ISIS' deadline to free Japanese hostages has expired

(Image credit: Yuriko Nakao/AFLO/AFLO/Nippon News/Corbis Images)

ISIS posted a "countdown clock" warning it would kill two Japanese hostages if a ransom were not paid in time, and the deadline passed on Friday afternoon in Asia with no word of the hostages' fate.

Before the deadline passed, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan would "use every diplomatic route" to save the hostages, but he said Japan would not pay a ransom fee to release them. ISIS had demanded $200 million for the men's release.

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Meghan DeMaria

Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.