Conference. A ceasefire on two front lines in syria appears to be on shaky ground. We will have the latest on those negotiations. In the gaza strip, 10 years avisis withdrew all of its settlers, we will hear from palestinians and israelis about the effects of the socalled disengagement are still being felt today. It was the most devastating war of the 20th century, one that continues to shape much of the world now. It ended 70 years ago today. Many of the countries involved in the Second World War are holding their own commenrations. Some we will get to the in just a moment. Here is a look at the event did that led up to japans surrender. On may 8th, 1944, nazi germany sur rended. The soviet union said it would invade japan within three months. On july 26th, china, the u. S. And great brittain demanded japans Unconditional Surrender. Less than two weeks later, on august the 6th, the u. S. Dropped the first atomic bomb on hiroshima. The soviet union declared war on japan. On august 9th, the u. S. Dropped a second more powerful bomb on nagasaki. The soviet Union Invaded occupied china. Facing the imminent destruction of his nation, an Unconditional Surrender was announced. China and south korea have criticized the japanese Prime Minister for his lack of a direct apology. He expressed deep remorse over the past but said future generations should not be obliged to apologize. This report now from tokyo. He didnt find out about japans ceasefire until two days afterwards. It made little difference to him or his comrades, a 16yearold cadet says his naive nationalism had given way to the reality of war. He saw them fight and kill chinese. He was a soviet prisoner inside siberia. I, myself, did not kill an enemy or participate in a combative act but the military i joined invaded other countries, beat and humiliated people. Thats an inescapable truth. It was a military of aggression. 70 years on, japan is in the throws of a debate about how large a shadow that history should cast. The empirer was an 11yearold when his fathers surrender speech was broadcast. His message was one of peace and condolence. Reap reflect okay our past and bearing in minds the feelings of deep remorse over the last war, i earnestly hope that the ravages of war will never be repeated, together with all of our people, i now pay my heartfelt tribute to the all of those who lost their lives. Japans Prime Minister pledged his nation would never repeat the horrors of war but shinzo abi didnt use this occasion to talk of damage to neighbors. In his key statement marking this anniversary, he endorsed add policy but didnt restate them personally. Where this an veers reis known as liberation day, bringing to an end 35 years of japanese rule, it didnt go unnoticed. He said abis statement included a few regrettable points. China, Foreign Ministry said abi had been evasive on the issue of military aggression and should have made an apology to the victim countries. Neither by jing or seoul wolt have been impressed where 14 war criminals are honored. Abi wants to use this an versus riaz a watershed to prevent future generations toss continually apologize for world war ii actions. He says he wants to give japan the right not just to defend itself but also its allies as a normalized nation in the 21st century. The problem is the past he wants to move beyond is hugely devisive and in japans relationships with its nabors. His personal poll numbers have plunged. Public opposition to free up passvism is at 60 . His postwar mindset seems to be his main cause and he is determined to press on. Harry faucet. Members of the royal family are commemorating victory over japan. Simon mcgregor wood is life there for us whats planned for today . Reporter well, a pretty traditional commemoration. With the passing of the years, the numbers of those who actively participated in the fight against the japanese dwindled considerably. This may be the last meaningful anniversary with those veterans. How important does it become there for people, simon, given the fact that there are very few survivors now of that war . Reporter i think its being considered quite an important day because, in the postwar collective conscious of the british, the fight against the japanese was the lesser of the conflicts, the poor relative, the 14th army that fought through what was then called burma to take ran goon and accept the japanese surrender was often referred to in the postwar era as the forgotten army. Fight against the japanese didnt have the immedia immedia the nazi germany had, it was, after all, fought a very long way away on colonial land, imperial possession and some might say in defense of British Imperial positions. It didnt have that intimacy. The veterans of that conflict, as a result, have felt rather hard done by and there has been the very difficult issue to resolve the treatment of the prisoners of war, those british soldiers and civilians have fell into japanese captivity. 50,000 british servemen were captured, 12,000 died from starvation and mistreatment of the japanese. Has taken a long time to resolve as well. It has a peculiar place in the british collective memory. And i think today is the opportunity to the address the balance as the generation that fought and survived is finally, dying outed. Simon, thanks for that. Simon mcgregor wood reporting there on the commenrations there in london on the 70th anniversary of the end of world war ii. People near the scene of multiple blasts in northern china are being moved because of contamination fears. The death toll from wednesdays explosions has risen to 85. A team of nuclear and bio chemical specialists has been deployed to the area. Erica wood has the latest. Reporter the site of the explosion flattened buildings, many still burning three days on. The city Officials Say they dont yet know what was being store in the hazardous goods Storage Facility when it exploded. They have extended the evacuation zone to three kilometers. People are being turned away from their homes. I just bought