Japanese PM Abe: Our top priority is the hostages’ lives

The Islamic State threatened Tuesday to kill two Japanese hostages unless a $200m ransom was paid in the next 72 hours. The first response from Tokyo was: We will not give in to terrorism. The Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo postponed his joint news conference with his host, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem as it was about to start Tuesday morning. He then vowed to save the hostages.
“Their lives are the top priority,” he said.

The threat was announced in a new video by a jihadist with a British accent. Last week, in Cairo, PM Shinzo announced a contribution of $200m of non-military assistance to the international coalition battling ISIS.