. Mr. Espino’s leadership of PRO-7 was marked by several issues such as allegations that he solicited “payola” from illegal gambling operators. — The Freeman
You’ve been talking about employee motivation for some time now. But exactly, what is the first step that we in management must do to make it happen. Is there a prerequisite? Does it have something to do with managers being generous all the way to earn their trust? I hope not. Please clarify. — Yellow Submarine.
There’s one cute little story that I’m fond of using whenever I teach people managers about employee motivation. No doubt about it, everyone needs recognition for his or her accomplishment. One little boy was no exception to this general rule. One lazy Sunday morning, he said to his father: “Dad, let’s play darts. I’ll throw, and even if I don’t hit the target, you should say — “Wonderful! That’s great!”
Sometimes, even if people don’t deserve it with an average performance, they expect their managers to commend them. But you’re right to ask your question. And my answers have nothing to do with management being forced to give in to the request of their people.
A prerequisite, off the top of my head, is earning the trust of people. This is too basic to be ignored by managers. Even if you’re paying your people with above-average pay and perks in your industry, you can’t simply earn their trust with material things, assuming that your organization can afford it.
In fact, my more than 35 years in people management tell me that you can even motivate people using only non-cash rewards and recognition. Really, money is not everything. I’ve seen workers being hardworking and loyal to their bosses and organization — simply because they’re being treated well.
And so, how would you treat your workers well enough for them to appreciate it? First things first, you have to know your direct reports on a personal level. After all, how can you engage and motivate people if you know nothing about them, their career aspirations, their future plans, and other related concerns?
Sir William John Anthony Timpson, Chairman of the UK shoe repair chain that bears his name, has put forward the following test to challenge managers as to how much they know about their team. Timpson, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in June 2017, is quoted by Michael Rose in the latter’s 2011 book — A Guide to Non-Cash Reward.
Timpson challenges managers on how well they know about their workers by answering the following question: “Do you know the following (personal) details about your workers?” Try the following 13-item test for size and give yourself honest points representing your answer, with five, 10 and 20 as the maximum points for each item.
If you know the answer, then give yourself the full point of five, ten or 20 as the case maybe. On the other hand, if you don’t know the answer, give yourself zero points, with a little adjustment up to three or four points depending on how well you guessed. Don’t delay. No need to look at your cheat sheet or the workers’ personnel folders. There are no right or wrong answers, but an honest appreciation of how well you personally know your direct reports. Let’s start: Do you know your workers’ age and birthday? (0-5)
Do you know their exact home address? Do you know the name of their spouse or partner? (0-10)
How about their children’s names, ages, and schools? (0-20) When and where did your workers go on a vacation last year? (0-10) Where are they planning to go for their next vacation or holiday? (0-5) What is their main hobby? (0-10)
How about their spouses’ or partners’ hobbies? (0-5) How well do you know the career history of your workers? (0-10) How about your workers’ qualifications and diplomas? (0-5) How about the health and medical condition of your workers? (0-5) What model is their car or what mode of transport do they use? (0-5) What are your workers’ parents’ names? (0-5)
The maximum score you can get is 100 points. Done? If so, add up all of your points. Timpson suggests that if you score less than 70 points, you don’t know your people well enough. On the other hand, if you know your workers more than enough, it would be easy for you to motivate them by giving non-cash awards or gifts that will be surely appreciated.
For example, if your worker’s hobby is reading detective stories, then gift him with one bestseller that he will appreciate. Just be sure that you don’t duplicate his library with another set. Little things mean a lot to many people, and what’s important — management need not spend big money for it.
Join us in our Jan. 24, 2018 public seminar on “How and Why Management Lost its Labor Cases in 2017” at Makati Diamond Residences. Noted labor law experts — Attys. Francis V. Sobrevinas and E. (Leo) D. Battad of the UP College of Law will analyze the newly established jurisprudence for people managers. Send an e-mail to inquiry@kairos.com.ph or call (02) 846-8951 or mobile 0915-406-3039.
