The top or most interesting stories from Japan for January 29
– After the Jordanian and Japanese governments failed to secure the prisoner swap with ISIS by sundown, they were granted an extension.
The Jordanian government are prioritising the life of their captured pilot, Mu’ath al-Kaseasbeh; and with ISIS having failed to provide proof-of-life, the Jordanians put brakes on the sunset swap.
Some well-rounded wraps of the situation can be found here at Reuters or New York Times.
– During the scramble to get to the proposed meeting spot, a Japanese journalist was killed in a car crash near the Turkey-Syria border.
– An analysis from The Japan Times argues Japan was not ready for its desire to become a global player. Despite knowing for months that the now executed Haruna Yukawa and captive Kenji Goto were being held by ISIS, this was not considered when a Japanese nation security council sat down to discuss Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s planned Middle East aid announcement.
Now, with Abe having entered the 2012 election with a priority on shifting Japan’s foreign policy weight, this hostage crisis seems to have caught them off guard.
– Japan and the United Kingdom have organised a new joint security framework which will likely benefit Japanese arms manufacturers. Prime Minister Abe, as part of his global player push has continued to lift Japan’s bans on exporting arms, which began before his term.
– With China and Japan at loggerheads over the Senkaku Islands dispute, a man in Beijing has set up the Diaoyu Islands Malatang Noodle Shop (the Daioyu Islands being what the Chinese call Senkaku), complete with counter shaped like an aircraft carrier.
