Tag - syria

 
 

SYRIA

WORLD
Feb 17, 2015
Syrian Army moves step closer to surrounding key rebel city of Aleppo
The Syrian Army backed by allied militia has captured several villages north of Aleppo from insurgents and blocked a main supply route leading into the northern city amid heavy fighting, a group monitoring the war said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2015
Artwork by Kenji Goto on display at Tokyo gallery
Journalist Kenji Goto's efforts to aid people living in conflict zones may have gone widely unnoticed if his kidnapping and beheading by the Islamic State militant group had not caused outrage worldwide last month.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 13, 2015
Islamic State says it's holding Israeli spy in Syria
The Islamic State group said on Thursday it was holding an Israeli Arab who had posed as a foreign fighter in order to spy for Mossad, an account denied by Israel and by the man's family, who said he had been kidnapped.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2015
Syria-bound photographer fears passport confiscation sets dangerous precedent
A freelance photographer who was prevented from going to Syria when the Foreign Ministry confiscated his passport in the wake of the Islamic State hostage crisis this month expressed concern Thursday his case will set a precedent that will undermine freedom of the press in Japan.
WORLD
Feb 12, 2015
Obama asks Congress to authorize war on Islamic State
U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday sent Congress his long-awaited formal request to authorize military force against Islamic State, meeting swift resistance from Republicans as well as his fellow Democrats wary of another war in the Middle East.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 12, 2015
Widow of Paris gunman reportedly in Islamic State territory
A magazine run by the Islamic State militant organization has published an interview with the French widow of a Paris hostage taker, its first official claim that Hayat Boumeddiene is in their territory, which spans parts of Syria and Iraq.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Feb 11, 2015
A search for meaning in the arc of Goto’s life and the horror of his death
The frenzy of the hostage crisis and the visceral terror of the Islamic State group's executions have for a moment ushered Syria into Japanese youth's sphere of concern.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 11, 2015
Mueller was among hostages sought in failed rescue, says Obama
Kayla Jean Mueller, the U.S. aid worker whose death as a captive of Islamic State extremists was confirmed Tuesday, was among the hostages sought in a failed U.S. rescue attempt last year, President Barack Obama said.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 11, 2015
Aid agencies see many more migrant deaths in Mediterranean amid curtailed patrols
Inadequate naval patrolling means ever more migrants from Africa and the Middle East will die trying to cross the Mediterranean, aid agencies warned on Tuesday, as Italy appealed for a "more vigorous" European response to tackle the crisis.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 11, 2015
Parents of slain Islamic State hostage confirm U.S. woman's death
U.S. aid worker Kayla Mueller, held hostage by Islamic State militants for 18 months, is dead, her family said on Tuesday, but the circumstances were unclear and President Barack Obama vowed to hunt down the culprits.
WORLD
Feb 11, 2015
At least one other American being held hostage in Middle East: White House
At least one other American is being held hostage in the Middle East, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on Tuesday following confirmation of the death of U.S. aid worker Kayla Mueller.
WORLD
Feb 10, 2015
Obama to seek new authority for Islamic State fight by Wednesday, congressional aides say
The White House will ask Congress for new authority to use force against Islamic State fighters by Wednesday, congressional aides said on Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2015
At hostage crisis peak, Tokyo balked at opening channel with Islamic State: radical scholar
Japan opened a communication channel with Islamic State in the decisive stages of the recent hostage crisis but was unwilling to use it to start negotiations, according to a Tokyo-based Islamic scholar who served briefly as an intermediary.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 9, 2015
U.S. delivers arms to Lebanon, says fighting 'same enemy'
The United States delivered more than $25 million worth of military aid, including heavy artillery, to the Lebanese army on Sunday to help it fight jihadi groups that have repeatedly battled with security forces near the Syrian border.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 9, 2015
Jordan says it waged 56 strikes in three days against Islamic State targets, degrading 20% of jihadis' capabilities
Jordan's air force chief said on Sunday his country's jet fighters had conducted 56 bombing raids in three days against Islamic State militants in northeast Syria, targeting key bases and arms depots.
WORLD
Feb 7, 2015
Islamic State punishes cleric who objected to pilot's fiery death
An Islamic State cleric who objected to the group's decision to burn to death a captive Jordanian pilot has been removed from his post and will be put on trial, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday.
WORLD
Feb 6, 2015
U.S. moves rescue assets to Iraq in fight against Islamic State
The United States has sent search and rescue assets to northern Iraq in recent days, bolstering its ability to recover coalition personnel in the U.S.-led air campaign against Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, U.S. officials said on Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2015
Abe condemns Islamic State's slaying of Jordanian pilot
The apparent execution of Mu'ath al-Kaseasbeh, a Jordanian air force pilot captured by the Islamic State, is “inhumane” and “despicable,” the prime minister said.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2015
Goto's tweets document his courage, sadness for victims of war
Poignant messages sent by executed hostage Kenu00adji Gou00adto on Twitter before he was taken hostage bear silent witness to his courage as a journalist in a conflict zone.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 2, 2015
Abe wants to enable SDF to rescue citizens overseas
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to discuss granting the Self-Defense Forces a mandate to evacuate Japanese nationals from crises overseas.

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