is across the world. where you call home al-jazeera will bring in the news and current affairs that matter to. al-jazeera. and this is the scene live at the imperial palace in tokyo as we await the formal abdication of emperor akihito. the ceremony is expected to last for ten minutes or so you can see an assembled group of about three hundred attendants we understand that this is the formal ceremony under way.

and there you can see the emperor emperor akihito. at the age of eighty five he went to the people of his country two years ago to request that a law was passed in order to facilitate the application no man has abdicated from the throne in japan for two hundred years or so so this is completely unprecedented nobody in the world today has ever witnessed this before so it is truly historic that the day has started with some private rituals where the emperor and the empress has been engaged with various rituals that were not for public consumption.

and this is the beginning of the formal application.

moratorium. or not here going back about emperor of course. according to the national measures law on the imperial floor concerning the abdication of the emperor today he will abdicate from the throne he has been thirty years since the area. and we have. tried to go through a peaceful era and we as the people of japan have walked along with the emperor in this era during this time. the emperor has wished for the happiness and tranquility of the people and has julie conducted all official duties.

as a symbol of the people of japan. the japan had benefited from prosperity but at the same time we have been where met with natural disasters in this era. but during this time the emperor has come. and walked towards the people of japan during those disaster area along with disasters times along with the empress in order to give us assistance and help in prayer. as i reflect back on their reign look. i look back on the emperor and empress who has always prayed for the tranquility and peace for the people of japan and

here i would like to reinstate our gratitude to what you have done. and. we will move on towards a peaceful and hopeful japan towards the future and in order to do this we will make our utmost efforts to realize this for the emperor and empress. we wish for. more peaceful. years to come so here. we wish for their further prosperity for the imperial household and i would like to further extend my gratitude to you today.

much today those still mail. you know i will abdicate from the throne ending my official duties as emperor. that we have just heard. from the prime minister of

japan. as the representative of the nation of japan and so offer my sincere gratitude for your words since my intro mentor has been thirteen years. or my duties as emperor. to. carry on with it up with the course put into effect. through sincere ety and wishing for the peace of japanese people and that had been. a. my that has been my happiness in my duties as a representative and a symbol of japan and to be allowed to. partake in this task i offer my gratitude to morrow we will start the new imperial era. and my sincere. wish is for further tranquility and peace and this is the

wish of the empress and myself. that we don't know. here i would like to further wish for the welfare of the people and peace in the world.

well.

so this is a highly ritualized ceremony in quite brief i think we're coming to the end of it about ten minutes or so may you see emperor akihito and empress michiko now apparently leaving the room this is the state room inside the imperial palace in tokyo. where's been pretty much silent about from the clunking of shoes on highly polished floors prime minister shinzo abbey gave a short speech in which he expressed his gratitude the gratitude of the people of japan to the emperor and the empress for the juices they've carried out on behalf of the country and then we had a very short speech as well from the emperor himself whereby he formally abdicated

from his responsibilities as emperor of japan. so that doesn't seem to have concluded the ceremony there you see. this on the over the empress with the crown princess beside him wayne hayes our correspondent in tokyo he's been watching this and wayne this was a very very stylized ritualized ceremony wasn't it everything down to the last. was full.

yes exactly monti and you may say in true japanese fashion in fact as you mention an extremely brief ceremony last in just ten minutes or so inside a room in the imperio palace just as well it was indoors because it's extremely miserable conditions this evening in the japanese capital still some people have surrounded the palace to try to get a glimpse of some of the v.i.p.'s including the prime minister shinzo who went into the palace to take part in that ceremony as you mentioned giving a very short speech formally announcing the abdication of the emperor akihito this was a ceremony that was broadcast right around the country on television many people of course will be crowding around those t.v.'s around the devices as well catching a glimpse of the ceremony because this hasn't been seen in japan since eighteen seventeen that was the last time that we saw an abdication although an emperor and to get to this stage the government told japan's had to pass a law

a special one all for more to allow for the abdication because when the emperor akihito and. two thousand and sixteen said basically that that he wanted to abdicate in that televised address without actually saying the word abdicate he couldn't do that he couldn't say that it would because it was effectively illegal because there was no law to allow for the abdication but they you have it after a short ceremony the end of emperor akihito his reign and remind us wayne why akihito volunteered to abdicate. well he said in that speech in two thousand and sixteen there was a very surprise announcement that was televised in japan from the emperor that because of his advancing age because of his deteriorating health that he felt that he couldn't carry out his duties as emperor for much longer to the best of his

ability so he wanted to carry out a much quieter life as a say he couldn't say i want to abdicate because it was effectively illegal but he was sending a very clear message to this government that that was exactly what he wanted to do he can't just abdicate like i say that has to come from government has to come from parliament after he made that announcement opinion polls were very clear from the japanese public that they supported this he has been a very popular emperor and they believe he's carried out his duties very well he has brought a common touch to the position all vampyr and also to the imperial family so for that reason there was a lot of support for allowing him to retire and spend the rest of his years in a much quieter lifestyle so from that moment the government really had no choice but to apostle one all floor allowing for the abdication even though there was some opposition from some people some conservative elements from within japanese society

