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

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 by isil against kurdish forces in northern iraq. the incident is said to have happened on thursday.

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 beings in this part of africa have receded, and this is also regood news. >> well, the "world health organi

the bombings happened near the an mar university. the militia are helping the military to take back areas from isil in ramadi. meanwhile, thousands of people have protested in the capital of baghdad demanding an end to government corruption. the demonstrations have been backed by the top shia cleric. >> the momentum is growing. the most powerful political parties has joined what began as a spontaneous movement. he was backing the prime minister's push for reform. it didn't bother some civil rights activists even though he has members in government and parliament. >> we need support from different people in iraq. instead of certain members, it's important to us, they actually is too much. maybe about 50/50. >> reporter: people are no longer asking for better services. they want corruption officials to leave office and reform of the political system. they say they won't back down. >> translator: no one can stand in front of the iraqi people. the people taking the wealth of the country won't be able to do that any longer. >> reporter: but that won'

security forces say two car bombs struck military vehicles and a shia militia unit near anbar university. >>> in baghdad, thousands have rallied to demand an end to government corruption. the protests began earlier this month. police called for better public services. iraq's top cleric has backed the demonstrations. a verdict is expected for three al jazeera journalists facing retrial in an egyptian court. this is the seen in cairo at the moment. it's been a pretty frustrating legal battle for the three. the retrial was playinged by pl. they are accused of helping the now banned muslim brotherhood. they hope the hearing will end the long struggle to clear their names. >> reporter: for the past 20 months these al jazeera journalists have been waiting to hear the words not guilty. the judiciary has another chance to deliver the justice they say they deserve. mohamed, mohamed fahmi and peter spent more than a year of their lives in an egyptian prison. the men's fight for freedom began when they were arrested in december 2013. they were charged with aiding the now banned muslim brotherhood.