Movie Review
Insidious: The Last Key
Directed by Adam Robitel
By Richard Roeper
THE Insidious timeline is becoming so murky, even a scary ghost lurking behind a locked door in the basement might give up and say, “Time out! Am I even supposed to be IN this particular story? Who am I haunting again, and what’s my motivation?”
And if a ghost might be thinking about ghosting the franchise, imagine how the viewer might feel.
Insidious: The Last Key is the fourth film in the franchise, and it takes place mostly in 2010, but there’s also an extended prologue set in the early 1950s.
The third film in the series was titled Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015), but it was actually a prequel to the original Insidious (2010), which was followed by a chronological sequel, Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013).
Now comes Insidious: The Last Key, which is a sequel to Chapter 3 but is a direct PREQUEL to the events depicted in the original Insidious.
So chronologically speaking, Chapter 3 is the first chapter, The Last Key is the second chapter, Insidious is the third chapter, and Insidious: Chapter 2 is the most recent chapter.
I think.
Thanks to its place on the timeline, Insidious: The Last Key can resurrect the spunky, old-timey parapsychologist Elise Rainier (the wonderful Lin Shaye), explore and explain Elise’s severely effed-up childhood, and place her front and center in the movie’s main supernatural mystery thriller, which takes place in the creepy-spooky house in Five Keys, New Mexico, where Elise grew up. (Pops was a prison guard, and the correctional facility was literally next door to their house. Fun for the wife and kids!)
In a slow-paced prologue set in 1953, young Elise (Ava Kolker) sees spectral beings bopping about that creaky, creepy house. (Probably makes it difficult for the kid to concentrate on her schoolwork.)
Elise keeps watch over her (understandably) spooked little brother Christian (Pierce Pope, and yes, a young Pope is playing a Christian). Their mother (Tessa Ferrer) tells Elise she’s special and should embrace her gifts, but her father (Josh Stewart) abuses Elise every time she claims to have seen a ghost. He beats Elise mercilessly and locks her in the basement, where she makes the acquaintance of multiple ghoulish presences.
Bad stuff happens in that house. Let’s just leave it at that and jump to 2010, where Elise (now played by Shaye) is about 70 and has a boutique business in which she talks to the dead so you don’t have to, or something like that. Elise even has a couple of bumbling, geeky, comic-relief employees: Specs (Leigh Whannell) and Tucker (Angus Sampson), who aren’t of much use and aren’t as funny as they (or Whannell’s screenplay) would like us to think they are.
One day, Elise gets a call from a man named Ted Garza (Kirk Acevedo), who needs her help in ridding his house of demons.
But it’s not just any house. It’s THE HOUSE WHERE ELISE GREW UP.
Road trip!
Thirty seconds after Elise sets foot in the old house, The Last Key telegraphs an upcoming big “twist” with such a heavy-handed touch, this would have to be the first moviegoing experience of your life to miss it.
Also, talk about a fixer-upper! We’re told Garza bought this place just a few months ago, but apparently nobody touched a thing for some 50 years. The old furniture is still there. The toys Elise and Christian played with are still there. Dad’s prison uniform — covered in cobwebs, but otherwise so crisp it looks like it was just picked up from the dry cleaners — is still there.
Who was the realtor assigned to this place? At least take the quilts off the old bunk beds and tidy up the basement!
Elise reunites with her now-middle-aged brother (the usually terrific Bruce Davison, who wears a ridiculous bow tie and comes across as if he read only the script pages featuring his character, and couldn’t give a hoot about the bigger picture). She meets his daughters Melissa (Spencer Locke) and Imogen (Caitlin Gerard), one of whom has inherited the family knack for seeing ghosts.
