Japan 'won't give up on hostages' under IS beheading threat

Japan promised not to give up “until the very end” on efforts to rescue two Japanese hostages threatened with beheading by Islamic militants, after a deadline passed with no word from the captors.

Militants affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) group posted an online warning yesterday that the “countdown has begun” for the extremists to kill 47-year-old Kenji Goto and 42-year-old Haruna Yukawa.