some things and when i got to roughly number 9 street, i had to get out of the car because they blocked the road. I asked them whats going on . They said its still dangerous inside. You cant enter. Just now, Police Officers came over and said, everyone on the road has to go over there because over there, they are about to start the final battle against the fire. The death toll has been rising each day since the blast. More than 20 of those killed so far are Fire Fighters. Many more are still missing and angry family members who have been shut out of a News Conference demanded answers. Is translator its been three days and three nights since the explosion. I dont have any information of my son. We are so anxious and worried that we came here to find reporters. My son was in the first squad to arrive at the blast site. Reporter there are still people being rescued. This 19yearold firefighter was pulled out after being buried in the rubble for two days. As the days roll on and the fires continue to burn, there will be fewer stories like that. More families will likely demand answers as to where their loved ones are, why they cant return to their homes and what potentially Hazardous Materials is polluting their local air. Erica woods, al jazeera. Saturday marked 10 years since israel began its withdrawal from the gaza strip and parts of the west bank. Under the initiave of then Prime Minister aerial sharon, 21 british strip were bulldozed. 9,000 israelis were relocated from gaza. Some of them using force. The last of the Israeli Soldiers and Security Forces left the strip in 2005. Israel continues to control all aspects of life in the territory deciding who can enter or leave along with control of gazas airspace and coastal waters. Nprs tiab has more. Reporter there is no shortage of work to do in these fields. Every day,to dozens of farm ter cultivate this land. Alastal is one. He said up until 10 years ago, he never would have believed he would be able to grow his own crops. This was a large israel settlement. It was home to more than 8,500 israelis and a large Israeli Military presence. It was also off limits to most palestinians palestinians. Thats left are a few disused buildings. While alastal said he is happy they left as part of the disengagement of the gaza strip, he is angry at how things are now. Trans we live in a big prison. We cant move outside the gads strip which makes life hell for us. The occupation is the reason for all of our suffering as the israel is control everything. We deserve dignity. Reporter although israelis withdrew, israels government never managed to truly disengage. Without a political settlement with the palestinians, it exerted its control over gaza and its people through its ongoing economic siege and repeat rounds of military violence. The socalled disengagement of gaza sharply divided Israeli Society at the time when the deadline to leave expired on august 15th, 2005, the remaining settlers were removed by force. Aziz was one, originally from france, she lived there for nearly 20 years for what she describes as ideological reasons. She says many of the Israeli Settlers who were forced to leave still havent been able to rebuild their lives. I am angry at my government who didnt know how to cope with the hardships of the people, and still people are living here in temporary house 10 years after. Reporter that anger is overshadowed by what followed the socalled gaza disengagement. Avisis pulled out, hamas won a landslide victory in the 2006 general election and violently seized power shortly afterwards. Since then, hamas has fought three major wars with israel which killed several thousand palestinians. The continuing blockade has crippled gazas economy making reconstruction almost impossible. While most palestinians say they arent sure how much more suffering they can endure. They say they are still happy the settlers are gone. Joining us live now, imtiaz, the point was made in that report there that although there has been no physical occupation of gaza for 10 years now, the people there will remain very much under siege and thats not likely to change any time soon. Is it . Reporter indeed. Now 10 years since the socalled disengagement and israel, of course, its shadow looms very large. In fact, you can take a look and see remnants of this settlement. The settlement which is the a string of settlement that was right across the gaza strip known to the israelis as gus gush kativ. As we have been saying, role of israel hasnt changed. In fact, if anything, it has grown bigger. We have seen a lot of fighting, a lot of violence in the past recent years and more importantly, we have seen an economic siege as well. Lets talk a little bit more about this. With me now is a Palestinian Civil Society activist. Unjed. Here we are 10 years since the disengagement. What role does israel play in gaza today . The worst role that they have ever from 1976. Unilateral engagement has been imposed. They have been entering the basic materials to gaza. Also for the humanitarian cases, patience, they impose restrictions. Israel have three wars in gaza strip, destroyed what we witnessed in the streets. Tens of thousands of gaza houses destroyed, the infrastructure. The gaza, the worst humanitarian conditions ever passed. So we are to comet in poverty which is more than 50 of the population are under poverty line. Unemployment is over 60. Until now, the gaza cannot possess the land of the settlement. You can see, still destroyed buildings of the settlements where the israelis left it still as it is whichnent any kind of development controlling. 