Director Adam Robitel knows how to scare us with the classic, sudden-appearance-of-a-scary-thing-accompanied-by-a-loud-music-sting trick, which, of course, has been utilized a thousand times in hundreds of movies. The production elements and special effects are pretty cool, although I’m not sure why our ghostbuster heroes eventually find themselves walking knee-deep in fog that looks like it was generated by a dry ice machine purchased from an old Rush tour.
The main problem: too many ghosts in the kitchen. (And the bedroom. And the basement.) Good ghosts, bad ghosts, ghosts that might not really be ghosts at all — and the supposedly extra-scary ghost/creature/demon/whatever-in-chief, who is never fully explained and isn’t all that terrifying once it shows itself in all its grotesque grotesquery.
The Last Key isn’t necessarily the last chapter in the Insidious franchise. You don’t have to possess psychic powers to know that will all depend on the most powerful and often the most unpredictable entity of them all: Worldwide box office. — Chicago Sun-Times/ Andrews McMeel Syndication
Rating: Two stars
MTRCB Rating: R-13
Some individuals appear to breeze through life effortlessly. Things seem to fall into place at the right time. Observers would say that they have a charmed life.
The insightful person sees challenges and opportunities — instead of problems and obstacles. His perception is keen and he is able to turn difficult situations around.
On another level, he is able to feel a sense of peace and balance.
Here are some sensible and spiritual concepts that are keys to a charmed life.
1) Assess your life. Eliminate what is not useful. Dream. Author Victoria Moran remarked, “Live splendidly.”
2) Resolve the conflict between heart and intellect. Society demands that we should be guided by logic. However, our instincts tell us to follow our hearts. The heart has an agenda of its own.
3) Shine. Allow other people to shine. Share the limelight. Remember that “shine” time is cyclical.
4) Give up the “mountain.” Get rid of the issues, psychological blocks and fears that compromise the mountain and burdens in our lives.
5) Be discreet, Practice the art of restraint. Protect and conserve your power, “Become the sun” and be less the satellite.
6) Change with the seasons. Be in harmony with nature and flow with the current. Live each day to the fullest.
7) Learn the essence of selective complication. Eliminate possessions and things that rob you of energy. This concept also applies to people who drain you of emotional and material resources.
8) Follow the universal laws of life. Aldous Huxley refers to the laws in his book, Perennial Philosophy. They comprise the ageless wisdom that is part of every culture.
9) The law of Karma. “What you do comes back to you.”
“No action is lost.” Nothing that we do is insignificant. A small act could have a ripple effect.
“Few events are random.”
“Thoughts create circumstances.” Our thoughts lay the foundation for the future.
“Hate destroys the one who has it…. Righteous indignation can be hostility parading as virtue.” The Italian poet Dante Alighieri referred to hate as “the first level of hell.”
We are all connected. The law of connectivity means that we are important parts of a greater organism — the universe. Men are linked to one another, to life and nature. What we do affects the whole.
Francis Thompson wrote, “Thou canst disturb a flower without troubling a star.”
Happiness comes from within. We cannot seek happiness and completion from someone else. Outer circumstances cannot make us happy.
Love is an act of the will. Not the emotion.
10) Acknowledge and be grateful for blessings.
11) Cooperate with benevolence. Look for the good in yourself and around you.
12) Seek balance between home and work, family and friends. Interior pursuits are as important as exterior endeavors.
13) Be true to yourself.
14) Grow through the hard times. During periods of reversal of fortune, financial depression, or personal crisis, think of life as cycle. Difficulties are transient, not permanent. Life has rhythmic cyclic patterns. Seek support from others and take action to survive the change.
15) Build soul equity. The soul is the inner, animating essence. It needs trials and tedium in order to grow. One should learn, grow expand the capacity to know and experience life. One should remember the lessons and apply that knowledge to future situations.
16) Trust your instincts.
17) Accept things as they are. Happiness can be classified into two:
Getting what you want. Wanting what you get.
A charmed life unfolds slowly.
It is the result of making changes in one’s ways of seeing, doing, accepting and appreciating things. It means making wise choices for improvement in one’s environment.
