LOS ANGELES: Hollywood star Ben Affleck announced on Facebook that he has undergone treatment to combat alcoholism, as he acknowledged his ongoing struggle with the condition.
The Oscar-winning actor and director cited his children as a major motivation to pursue treatment, in order to “live life to the fullest and be the best father I can be.”
“I have completed treatment for alcohol addiction,” Affleck wrote in a Facebook post late Tuesday. “This was the first of many steps being taken toward a positive recovery.”
The actor then turned to his family.
“I want my kids to know there is no shame in getting help when you need it, and to be a source of strength for anyone out there who needs help but is afraid to take the first step,” he wrote.
“I’m lucky to have the love of my family and friends, including my co-parent, Jen, who has supported me and cared for our kids as I’ve done the work I set out to do.”
Once one-half of Hollywood’s famed “Bennifer” married couple, Affleck and his now-estranged wife Jennifer Garner announced plans to divorce in June 2015, one day after their 10-year wedding anniversary.
Affleck, 44, has Oscars for writing and producing. He directed critical and commercial hits “The Town,” “Gone Girl” and “Argo,” which won the best picture award at the Oscars in 2013.
His younger brother Casey this year took home a best acting Oscar for his starring role in the melancholy Hollywood hit “Manchester by the Sea.”
Garner is known for her breakout work in the spy drama “Alias” on television, and for various roles on the big screen, including a well-received turn in the 2004 hit movie “13 Going on 30.”
Ben Affleck says he’s undergone treatment for alcoholism
Ben Affleck says he’s undergone treatment for alcoholism
Japan’s beloved last pandas leave for China as ties fray
TOKYO: Two popular pandas are set to leave Tokyo for China Tuesday, leaving Japan without any of the beloved bears for the first time in 50 years as ties between the Asian neighbors fray.
Panda twins Lei Lei and Xiao Xiao are due to be transported by truck out of Ueno Zoological Gardens, their birthplace, disappointing many Japanese fans who have grown attached to the furry four-year-olds.
“Although I can’t see them, I came to share the same air with them and to say, ‘Hope you’ll be OK,’” one woman visiting the zoo told public broadcaster NHK.
The pandas’ abrupt return was announced last month during a diplomatic spat that began when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hinted that Tokyo could intervene militarily in the event of an attack on Taiwan.
Her comment provoked the ire of Beijing, which regards the island as its own territory.
The distinctive black-and-white animals, loaned out as part of China’s “panda diplomacy,” have symbolized friendship between Beijing and Tokyo since they normalized diplomatic ties in 1972.
Their repatriation comes a month before their loan period expires in February, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which operates Ueno Zoo.
Japan has reportedly been seeking the loan of a new pair of pandas.
However, a weekend poll by the liberal Asahi Shimbun newspaper showed that 70 percent of those surveyed do not think the government should negotiate with China on the lease of new pandas, while 26 percent would like them to.
On Sunday, Ueno Zoo invited some 4,400 lucky winners of an online lottery to see the pandas for the last time.
Passionate fans without tickets still turned out at the park, sporting panda-themed shirts, bags and dolls to demonstrate their love of the animals.
China has discouraged its nationals from traveling to Japan, citing deteriorating public security and criminal acts against Chinese nationals in the country.
Beijing is reportedly also choking off exports to Japan of rare-earth products crucial for making everything from electric cars to missiles.
However, China routinely removes pandas from foreign countries and the latest move may not be politically motivated, said Masaki Ienaga, a professor at Tokyo Woman’s Christian University and an expert in East Asian international relations.
“If you talk about (Chinese) politics, the timing of sending pandas is what counts,” and pandas could return to Japan if bilateral ties warm, he said.
Other countries use animals as tools of diplomacy, including Thailand with its elephants and Australia with its koalas, he added.
“But pandas are special,” he said. “They have strong customer-drawing power, and... they can earn money.”
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