The SITE Intelligence group has acquired footage that appears to show the execution of the Japanese journalist a week after another Japanese hostage was killed by the so-called Islamic State.
A video purportedly by the militants says "the countdown has begun." Japan says it's still trying to secure Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto's release. The Islamists want $200 million for their release.
In a message to Japan's prime minister, the group said it will kill the men unless it gets $200 million — equivalent to Japan's pledge in nonmilitary aid to countries facing threats from the group.
But Manuel Valls said the country wasn't at war with ordinary Muslims or their religion. His remarks came ahead of a 488-to-1 vote to reauthorize French airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq.
By the summer of 2014, a third of Iraq was under the control of the self-proclaimed Islamic State or ISIS, and people worried the capital might be next. Six months on, that's changed.
