(260329) — PRAGUE, March 29, 2026 (Xinhua) — Gold medalist Ilia Malinin (C) of the United States, silver medalist Kagiyama Yuma (L) of Japan and bronze medalist Sato Shun of Japan pose throughout the awarding ceremony for the boys single skating on the ISU Figure Skating World Championships 2026 in Prague, the Czech Republic, March 28, 2026. (Xinhua/Zhang Haofu)
Mayo Ide: Newly discovered video reveals last days of ex-model who vanished 2 many years in the past – TokyoReporter
TOKYO (TR) – A fading label on a 25-year-old mini-DV tape holds the newest clue within the chilling chilly case of Mayo Ide, the 18-year-old Tokyo artwork scholar who vanished with no hint in 1999.
For over twenty years, Tokyo Metropolitan Police and the mom of Ide have desperately sought solutions within the baffling disappearance. Now, newly found video footage is shedding mild on {the teenager}’s last days, experiences Fuji News Network.
Ide, a 171-centimeter-tall freshman at Tama Art University who briefly labored with a modeling company, dreamed of changing into an artist. Her life was detailed in six “search notebooks” compiled by her mom, Mariko, after her life was mysteriously derailed in August 1999. The 18-year-old abruptly backed out of an annual household journey to Aichi Prefecture, claiming she had a dentist appointment. She vanished the next day.
Initially handled as a normal runaway case, the Metropolitan Police Department’s First Investigation Division formally designated her disappearance as a chilly case in 2010. Detectives launched a full-scale probe, even asking Mariko to recreate the precise contents of their fridge from the day she vanished to pinpoint a exact timeline of Mayo’s final recognized hours.
When Mariko searched her daughter’s room after her disappearance, she discovered a number of peculiar gadgets lacking: a swimsuit used at a neighborhood pool the day prior, her PHS cell phone charger, a favourite T-shirt, and a lately bought artwork e book. Strangely, her journey toothbrush was left behind on the residence.
Determined to search out solutions, Mariko turned an investigator herself. She checked with the dental clinic to verify her daughter by no means arrived for her alleged appointment. She additionally tracked down the final VHS tape Ide returned to a neighborhood video store simply earlier than she disappeared—avant-garde director Shuji Terayama’s “Pastoral: To Die in the Country.”
Day journey to Enoshima
The investigation gained a renewed spark when a former college good friend lately uncovered an outdated video digital camera and tape in her household’s storage.
Shot in June 1999 — simply two months earlier than Ide disappeared — the 20-minute footage exhibits Ide and her movie membership pals on a day journey to Enoshima. Ide is seen sporting a light-weight inexperienced tank high, the precise merchandise of clothes that vanished from her closet and is believed to be what she was sporting when she went lacking.
While the footage introduced tears to her mom’s eyes, it additionally captured a cryptic last comment. As the chums ready to go residence, Ide sighed to the digital camera: “School is tomorrow… I have to cheer up.”
Her pals recall the remark as an informal criticism about college life, however the comment provides an eerie undertone to her subsequent disappearance.
Refusing to surrender hope that her daughter remains to be alive, Mariko continues to embellish her residence with conventional Hina dolls yearly for Ide’s birthday.
“Whether she is being held captive somewhere or has a reason she can’t return, I just want to tell her: ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t find you for 25 years. Thank you for surviving,’” Mariko stated.
Police proceed to hunt suggestions concerning Ide’s whereabouts. Anyone with info is urged to contact the Machida Police Station at 042-722-0110.
Concerns Rise Over Excessive AI Investment and Private Credit Risk
TOKYO, Mar 29 (News On Japan) –
A rising personal credit score market tied to the AI increase is rising as a hidden supply of concern for buyers, with commentators on TV Tokyo’s monetary program Morning Satellite warning that the danger could also be receiving much less consideration than it deserves as markets focus as an alternative on Middle East tensions and rising crude oil costs.
In the 139th installment of the explanatory section Mosate Wakaran, which was recorded in entrance of a dwell viewers for the primary time with Morning Satellite Premium members in attendance, the dialogue turned to non-public credit score and the potential risks constructing beneath the floor of the market.
Before entering into the principle subject, the hosts famous the sharp decline in Nikkei common futures, which had fallen by greater than 2,000 yen by the morning of the recording. They stated the market was being pressured by two main considerations: the rise in crude oil costs linked to instability within the Middle East, and one other much less seen however probably extra harmful problem, personal credit score.
