'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
A former Tokyo Olympic organizing committee board member and three people from a clothing company that was a surprise sponsor of the 2020 Games were arrested on bribery suspicions Wednesday.
Haruyuki Takahashi, 78, a former executive at advertising company Dentsu, is suspected of receiving bribes from the former head of Aoki Holdings Inc. and two company employees, the prosecutors' office said.
Aoki, which produces "recruit suits" that youngsters fresh out of school wear for job interviews and their first jobs, was a surprise pick to dress the Japanese Olympic team when other nations had top fashion brands designing their athletes' outfits.
The alleged bribery, totaling 51 million yen (US$380,000) deposited into a bank account of Takahashi's company from October 2017 to March this year, is believed to be linked to sponsorship of the games and products related to the Olympics, the Tokyo District Prosecutors said in a statement.
Although corruption at top levels among Olympic officials had long been rumored, the arrest comes as a blow to Japan's Olympic ambitions.
Takahashi is credited with landing US$3 billion in local sponsorships for the Tokyo Games. Dentsu is a key player in many major Japanese events, including the Olympics. Japan also is pursuing the 2030 Winter Olympics for Sapporo.
Takahashi left the Dentsu board in 2009, but continued to wield considerable influence in the advertising and event organizing sector in Japan and headed his own company.
Aoki said it was still looking into the matter and did not have immediate comment. The Japanese Olympic Committee was not immediately available for comment.
Japanese media reports said Takahashi denied wrongdoing, stressing he was paid for consulting services.
Also arrested were Hironori Aoki, 83, who founded Aoki, his younger brother and deputy at the company Takahisa Aoki, 76, and Katsuhisa Ueda, 40, an executive at a group company, prosecutors said. The dubious payments were made more than 50 times, they said.
Prosecutors had raided Hironori Aoki's Tokyo home last month. Speculation is growing there may be even more arrests. Seiko Hashimoto, a lawmaker who was in charge of the Tokyo Olympics, has promised to cooperate with the investigation.
Tokyo hosted the 2020 Games, which included the Paralympics, with much fanfare -- as well as criticism, especially over the ballooning costs -- in summer 2021. The event was postponed by a year and held with no public ticket sales because of the coronavirus pandemic.
That came as a disappointment, as the games were supposed to drum up tourism revenue and put a spotlight on Japan's prowess in a similar way as the 1964 Tokyo Olympics did.
The official price tag for the latest Tokyo Games was US$13 billion, mostly public money. That was double the initial estimate when the International Olympic Committee awarded Tokyo the event, but less than the US$25 billion some had predicted.
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.