this is deja vu news live from berlin and it is the end of an era in japan the country looks as emperor akihito abdicates the chrysanthemum throne is the first time a japanese monarch has stepped down in some two hundred years stay with us for our live coverage and analysis.

i'm brian thomas a very warm welcome to you in a storage ceremony in japan emperor akihito is stepping down from the throne this is the first time in more than two hundred years that a japanese mark has abdicated we're getting live pictures right now. rituals of began a few hours ago at the imperial palace in tokyo where the hero reported his abdication to his ancestors the application will be completed in a short and simple ceremony at the palace crowds of people have been gathering in front of the imperial palace to witness this momentous occasion it has rained and is a midnight local time his eldest son the crown prince naruhito will then become the new emperor marking the start of a new era. and following this for us is the w.'s keo door who grew up in japan and reports from there force you date your joe and can you give us some. active how big an event is this for the people of japan it is

a big deal basically nobody who is alive today has seen an uptick cation ever because the last time it happened was two hundred years ago and as you said it is the change of an era today is the thirty first of the his or the year thirty one and tomorrow is going to be the first of the. so it's historic. really historic thing that's happening right now ok we're getting images can you tell us what we're seeing there right now what what is that box for example that we're looking at the bone. and that is also a second box longer one is this sword it's one of the three treasures the sacred treasures of japan the smaller box that's the gym that is in there and those are two of the three sacred treasures of japan that are going to be given back basically by the current emperor and those other two seals one of them is

a royal seal and the other one is the country's seal that the emperor is also basically giving back and his son is going to receive those four. object tomorrow in the same room actually ok so it was a risky thing the outgoing emperor you know this is wife next room makiko as those ceremony objects or are brought to them live there at the period palace in tokyo. a great sense of reverence among the people in that room we understand that there's only three hundred individuals who will be out the service or correct exactly those will be the members of the royal timely which you can see in the back to the left and the other people will be. also government officials prefectural governors but also supreme court justices and their own wives and children as well. so it's

a very select gathering here today and and not that many representatives from from the political classes a lot of court cheers and members of the royal family is that correct the royal family actually only consists of fifteen people right now so oh no that's the very first or does the primaries sessions or. he's going to give a speech as a representative of the japanese people. more sort of a. cannot take on the kind of my for about course. political know some of the you know the pundits so much much there what are you telling us can you paraphrase some of what is said johnson and. he was banking about another thirty years. that are not in the current us given how little bit of a pull money are you. yes and he is basically representing what you know the people of japan don't need the common agreement to show us that when they. focus

folks in oklahoma all over the limit or thirty nine and that's what is he also says that. the best interest of the people at the hot tears up here at the high point for you for the quarter i. would not defy the guy noble and he's also reflecting on his long peaceful rain but also many natural disasters that lead to japan and he's speaking about one thousand nine hundred five called the wake of it and also in two thousand and eleven quakery is out to also hit fukushima people. hypertonic back to their hundreds for me go to you know a few of them. quite remarkable but. it kind of put them all over i mean look at that when you type. is also thanking about two were always there for

the common other basically they were very nervous for the fact that they always on throughout the day with for example disaster. japanese people they always went to the areas that were struck by disasters and were very close to the common which was something new for the job very modern never happened before. the. current are going to go to go christiane he's also missing about for the next erar she's also going to do his best and that it will be a great sparkling future all right buteux there the crown has received the principal in a few hours will be next in twenty five actually less than twenty four hours less than twenty four hours tomorrow morning at ten am i believe japanese time. she saw that the japanese prime minister they're going to the emperor with the assembled some three hundred individuals in deep euro palace today use mentioning the peaceful rain and the natural catastrophes that are. needed

to. address as he reached out to as a minister but the commerce of the nation the people of the country what you're receiving right. to be honest i'm not quite sure what he's receiving it looks like a roll of paper but usually about the insignia that he has already given that is already. the simpson ball that he has given up his power right now. oh i know what it is now it's his speech speech he's received ok so this is now we're going to hear something of what the emperor has to say. much. does not stop me all. the way to put on you that image that. she's saying. today i'm going to change your should be thrown. a bit of

