from the long term to their final resting place the russian. w documentary. 11. this is g w news live from berlin and russia commemorates the soviet victory over nazi germany and world war 2 but this year's victory day celebrations in moscow were scaled down to a bare minimum due to the copan 1000 pandemic the air force did fly overs but the main military parade in red square has been postponed. and that was not the case in

neighboring bella roost where the annual military parade went ahead with hardly a face mask in sight president alexander the guy has dismissed the coronavirus as a psychosis. i'm claire richardson welcome to the show russia has been celebrating victory day marking 75 years since the defeat of nazi germany in world war 2 but this year's commemorations have been scaled back because of the coronavirus pandemic with the red square military parade and a large scale procession both postponed. russia's parade of military might took to the sky today far above moscow where coronavirus precautions kept the streets nearly empty this picture a day. it had been planned to be an especially large celebration this year as

russia marked 75 years since defeating nazi germany in world war 2. but the mass perceptions were off postponed by the pandemic president vladimir putin did lead to scale down ceremony at the eternal flame war memorial. but not a word about the virus instead his speech was a rallying cry to the nation. during the year we know and firmly believe when we did we are invincible when we stand together but i think of us congratulations on victoria day or about. a day of pride in russia's past. but people here have plenty to grumble about corona virus infections are on the rise and the economy is shrinking. presiding

over a time of national crisis putin faces plenty of challenges ahead. i'm joined now by gustaf grass or senior policy fellow at the european council on foreign relations because afaik so much for joining us how important are these victory day celebrations for the national psyche and russia's collective memory. well actually you should not underestimate them they moved sort of at the center stage of the the national pride national identity thing the big 3 in the 2nd world war after many projects a cold war to be the sort of theme russianness should be about the russian exceptionalism should be about came out basically on talks or after orthodox conservative isn't or or other experiments and basically the victory in world war 2 is the most undisputed topic and was made the center stage theme of patriotism

and reeducation in a patriotic sense of russia so he says just a major show of patriotism these anniversary celebrations that were meant to also be a show of power for president vladimir putin one he surely could have used as the country's had hired by the crown a virus how can we expect these scaled back commemorations to affect his standing. oh well on the coronavirus you try to sort of give the response billeted to the local governments quite early on in a crisis which is if something superior in russia happens a severe domestic crisis he tries to delegate this to other people and especially to many other peoples whom he can try out and then basically the fire the incompetent all them promote the more competent members of the over to integrate some government coronavirus is no exception we also have to see that in russia corona they are quite at the beginning of the curve for rather the middle of the rising curve there are roughly one and

a half months behind europe in the craw worse and now it's about to get really nasty. infections are spread on the countryside and in moscow you already have quite a high rate of death is so pulling off a parade it would have poisoned basically the parade if he would pull it off in the falls. in this situation so that's why you basically have to have to reach city. but and russia it make speculation about how it's it's going to play out you know so that's right and russia is in the midst of a lockdown right now but in neighboring belarus for seeing quite a different picture there are major military parade took place in the capital many let's take a look at how that went. physical distancing not in minsk. thousands of people packed together to watch the annual victory day military parade. few people wore masks becoming infected doesn't appear to be

a major concern. so in 199945 things were much worse thousands millions of people died and no one was afraid of anything coronavirus will never defeat that aren't and even less so in this long suffering country. the most of them there are maybe fewer people this year some people have listened some are more afraid some less afraid anyway what can we do. valerie says vastly different approach to the coronavirus pandemic has caused concern and led to a strained relationship with close neighbors russia. moscow has publicly worried that the lax attitude take it by president alexander lukashenko. he has consistently dismissed the gravity of the pandemic. in this mad disoriented world there are people who denounce us for the time and

place of the sacred events. i'd like to tell them humanely. don't rush to conclusions. and to condemn. the descendants of the victory of belorussian and. for now the approach by lucas shango appears to be unwavering despite sharply rising infection rates in batteries and warnings from the world health organization . so as we have seen at bellerive taking a very different approach there gustava does this have the potential to drive a wedge between russia and its neighbor. i would rather say it has the potential to really destabilize bellerose because as i said before there in the beginning of the to spread of the pandemic there are an hour for months behind europe so now we have this sharp increase in the infection and if you don't go into lockdown now in

platen the curve you will basically explode your your overwhelm your healthcare system and that is what is actually about to happen in belarus and the increases in infections in the spread the amount of infected people per 100000 inhabitants is the highest in the whole post so it world you have the highest growth rates of newly infected people so it in some time from now he will probably have to reverse course but i did huge domestic toll and costs and he was a fairly popular will to crops until now he had economic growth he provided for some some sort of social benefits and this might well erode all these benefits he had with the same population and i guess there will be a difficult time thereafter and chris tucker as well and let's see how to thank you so much for that and i think what come. well let's turn our

