Japan executes prisoners
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Japan hangs three prisoners in the country's second round of executions in less than two months.
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The Islamic militant group of Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi reportedly claims to have taken a Japanese citizen hostage in Iraq. In a video shown on the Internet, the group threatens to execute him if Tokyo does not withdraw its troops from Iraq in 48 hours.
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Two Somali men accused of killing government intelligence officers are executed in the capital, Mogadishu.
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The beheading of a Japanese hostage in Iraq renewed pressure on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to withdraw his country&#39;s troops, as the opposition blamed his pro-US policy for the slaying.
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Japan has vowed to keep troops in Iraq despite the beheading of one of its citizens by militants. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi&#39;s group had said it would killed Shosei Koda, 24, within 48 hours if Japan did not withdraw its troops.
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A Japanese schoolgirl who killed her classmate is sent to a juvenile correctional facility.
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A Japanese citizen taken hostage in Iraq has been executed, the Kyodo news agency reported Saturday. Shosei Koda, 24, was kidnapped last week, by the group linked to al-Qaida-affiliated militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
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Two former policemen convicted of the  rape and killing of a teenager were executed by hanging in a  north Bangladesh jail early on Thursday.
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Japan's government said it was trying to confirm news reports that the Islamic militant group of Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi had taken a Japanese citizen hostage in Iraq and threatened to behead him.
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Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura announces that Japanese govenment has confirmed that a depapitated body found in Iraq is that of Japanese hostage Shosei Koda during an emergency news conference in Tokyo Sunday, Oct. 31, 2004.
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TEHRAN -- Iran executed a defendant by hanging after a court convicted him of a bombing last week that killed 11 members of the elite Revolutionary Guards, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. Nasrollah Shanbe Zehi was executed at the site of the attack in Zahedan, capital of Sistan-Baluchestan province in southeastern Iran, the report said. The sentence was ...
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Japan scrambled on Friday to check a  report that an Asian body had been found in Iraq after a  deadline expired for the beheading of a Japanese youth whose  captors had demanded that Tokyo withdraw its troops.
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Japan scrambled on Friday to check a  report that an Asian body had been found in Iraq after a  deadline expired for the beheading of a Japanese man whose  captors had demanded that Tokyo withdraw its troops.
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PALU, Indonesia  - Three Christian militants   convicted of leading a mob that killed Muslims were executed by   an Indonesian police firing squad early on Friday amidst tight   security in Central Sulawesi province, police said.
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A death row inmate was executed early Friday for the 1992 rape and slaying of a 7-year-old girl.
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TALLAHASSEE, Florida  - Florida prison officials   on Wednesday executed a 48-year-old death row inmate for the   1982 murder of a Pensacola police officer in a case that   ignited debate over the use of lethal injection.
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Japan has made last-ditch efforts to secure the release of a Japanese hostage facing execution in Iraq. A Japanese government official says efforts are still being made to free Shosei Koda, 24, but there have been no reports of any progress.