saudi date in no no better it up with nobody. to show you those. prime minister shinzo are there for his words so quick that our. son doing the. same i did not. him nor bush to not start me off. here your more fit up with the are. similar with the dish it's been thirty years of the reign of hearsay and i'm very i don't really know been. building a relationship of trust with the japanese people i thank the people very much. code section. i thank them from my heart. ask god to help him out of. the. live in the day. here at the.

door. or more to the money. he in the empress wish for next. arrow that is coming is going to be peaceful one. will be going to mass and all. praise for happiness. vacancy interest me to call to his right as well. we view japan as a very modern high tech country but this event is a window into japanese society one actually steeped in tradition and ritual exactly. the emperor and empress know and do not have any political power but they used to be the political head and they used to be seen as as gods basically as

living gods now that changed with this emperor after the second world war as well and he is now much more of. a figure that is seen much more often as i said he travels to a lot of places and he also gives addresses like this he gave television addresses after the two thousand and eleven disaster which was really unheard of and was no doubt a unifying type of speech and then the emperor as a unifying personality for the nation exactly and also same internationally he was one of the first sue was actually. a turning want to turn for the japanese war crimes as well so not only inside he was obviously unifying japan inside but also to the outside he was a very peace loving and. this sacred objects the sword the gem there's also

a mirror there and there is actually not here the mirror is she hundred kilometers away a few hundred kilometers gerri thank you for that and these are being removed the sword in the john right now to be had over and over to nora yes later tomorrow exactly and so this is essentially end of the kitchen ceremony here with the removal of the sacred objects going back in this industry apparently two thousand years. even more it depends on who you ask so the japanese house or the agency they say that it goes back to the sixth century b.c. but actually. records have been kept since their sixth century a.d. so it is a very very long. it's the longest tenure as mark on the planet yes and. one hundred twenty fifth emperor and naruto is going to be one hundred twenty six so it is

a very very long the law and how will this one hundred twenty six emperor are here oh they're there we're looking at them right now be different from akihito where she is. a modern emperor as in he's the first one who has. studied abroad out oxford as well his wife also studied there he has been known to subtly criticize the very strict school traditions you can see it's very ritualized it's very solemn it can be quite hard for a commoner like his wife. to be in this very strict environment and he has criticised that so. he also has a voice that he wants to be similar to his father seen here a very open and there will be a very new era coming and probably a more modern era. modern what would that mean. for examples out people about them

in pro can reach out even more to. every day people and also this is this looks like it was last bow that you just saw. as he leaves and now he'll be returning to private life undergone two operations. exactly all of his activities will be completely private he won't even be attending the ascension ceremony tomorrow actually ok yes because from now on he does not have to at all he's not supposed to attend any officials or ever watching the rest of the royal family no being. in a room where the chrysanthemum. throne is not located but two other chairs representing the offices of emperor bruce. as you can see the rural family a lot of old members of the royal family and their own family is dying out quite literally the older people there's a problem with the the ascendancy too isn't there in the next in line exactly there

are only two lift so there is the brother of the next emperor up from heathrow and then there is his son so the only two lift off of that basically the sun will have to produce a male heir there's a lot of pressure and that's why there has been a debate ongoing about whether only men can be and for us and to their careers. before we go i'd like to ask you one last question about the political significance of of the emperor and the throne at the time of increasing tensions in the region. well there is political significance of the throne there is a big one but the thing is basically the political power is not in the throne but there is a unifying power as you said beforehand and in the region there have been already

