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JAPANESE OFFICIALS ARE investigating a purported message from the extremist Islamic State group about the two Japanese hostages it holds.
The message claims one hostage has been killed and demands a prisoner exchange for the other.
The contents of the video have not yet been verified. It varied greatly from previous videos released by the Islamic State group.
Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said cabinet ministers were holding an emergency meeting about the new message.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters as he rushed into his office that the release of the new message was “an outrageous and unforgivable act. We demand their immediate release.”
Kyodo News agency said the same video has been emailed to the wife of one of the hostages.
The Islamic State group had threatened on Tuesday to behead the hostages within 72 hours unless it received a €270 million ransom.
Japan has scrambled for a way to secure the release of 47-year-old Kenji Goto, a journalist, and Haruna Yukawa, a 42-year-old adventurer fascinated by war. Japanese diplomats had left Syria as the civil war there escalated, adding to the difficulty of contacting the militants holding the hostages.
Goto’s mother made an appeal for his rescue.
“Time is running out. Please, Japanese government, save my son’s life,” said Junko Ishido.
My son is not an enemy of the Islamic State.
Ishido said she was astonished and angered to learn from her daughter-in-law that Goto had left for Syria less than two weeks after his child was born in October to try to rescue Yukawa.
Japanese officials have not directly said whether they are considering paying any ransom. Japan has joined other major industrial nations in the Group of Seven in opposing ransom payments. U.S. and British officials said they advised against paying.
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These medieval nutters cannot be defended in any way, no matter what one might think of western policy in the region.
OMG, they’re messing with the wrong country, if they have enraged Japan. They won’t take the same oul” softly softly approach that Europe takes to these outrages.
Europe specifically Western Europe has being slowly committing cultural suicide for decades now. Too many bleeding hearts racked with colonial guilt for crimes they did not commit.
Fortunately countries such as the US, Russia and China are made of sterner stuff.
Not defending isis but unfortunately what happened in the past is influencing the present
And the US, Russia and China are hardly paragons of human rights themselves
As I recall the Japanese were pretty handy at the head chopping business themselves during ww2 but I only heard that from some survivors of the Burma Railway business,can’t link to them because most have died.
Red thumbs for facts?
The us backed the taliban against the Russians. Remind me how that worked out. Fast forward to present day and they backed isis against Al assad.
Those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them.
David your right this murder is ok because someone else did something and that’s an excuse to kill innocent people.
The murderer is to blame David no one else.
Maybe Europeans are more civilised than your gun wielding enthusiastic Americans.
No Chris. If you read my first comment in my first sentence I said I am not defending the murder of innocent people. But to ignore the fact that a lot of modern conflicts are caused by previous actions is a bit naive and an over simplification of the situation.
We can’t change the past but we can learn from it. So the next time some radical group pop up. Let’s not give them money and weapons so they can’t run amok!
Japan had an extremely cruel past but unlike Islam Japan has moved with the times to become one of the most civilized countries in the world and one of the worlds great economies.
The Japanese were a brainwashed people just like many Muslims, one swearing allegiance to their divine Emperor the other thinking the word of Allah is unquestionable and commit cruel and barbaric acts in his name because its part of Islamic teachings.
Yes some Muslim countries have put their oil wealth to good use but human rights remain a major problem in these countries.
Charlie Hebdo attacks, Boko Horam, child abuse, mother and baby homes, homophobia, sexism, Islamic state, Al Qaeda.
I think we’ve established that religion isn’t such a great idea.
Especially one religion in particular.
They’re all dangerous Scipio. Islam, Christianity, scientology, Hinduism etc. This country’s destroyed by the conservatism and backward thinking that we’re only now getting out of.
Yes those Christian and Hindu suicide bombers have being really makung the headlines lately.
The worst part of being an atheist is not been able to tell them when they die
It’s a well known fact that no atheist had ever done anything bad.
*has
Mother and baby homes, children abused by priests and nuns, symphysiotomies undertaken on the advice of the church, discouragement of contraception usage, persecution of the LGBT community around the world. You’re right. Christianity is harmless. I must be mad to think otherwise.
Did the founder of Christianity Jesus Christ actually advocate any of that though? I seem to recall that he stopped from getting stoned to death? ‘he without sin cast the first stone’
Mohammed on the other hand was an advocate of stoning women to death for adultery, sacking cities. enslaving his dead enemies women and children, and engaging in sex with pre-pubescent girls. Pretty much the type of stuff ISIS and Boko Haram are into today.
The Soviet Union and North Korea have more than their fair share of blood on their hands.