Maria Victoria Rufino is an artist, writer and businesswoman. She is president and executive producer of Maverick Productions.
PARIS — French film legend Brigitte Bardot, 83, attacked the #MeToo movement Wednesday, claiming that actresses who complain of sexual harassment were just looking for publicity. “The vast majority are being hypocritical and ridiculous,” she told the French magazine Paris Match. “Lots of actresses try to play the tease with producers to get a role. And then, so we will talk about them, they say they were harassed,” she declared. “I was never the victim of sexual harassment. And I found it charming when men told me that I was beautiful or I had a nice little backside,” said the actress, who became a sex symbol overnight for And God Created Woman in 1956. — AFP
By Jonathan Best
Book Review
Ifugao: People of the Earth
Written and edited by Prof. Delfin Tolentino, Jr., Leah Enkiwe-Abayao, Analyn Salvador-Amores, and Marlon Martin
Published by ArtPostAsia and the Aboitiz Group of Companies
OVER THE last few years the Aboitiz Group of Companies has sponsored several handsome and informative coffee-table books as part of their corporate philanthropy, these are offered for free to schools and educational institutions. The books have ranged from collections of heirloom recipes to illustrated essays on trees and the environment. This year’s contribution focuses on the indigenous Ifugao communities of northern Luzon; their history, traditions and material culture with a strong emphasis on artifacts relating to spiritual rituals.
The editorial team and group of writers for this project was headed by Prof. Delfin Tolentino, Jr., formerly director of the Cordillera Studies Center at the University of the Philippines (UP), Baguio. Short essays were contributed by associate professors Leah Enkiwe-Abayao of the Cordillera Studies Center and Analyn Salvador-Amores, Director of the Museo Kordilyera at UP Baguio, and Marlon Martin who is Chief Operating Officer of the Save the Ifugao Rice Terraces Movement in Kiangan, Ifugao. The overall book and design development is another beautiful contribution to book publishing by Tina Colayco of ArtPostAsia, Inc.
The photographs, both contemporary and vintage images illustrating this book, are as important as the text. The contemporary photos were taken by Jacob Maentz, an American documentary photographer based in Cebu. The numerous vintage photos were sourced from museums and private collections here and abroad, including the Banaue Museum and BenCab Museum here, and the University of Michigan, Newberry Library, and Michael Price Collection in the United Sates, among many other sources — even including rarely seen photos from the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Ifugao: People of the Earth, is not a definitive anthropological study, nor is it just a glossy travel pictorial for local and foreign tourists. It is, in fact, a very well- focused introduction and pictorial guide to the life and especially the traditional social and religious rituals of the Ifugao communities living in the highlands of northern Luzon around Banaue just north of Baguio. The contemporary photographs, almost all of which are of individuals or groups of people or ritual artifacts, are well captioned, giving the indigenous names of celebrations, ritual objects, the names of spirits, deities, and other pertinent information.
To add historical significance to the modern photographs, the book designers have carefully researched numerous photo archives and found vintage sepia and black-and-white images which show the same or similar events taking place a century or more ago. These old photos are carefully inserted beside the full color modern spreads, adding convincing visual evidence of the ancient roots of the Ifugao’s celebrations. These rituals revolve primarily around rice planting and harvesting, rites of passage for the young, healing the sick, and social prestige celebrations for prominent families.
Probably the most iconic images of the Ifugao culture are the ones of the Banaue Rice Terraces and those of their bu’luls, totemic male and female figures carved in wood, usually less than a meter tall, and used in rituals and as guardian figures. Building the rice terraces and the intricate system of waterways they required, virtually by hand, many centuries before the start of the European colonial occupation of the Philippines, was an amazing technological feat which involved the cooperation of the whole community over many generations.
