Arts and culture
The Canadian ten-dollar note, featuring Canadian civil rights activist Viola Desmond, wins the International Bank Note Society award. (BBC News)
2019 Japanese imperial transition
Emperor Akihito abdicates the Chrysanthemum Throne in favor of his elder son, Crown Prince Naruhito. He is the first Emperor to abdicate in over two hundred years, since Emperor Kōkaku in 1817. (The Japan Times) (The New York Times)
Business and economy
The Blackstone Group, a multinational private equity and asset management firm, has agreed to buy Geo-Young, a wholesale drug distributor in South Korea, in a deal that will retain Geo-Young's CEO, Cho Sun-hae, in her leadership role. (Reuters)
U.S. Attorney General William Barr has decided to recuse himself from deliberations about whether the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Justice Department ought to challenge the planned merger of T-Mobile and Sprint, says a Reuters source "familiar with the decision". Barr is invested in both of the firms involved. (Reuters)