March 26, Tuesday, 2024　　

１．Major Japanese drugmaker Kobayashi Pharmaceutical says a person who took a health supplement it’s recalling has died of kidney disease. The product contains a type of yeast-fermented rice called beni-koji.　The company says it suspects the death is related to its product, and is investigating.　The person’s family contacted the company on Saturday night. The person had been taking the Beni-koji Cholesterol Help supplement since April 2021.　 2. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has again dismissed a view expressed by Russian President Vladimir Putin that Ukraine may have played a role in last Friday’s deadly attack on a concert hall near Moscow. Putin said on Monday that the attack was carried out by radical Islamists, but added that the atrocity may be linked to a series of attempts by “those who have been at war with our country since 2014 by the hands of the neo-Nazi Kyiv regime,” referring to Ukraine.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
3. Major League Baseball’s Ohtani Shohei has spoken to the media for the first time about his former interpreter’s alleged illegal sports gambling.　The Japanese superstar said he had no involvement in Mizuhara Ippei’s betting.　Ohtani spoke in front of about 100 reporters. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ manager, Dave Roberts, and senior executives of the team were also present.