attention now to the latest developments in the corona virus pandemic more than 3100000 people have now been infected with the coronavirus globally and more than 27500000 have died egypt's president. has approved amendments to his country's state of emergency that grant him and security agencies additional powers he says they are needed to combat covert 19 meanwhile spanish prime minister pedro sanchez has said there will be a period of national mourning for the victims of the virus after restrictions are lifted across the country spain has one of the highest death tolls in europe and south korea's capital seoul has closed hundreds of bars and nightclubs after a new a covert 1000 cluster was linked to the city's nightlife scene. after weeks undercurrent of iris lockdown conditions of some european countries are gradually relaxing restrictions and allowing more businesses to reopen here in germany

restaurants in the northern state of mecklenburg western pomerania opened their doors again today diners return to restaurant tables although they must sit 1.5 metres apart from other groups and staff have to wear face masks the state has one of the lowest infection rates in germany authorities warn a lockdown measures that could return if infections rise. well for more on how germany and other parts of europe are starting to reopen i'm joined by w. reporter joel doré who's been following this story for us joel is it back to business for restaurants in germany or not everywhere clear things are happening at different speeds in different places last week the german states the lender got the go ahead to ease some of these restrictions and the state of west palm arabia has raced ahead to do so opening restaurants today however only about a 3rd of the restaurants there are expected to open their doors and take this opportunity that's because it could actually prove hard for them to make

a profit while operating at hof capacity as they have to under these new conditions the state however is banking on a bit of a tourism boom by the end of this month it's going to open up to domestic tourists and it is on the baltic sea coast so it is actually one of the few places that germans are going to be able to go if they want a beach holiday coming up in the following weeks and months so for many germans it could be a mcclim book instead of mayorkas this year well i understand that in italy which was the early epicenter of the crown a virus pandemic there life is returning to the streets yes we're seeing some images from italy of people out on the streets again italy of course was one of the 1st countries that was hit by the current of ours and one of the 1st to introduce a lockdown but now people are coming back into the streets because restaurants and bars are allowed to serve takeaway food and drinks so they're out enjoying some company in the streets however the mayors of some of these cities on particularly happy about this they say that people are celebrating too early and they warn that

the restrictions could return if coronavirus cases spike again i understand some positive changes coming out of italy as well what can you tell us about that well traffic is reduced in many cities across europe and they're taking the chance to turn roads into cycle and pedestrian infrastructure we've seen this in italy which is just opened up 150. along with those of brand new cycle lanes this is to allow people to get around without having to use crowded public transport and the city of florida is safe but these are here to stay good news for people who roam which is usually one of the cities that has the most traffic and is really dangerous to ride around and we're seeing similar things in madrid here were all these images are people out on the roads which have been converted into temporary spaces for people to exercise so that they don't have to crowd together in the parks this is now happening every weekend and it's a great way for people to get out and enjoy the city that they've been trapped in their homes for so long so it's not that life is returning to normal where emerging

into cities that have changed and in some ways for the better and i hope these kind of changes are here to stay shows all right thank you so much for your reporting. well now for a brief look at some other stories making headlines around the world thousands of people have been protesting in the german city of guard against restrictions to control the coronavirus pandemic the demonstration was allowed to take place after germany's constitutional court overturned an earlier ban munich berlin and frankfurt also saw similar protests today. in india relatives of some of those killed in a gas leak took their loved ones bodies it to the chemical factory where they died the protest on saturday comes as one local official suggested the company l.g. polymers might face charges of negligent manslaughter the leak on thursday killed 12 people and sent hundreds of others to hospital. german born

magician that roy horn of the duo state fried and roy has died after contracting co $519.00 corn and his partner sick fried fish rose to fame through their las vegas shows featuring tigers which ended when a hornet was mauled by a tiger on stage in 2003 he died at age 75. little richard considered by some of the founding father of rock n roll has died he was 87 years old little richard brought a distinctive voice and flamboyant showmanship and lightning fast rhythms to popular music in the one $950.00 is he was one of the 1st african-american artists to cross the music business is racial divide especially on hits include a long tall sally and should be free. to do. that and a reminder of the top story we're following for you today russia is marking the victory over nazi germany in world war 2 but has had to postpone it annual military

parade due to the coronavirus crisis. you're watching. a reminder you can get the latest on our website x t w dot com and you can follow us on twitter and instagram at state of the units more news for you coming up in 45 minutes. from. the state of the. normal. people around the world or documenting these traumatic times. they're keeping tiring. and welcoming us into. their lives are scared as

a clue.