what i used welcome to newsday. i'm kasia madera in london. the headlines: tens of thousands of venezuelans take to the streets, after a call from opposition leader juan guaido to topple president maduro. in washington, senior officials urge president maduro‘s supporters to abandon him. this is clearly not a coup. we recognise juan guaido as the legitimate interim president of venezuela. and i'm mariko oi in tokyo. a new era begins injapan. celebrations are under way — as naruhito becomes the country's emperor. one of the world's critically endangered animals — the sumatran orangutan —

could be extinct within two decades as we report on the industry that's fuelling their decline. welcome to newsday. it's 1am here in london, 9 in the morning in tokyo and 8 in the evening in venezuela's capital caracas where clashes are still ongoing between protesters and armed military vehicules. authorities say they're dealing with an attempted coup, after the opposition leader juan guaido called on protestors to take to the streets in a final push to overthrow president maduro. our correspondent in caracas, guilermo olmo, has the very latest on this ongoing situation. it started this morning, with tear gas fired at a thousand

protesters on a bridge in caracas. opposition leader mr guaido calling on venezuelans and the military to back him to end president maduro‘s rule. translation: the call is for everyone to come out into the streets at this moment to get back into what we have built over the years. alongside him, leopoldo lopez, a prominent opposition politician jailed back in 2014 and released last night by security staff loyal to mr guaido. gunfire throughout the day, tensions rose. a growing crowd of protesters throwing rocks at the military in the capital. the situation now is quite unclear, quite uncertain. we have seen all around how protesters are throwing stones and anything they can use as projectiles against the national guard and the national guard is using all the means they normally use, they are throwing

gas canisters and also pellets. translation: the venezuelan people have taken to the streets because the president, juan guaido, has called on us to support him. we were asking him to take the first step. he has taken it and now it's time for us to back him. and then, this. a national guard armoured car is set alight after it slams into the crowd. the flames are soon put out. juan guaido joined supporters at a rally this afternoon. thousands lining the streets. the government called on its supporters to gather outside the presidential palace. president nicolas maduro tweeted that the military commanders are still loyal to him. but at this point, uncertainty is the only thing that can be taken for granted in venezuela.

i asked our north america correspondent, peter bowes, about the suggestion from the us government that president maduro is on the verge of leaving venezuela. this is the latest we are hearing, that mr maduro has not been seen since the latest uprising on the streets and there have been questions about his whereabouts and mike pompeo saying that mr maduro had a plane waiting on the tarmac and he was prepared to leave the country to seek asylum in cuba. he was heading to havana but then, the plans changed when the russians stepped in and persuaded him not to do that. clearly, it's a very fluid situation. this is simply one report

from senior officials here in the us and we are not certain about the whereabouts of mr maduro but it does indicate that perhaps there are negotiations going on at a high level in the regime, perhaps they are linked to those on the streets, and juan guaido's dattempt to seek the rightful leadership as the united states says it is, they completely support him in that role and they say, as far as the us position is, it hasn't changed and they are still working towards a peaceful transition of power. exactly, because as you say, fluid situation but us has been constant in its support forjuan guaido, donald trump tweeting as such, john bolton also saying the same, that nicolas maduro essentially has to go.

president trump tweeting his views which simply haven't changed, saying the united states stands for the people of venezuela. donald trump has been very vocal, talking about venezuela, talking about the socialist tyranny as he describes the leadership in venezuela but as to absolute policy, that hasn't changed as a result of what's happened in the last 2a hours and perhaps by saying the president and senior us officials up following this closely, that is designed to put some pressure on nicolas maduro. a new day has dawned here injapan — and with it a new era and a new emperor, emperor naruhito is the 126th emperor of japan. he's part of an unbroken dynasty that spans more than 2000 years. the reign of his father, emperor akihito officially came to an end on tuesday when he became the first japanese monarch to stand down in more than 200 years.

rupert wingfield—hayes reports. this was the moment emperor akihito formally relinquished japan's imperial treasures. the sacred sword, the mirror of the gemstone and with them, the imperial throne. after 30 years, his final address lasted just a minute and a half. "i thank the people for supporting me," he said. "i hope the new era will be peaceful and fruitful "and i pray with all my heart for peace and happiness "forjapan and the whole world." standing close by, the crown prince and princess, their faces perhaps betraying some of the apprehension

of what now lies ahead for them. forjapan, the ceremony taking place in the imperial palace behind me here isn't just about the end of the emperor akihito's rain, it is the end of an era. tomorrow, japan will have a new emperor, a new name and a new calendar. outside the palace walls, people were enjoying the extended 10—day holiday, not concerned too much about what was going on inside. translation: the emperor is the symbol of japan and he had devoted himself for the country. i didn't have much interest but now he's leaving, i'm going to miss him. inside the palace, the first emperor to abdicate in 200 years turned, bowed and quietly walked into retirement. ruper wingfield—hayes, bbc news, tokyo.

