Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 25, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A5 winnipegfreepress. com WORLD WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, SUNDAY, JANUARY 25, 2015 A 5 Directions Beat eggs. Add oil, sugar and vanilla; continue beating until thick and foamy. Stir in zucchini and pineapple with a spoon. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and spices; stir into zucchini mixture until well blended. Add nuts and raisins; stirring until well blended. Bake in 2 well greased loaf pans at 350 F ( 180 C) for 60 minutes. Cool in pans for 10 minutes; then turn onto wire rack to cool further. Servings: 6 Metric Ingredients Imperial 3 eggs 3 250 ml oil 1 cup 500 ml sugar 2 cup 10 ml vanilla 2 tsp 500 ml unpeeled zucchini, coarsely grated 2 cup 1can crushed pineapple, drained ( 14 oz / 398 ml) 1 750 ml flour 3 cup 10 ml baking soda 2 tsp 2 ml baking powder 1/ 2 tsp 5 ml salt 1 tsp 7 ml cinnamon 1 1/ 2 tsp 3 ml nutmeg 3/ 4 tsp 250 ml walnuts, chopped 1 cup 250 ml raisins 1 cup SPICY PINEAPPLE BREAD T OKYO - Japan's prime minister said today he was " speechless" after an online video purported to show one of two Japanese hostages of the extremist Islamic State group had been killed, and demanded the release of the other. Shinzo Abe said on NHK TV the video was likely authentic and offered condolences to the family and friends of Haruna Yukawa, a 42- year- old adventurer taken hostage last year. He declined to comment on the message on the latest video, demanding a prisoner exchange for journalist Kenji Goto, the other hostage, noting the government was still working on the situation. He declined to elaborate and reiterated Japan strongly condemns terrorist acts. " I am left speechless," he said, stressing he wants Goto released unharmed. " We strongly and totally criticize such acts." Yukawa's father, Shoichi, also faced Japanese media today and said he hoped " deep in his heart" the news of his son's killing was not true. " If I am ever reunited with him, I just want to give him a big hug," he said. U. S. President Barack Obama condemned what he called " the brutal murder" of Yukawa, saying he stood by Japan in a desire to get Goto released. The Associated Press could not verify the contents of the message, which varied greatly from previous videos released by the Islamic State group, which now holds a third of both Syria and Iraq. The Islamic State group had threatened on Tuesday to behead the men within 72 hours unless it received a $ 200- million ransom. The Kyodo News agency reported Saturday's video was emailed to Goto's wife. Patrick Ventrell, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said U. S. intelligence officials were also working to confirm whether it was authentic. Abe said after a cabinet meeting late Saturday the government of Japan will not succumb to terrorism and will continue to co- operate with the international community in the fight against terrorism. Japanese diplomats left Syria as the civil war there escalated, compounding the difficulty of reaching the militants holding the hostages. Abe spoke by phone with Jordanian King Abdullah II on Saturday, the state- run Petra news agency reported, without elaborating on what they discussed. He also called the two hostages' families. Goto's mother, Junko Ishido, told Japanese public broadcaster NHK in an interview that in the purported message her son, " seemed to be taking seriously what may be happening to him as well." " I'm petrified," Ishido said. " He has children. I'm praying he will return soon, and that's all I want." But Ishido also was skeptical about the voice claiming to be Goto. " Kenji's English is very good. He should sound more fluent," she said. One militant on the Islamic State- affiliated website warned Saturday's new message was fake, while another said the message was intended only to go to the Japanese journalist's family. A third militant on the website noted the video was not issued by al- Furqan, which is one of the media arms of the Islamic State group and has issued past videos involving hostages and beheadings. Saturday's message did not bear al- Furqan's logo. The militants on the website post comments using pseudonyms, so their identities could not be independently confirmed by the AP. However, their confusion over the video matched that of Japanese officials and outside observers. Japanese officials have not directly said whether they are considering paying any ransom. Japan has joined other major industrial nations in opposing ransom payments. U. S. and British officials said they advised against paying. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida expressed sympathy for what Yukawa's family was going through after the release of the video. " Fully aware of the unbearable pain and sorrow that his family must be feeling, I am at a loss for words," Kishida said. Kishida said he planned to issue a safety warning to all Japanese citizens travelling outside the country through its embassies around the world. Nobuo Kimoto, a business adviser to Yukawa, told NHK: " I was hoping he would be released, or at least that his life would not be taken." " I wish this was some kind of a mistake," he said. Yukawa was captured last summer, and Goto is thought to have been seized in late October after going to Syria to try to rescue him. - The Associated Press Video seems to show slain hostage Japanese IS captive depicted as killed MADRID, Spain - Spanish national police arrested four suspected jihadis Saturday in the country's North African enclave of Ceuta who allegedly had formed a terror cell and were ready to carry out an attack, the Interior Ministry said. Interior Minister Jorge Fern�ndez D�az said investigators, working with their Moroccan counterparts, were struck by the similarities between the suspected cell members and the two French brothers who killed 12 people in an attack upon the Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Paris. " These are two pairs of very radicalized brothers who are highly