letters from the korean government as well to congratulate the new emperor so there is a hope that the new emperor is also going to continue on the legacy of his father and continue to be a unifying force grew up in japan reports better for us for g.w. thanks very much joe for all your insights today for this historic abdication live on you thanks very much. let's check out now some of the other stories making the news this hour the united states deputy attorney general rod rosenstein has submitted his resignation he's the official who appointed special counsel robert mueller over member to investigate for us and from alleged election campaign irregularities you also supported the justice department's conclusion of the president had not obstructed miller's investigation resignation has been expected for some time. the president of cost of ohashi him toci

has called the european union quote too weak to jump start stalled peace talks between his country and serbia without help from the us misspeaking on the sidelines during a summit of balkan nations here in berlin called by germany and france serbia continues to refuse to recognize it all suppose in the penance following the balkan wars. the chief executive of boeing denis muhlenberg has defended the company's safety record and declined to take any more than partial blame for two deadly crashes of its best selling plane the seven thirty seven max speaking after the shareholders meeting. said boeing had almost finished an update that would make the plane safe. while he was presumed dead and that more than once but the leader of so-called islamic state could be alive if it is verified a propaganda video released by us shows. praising the easter sunday bombings and

for long he says they're part of the group's revenge or its losses in syria but. if this is you islamic state claims it is that it would be abu bakr al baghdadi first appearance in five years. in the video shot in an unknown location he acknowledges the group's recent defeat in its last syrian stronghold of . he also refers to other i.a.s. losses in libya and in iraq. but he tries to justify the defeats by saying doesn't have to end it just has to continue carrying out to jihad. urges his followers to carry out revenge attacks around the world. and. he goes on to praise the deadly bombings in sri lanka on easter sunday which killed two hundred fifty people saying they were ordered in revenge for what he calls the

brothers in. despite his threats analysts say the purpose of this video is to show that he's still in charge and larch and has managed to evade capture. since this moment back in twenty fourteen when he announced his stablish meant a caliphate in the iraqi city of mosul. but he remains the world's most wanted man the us has a twenty five million dollars bounty on his head and they say they will continue to hunt him down until he is found what are you. marquez joins us now from the german institute for international and security affairs good morning marcus great to have you on again assuming this video is indeed authentic once it's nice i think the key messages are all the key messages a threefold one the first message is i'm alive couple of reports about

the last couple of years so he can now prove that he's alive the second message is he's in charge he's the sole authority to run the operations of these numbers that the third key message maybe is of the important most important one five will continue in a different form ok now where might he be has virtually no territory left rubble basically in syria where might he be located and could he be running his network from hiding to be honest with no id and with no indication from the media away he is it might be afghanistan it might be the philippines it might be some of the plays but i think it doesn't really matter because he does not me from the logistics of tourist operations of the islamic state he's running a web of. which he inspires and he can continue to do so from every hide out in the world ok to say that he inspires so his function just point is

primarily inspirational that for us members and people want to be members around the world absolutely and that is traits how i as has changed from the from a terrorist organization in twenty feet fourteen into a political or military are only zation for the last couple of years and no it's returning bank to a terrorist organization. inspiring islamists all around the world what about the timing of this video we haven't heard from of the have been audio recordings of separately but we haven't seen him for four or five years can you tell us something about the timing i think it's crucial here because. over the last year mum. we heard all we almost all exclusively discussed the decline of islamic state the defeat the military defeat of the islamic state and given this environment or change them aren't it's crucial for these numbers that to prove that he and he is alive and that these only stayed as all of the nation is capable of continuing to

continue to provide you mention the word war for tradition which is. the future of this kind of fight ok the future of this kind of fight can we expect more i asked attacks on soft targets including here in europe i'm afraid so maybe not so much then with europe because western intelligence services already have. continued to fight against the islamic state but we have seen the spread of islamic state in other areas of the world you mentioned the philippines where the tremendous spread of islamic studies state in afghanistan and i think we will see a continued continuation of the attacks marcus time from the german institute for international security affairs thank you so very much for the insights it's to mozambique now which is struggling with severe flooding in the wake of cyclonic kennett more trenchant rainfalls forecast in the country's north where the powerful storm made law landfall sunday so far thirty eight people have lost their lives the

