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Islamic State militants have affirmed through their Internet radio station that the group killed Japanese hostage Haruna Yukawa.

A video distributed Saturday on the Internet showed what appears to be a Japanese hostage saying that a fellow Japanese captive had been executed and outlining a new militant demand for his release. In the video, the hostage, a man identified as Kenji Goto, a Japanese journalist, appears to be holding a photo of his countryman, Haruna Yukawa, who has been beheaded. The case has drawn a great deal of attention in Japan and spawned a crisis for the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who had vowed to do what he could to save the two men. Abe said...

The five most miserable countries in the world at the end of 2014 are, in order: Venezuela, Argentina, Syria, Ukraine, and Iran. In 2014, Argentina and Ukraine moved into the top five, displacing Sudan and Sao Tome and Principe. The five least miserable are Brunei, Switzerland, China, Taiwan, and Japan. The United States ranks 95th, which makes it the 14th least miserable nation

FOX News reported that ISIS announced the hostages were dead. A tweet from a Twitter account linked to ISIS said the hostages had been killed “because of Japan’s choices.” The tweet, on the same one that previously posted the countdown clock, warned that a new video was “being sent to production.”

The deadline imposed by ISIS for Japan to pay $200 million to free two captives passed, starting what the terrorist group called a countdown clock on Friday, even as questions swirled about the authenticity of the initial tape and whether the pair is even alive. A tweet from a Twitter account linked to ISIS said the hostages had been killed "because of Japan's choices." The tweet, on the same one that previously posted the countdown clock, warned that a new video was "being sent to production." Intelligence sources told Fox News the claim the hostages had been killed could not...

Last week, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged $200 million in non-military assistance to support countries affected by the campaign against ISIS during an ongoing six-day Middle East tour. Today ISIS released a video threatening to kill two Japanese hostages unless they receive a $200 million ransom in the next 72 hours. What the media is not telling you is the true scoop: one of these two Japanese is a Muslim jihadi who converted to Islam and that Tokyo is unlikely to pay a $200 million ransom to free the two hostages and if they are beheaded (which most likely they...

Nearly 50 per cent of all Japanese adults are not having sex, according to a study, dealing a new blow to government efforts to halt the sliding birth rate. The report, conducted by the Japan Family Planning Association, determined that 49.3 per cent of the 3,000 people interviewed had not had sex in the previous month. Of the men interviewed, 48.3 said they had not had sex for a month, while 50.1 per cent of women had abstained. Both figures were up about 5 percentage points from the previous study, conducted in 2012. Asked why they were not having sex,...

Japan's Prime Minister vowed Tuesday to save the lives of two Japanese hostages, one a freelance journalist and the other a soldier for hire, threatened with beheading in an online video purportedly released by the Islamic State terror group. In the video, identified as being made by the Islamic State group's al-Furqan media arm and posted on militant websites associated with the extremist group, a militant threatened to kill the men unless a $200 million ransom was paid within 72 hours. If confirmed to be from Islamic State, better known as ISIS, the video would mark the first public demand...

The Islamic State (ISIS) group threatened to kill two Japanese hostages unless Tokyo pays a $200 million ransom within 72 hours, in a video posted on jihadist websites on Tuesday. In the video, a black-clad terrorist brandishing a knife addresses the camera in English standing between two hostages wearing orange jumpsuits. “You now have 72 hours to pressure your government into making a wise decision by paying the $200 million to save the lives of your citizens,” he says. The terrorist says that the ransom demand was to compensate for non-military aid that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to support...

It was a mission like no other. In the aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse, one businessman armed with cash and a casino cover story scooped the world to buy the unfinished hulk of a Ukrainian aircraft carrier that would become the centrepiece of the PLA Navy. Speaking to the media for the first time, the Hong Kong-based businessman at the heart of the undertaking reveals in a two-part series the details of the little-known, behind-the-scenes odyssey to realise China's long-held dream of owning such a warship. Xu Zengping disclosed that the militarily sensitive original engines of the carrier were...

