News Headlines - 30 April 2019

▽Emperor Akihito: Japanese monarch declares historic abdication - BBC News

Japan's Emperor Akihito has declared his abdication in a historic ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.
In his last public address as emperor, Akihito handed over the symbols of power and thanked the public for their support during his 30-year reign... He is the first Japanese monarch to stand down in more than 200 years.
Akihito technically remained emperor until midnight (15:00 GMT on Tuesday).

▽Venezuela Crisis: Guaidó Calls for Uprising as Clashes Erupt - The New York Times

Clashes between antigovernment protesters and law enforcement officers erupted in Caracas on Tuesday after the Venezuelan opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, appeared alongside soldiers at a military base and called for the population to rise up against the president, Nicolás Maduro.
Mr. Guaidó has urged the Venezuela military to join his side since he declared himself interim president more than three months ago. But it was a new step for him to make the declaration with men in uniform by his side. Still, it is unclear how much of the military supports him.

▽IS Leader Appears In Video For First Time In Five Years

The leader of the extremist Islamic State (IS) group has appeared in a video for the first time in five years.
The video -- released by the IS's media outlet, Al-Furqan, on April 29 -- shows Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appearing with an unkempt, bushy gray and red beard while sitting on the floor against a wall... Baghdadi, 47, last appeared in a video while delivering a sermon at the Al-Nuri Mosque in 2014 in the Iraqi city of Mosul, which had been taken by IS forces when they swept over large swathes of Iraq and Syria. It was during that speech that he declared the establishment of an Islamic caliphate.

▽Ex-US North Korea envoy Joseph Yun says Trump approved signing of Warmbier pledge - CNNPolitics

Joseph Yun, the former State Department Special Representative for North Korea, confirmed Monday that he signed an agreement to pay North Korea $2 million for the release of American student Otto Warmbier in 2017.
In an interview with CNN's Jim Sciutto, Yun said that he did so with the approval of then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and that it was his understanding President Donald Trump had also signed off on the decision.

▽President Trump has made more than 10,000 false or misleading claims - The Washington Post

It took President Trump 601 days to top 5,000 false and misleading claims in The Fact Checker’s database, an average of eight claims a day.
But on April 26, just 226 days later, the president crossed the 10,000 mark — an average of nearly 23 claims a day in this seven-month period... In the first 100 days, Trump averaged less than five claims a day, which would have added up to about 7,000 claims in a four-year presidential term.