. >> translator: that militia uniform was mine. i was here when i was 18 years old, not working for the hotel, but as part of the university militia. >> reporter: half a century later, the hotel is still a major tourist attraction. >> translator: the hotel has managed to create something not common in hotels. that is to appeal to people's interest in history. >> reporter: a history that in some ways has come full circle with the arrival of new hollywood stars, new world leaders and, again, the americans to the hotel national. >>> lots more to come here on al jazeera. two years after egypt's massacre, the families continue their search for justice. plus sri lanka hopes the election will give the economy the boost it needs to grow. pore omore on that. stay with us. >> welcome back. a recap of the top stories on al jazeera. chemical experts are investigating the sites of two massive explosions in the chinese city of tianjin. at least 55 people have died and more than 700 injured. the u.s. is investigating reports of chemical weapon use

. >> that militia uniform that you see there was mine. yes, i was here when i was 18 years old. not working for the hotel, but as part of the university militia. >> half a century later the hotel is still a major tourist attraction. >> the hotel has managed to create something not common in hotels. that is to appeal to people's interest in history. >> a history that in some ways has come full circle with the arrival of new hollywood stars. new world leaders, and again the americans to the hotel nationa nationale. lucia newman. al jazeera, havana. >> the new cooking fuel in africa. >>> plus. >> i'm bernardmi on top of of a roof. that with one earthrer this roof will come crashing down. >> and a game at the west bank 15 years in the making. >> the death toll from the northeast city of tianjin has risen to 150. >> it infected almost 30,000 people and killed more than 11,000. >> if the current intensity is sustained, the virus can be defeated by the end of this year. that means going to zero and staying at zero. fears that the virus could become permanently established in human being

the militia versus the army and in the iraq time there were more military contractors in iraq than uniformed personal which is an amazing thing to think about. can you talk about who fights america's wars and why that matters. >> guest: absolutely. let me first explain many people do know me from the don't know much about series and history that was published 25 years ago. i was a very small child when it first appeared. but that book was written in a question and answer format. i tried to ask about like what does the declaration of independence declare, and then kind of off beat and corky questions like why is there a statue of benedict arnold's boot. and we can come back to that because he is interested. this book is different from the don't know much about series which was written in the question and answer format and a refresher course. all too many people say to me exactly what you said a moment ago. history is so dull, it is so boring the way they teach it. it is dates and battles and this is battles but not boring battles. i never had that sense as a child growing up, our summer vacat

soldier isn't uniform they would come toward the end and then we would see is the militiamen said you have to different armies fighting for the patriot cause those that were part of the state's militia as well as those who joined up with those continental forces joining up with george washington and washington was appointed general nathanael greene as part of the southern forces after 1778. after the american revolution the indian trade was over and farmers filled up the back country in increasing numbers of land secessions with the cherokee to push them all the way out of georgia. the initial farmers that lived in this area were producing tobacco made eighth came from the virginia or the carolinas that was the cash crop. through the '70s and '80s and '90s greasy the people in the countryside producing large numbers of tobacco that was put in and moved into town. basically into big barrels turned on their side the axle put through the center and fox up to which team of horses and rolled into town. that is how people made their money it would be called tobacco row because they followed the ridges to keep it go through the low-lying areas where it could get wet proposal that was the c

uniform you see was mine. yes, i was here when i was 18. not working for the hotel, but as part of the university militia. >> half a century later, the hotel is a major tourist attraction. the hotel created something not common to hotels. a history that in some way came full circle. with the arrival of new hollywood stars. again, the americans. to the hotel nationale >>> japan is marking the 70th anniversary of its defeat in world war ii. prime minister shinzo abe is expected to issue an apology for his country's role in the war. it comes a few weeks after one of the biggest countries apologised for using american p.o.w.s as forced labour. no apology has been extended to chinese victims systems. >> reporter: he remembers the beatings, but mostly the relentless hunger. he was 21 when captured by japanese soldiers and sent to dig for coal in a mine operated by a giant japanese company, mitsubishi. >> i was always hungry, no matter how hungry we were, we had to work. >> in all, 10 young men were abducted from a chinese village, where he still lives. 3,700 men were rounded up from other parts of china and shipped to japan. he was one of 17 for

militia versus the actual members of the continental army and all the way to the iraq war, you get into how at one point in time there were more military contractors in iraq than military personnel, uniformed, which is kind of an amazing thing to think about. and so can you talk a little bit about who fights america's wars and why that matters? >> absolutely. let me just explain, first of all, that many people do know me from the don't know much about series, don't know much about history which was published 25 years ago. [laughter] i can't believe -- well, i was a very small child when it was -- [laughter] first appeared. but that book was written in a question-and-answer format. i tried to ask very basic questions about american history like what does the declaration of independence declare, what three-letter word isn't in the constitution. that's not so basic, but it's kind of interesting. and then kind of offbeat and quirky questions like why is there a statue of benedict arnold's boot, and we can come back to that because he's an interesting character. this book is very different from the "don't know much about" series which was written in that question-and-answer format and was suppo