TOKYO — Ever find yourself in a really awkward or compromising situation? The kind where you wish the earth would split open and swallow you up, or you could somehow be whisked away to some magic faraway land where you’d never have to show your face to the real world again? We’re pretty sure that’s what this 55-year-old university lecturer was feeling when he was found on campus, wearing nothing but his birthday suit. How he ended up that way is an even more interesting issue. According to the letter posted on Taisho University’s website, the part-time lecturer (whose name...

Military Spending: In the face of an expansionist China seeking to dominate the East and South China Seas, Tokyo has set its largest defense budget ever to help defend islands that it rightfully considers Japanese territory. As its military, economy and ambitions grow, so too does China's assertiveness about control of the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the larger South China Sea. Chinese military doctrine refers to establishing dominance over what it calls the "first island chain," which encompasses the East China Sea. Beijing has long declared the South China Sea to be its territorial waters and has...

TOKYO, January 9. /TASS/. North Korea has requested Russia to provide it with Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo daily has reported citing a military source. The particular proposal was made during the November visit to Russia of Choe Ryong Hae, a top Communist Party official and close ally to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. “Choe Ryong-hae, who visited Moscow as a special envoy of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in November last year, asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to provide Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets,” the report said, citing the source. North Korea is capable of producing...

Japan is trying to sell Britain submarine-hunting patrol jets to replace the RAF’s axed Nimrod planes, as the country pushes arms exports for the first time in decades. Officials proposed a sale of P-1 maritime patrol aircraft last year during a visit to the UK, in a deal that could top £600 million. Britain scrapped its own Nimrod patrol planes after the 2010 cost-cutting defence review and has since had to rely on allies including France, Canada and America to fill the gap. The Ministry of Defence admitted last month that it had called on allies to send four planes...

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe will "express remorse" for World War II, the Associated Press reports. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday that his government would express remorse for World War II on the 70th anniversary of its end in August. [Snip] He said the government would draft a new statement "that includes Japan's remorse for the war," though he stopped short of saying it would apologize. The Japan Times has more on the move:

Tumbling oil prices could prove to be a boon for the many Asian economies that depend on crude imports. With oil at its lowest price in more than five years, governments in countries such as India and Indonesia can spend money on much-needed infrastructure and other growth projects without stoking inflation. Falling crude prices also give China’s flagging economy a boost, allowing its central bank—and others in the region—to ease rates even as a recovering U.S. looks to do the reverse, economists say. Combined with loose monetary policy and a gradual recovery in global demand for goods and services, falling...

A nudge by air in 2013. A probe by sea in 2014. Will China take a crack on land in 2015? For the sake of world peace, let's hope not. However, China's nudge and probe record, especially over the last two years, should worry diplomats and alert headline writers. In 2013, China tested Japanese and South Korean political and military reactions by extending its Air Defense Identification Zone over contested islets and maritime boundaries. Tensions spiked as Tokyo and Seoul threatened retaliation. Beijing's 2014 sally into the South China Sea -- a huge oil exploration ship entering disputed waters off...

A picture has just emerged on the Chinese internet showing that construction of the first Type 055 destroyer may have started. The Type 055 guided missile destroyer is the next generation destroyer designed for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN or Chinese Navy). According to Chinese sources, the picture was taken last week at the Changxing Jiangnan shipyard (member of CSSC - China State Shipbuilding Corporation) near Shanghai. It shows a sign with the mention "Commencement Ceremony for the Construction of 055 destroyer number 1". Such ceremonies are common practice in Chinese naval shipyards and should the picture be authentic,...

TOKYO — Japan plans to draw up a law to speed the deployment of troops overseas for peacekeeping operations and to support allies, reports said Sunday, in a move that could strain relations with neighbours wary about Japan’s wartime history.

In hopes of persuading a nervous coalition partner and skeptical public, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday mapped out a three-step path for allowing Japan to use force to defend allies without altering its pacifist constitution. "We're now facing disadvantages because we don't have" the ability to exercise the right to collective self-defense, Abe told the upper house budget committee Wednesday. By spelling out his plans in detail, Abe hopes to sway the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's dovish coalition partner, New Komeito, which has been reluctant to go along with his effort to expand Japan's military role. The prime minister...