the bbc‘s laura bickerjoins us now from outside the imperial palace, where large crowds are gathering for celebrations. yesterday was heavy rain and people came to pay their respects. today we have large crowds again greeting the new emperor. i think the remarkable thing about this is that even though the crowds are gathering, they are not going to see anything. they will not going to see anything. they will not address the crowds until saturday. they are hoping to basically get a glimpse of anything that might be a glimpse, or whether it is to catch the atmosphere. yesterday we saw many people coming to pay their respects and say goodbye to the emperor but today, is celebrating the fact that this is the start of a new era, a new rain and emperor narrow ito will give his first speech during that ceremony in just a couple of hours time and will get a better idea of what is rain

may encompass and what he may be about to do. wide what i've noticed is the difference in the mood compared to the last transition 30 yea rs compared to the last transition 30 years ago when the entire country was mourning the death of the previous emperor where is overnight, we had something like a new year's countdown and a lot of young people out on the streets partying. we had that at midnight, a certain area of tokyo was completely blocked as people counted down to the start of a new era. today, they are coming here, welcoming the new year itself and if you canjust here, welcoming the new year itself and if you can just get a good here, welcoming the new year itself and if you canjust get a good idea of what the crowds look like, this is outside the imperial palace, kind of lined around a circle and they are lining up to take a picture, any kind of picture they can in front of the imperial palace itself. when it

comes to the emperor, how this happens today in the ceremony, he will be handed the sacred treasures that his father relinquished yesterday so that is the sword, the jewel in the mirror. when it comes to those three imperial regalia, a p pa re ntly to those three imperial regalia, apparently they were originally handed down from the sun goddess so they will be placed in the table in front of him. we will get an idea of what this new rain will encompass. this is an emperor who was educated at oxford, he has an interest in water, not just the at oxford, he has an interest in water, notjust the mediaeval waterways of japan he also wrote about the thames waterways well in london, he married the emperor ‘s, was an oxford graduate, she is also a harvard graduate. she was going to bea a harvard graduate. she was going to be a diplomat. now she is empress of japan. she has stayed away from the spotlight so it will be interesting

to see how she manages the glare of being a monarch injapan. during that ceremony today, no women she will be part of that ceremony. the first woman to do so in modern japanese history. as you can see, or going to happen in the next couple of hours so stay tuned. among the large crowds outside the palace in tokyo, we will bring you the coverage. for tokyo, we will bring you the coverage. foi’ now, tokyo, we will bring you the coverage. for now, back to you. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. democrat leaders in the us say they've reached an agreement with president trump

to invest $2 trillion in infrastructure projects. this will include funding to modernise roads, railway lines and water supplies as well upgrading the power grid to deliver greener energy. they also agreed that broadband should reach every american home. here's senate minority leader chuck schumer. first, we agreed that infrastructure is crucial to the future of america. we agreed it creates jobs, we agreed it keeps us competitive. we agreed that for 25 years, this kind of big bold bill that we could pass would make america a better place, this is notjust one or two years. we agreed on a number, which was very, very good. $2 trillion for infrastructure. we said we would meet in three weeks and he would present to us some of his ideas on funding so this

was a very, very good start and we hope it will go to a constructive conclusion. also making news today, president trump has sued two banks, deutsche and capital one, to prevent them handing over his financial affairs to a us government committee. the committee is investigating possible links between the president and russia. it says they're right to probe any dealings he may have had with the country. he's been joined in the lawsuit by his three eldest children and the trump organisation. heavy rains and floods in northern mozambique have hampered aid effort in the country for the third day. this comes after cyclone kenneth make landfall on thursday. the death toll from the storm has now reached 41. around 35,000 houses have been completely or partially destroyed in the port city of pemba. you are watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: japan celebrates the begininng of a new era. we take a look at what all this change means for the country. also on the programme: vast tracts

of indonesia's tropical rainforest are being cleared for palm oil plantations, threatening the survival of the critically endangered sumatran orangutan. we have a special report. nothing, it seems, was too big to withstand the force of the tornado. the extent of the devastation will lead to renewed calls for government help to build better housing. internationally, there have already been protests. sweden says it received no warning of the accident. indeed, the russians at first denied anything had gone wrong. only when radioactivity levels began to increase outside russia were they forced to admit the accident. for the mujahideen, the mood

