Royal Navy – In a daring dawn raid, members of the 1st Battalion the Parachute Regiment and the SAS freed 6 British Army hostages being held by rebels in Sierra Leone. The Paras suffered casualties of 1 killed and several wounded. The Royal Navy ship Sir Percivale, in Freetown harbor, is being used as a casualty receiving ship.

• BBC News: Bloody end to Sierra Leone hostage drama
• BBC News: Dramatic rescue operation
• Daily Telegraph (registration required): Paras free hostages in jungle
• Daily Telegraph – John Keegan (registration required): Gang’s bold front collapses in the face of real soldiers

Royal Navy – Part of Portsmouth naval base is to be handed over to a civilian shipbuilder, with day-to-day maintenance of warships in the remaining naval area also being privatised. The Royal Navy is making the changes in an attempt to ease its financial plight.

• Times of London (registration required): Navy retreats at Portsmouth

East Asia Background – The Japanese and Chinese have agreed to provide each other with advance notification of future maritime incursions.

• Economist: New tensions twixt Japan and China