One of the commentators stated that whereas the rise in oil costs is an apparent drawback due to its doable results on inflation, financial coverage and the financial outlook, dangers which are more durable to see can generally be extra horrifying. He stated that non-public credit score was one such danger and argued that the topic deserved renewed consideration amid the present market turmoil.
Recalling his expertise as a dealer through the world monetary disaster, he stated he had change into notably delicate to hidden dangers out there. He famous that through the Lehman shock, every day drops of 8% to 10% within the Nikkei common weren’t uncommon, and stated that historical past had made him cautious about indicators of monetary instability.
He then launched personal credit score as the primary of two themes for the session, calling it a “fearful tail risk” and warning that though the time period itself might sound summary and tough to know, the present state of the market ought to concern buyers.
According to the dialogue, the seen personal credit score market alone has expanded quickly since 2020 and has now swelled to report ranges. The audio system defined that the sector contains each capital already invested and ready capital put aside for future funding. A serious portion of this enlargement, they stated, has been pushed by info know-how.
Citing IMF knowledge, they stated info know-how accounted for 41% of personal credit score exercise over the previous three years as of 2024, with the proportion probably even larger now. Demand for funding surged first through the pandemic, when distant communication and digital programs grew to become important, after which continued to develop because the AI increase accelerated. The consequence, they stated, was a pointy enhance in financing demand from startups and different technology-related corporations.
The hosts stated AI-related demand was now spreading quickly even amongst Japanese corporations, with companies more and more speeding to undertake AI-powered companies. That, they stated, is one cause cash has poured into the software program and IT sectors, serving to gasoline the enlargement of personal credit score. At the identical time, they warned that if the AI bubble have been to burst, the injury might unfold instantly into the personal credit score market.
The program then moved to elucidate what personal credit score really is. In common, the time period refers to loans made on to unlisted corporations by non-bank lenders, together with funding funds and different monetary establishments. Such lending is usually structured via fund agreements and tends to contain low liquidity, which means buyers can’t simply withdraw their cash.
Particular consideration was given to BDCs, or enterprise growth corporations. These are listed funding corporations that present financing to small and midsize companies and enterprise corporations. Unlike conventional personal credit score funds, BDCs are publicly traded, which makes them extra accessible to particular person buyers.
That accessibility, the commentators stated, is a part of the issue. Because BDCs are listed and infrequently provide dividend yields of round 10%, they might have attracted giant numbers of retail buyers around the globe, particularly through the peak of enthusiasm surrounding AI-related investments. If these loans go dangerous, the danger would now not be confined to skilled buyers or rich people however might unfold way more broadly.
The dialogue additionally drew a distinction between personal credit score and enterprise capital. Venture capital usually entails fairness funding, whereas personal credit score is debt financing. That means debtors within the personal credit score market have a authorized obligation to repay principal and curiosity. As a consequence, what issues most will not be solely the corporate’s development potential however whether or not it might really repay the mortgage.
If debtors fail, the commentators warned, the results may very well be extreme. BDCs might undergo losses, their shareholders may very well be hit, and the injury might unfold all through the worldwide funding group. In the worst case, they stated, the issue might even have an effect on broader monetary stability.
They additionally argued that some observers could also be underestimating the size of the hazard as a result of solely the seen a part of the market is being measured. Even if the publicly tracked section seems restricted, they stated, many different lenders and financing preparations exist outdoors the obvious knowledge, which means the complete scale of the publicity could also be far bigger than it seems.
Another main concern raised throughout this system was that banks themselves are more and more offering loans to non-public credit score corporations. Data cited from the Federal Reserve confirmed that such lending has grown sharply over the previous 5 years, notably because the pandemic and the rise of the AI increase.
That, the hosts stated, creates the potential for a much wider chain response: if software program and AI-related corporations run into bother, personal credit score loans might bitter, BDCs and different lenders might undergo losses, buyers may very well be dragged in, and banks themselves might face injury as effectively.
They stated the problem ought to ordinarily be making a lot larger headlines, and famous that it had certainly begun drawing extra consideration in late 2025 and across the begin of this yr. According to this system, one cause the problem was thrust additional into the highlight was the position of Anthropic, which they stated helped deliver renewed focus to the rising dangers surrounding personal credit score.