And the old testament says rape is OK if you marry the girl and pay her father. Death is an appropriate punishment for a non-virgin bride, gay man, lesbian, atheist, wearer of mixed fabrics, shaved man, man with a haircut, eater of prawns, pagan, disobedient child, person of special needs. There’s more but I’m rambling somewhat.
Are you going to ignore 3/4 of your book?
Don’t go pretending that your religion is any less batsh!t crazy than theirs.
@Scipio:
JC, if he existed, which I doubt, was not the founder of Christianity. That was down to nutcases like Saul of Tarsus (“Saint” Paul) and later by Constantine for political control of conquered peoples.
We’re still entangled in the whole disgusting process – but people are waking up.
The Internet is a second Enlightenment!
@scipio Show us one quote that came directly from this jesus fella . The entire bible was written by other people. Besides nothing he is quoted as saying is exactly a mind blowing revelation. Do be an a-hole pretty much sums it up. A 10 year old could figure that out for themselves.
It’s a terrible world I fear for the future of our children too many lunatics of all race and creeds out there
The more countries these savages p.ss off the quicker there end will come . The world will only tolerate them for soo long .
Actually the world is by and large a better place than it has ever been. That said the threats posed by the extremists (both sides) need to be dealt with. The world has always been a nasty place and in general much nastier than the present. See below link.
The good news there running out of money….
Those head hackers have all the financial backing they need. Unfortunately they will never run out of money.
As long as they have oil rich Saudi, the United States and Rothschild behind them they will certainly not run out of money.
Their job will not be over until they overthrow the Syrian Government with Iran in the cross hairs after that.
You’re running out of fighter, has you’re now using young kid soldiers. You called yourselves Islamist State…..which state? You “IS” don’t event scare us even a good horror more would be more frightening than you…you just bring shame and hates on all Muslim people! Charlie will get you meaningless lives..
Time to go Blitzkrieg with these savage animals, Now is the time when you actually need NATO and they just send a few planes. Give them all they’ve got, day and night bombing non stop, tanks, helicopters, special forces, all in one go. What’s the hold up?
I don’t mean this offensively but it probably is to some. If IS release a clip of a hostage and threaten to kill him. Could we not mobilise a million people to respond that if you do we’ll all draw a cartoon of Mohamed and then they’ll be responsible for the cartoons. They would have to reconsider I’d imagine.
just airdrop millions of cartoon flyers right on top of them. the entire landscape will be full of cartoons.
Maybe, this war being waged by the IS sand-monkeys, is’nt really about the “peaceful religion” versus the Western World, at all? Perhaps it’s gonna be down to an all-out, big-Daddy of a war between the forces of good & evil? One way or another, I suspect there’s gonna be a whole lot of “collateral damage” on all sides.
Western policies have been extremely hypocritical in regards to the ME. On the one hand they wish to destroy all national Governments as in Iraq, Libya, Syria etc. They imagine that the resulting chaos is easier to manage and manipulate than strong independent states. Here they will be proven, given time to have completely misjudged the situation to their own detriment. However they are now attempting to turn this fatal mistake in foreign policy into an excuse to increase Government surveillance over private citizens and increase police and military powers. Similar situation as the biggest false flag farce of all time ( see Architects and engineers, the truth about 9/11) in the US on 9-11 We now find ourselves in a similar situation as in N+zi Germany in 1938 to 40. The US have wittingly or unwittingly created their so called terrorists and of course the blowback. We must expect this as a result of the millions of ME people including women and children who have been murdered and displaced in the past few years in order to save the all holy ” PETRODOLLAR.” ISIS are a US creation who were meant to create havoc in the ME. They served very well as mercenaries in Libya and Syria, being very helpful in overthrowing one government and attempting to overthrow another, but got out of control in Iraq, so must be reigned in every now and again. Very interesting documentary on German TV “Deutsche Welle” a few weeks ago. I was personally very surprised to see this on MSM. They filmed vast amounts of goods and personal being delivered daily to ISIS across the Syrian border, most of it originating from an area very close to a US . NATO military basis. They also filmed well known ISIS and AL Nursa members crossing the border in both directions without hindrance. What they did not include in this report were the millions of litters of oil being transported in the opposite direction, thus contributing to the financing of ISIS and all affiliated groups to the sum of 2 to 3 million dollars daily. No border controls for many months now. ISIS have training basis in Jordan and Turkey availing of expert training from US and Israeli military advisers and financial funding from very close allies such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar. This is complete hypocrisy .