here is of great celebration. this is the end of a 12—year war for them. they've taken the capital, which they've been fighting for for so long. it was 7 o'clock in the morning, the day when power began to pass from the minority to the majority, when africa, after 300 years, reclaimed its last white colony. this is newsday. i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories: tens of thousands of venezuelans have taken to the streets following an appeal by the opposition leader, juan guaido, to topple president maduro. a new era begins injapan. celebrations are underway as naruhito becomes the new emperor. let's return now to our top story, where demonstrations against venezuelan president nicolas maduro are continuing, after opposition leaderjuan guaido called on protestors to take to the streets.

a little earlier i spoke to freelance journalist emiliana duarte, who had been at the protests in caracas since this morning. today was unprecedented for many reasons, the first of which is that there is a giant demonstration slated to happen tomorrow, i may, which was called upon byjuan guaido several days ago. so that was expected to happen tomorrow, but this morning, venezuela woke up to a message broadcast over social

media where juan guaido was on the overpass of the main highway that crosses through caracas, flanked by 30—something military officers of varying ranks, and also flanked by leopoldo lopez, probably the highest—profile political prisoner in venezuela, who is also an opposition leader, and has been under house arrest for the better part of four years. before that, he was in a military prison. so it was a surprise call to action byjuan guaido to his supporters to come and join the dissident military personnel that had come out to support him. and slowly but surely, this happened at dawn, caracas time, and slowly but surely, thousands of people made their way over to the highway overpass. and then there was an impromptu march that was led by these dissident national guardsmen,

on a pickup truck, followed by guaido and leopoldo lopez and supporters, which eventually in caracas was repressed by forces loyal to maduro's regime. i understand that these protests had been in at least 20 other states in venezuela, but information is still very, very difficult to come by. communications today have been more terrible than they usually are. an extremely tense situation in venezuela, and those protests continuing. injapan, venezuela, and those protests continuing. in japan, however, venezuela, and those protests continuing. injapan, however, it is a new day and a new era. tell us more. that's right, i've actually managed to pick up some newspapers this morning. let me show this one to you. as you can see, four pictures, the ones of the outgoing emperor,

akihito, who stepped down yesterday, the first abdication in more than centuries, alongside the emperors, and the pictures of the new emperor, emperor naruhito, alongside the empress. the other newspaper also has the new era begins. translated it means beautiful harmony. i've been struggling to explain why this change of the era means so much to people here in japan. change of the era means so much to people here injapan. i think it is easier to explain if i say something like if i was explaining to people here i wouldn't say i was born in 1981, but in the 56th year of that era, so it is notjust about the change of the emperor. but this era is around us all the time, even on your driver's license. you get a daily dose of how this era's change will be affecting our lives, and a lot of companies have been adjusting to it, a new calendar, of course, but also some people on twitter, for

example, got very excited when they typed in one may 2019 it automatically changed to reiwa one. so they have been a lot of changes here, and also a lot of people are enjoying a ten day holiday, because golden week has been extended to mark this imperial succession. it is said that 25 million people are travelling during this golden week, thatis travelling during this golden week, that is the fifth of the country's entire population, and that is quite remarkable given that about a third of the people are currently taking the entire time off, while about 40% of people continue working business as usual. but there are some hopes that this might actually give the economy a bit of a boost as well. of course, the era of heisei saw the stagnation of the economy, japan lost the title as the world's second biggest economy when it was overta ken biggest economy when it was ove rta ke n by biggest economy when it was overtaken by china, the stock market lost about a quarter of its value from the start of the heisei era. it

is really interesting when you see that charge that shares continued to go that charge that shares continued to 9° up that charge that shares continued to go up during the previous era, whereas in heisei the dot—com bubble burst and shares haven't managed to recover compared with american shares which managed to recover from that. so people are really looking forward to welcoming in a new era, maybe with a better economy and stock market performance. but a lot of parties and celebration, my favourite really was a guy wearing two t—shirts, one which said heisei, and he took it off at midnight and it said reiwa. so it is really different compared to 30 years ago when the entire country was mourning the death of the previous emperor. it is wonderful to hear that positivity, and that it is a celebration, a very special time for japan. we will be back with you throughout the day on bbc news. one of the world's critically endangered animals, the sumatran orangutan, is being killed in growing numbers and could be

extinct within two decades — that is the bleak warning from charities working to protect the animals, whose rainforest habitat is under serious pressure. vast tracts of indonesia's tropical rainforest are being cleared for palm oil plantations. from sumatra, our correspondent mehulika sitepu sent this report. this rescue team has been told the wife of a soldier has been keeping a young orangutan as her pet. bom bom was kept in a cage for three years. they have agreed to hand him over. it's hard to watch. life with this family is all bom bom has known since his mother was killed. getting him to a rehabilitation centre is his only chance of freedom back in the wild. bom bom is a victim of indonesia's deforestation.