Source: テレ東BIZ
(SP)PHILIPPINES-TAGAYTAY CITY-CYCLING-2026 ASIAN TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS
(260329) — TAGAYTAY CITY, March 29, 2026 (Xinhua) — Cyclists compete within the males’s elite factors race on the 2026 Asian Track Championships in Tagaytay City, the Philippines, on March 28, 2026. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)
Brice Turang supplies raise as Brewers deal with White Sox
(Photo credit score: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images)
Chad Patrick pitched successfully into the fifth inning and Brice Turang doubled twice to tempo the Milwaukee Brewers previous the visiting Chicago White Sox 6-1 on Saturday night time for his or her second consecutive victory.
Aaron Ashby (1-0) obtained the win with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless reduction. Patrick allowed one run on 5 hits in 4 1/3 innings, placing out 4 and strolling one. Angel Zerpa, Abner Uribe and DL Hall completed with a scoreless inning apiece.
Munetaka Murakami, who performed the earlier eight seasons in his native Japan earlier than signing with Chicago, homered for the second consecutive sport, a 409-foot leadoff shot within the fourth inning off Patrick to tug the White Sox inside 4-1.
The Brewers, who routed Chicago 14-2 within the opener Thursday, jumped on Sean Burke (0-1) for 3 runs within the first. Turang doubled to open, superior on a comebacker to the mound, and scored on Christian Yelich’s single. Jake Bauers singled Yelich to 3rd and took second on the throw. Garrett Mitchell adopted with a two-run single up the center.
Milwaukee added an unearned run within the second when Turang blooped a two-out double contained in the left area line and William Contreras walked. Yelich singled on an infield dribbler and Turang continued dwelling on Burke’s errant throw to first.
The Brewers made it 5-1 within the sixth when David Hamilton walked with one out, stole second and scored on Brandon Lockridge’s single.
The White Sox missed a possibility within the seventh when Colson Montgomery tried to attain from first on Austin Hays’ double to left, however was thrown out at dwelling on an ideal relay from shortstop Joey Ortiz to finish the inning.
Mitchell hustled up an insurance coverage run within the backside half when he singled with one out, stole second, and scored on Ortiz’s single.
Burke allowed 4 runs, three earned, on seven hits in 4 innings, placing out 5 and strolling one.
–Field Level Media
Tokyo lady handed 12-year time period over deadly stabbing of boyfriend she abused over baldness – TokyoReporter
TOKYO (TR) – The Tokyo District Court has sentenced a 26-year-old lady to 12 years in jail for the deadly stabbing of her live-in boyfriend two years. The case make clear a weird and merciless marketing campaign of home abuse centered round his secret hair loss, stories the Sankei Shimbun (Nov. 28).
On November 21, 2025, Kotomi Sato was discovered responsible of harm leading to loss of life for plunging a pair of scissors into the neck of her 26-year-old boyfriend, Yuya Koya, an elite licensed public accountant, inside his luxurious high-rise residence in Nakano Ward.
During the trial, prosecutors revealed a chilling dynamic of home violence during which Sato weaponized the sufferer’s deepest insecurity to maintain him below her management.
The courtroom heard that Sato, initially from Yamaguchi Prefecture, had stop her company job shortly after transferring to Tokyo. She racked up heavy money owed frequenting host golf equipment and finally labored within the dispatch intercourse trade to fund her life-style. In January 2024, she met the rich accountant on a courting app, and the pair rapidly started dwelling collectively.
By April, the sufferer confessed to Sato that he suffered from extreme alopecia and wore a wig to cover his situation.
Rather than providing help, Sato used the key to ruthlessly dominate him. According to messages on the chat app Line offered in courtroom, she would threaten to depart him over his look. She wrote, “You’re too bald. I want someone with hair after all.”
She routinely compelled him into submission by threatening to reveal pictures of him with out his wig on social media. Her management rapidly escalated into bodily violence, with the courtroom listening to she beat him till his face swelled and strictly monitored his every day actions.
The deadly encounter unfolded on the night of September 16, 2024. After a sushi date, the couple started arguing over a trivial matter. When the sufferer uncharacteristically stood his floor as a substitute of instantly apologizing, Sato resorted to her normal blackmail.
“If you don’t fix your mood, I’ll post a picture of you without your wig on SNS,” she threatened, later including, “I already posted it.”
After returning to the residence, Sato armed herself with a pair of scissors that includes an 8-centimeter blade. She claimed in the course of the trial that she solely introduced out the weapon “thinking he would calm down if he saw it,” and argued the deadly wound was a sheer accident that occurred throughout a 10-second wrestle.