trained militarily, physically and mentally and are prepared to carry out an attack, and ready, according to the police, to blow themselves up in the act," Fern�ndez D�az said. Two houses in Ceuta were searched in Saturday- morning police raids and four men, all Spanish citizens of Moroccan origin, were arrested, the agency said. Officers found an automatic pistol, ammunition, military fatigues, faceconcealing hoods, Spanish vehicle licence plates, large machetes, knives and documents. The ministry said the four were following instructions given by the al- Qaida in Iraq leader, Abu Bakr al- Baghdadi, via what it called " a powerful and aggressive communication campaign" including jihadi Internet forums and websites. Al- Baghdadi is now the leader of the extremist Islamic State group, which controls about a third of Iraq and Syria. Investigators were still assessing the cell's " infrastructure to carry out terror attacks in the country," the ministry said. - The Associated Press Spanish cops bust alleged terrorist cell NEW YORK - Bigger names in global terrorism have been tried in New York's federal courts before, but there has never been this kind of security all at once: assault rifle- toting federal guards at every entrance, Homeland Security vans surrounding the courthouses, searches, metal detectors and sign- ins required for all trial visitors. As a terror trial gets underway for a lone defendant in twin bombings of U. S. embassies in Africa nearly two decades ago, fears over the terror attacks in Paris and unrest a world away have raised security at the city's federal courthouses to levels not seen since the days after the Sept. 11 attacks. But even with the ramped- up security that includes the recording of passing licence plates, courthouse administrators said it was important the doors be kept open and anyone who enters be able to do so without fear of intimidation. " No event here or overseas is going to shake that foundation," said Edward Friedland, judicial district executive for the Southern District of New York. Friedland and Chief Judge Loretta A. Preska both said they could not discuss specific security measures, though they noted assessments of security were frequently done and improvements often made, including construction of a new $ 10- million security pavilion alongside a federal courthouse that will prevent visitors from entering the 26- storey courthouse without being screened first. " It will make the place a lot safer because we will be screening people outside," Preska said. The ability to fully protect lower Manhattan during major terrorism trials conducted a short walk from the World Trade Center complex was called into question in 2009 when Attorney General Eric Holder announced professed Sept. 11 attacks mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed would be tried with four others in Manhattan. The decision was reversed after city officials protested loudly that security would be too costly and potentially disruptive, even to the city's economy. The five men remain incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay. Outside the courtroom door of Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who is presiding over the trial of an alleged al- Qaida top operative from the 1990s, every spectator must sign in and walk through an airport- style metal detector. Spectators must also sign in with court officers before entering court. The judge disallows cellphones and other electronic devices. Jurors at Kaplan's terrorism trials have been anonymous. Although security has been in place for earlier terror trials, a temporary wall has been placed between the courtroom and the screening device, presumably so jurors cannot see the tight security. There is no similar effort to hide security outside the courthouse, where a show of force seems to be the point. A police car outside the courthouse captures the licence plates of passing cars. Numerous Homeland Security vans are also parked around the courthouse. The security comes in a trial defence lawyers tried to get moved at the last moment seeking a two- month delay, citing websites in which they said al- Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula this month urged " Muslim brothers" to take " revenge" for the death in custody of Anas al- Libi, who was to have been tried with Khaled al- Fawwaz, the lone defendant. The lawyers claimed the threats make jurors " a potential victim and... personally invested in the outcome." The judge rejected the request, saying it was " totally without merit." Al- Fawwaz has entered a not- guilty plea to charges he participated in the bombings of U. S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. The attacks killed 224 people, including 12 Americans. Security outside two federal courthouses in lower Manhattan has been steadily increased since soon after the February 1993 World Trade Center bombing, which killed six people and injured more than 1,000 others. After that attack, it was learned terrorism suspects had discussed attacks against judges. For several years, judges assigned to terrorism trials were trailed by deputy marshals in the courthouse and in their personal lives. There are numerous security improvements at the courthouses over the last two decades, including the closure of one street to traffic, the placement of high- resolution video cameras throughout the area, the construction of bulletproof booths where guards remain around the clock and regular use of bomb- sniffing dogs. - The Associated Press Huge security for terror trial Extraordinary measures in NYC for embassy- bombing suspect By Larry Neumeister By Yuri Kageyama THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES An image from a previously released video purports to show the Islamic State threatening to kill Kenji Goto ( left) and Haruna Yukawa unless their demands are met. ELIZABETH WILLIAMS / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Khaled al- Fawwaz in court. By Harold Heckle A_ 05_ Jan- 25- 15_ FP_ 01. indd A5 1/ 24/ 15 9: 37: 45 PM ;