• ‘I am Kenji’ Facebook page rallies around Japanese hostage

    ‘I am Kenji’ Facebook page rallies around Japanese hostage

    Jan 29, 2015 07:24 PM EDT

    ... proof that the Jordanian pilot, Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, is still alive. The Thursday deadline passed without any word of the fate of the two hostages. A second Japanese hostage, Haruna Yukawa, purportedly was executed by the militant group. Goto’s wife Rinko said in a statement that she has ...

  • After hostage execution, Japan devotes 'all efforts' to rescue second from ISIS

    After hostage execution, Japan devotes 'all efforts' to rescue second from ISIS

    Jan 24, 2015 11:39 PM EDT

    ... it been like? HAJIME OZAKI: Yes, of course, most of the Japanese population are very much concerned and worried about the fate of the two hostages, and there was a press conference by one of the -- the mother of one of the hostages the other day, and it -- her appeal ...

  • No image

    Obama says terror group has killed Japanese hostage

    Jan 24, 2015 10:50 PM EDT

    RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- President Barack Obama is condemning what he calls "the brutal murder" of a Japanese hostage by the Islamic State group. Obama's statement doesn't say how the United States knows that Haruna Yukawa is dead, and the Japanese government is trying to verify an online ...

  • Japanese hostage reportedly executed in Syria

    Japanese hostage reportedly executed in Syria

    Jan 24, 2015 07:47 PM EDT

    A video released Saturday purportedly announced the execution of one of the two Japanese hostages being held by the militant group Islamic State in Syria.  Japanese officials condemned the apparent execution of Haruna Yukawa, a 42-year-old unemployed widower who went to Syria in July and was captured the ...

  • News Wrap: Ransom deadline passes for Japanese hostages held by Islamic State

    News Wrap: Ransom deadline passes for Japanese hostages held by Islamic State

    Jan 24, 2015 12:25 AM EDT

    ... his cabinet. Parliament has called an emergency session for Sunday on whether to accept the resignations. The deadline has come and gone for two Japanese hostages held by Islamic State forces in Syria. On Tuesday, the militants had threatened to kill Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa unless Japan paid $200 ...

  • News Wrap: Sydney mourns hostage victims

    News Wrap: Sydney mourns hostage victims

    Dec 17, 2014 01:41 AM EDT

    ... This makeshift memorial, one city block from the Lindt cafe, marks the loss of two innocent lives after a self-styled sheik took 17 people hostage. The prime minister, Tony Abbott, also laid flowers after admitting there were difficult questions to face. Why, for example, was the hostage taker, Man ...

  • Deadly hostage siege in Australia was ‘act of a desperate man’

    Deadly hostage siege in Australia was ‘act of a desperate man’

    Dec 16, 2014 12:30 AM EDT

    ... JUDY WOODRUFF: We return now to the deadly hostage standoff in Australia. Stuart Cohen is a freelance journalist based in Sydney. He's been reporting the story for NPR. I spoke to him a short time ago via Skype. Stuart Cohen, thank you for talking with us. First of ...

  • Hostage situation unfolds at cafe in Sydney

    Hostage situation unfolds at cafe in Sydney

    Dec 15, 2014 02:20 AM EDT

    Police are responding after at least one gunman reportedly took hostages at a cafe in Sydney on Monday morning. An unknown number of hostages are being held in an "armed incident," which is ongoing at the Lindt Chocolate Café in the city's central business district, Reuters reported. A black ...

  • Understanding the risks of rescuing hostages - Part 2

    Understanding the risks of rescuing hostages - Part 2

    Dec 09, 2014 02:12 AM EDT

    ... hostages may be killed during the initial abduction, attempting to resist. A hostage may be killed while attempting to escape his or her captors. A hostage may be murdered in cold blood by their captors, or a hostage may be killed during the course of the rescue. Of those hostages ...

  • White House defends deadly Yemen hostage mission - Part 1

    White House defends deadly Yemen hostage mission - Part 1

    Dec 09, 2014 02:12 AM EDT

    ... tried and failed to free American journalist James Foley, held by the Islamic State group in Syria. Foley and four other Western hostages were later beheaded by Islamic State members. The al Qaeda branch had no immediate response to the failed U.S. raid or the death of the hostages.