The Tokyo District Court dismissed her protection. Noting that the scissors penetrated 6 centimeters deep into the sufferer’s neck and that he lacked any defensive wounds on his physique, the presiding decide dominated that Sato had forcefully swung the blade downward with a transparent intent to assault.
In handing down the 12-year time period, the courtroom condemned the malicious nature of the crime and the psychological torment Sato inflicted on the sufferer by exploiting his bodily vulnerabilities.
Late-Night Fire at Haneda Airport Station Disrupts Train Services
TOKYO, Mar 29 (News On Japan) –
A hearth was reported on March twenty eighth at Haneda Airport Terminal 1 and a couple of Station on the Keikyu Line, the place railway sleepers caught hearth shortly earlier than midnight, resulting in a short lived suspension of providers throughout all the Airport Line, though no accidents have been reported.
According to stories, a name was obtained at round 11:59 p.m. on March twenty eighth stating that smoke was rising from the tracks on the Keikyu Line’s Haneda Airport Terminal 1 and a couple of Station, a time that falls simply earlier than the ultimate scheduled trains on the airport line.
A complete of 19 hearth engines have been dispatched, and firefighters labored to extinguish the blaze, which was introduced underneath management roughly two hours later.
The Tokyo Fire Department mentioned that railway sleepers on the tracks had been burned, and no accidents have been reported.
Keikyu Corporation mentioned that providers throughout all the Airport Line have been quickly suspended because of the incident however resumed operations about one and a half hours later, affecting late-night airport entry providers.
The same hearth had additionally occurred on the similar station on February tenth, and authorities together with the Tokyo Fire Department are persevering with to analyze the trigger.
Source: TBS
Osaka welfare agency stripped of license over ¥15 billion subsidy rip-off – TokyoReporter
OSAKA (TR) – Kizuna Holdings, an Osaka City-based welfare enterprise operator, has been stripped of its licenses after fraudulently receiving roughly 15 billion yen in authorities subsidies by way of an employment scheme that exploited disabled people, stories the Yomiuri Shimbun (Mar. 28).
On March 27, the Osaka City revoked the designations of 4 “Type A continuous employment support” amenities operated by Kizuna Holdings (Kizuna HD) after uncovering the huge fraud. The metropolis is at present demanding the return of about 11 billion yen.
At the middle of the scandal is a scheme the corporate referred to as the “36-Month Project.” Starting in 2020, Kizuna HD employed disabled facility customers as operational workers, solely to dismiss them after six months so they’d revert to common “user” standing. They have been then repeatedly employed and fired in a cycle designed to artificially inflate “employment retention” figures and rake in large authorities payouts.
“We cannot evaluate their system as one built to support employment retention,” Shinichi Inoue, Director of town’s Operations Guidance Division, instructed reporters on Friday.
Audit
During an audit launched in August final yr, metropolis officers additionally uncovered the truth of the corporate’s touted “online employment” system. Investigators gathered testimonies revealing that many distant customers have been merely “watching videos at home.”
As the audit progressed, the corporate scrambled to cowl its tracks. Management abruptly ended the distant work possibility, ordering all customers to commute to the bodily places of work. The sudden change led to extreme overcrowding — with traces spilling out of restrooms — and induced immense misery among the many disabled employees.
One lady in her 20s, who joined the power as a result of distant work accommodated her adjustment dysfunction, developed a sleep problem as a result of stress of the sudden commute. “I just wanted to rebuild my life and reintegrate into society,” she lamented.
The scenario worsened after media stories uncovered the suspected fraud in November. In February, the amenities abruptly switched their work assignments to “cleaning only” below the pretext of defending jobs. Workers who had beforehand achieved information entry or artwork creation have been pressured into bodily labor.
“I was told it was ‘cleaning or nothing,’ even though I suffer from dizziness and physical labor is difficult,” one consumer reported to an area labor union.
“Grab subsidy money”
The founding father of Kizuna HD stepped down as director in December 2024. In a 2021 ebook, he claimed the corporate’s mission was to assist disabled folks “shine” by treating their traits as “talents.” However, former workers instructed reporters the undertaking was nothing greater than a “business designed to grab subsidy money.”
City officers additionally famous that the amenities routinely violated welfare legal guidelines by exceeding their 20-person capability limits and illegally leaking customers’ private data to the guardian firm.