The bu’luls were representatives of, and physical mediums for, the hundreds of spirits, deities, and ancestors that populated the Ifugao’s concept of the universe. These spirits could be called upon to provide omens and give assistance regarding rice cultivation and all other aspects of Ifugao culture and social life. Over the centuries, rituals were kept alive by mumbaki (shamans) and elders, both women and men, who remembered the oral histories of their communities and could repeat these in chanting ceremonies which could last for several days at a time.
The most beautiful and dramatic contemporary photos in the book are of the Punnuk ritual which takes place at the end of the rice growing season. All the villagers dress in their traditional finery, the men in bright red and black bahag (loin cloths) and head scarfs and the women in wrap-around woven skirts of the same material and white blouses adorned with heirloom trade-beads, mouther-of-pearl, feather, ivory and gold ornaments. With much chanting and singing and waving of leafy red dongla (cordyline terminalis) stalks, the men and boys of two villages challenge each other to a tug-of-war across a shallow mountain river. After much good natured struggle and splashing about in the cold river water, cheered on by the women folk, the wet and nearly naked winners take possession of a life-sized kina-ag — a “monkey scarecrow” made of rice stalks bound together with rattan. This kina-ag trophy, amply endowed with a prominent erect phallus as are many of the male bu’luls, is thought to ensure good rice harvests for the victor’s village in the coming year.
Over the last century and a half, the Ifugao communities in Northern Luzon’s Cordillera Central have been visited many times by foreign and local anthropologists, ethnographers, and photographers. The Germans Hans Meyer, Alexander Schadenberg, and Otto Scheerer each made forays into the mountains in the 1880s and 1890s, followed closely by the American naturalist Dean C. Worcester and his photographer assistant Charles Martin, both of whom photographed the Ifugao and other indigenous groups extensively. The American R.F. Barton lived with and studied the Ifugao in the 1920s and wrote about their culture in two sensitive and well-researched books. In the 1950s, Eduardo Masferré produced some of the finest ethnographic photographs ever taken anywhere in the world while living in northern Luzon. Just last year, Filipino photographer Tommy Hafalla published a beautiful retrospective collection of his excellent black-and-white photographs of the people of the Cordillera Central taken over the last 35 years.
Sadly, much of the historical documentation of the Ifugaos has been a record, at times lurid or demeaning, of their decline in the face of constant pressure from the forces of modern “civilization.” Standardized school books and foreign indoctrination has deprived them of much of their rich heritage. As the authors of this book point out, “This penchant for a uniform pedagogy transformed entire generations of Ifugaos to the ways of the dominant Filipino culture.”
This book, Ifugao: People of the Earth, is a happy exception. The photographs are beautiful and uplifting, and the narrative and documentation is positive and respectful. The authors repeatedly show how the current revival of the positive aspects of traditional Ifugao culture, through rituals and oral histories and the preservation of the Rice Terraces, creates powerful sentimental motivation for the local people to be proud of their ancestor’s accomplishments and the strength of their present communities. This book not only makes a positive contribution to the healing and growth of an often neglected people, it also introduces their culture to the greater Filipino community in a new and positive light. If the Ifugao can survive and grow and recapture their heritage, why not so many other ethno linguistic minorities languishing on the fringes of modern Filipino society?
In conjunction with ArtPostAsia and the Aboitiz Group of Companies, the Ortigas Foundation Library in Pasig, Metro Manila is distributing copies of the book for free to school libraries and other academic institutions. Contact Alma Buenafe at the Ortigas Foundation Library (631-1231) or make written requests on your school or library stationary. For students and individuals interested in doing further research on the Ifugao, the book offers an excellent list of reference material and acknowledges the many sources of photographs and ethnographic material used for their research.
(Jonathan Best is senior consultant at the Ortigas Foundation Library.)
THE Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) plans to conduct air talks within the first half of the year with Australia, Japan, India, Canada, and Papua New Guinea.
“We need air talks with India, Japan, Australia, Canada, Papua New Guinea. Hopefully, the first semester of this year,” CAB Executive Director Carmelo L. Arcilla said in a text message.