and from within conservative elements within the government itself they really had no choice they had to listen to the people they had to listen to the emperor himself and the rest of the imperial family and pass that law and his thirty year reign. pointed out has seen a huge amount of prosperity for japan but also he has ever seen some of the natural disasters. it's been a very difficult time for him there is no doubt from the moment that he took over in one thousand nine hundred eighty nine after the death of his father emperor hirohito hirohito waged war let's not forget and i think that during the reign of akihito he felt obliged really to spend a lot of his time trying to make amends for japanese actions during world war two and that is something that he did he had to walk

a very careful line in that regard because the position of ampara since nine hundred forty seven is a symbolic one he has no political power so he had to be very careful in what he was saying about japan's actions during wartime but he did express remorse on many many occasions and then as you mentioned there were many large natural disasters in japan during his reign and i think he made a very special effort to display that common touch that he wanted to throughout his reign you know he was down on his knees talking to some of the survivors of natural disasters particularly after the two thousand and eleven earthquake and tsunami struck areas along the coastline in japan he was seen inside some of those evacuation centers on his knees talking to common people if you like about some of their problems in the wake of that disaster and that may seem like a natural thing for a community leader to do but japanese people have never seen that before from their

emperor so he was really the first one to do that again those conservative elements within japanese society were very keen on that they believe that the emperor should be someone special he should not be on the same level as common people for want of a better term in japan that he should spend more time inside the palace focusing on traditions focusing on ceremonial judi's of the emperor rather than trying to win the support of the people but apparently emperor akihito didn't care about those concerns and he really want. to like i say bring a common touch to the role of emperor and to the family itself wayne thank you very much wayne hay is outside the imperial palace in tokyo in the rain that's wayne hey let's now talk to nancy snow who's professor of public diplomacy at curator university of foreign studies and she's also in tokyo but thankfully inside nancy we talked a little bit then about the reign of. and it's the chrysanthemum throne so does

narita the son now inherit the chrysanthemum throne or is it a new era completely. well the son has said that he was continue the progressive brain of his father we have so many questions though going forward will the sun actually expand on his interest in the environment some have speculated that perhaps he will get involved in climate change you know japan is a great supporter of the united nations sustainable development goals and i could see this new emperor actually shepherding that along because as i was saying in the earlier segment japan is at a unique location and that they're dealing with a lot of problems that are going to come around the corner and other countries so

as a global leader as the world's third largest economy is really a cultural superpower and having this blanket of protection if you will of this peace and security under the united states then they can delve into other areas social welfare areas the aging society robotics artificial intelligence there's so much that japan has given the world that has been very useful and has had utilitarian value in fact the three sacred treasures of japan that we saw symbolically being carried there is also a metaphor for durable goods that have been referenced throughout japan's post-war miracle having to do with automobiles and creating products that have value over time right so i really am hopeful that this new emperor he's well will get involved

in those issues right because this is a particular juncture in time business for japan where the t. is infringing upon tradition we've seen. a making his speech at this. deeply traditional ceremony but that we know that he wants to move japan on he wants to seize some of japan's sovereignty if you like to to break away from the yoke of american control to break away from the pacifist constitution so this is a a moment of great change one suspects. well you could you could even see it played out with the prime minister addressing the emperor and empress and then with the emperor addressing the top members of the cabinet of the prime minister abbay has a different frame if you will which is about changing updating normalizing

relations with the world which is it's a lot of coded speech for giving a more assertive military profile for japan and yet this imperial family has represented that continuity of peace that we've seen in seventy plus years and the emperor made it clear in his brief remarks to continue peace and tranquility and that is the most valued nation brand value in japan it is like the highest virtue when i ask my students about this what do you represent to the world they will say we are a peaceful country so peaceful and even an re watch which is about beautiful harmony wa is a is widely spoken around here that creating social harmony but also harmonious relations with the world so i think with it we're going to have a little bit of a kind of a rocky path ahead in deciding are we going to go with this agenda of the op

administration he may have to pull back on that because the next two years will be more about the international celebration of athletics and also bringing the world's top economies here so it won't be so much about updating the security arrangement that has been put upon japan and its constitution right mention the conservative element its elements and japanese society and they are definitely putting more of a pressure on ave so he. scot to deal with both sides here nancy snow thank you very much indeed for giving us that analysis after this is sturrock event there we're looking at the pictures again just a short while ago this is the formal abdication of emperor akihito. and he does remain emperor of japan actually until midnight and

not until in the morning that his son his oldest son not oh he will become will start the rituals which in turn will allow him to ascend officially formally to the throne so the very latest pictures there from japan on this historic day. well we're going to look at some other news now we're going to go to sit down because the main protest group there has accused the military of trying to break up a citizen in khartoum that's where the protesters have been gathering to demand an immediate handover to civilian rule mohamed vall has the latest from. southern tension at the city an outside the sudanese defense ministry demonstrators worried about an imminent attempt by the army to remove the barricades and disperse the protest the army had the nost it had agreed with the protest leaders to clear

