Hostage beheading ‘unforgivable’ – Abe

TOKYO: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday branded the murder of a Japanese hostage by Islamic State militants as “outrageous and unforgivable” and demanded the immediate release of a second captive, amid growing global revulsion.

The apparent beheading of self-employed security contractor Haruna Yukawa was announce d in a video generally agreed to be credible, and appeared to mark a grave turn of events in a crisis that has gripped Japan for nearly a week.