this country is the world's biggest palm oil producer. in the past two decades, huge areas of rainforest have been destroyed. millions of indonesians now depend on the crop for a living. inside this, there is a kernel, like this. this is where biofuel comes from. orangutans have been pushed aside. many are killed by farmers as they search for food on the fringes of plantations. the babies are captured and sold as pets. this large male was shot 62 times by farmers. he was shot, two in one eye, one in the other. charities do what they can. so yeah, he's going to spend the rest of his days as a captive animal. the plantations will say, oh, orangutans come out the forest to eat our palm oil seedlings. but they'll eat palm oil seedlings in the same way that a shipwrecked mariner will eat his

shoes or his belt. you know, it's not food, it's just the only thing there that they can try and survive with. indonesia's government says it is trying to limit palm oil expansion, but also lobbies heavily for the multibillion—dollar industry, which is dismissive of the needs of orangutans. this is the journey back to freedom for one lucky orangutan. but charities can only do so much. well done. good luck, harry! countless others are being lost. bye, harry. good luck. mehulika sitepu, bbc news, sumatra. good luck to that one particular

orangutan, a historic day for you in japan and from me here in london, many thanks for watching newsday. we will see you soon. goodbye. hello there. at the beginning of the week it was 21 degrees in northern scotland, but by the end of the week, it's going to be 6 degrees. it's turning colder everywhere. but yesterday, we did have some warm sunshine helping temperatures to 18 or 19 degrees. at the same time, though, we've got this band of cloud here. it's been moving very slowly eastwards, some showery bursts of rain still amongst all that cloud at the moment. ahead of it, some clear skies towards the south—east of england, east anglia, so turning a little bit chilly. but elsewhere, the temperatures a bit higher than they were the previous night. as we head into the morning, we expect more cloud across scotland, most of any showery rain towards southern areas for the time being.

but it should have moved away from northern ireland, a much drier, brighter, and sunnier day, and feeling warmer as well. some pockets of showery rain coming across wales, western england, perhaps into the west midlands, further east, some patchy mist and fog, with those clearer skies for east anglia, the south—east and lincolnshire. it should tend to lift in these areas, dry for most of the day, we are likely to set off a few showers most anywhere really, some of those could be on the sharp side, helped by a little bit of brightness and sunshine perhaps. temperatures may be a shade lower for most places than they were yesterday. warmer in northern ireland, cooler in northern scotland, where we've still got a few heavy showers around during the evening. a lot of those will tend to fade away further south and skies will tend to clear, so we'll see some mist and fog around too. but nothing too low in terms of temperatures — down to about five or six degrees in quite a few places. as you move into thursday, we've got some more of these showers, may showers of course. some sunshine around, but those showers

developing in quite a few places. they may be heavy and thundery, wet weather moving down across scotland into the north—east of england. the wind direction changes as a sign of things to come. colder air arriving in northern scotland, further south, highs still of 15 or 16 degrees. but as we move into friday, we've still got more cloud moving down into england and wales, where we'll see some heavy showers developing again. but the showers in scotland, they're going to be of a wintry flavour even to some lower levels as well. temperatures of six degrees on friday in northern scotland. 15 for southern parts of england and wales. but that northerly wind, that colder air, is going to come sweeping down across all areas during friday night and into the start of the holiday weekend. so we may start with a touch of frost around. quite a chilly feel in that wind down the eastern side of the uk on saturday, and there may be a few showers around as well. but on the whole, the bank holiday weekend looks dry for many places, and those temperatures recovering by monday.

i will you kasia madera with bbc news: our top story. there have been more clashes in venezuela — between protesters and the police. authorities say they're dealing with an attempted coup — after the opposition leader juan guaido called on protestors to take to the streets in a final push to overthrow president maduro. the us president donald trump has said he stands with the people of venezuela. the white house has warned there will be consequences ifjuan guaido doesn't succceed. and this is our other main story across the bbc. celebrations are under way injapan as former crown prince naruhito becomes the country's new emperor a day after his father became the first emperor to abdicate in more than two centuries. that's all. stay with bbc news. and the top story in the uk. labour's governing body has

maintained that it could support