the roadblocks and allow traffic to resume on several roads near the city but the opposition denied an agreement had been reached. it came shortly after third round of talks that concluded on monday the two sides agreed on writing a constitutional declaration that will organize the work of three transitional government structures a joint civilian military sovereign council a cabinet of technocrats and the transition of power moment. but all the details are still being discussed including the number of seats in the sovereign council how many members from each side and how long the transition should last before a general election can be held. very close to reaching an overall solution that will make everybody happy. to get the country out of this crisis we're still in negotiations to define powers in specialized roles so they can act as a base for us to define the different levels of representation in the government.

that. the proposal will be submitted within the next twenty four hours which will identify the power and relation between the transitional bodies and the different transitional institutions our city and will continue till our goals of the revolution for a civil transitional authority with all its executive powers is executed nothing will discourage us our peaceful resistance will continue. more than two weeks since the fall of the regime of model bashir the crowd at the sittin in front of the army headquarters only grew larger their commanding a speedy and from transfer of power to a civilian government. the city has turned into an open exposition ground for labor unions social movements come to groups professional and artistic associations young painters artwork on a colossal mural that's tended to gain a place on the guinness book of records and figure in mind and i love how. we

wanted to create a list of one million signatures of protesters and then we decided to decorate it with paintings that represent and celebrate the revolution we will be three thousand meters long and will go around the army headquarters as that's the space occupied by the sit in that the declaration with which these artists work is matched only by the unabated vigor of this crowd that's been braving the summer heat for weeks refusing to go home until a real change is achieved. prominent afghans amazing for a second day in the capital kabul to discuss talks between the afghan government and the taliban the meeting which is known as a lawyer jirga has been a way to bring afghans together for centuries but many including the taliban have boycotted this event saying it won't be productive among them the second most powerful man in the country afghanistan's chief executive of dollar abdullah the

catholic church in sri lanka will resume sunday mass on may the fifth after a break since last week's attacks the archbishop of colombo cardinal malcolm run just spoke earlier of his dissatisfaction with the government's investigation so far he urged it to take the right security measures before people take the law into their own hands. instead of going along with the government commission going into this depth there be any unduly discomfort we are willing to do that if they aren't uses the are already and necessary. if we're willing to do that the first few people in this country do not have any trust in government agencies and organizations anything to do us we are willing to do that we would be able to get the most. recent months and i just to see him coming.

and the sri lankan government's lifted a ban on social media which was put in place after last sunday's attacks the authorities said they had to block the sites to fight against what they called mis information. and if you want any more information about any of the danes stories you can get more detail lots of good pictures as well on the al-jazeera website al-jazeera dot com. take a look at the top stories here it out japan's emperor akihito has formally abdicated during the ceremony he thanked the public and said he prays for peace the ritual which involves handing over the chrysanthemum throne to his son took place at the imperial palace in tokyo crown prince now or he now becomes emperor this is the first abdication in japan for more than two hundred years sudan's main protest

group has accused the military of trying to break up a sit in outside army headquarters in the capital protesters have been demanding an immediate handover to civilian rule. socialist party have met to consider their next steps after their victory at the polls but they failed to win a majority said they may have to form a coalition and that could take weeks. prominent afghans amazing for a second day in the capital kabul for discussions between the afghan government and the taliban the meeting known as the loya jirgah has been a way for bringing afghans together for centuries the catholic church in sri lanka will resume mass on may the fifth after a break since last week's attacks the archbishop of colombo cardinal malcolm ranjit spoke earlier of his dissatisfaction with the government's investigation so far in it to take the right security measures before people take the law into their own

hands. instead of going along with the government doing this there would be any need to really discuss we are willing to do that. uses the up. and. if we're willing to do that because people in this country do not have any trust in government agencies and organizations and. we are willing to do that we get. to see you coming. in the sri lankan government lifted to family social media which was put in place after last sunday's attacks the government said it had to block the sites to fight what it called mis information coming out next it's the stream. a university degree to be a doctor or a teacher but without any study or exam one hundred one east investigates the pakistani company at legibly selling fake degrees to the thousands of police around

the world on al-jazeera the days monday today might be a little harder of a slog than the usual monday because saturn is about to go retrograde saturn's a planet of discipline and structure and having to just go with the growing so rather than focusing on so much the outer thore like your boss writing you to heart you have to listen to your in authority and get it turton touch with your own sense of discipline i'm sam reynolds and astrologer and you are in the stream. and i'm listening to my inner authority it's unclear when human beings started looking up at the stars and planets for guidance solace our comfort perhaps astrology is as old as humanity itself but something a lot newer the digital age has kickstarted a global astrology boom astrologer and her car explains more. i think there's a void big.