Libyan government forces let at least 35 reporters go free. They were hold up in the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli.
It happened after Mahmud Nacua, the Libyan charge d’affairs at the Libyan embassy in London, urged the government forces to let the journalists go free.
CNN’s Mathew Chance said the government gunmen “…literally cast away their weapons and said they were sorry to us.”
South Korean news agency Yonhap, says their ambassador’s residence in Tripoli, was attacked by about 30 people. They stole “television sets and other gadgets”, but no-one was hurt during.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, is urging peace talks between rebel and government forces. Medvedev says Russia will consider establishing formal relations with the rebels if they can unite the country.
“I personally believe that the very fact that children from all over the world read and enjoy Doraemon is a testament to the fact that children are children no matter where they are.”–Masako Fujimoto
Fujiko F. Fujio, creator of the cartoon character Doraemon, died in 1996, but his creation lives on.
On September 3, a museum on the outskirts of Tokyo will open. It will have 50,000 Doraemon items, only 150 will be on permanent display.
Doraemon has been translated into more than 30 languages, and still enjoys popularity in many countries.
Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced that a U.S.$100 billion fund is being created, to help Japanese companies to use yen to buy foreign money, and take over foreign companies.
Noda says the fund is a response to the crashing U.S. dollar, which is forcing up the value of the Japanese yen. The more the yen is worth, the more expensive it makes Japanese exports. Already Japan has seen the effect, reduced sales to other countries.
The fund will loan money to Japanese companies, and investors, who will then use it to buy foreign money, and foreign companies. It’s hoped that action will bring down the value of the yen.
The Japanese government will counter speculators from abusing the fund, by requiring daily reports of financial transactions.
The Chinese government has expanded the use of the yuan in international trade deals.
Originally China restricted the use of the yuan to just five cities, for trade with Southeast Asian nations. Later it was expanded so 20 provinces could use the yuan in all their international payments. Now, the People’s Bank of China gave permission to all businesses in China, to use the yuan for international trade payments.
Chinese officials say the decision was influenced by the crashing U.S. dollar.
The Non-Life Insurance Rating Organization of Japan said insurance companies gained more than 2.51 million new earthquake contracts, since the 11 March 2011 megadisaster.
Not surprisingly the biggest gains were in the areas hardest hit: Fukushima Prefecture saw a 49.6% increase. Iwate Prefecture 26.4% increase. Miyagi Prefecture up 22.3%.
The Japanese government is about to vote on a standardized decontamination plan.
Here’s a list of suggested decontamination procedures for cities and towns:
High pressure washing of homes and buildings, including rain gutters.
Trimming of outer leaves and branches on bushes and trees.
Pulling up smaller plants and removal of top soil.
Washing roads, including flushing joints on asphalt and concrete roads, removing mud and dirt along roadsides.
All removed soil and plant material must be treated as nuclear waste.
The Japanese government will vote on a standardized plan on 26 August 2011. The amazing thing is that it’s been more than five months since the start of the ongoing nuclear disaster, and they’re just now coming up with a standardized national government decontamination plan.
The British Prime minister’s office is holding an emergency National Security Council meeting on Libya. The meeting is being chaired by Foreign Secretary William Hague.
Rebels claim they’ve found tunnels under the Bab al-Azizia compound. Sounds like fighting is taking place, rebels say they’re trying to “clear” the tunnels.
Despite many earlier reports from foreign reporters at the Rixos Hotel, saying rebels were threatening their lives, the BBC is now saying it’s Libyan government forces that’re doing the threatening. They say one of their reporters was threatened when he tried to leave the hotel.
Muammar Muhammad al-Gaddafi has taken a brief tour of Tripoli, just to prove he is still alive, and still in Tripoli. He’s made a TV address asking loyal Libyans to “cleanse the city”.
NATO responded with two air strikes. Witnesses say the explosions were huge.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs reports that one of their citizens was taken hostage by rebels.
President Obama is giving Libyan rebels $1.5 million in frozen Libyan funds. At the same time Germany is demanding that the United Nations give the rebels funds that were frozen under the UN sanctions.
Germany is also going to issue rebels a huge $140 million loan, within days.
What this means is the fragile Libyan rebel alliance (aka Transitional National Council) has run out of money to pay for military operations, which include mercenaries. A BBC report said the rebel alliance is so fragile that it could fall apart as soon as the war is over. It’s more likely it’ll fall apart if it runs out of cash.