numbers are expected to increase the poor weather conditions have been hindering aid efforts flights have been grounded for example this is the second cyclon hit the conference many months six weeks ago cyclonic died devastated the region farther south. they can't get rid of the water quickly enough to rain here in pemba in northernmost on beak keeps on coming. wrote snarr resemble rivers or actual rivers have burst their banks leaving huge areas underwater. aid agencies say cite clone kenneth will bring twice as much rain is e.t.i. entire crop fields have been whites' out and people a shortage of food. you know they were busy making this business

because these people need these days but i think there are some some things that the people here. the sheer amount of water on the ground is making it difficult to access the affected areas rescuers from brazil are on the scene they've come with boats because at the moment it's too dangerous for helicopters to fly but helicopters are what's really needed with many stranded without supplies. and want to help. police people young people men to help you until help arrives all they can do is wait counting the cost of the latest tropical disaster to land on mozambique shores. and for more on the floods did abuse if you increase spoke with the prime minister of mozambique carlos augustine eudora zorro he asked them what needed to be done to help the affected regions we lost about two thirty eight people in the all over the capital go do it but we still still have to have

to move into to make sure that you know normal people have been at a loss a loss with the delight of course there will be more and more. just give the minutes you look look look up there is a look here at the books because some some please look not possible to produce that . real body in the literal words because words is this being cut off and do we need . the food in the in the noble and another in the stuff to be the to the left in the ebook to evil then through to the son so that the public is in full slideshows in the rather than fox news in the world of beautifully done it we have no and process to really be good. for the people we need to every step of the people that we need to we're to save the construction of the house we're going to

the clear the roof sometimes on and do so if things are moving a little bit and i was diffuse if we increased speaking with the prime minister of mozambique carlos you know doris aureole more on that story at our website if you dot com it's now to the mystery well spotted off the coast of northern norway fishermen were very puzzled when they found the beluga because it was a quick with a camera harness but it turned out that that harness carried a not so mysterious clue as to where that well might have come from. if. this balloon go away and is allegedly a spy. harassing fishing boats off the northern coast of norway the way o. seemingly used to human contact has been fitted with a go pro han s. so. there were clips like these that were on the whale we tried to reach those clips and open them my colleague and i tried to do this for quite some time but we

couldn't do it once we touched the clips the whale reacted and took off. once freed from the hand as the fisherman found the words an peaches bug written on the inside . experts are suggesting that this whale may have been trained by the russian navy and was either released or escapes captivity the whale was found not far from a russian naval base. and russian marine scientists say it's unlikely to be part of a scientific experiment but for the time being it's the region's remain a mystery. modern now of our top stories this hour. as. the song. this is first of. all. this.

is. africa to comply with demands from democrats in congress to release the president's financial. market we'll have that and much more after a short break thanks so much for being with us.

and ever present chain reaction of the breasts. to. around six hundred years ago. in the renaissance. architects scientists and artists. the culture of the tallest religious freedom to move. the renaissance in forty five minutes on d w.

what secrets lie behind the small. find out in an immersive experience and explore the fascinating world cultural heritage sites. d w world heritage three sixty get the. feeling into an official estimates more than one point two million venezuelans live in colombia neatly and illegally. her body. was returned to. visiting friends is that i don't think i'd ever go back there to live you know what i live there again i don't know so i'm not sure. down witness global news that matters. made for mines people here love life they love their country but not the current conditions iran a journey through

a land full of contradictions of joy and sadness confidence and doubt. our documentary depicts the contrast of everyday life that help people cope with that here their sweet starts may second bomb g.w. . what about the. donald trump says germany's biggest lenda the u.s. president not to hand over his business records after political rivals in congress to monster. also on the show european plane make abba suffers a huge slide important profits blaming the consolation often superjumbo and germany suspension off defense export licenses to saudi arabia. and to boeing.