36 miles for fishing and for agriculture, we have about 300 to 500 meters that have been the restricted area for farmers. We lost the best for agricultural and the water, since the settlement, itself, they were confiscating our water, the acqui fer,ing when israel felt it was useless. Reporter you paint a very grim picture of what gaza is like today, 10 years since the socalled disengagement. You say israel plays the worst role. Lets look towards the future. What future do you see for gaza now here we are after three major conflicts with israel 10 years after their unilateral socalled disengagement . I am a gazan living here. Its difficult to plan for tomorrow. I dont know what to say about the future. Israel destroyed any infrastructure to plan for tomorrow. This is also responsibility of the international community. Gaza is a humanitarian case. Gaza in bad need for development. Not only humanitarian aid which is very important to alleviate the suffering of the people of gaza. But we have 18,000 graduates looking for the future with the no market, with no job market. This is the worst really, this is the worst conditions we are living in. Reporter thank you very much. Thats unjed sawaw, a Civil Society activist here in gaza giving a sense of what life is like here in this palestinian territory 10 years avisiss socalled disengagement. After you have been hearing from him, parents a grim picture account for the future gaza. All right imtiaz tiab reporting from gaza. Still ahead in this news hour, waging war on the syrian economy. How the opposition is using foreign currency to undermine the government. Plus. Until argentina where thousands of homes like this have been evacuated after the river thats about two blocks away flooded this area. And in sport, Jordan Spieth puts himself into constension for a third major victory of the year. The details later this hour. All of that still ahead. But first in syria, a ceasefire on two front lines appears to be at risk. Rebels fired mortars into the shia towns in i had lib prove incident. The government retaliated by attacking in the damascus countryside. Opposition controlled institutions in syrias allepo prove incident have begun to use turkeys currency instead of the syrian pound. Zeina khodr has more. Reporter now receiving wages in turkish lyra instead of syrian pounds. It it is one which shaz started to use turkeys currency. The area is behind the decision which will help the syrian economy collapse. The Islamic Court just like other rebel run organizations welcomed this decision and the people have welcomed being paid in turkish lyra. The syrian pound has lost value over the years when the civil war began in march, 2011, 1 usd could be exchanged for 47 pounds. The rate now is at least 190 pounds. Prices of basic goods, many of them now imported have risen dramatically. The local council beliefs the decision will help people because of the lyras stability against the dollar. Others believe it may be linked to turkeys plan in opposition controlled northern syria. The hope of turkish government to bring up a safe zone or secure zone, what we may call a de facto zone. The opposition decision might be in advance getting ready to govern in this area somehow. The turkish government hopes the military campaign to get rid of isil in the alleppo country side will strengthen rebel groups there and lead to a safe zone for refugees. It has been years since the government lost control of much of northern syria. It has been fighting to keep the western half of alleppo city which was once syrias financial capitol. There are reports that its main ally is suggesting placing the city under International Protection as part of a potential peace deal. The oppositions decision to stop using syrian pounds in the north is a sign rebels have no plans to reconcile with the government in damascus. It is seen as an indication of turkeys growing influence in this corner of syria. Al jazeera, beirut. ProGovernment Forces in yemen appear to be gaining more ground from houthi rebels, we are getting reports that troops loyal to hadi have taken control of the Security Headquarters in tiaz. The recapture of the Third Largest city would be a major gain for the antihowty forces. They say they are in full control of the 5th southern prove incident to be recaptured from the rebels. Joining us now from sanaa via skype is editor of the yemen post. Thank you for being with us. What more can you tell us about the latest fighting there . Reporter its almost over right now. The war, i mean. Yes, there is a lot of gains, major gains by the prosabia amlies and in shabwa prove incident in the south. The howe hows who are 10 days ago howe. Are the lower half. Thats why a deal reason reached soon with the houthis. These changes are happening. Houthis are beginning to understand that they cannot fight the entire region. They need compromise for the sake of yemen if they want yemen. Yemen right now is chaotic and mainly because of the houthis taking control and then suddenly, they are defeated in those areas. There are a lot of gangs and we do expect more gains to happen today towards the north border. The tide seems to be turning against the houthis right now in the wake of these victories by the forces fighting against them and you said there that the you think that the war is almost over, but i am just wondering, though, because other analysts will point to the fact that this is a lot of this is down to the houthi forces pulling back their forces by themselves. Is there a possibility that they may just be regrouping for a counterattack . Reporter not really. The houthis still do still have thousands of fighters, but again, on the ground, when you are defeated in numerous prove incidents, when you suddenly lose four or five provinces, that means there is something wrong, that your strategy is not working or that you are being defield. But right now, the houthis understand that they cannot move a country alone. They cannot be able to ensure yesme yemeni is peaceful. These realities, with the houthi leaders hearsay you can say difference in the zone from two weeks ago and today. And this was what was needed for the houthis to understand yemen cannot controlled by one faction. There needs to be a United Government that represents all of the factions. Thats why we see that the war will be almost over. There is a lot of compromise happening right now in the talks in oman. A lot of successes in the