Following the revocation of their licenses, Kizuna HD held a briefing for customers and workers on March 27, abruptly asserting that every one amenities will likely be shuttered by the tip of April.
The sudden closure has sparked panic among the many 334 disabled customers and 1,006 operational workers at present registered on the amenities.
“I was suddenly told about the closure. I am panicking about where to go next,” a feminine consumer in her 30s stated.
To mitigate the fallout, town and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare have established session desks to help the disabled people who’re all of a sudden shedding their help networks and incomes.
Taiwan detects 19 Chinese sorties, 9 vessels, 2 official ships round itself
Taipei [Taiwan], March 29 (ANI): Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense detected the presence of 19 sorties of Chinese navy plane, 9 naval vessels and two official ships working round its territorial waters as of 6am (native time) on Sunday.
Of the 19, 13 sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and japanese half ADIZ.
In a publish on X, the MND mentioned, ’19 sorties of PLA plane, 9 PLAN vessels and a pair of official ships working round Taiwan detected up till 6 a.m. (UTC+8) in the present day. 13 out of 19 sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and japanese half ADIZ. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the scenario and responded.’
https://x.com/MoNDefense/status/2038058565995577621?s=20
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense on Saturday detected general 15 sorties of Chinese naval plane as of 11:21 hours.
Of the 15, 11 crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered the northern, central, southwestern and japanese half ADIZ.
In a publish on X, the MND mentioned, ‘Overall 15 sorties of PLA plane in varied sorts (together with J-10, J-16, KJ-500, and so forth.) detected from 1121 hr in the present day. 11 out of 15 sorties crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered the northern, central, southwestern and japanese half ADIZ in conducting air-sea joint coaching together with different PLAN vessels. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the scenario and responded accordingly.’
https://x.com/MoNDefense/status/2037798066783412496?s=20
China’s declare over Taiwan is a posh difficulty rooted in historic, political, and authorized arguments. Beijing asserts that Taiwan is an inseparable a part of China, a viewpoint embedded in nationwide coverage and upheld by home legal guidelines and worldwide statements.
Taiwan, nevertheless, maintains a definite id, functioning independently with its personal authorities, navy, and economic system. Taiwan’s standing stays a major level of worldwide debate, testing the ideas of sovereignty, self-determination, and non-interference in worldwide regulation, as per the United Service Institution of India.
China’s declare to Taiwan originates from the Qing Dynasty’s annexation of the island in 1683 after defeating Ming loyalist Koxinga.
However, Taiwan remained a peripheral area below restricted Qing management. The key shift got here in 1895, when the Qing ceded Taiwan to Japan after the First Sino-Japanese War, marking Taiwan as a Japanese colony for 50 years. After Japan’s defeat in World War II, Taiwan was returned to Chinese management, however the sovereignty switch was not formalised.
In 1949, the Chinese Civil War resulted within the institution of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on the mainland, whereas the Republic of China (ROC) retreated to Taiwan, asserting its declare to manipulate all of China. This led to twin sovereignty claims: the PRC over the mainland and the ROC over Taiwan. Taiwan has operated as a de facto unbiased state however has averted declaring formal independence to forestall navy battle with the PRC, United Service Institution of India. (ANI)
Hyogo Governor Saito Not Indicted Over Information Leak
HYOGO, Mar 29 (News On Japan) –
The Kobe District Public Prosecutors Office determined to not indict Hyogo Governor Motohiko Saito and two others who had been criminally accused of violating the Local Public Service Act over the leak of personal data belonging to a former prefectural bureau chief, concluding that there was inadequate proof to assist the allegations.
The case facilities on the leak of non-public data involving a former prefectural residents bureau chief, who has since died, with a third-party committee established by the prefecture figuring out that former General Affairs Department Director Inomoto was liable for the leak and concluding that Saito and former Vice Governor Katayama had been extremely more likely to have instructed the disclosure.
Based on these findings, a gaggle together with college professors filed a felony grievance in opposition to the three people on suspicion of violating the Local Public Service Act, nonetheless prosecutors in Kobe dominated that there was inadequate proof to indict Saito and Katayama, whereas Inomoto was not indicted beneath a suspension of prosecution.
Saito commented on the choice, saying: “I understand this as the result of thorough and careful investigations conducted by the authorities.”
The Kobe District Public Prosecutors Office defined that the choice to not indict Saito was as a consequence of an absence of adequate proof to substantiate the allegations.
Source: YOMIURI