IE : Preparing perpetual war in the Mid East
3000 from the US well armed and trained “Moderate” Rebels Defect to ISIS – US Preparing 5,000 More
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40730.htm
Islamo-fascists are at war with us;we are at peace with them! This would never happen in China….
But remember, Chris Kyle is the bad guy
Fox News, ISIS Video Faked. Mainstream Finally Admit The Truth – See more at: http://yournewswire.com/fox-news-isis-video-faked-mainstream-finally-admit-the-truth/#sthash.EUD0UDSW.dpuf
http://yournewswire.com/fox-news-isis-video-faked-mainstream-finally-admit-the-truth/
Isis, faux news, same thing
In order to retain some sense of relativity here:
US regime has killed 20 to30 million people since WW2 . Where is the outrage here ? In our extremely parochial and narrow minds we tend to forget the reason for much of this hatred towards us.
http://www.sott.net/article/273517-Study-US-regime-has-killed-20-30-million-people-since-World-War-Two
Pat, the first detailed breakdown in your link clocked up the US as being directly responsible for all 1-1.8 million deaths in the Soviet-Afghanistan war because they “Lured the Soviet Union to invade Afghanistan”!!
I stopped reading at that point, because that sort of nonsense claim kind of renders the whole piece meaningless.
@ Alvina :The whole piece meaningless ? Ok if you wish subtract them from this 30 million, but do not forget to add the many, many more millions of innocent people that the USA have in the past 50 years injured and displaced . They are not counted here in the 30 million murdered people.
Pat, if you think its valid to attribute the entire death toll from the Soviet war in Afghanistan to the US based on some half-arsed claim that they “lured the Soviets to invade”, you must be either mad or seriously blinkered, or quite possibly both.
Avina, Please read once more
http://www.sott.net/article/273517-Study-US-regime-has-killed-20-30-million-people-since-World-War-Two
Pat, whilst I’m sure the US has engaged in many indefensible acts over the years and is certainly responsible for a great many deaths, the same could be said for pretty much any superpower of you were to use the kind of tenuous logic employed in your article, for example the Soviet Union could be held responsible for every death on all sides of the Vietnam war, as they were backing the North Vietnamese, etc. etc.
I know, people do not want to hear thisI it makes people feel uncomfortable.Torture?: North Koea can only learn much from the USA.
You’re definitely mad and/or blinkered if you’re trying to compare the US with NK.
Avina : 30 million murdered and many many more millions injured for the rest of their lives. You are a very sad person to put it mildly. . Sorry. I have lived in Vietnam and it is a total WAR crime what your friends have done there ,as in Iraq , Libya etc. You are complicit in wear crimes. Think about this.and can one day be called. ???
Pat, they’re not my friends and as I said they have done plenty of unjustifiable things, but because I don’t hate them as much as you I must be a sad person who’s complicit in their crimes??
Yeah whatever….
Avina, to put the record straight, I do not hate American people, but I have a very healthy dislike for their government. American citizens are decent people albeit rather naïve, struggling like they never did before. The middle class is becoming an extinct entity while the rate of poverty and incarceration’s is exploding dramatically. I suggest, as Ron Paul does, close the hundreds of military basis around the world and invest this tax payers hard earned money at home.
Fair enough Pat. My comment was really taking issue with the numbers claimed in your extremely biased link – going on the logic employed Yugoslavia was directly responsible for the 17 million deaths in WWI as it was a Yugoslav that precipitated the whole thing, but that would be a ridiculous argument to make right?
Such facile arguments detract from any point you’re trying to make that may have an element of validity.
ps. I still can’t see how I’m complicit in war crimes – another ridiculous claim which I certainly won’t be losing any sleep over!
@ Avina, Silence is complicity. Have you ever read anything concerning the plight of veterans returning from US (Wall street bank ) wars. ? They are treated like shit to put it mildly.
PS even the BBC ??? are admitting that the EU made some big mistakes in Ukraine, a point that I have been persistent in making for going on one year now.
Watch : BBC Ukraine
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30278606
Sorry to point it out to you Pat, but by your logic the entire world’s population are war criminals in some shape or form for not talking about some war crime or another. I suggest you contact the Hague with your discovery immediately.
Japan has a terrible record of cruelty. It’s well worth reading about ‘Unit 731′ and ‘Japanese war crimes’ on Wikipedia – unspeakably horrific stuff! Their atrocities continue today in the form of their dolphin killing and whaling. The international community should condemn Japan more for their evasiveness and refusal to acknowledge their crimes, and stubborn perseverance with barbaric activities
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