CAB said earlier that it intended to conduct air talks with the five countries plus South Korea, with which a deal was reached in November.
That month, the Philippines and South Korea agreed to expand capacity between Manila and South Korean airports. A memorandum of understanding was signed, increasing air entitlements between Manila and South Korean destinations, and providing unlimited traffic rights for carriers of both countries between all destinations outside Manila and all international airports in South Korea.
Budget carrier Cebu Pacific (Cebu Air, Inc.) is seeking reallocation of some entitlements in order to fly to India, as it plans to fly directly to Mumbai. The Philippine and India last held talks in 2005.
In the case of Papua New Guinea, the Philippines conducted negotiations which did not result in more entitlements.
Flight entitlements between the Philippines and Canada were last discussed during negotiations in 2014. — Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo
TOKYO — The prime ministers of Japan and Australia toured a military training camp outside Tokyo Thursday, as the two countries seek to bolster defense ties in the face of the North Korean crisis.
Malcolm Turnbull and Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe are hoping to thrash out a security agreement on joint defense operations and exercises, with one eye also on China as it expands its naval ambitions.
Diplomats are putting the finishing touches to the proposed defense pact, which would be the first of its kind for Japan and would make Australia Tokyo’s closest military partner after the United States. The pact would reportedly lay the ground for Japanese military exercises out of Darwin, the northern Australian city heavily bombed by Japan in World War II. “The (military) agreement, when concluded, will be a pillar of the Japan-Australia security cooperation,” said a Japanese diplomat ahead of the talks.
Both capitals say boosting military cooperation is vital given the tense situation in the region, with North Korea’s missile program bringing the world closer to nuclear conflict than at any time since the Cold War.
China’s steady expansion of its military and economic influence in Asia Pacific has also encouraged Japan and Australia to draw closer militarily.
Ahead of his visit, Mr. Turnbull urged the international community to keep up the pressure on North Korea.
“Japan and Australia are absolutely united in our resolve to ensure that the global community brings the strongest pressure to bear on North Korea… to ensure that the regime comes to its senses and stops its threatening and reckless conduct,” he said.
During his one-day visit, Mr. Turnbull will attend a special session of Japan’s National Security Council and visit Tokyo train station, one of the world’s busiest.
“We have heard the prime minister is a big fan of public transport,” the Japanese official said.
Also on the agenda for Mr. Turnbull is a meeting with Japanese business leaders as well as Tokyo police officials to discuss general counterterrorism efforts ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The two men will also discuss economic ties, with a joint push to eventually sign a vast Trans-Pacific Partnership deal. — AFP
NEW YORK — Houston Rockets forward Trevor Ariza and guard Gerald Green were each suspended two games by the NBA on Wednesday for a hostile confrontation with rivals in their opponents’ locker room.
The incident took place after the Los Angeles Clippers beat the visiting Rockets, 113-102, on Monday.
A league investigation that included more than 20 interviews with coaches, players staff and executives from both teams plus arena personnel determined Ariza and Green entered the Clippers’ locker room just after the game and engaged in what an NBA statement called “a hostile, verbal altercation” with several Clippers players.
The probe also concluded that fellow Rockets players James Harden and Chris Paul, a former Clipper, followed Ariza and Green into the corridor outside the opposing locker room in a bid to calm the situation and will not face disciplinary action.
Ariza and Green will be suspended for today’s Houston home game against Minnesota and a Saturday home showdown against the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors. They can return for a Monday home game against Miami.
The bans mar a weekend feature matchup pitting the Warriors, with the NBA’s best record at 36-9, against their nearest Western Conference rival in the Rockets, who are 30-12.
Green averages 15.6 points and 3.2 rebounds a game this season for the Rockets while Ariza averages 12.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 steals a game for Houston.
Clippers star Blake Griffin and Ariza were both ejected during the fourth quarter before the row spilled into the locker room, the Rockets gaining access through a back entrance to continue the feud after the game before security guards intervened. — AFP
