no dares thinks. we dare to ask. in the main stories of the week here on r.t. moscow finally holds its delayed world war 2 victory parade marking the 75th anniversary of the defeat of nazi germany. and the racism resolution by the u.n. human rights council sparks anger from washington to have pulled corsi but also from n.g.o.s for failing to mention any u.s. role in the problem and russia begins voting on constitutional reforms with the 2 regions making people cast their ballots online only coronavirus concerned.

follow the latest developments and look back at events over the last 7 days to watch in the weekly here on r.t. international now after being delayed by the global pandemic moscow finally held its huge military parade on wednesday marking the 75th anniversary of victory over nazi germany red square echo to the sound of thousands of marching feet from those tasked with protecting the motherland and hold on their heels quite literally was a procession of military vehicles and equipment before the whole thing was topped off with a spectacular. our

correspondents tyler was down at red square and summed up the emotions of the day. to me actually the most moving part of the day it's all to the present spoken and they say and you to set out what i would offer and that's because i hear history in that sound there are echoes of these people 75 years ago on red square i think she was celebrated but more importantly so with the people who have fought tooth and nail to bring about my grandmother forward she actually fought in the a 1000000 plautus independent women's battalion and it was an all female unit that was part of the fust post shaunie and that was part of the soviet full says and

actually they fought out a bottle in london which is the n.f.l. of russia and they actually managed to break through to judgment a friend says take back and hold that thought the strategic area of the bridge that proved to be crucial and not the battle later on i could go up to any single possum on the street also what did you write it seems to join the war each would keep me 80 tell family story someone who fought and died at starting price so many survived the blockade of leningrad so many fought with the partisans on so much who on the 24th of june 1945 walked on to that very splat right behind me traditionally the event is held on may the 9th but the coronavirus to prevent that from happening this year so wednesday was chosen for that you believe instead and it wasn't just a random date that was selected because back in 1945 the 1st ever victory parade was held on june the 24th the many soviet soldiers had made it back from the front lines and could share the celebrations with the whole country. in commemoration of

victory over germany in the great patrick war for june 24th 945 i'm scheduling a parade of the active army the navy and moscow garrison the victory parade in moskos red square. it was a long anticipated and unforgettable day some people strongly believed it would come.

we were looking at the pile of wet cloths and thinking that the long expected victory had come and we the war is that how to free the muzzle and bring back peace is my contribution so.

we're going to go around raising the troops we could see rain trickling from their camps but their spirits were too high to even notice it was a gloomy sunday red squares cobblestones were wet the bunches of flowers that we got off to the parade were away but years on my heart doesn't believe in those memories the 24th of june 1945 has become a part of my life it was the most cheerful and sunny day. well as time does march on from these world changing events interesting that history is not always being remembered the same way because in may the white has to pay tribute to the u.s. and u.k. for delivering victory in the 2nd world war completely ignoring the soviet effort and it's not the any example either of airbrushing the past and hawkins reports now from victory park in moscow. on this day 945 american great britain had victory over the nazis but us president came under fire for ignoring the part

played by other nations in defeating fascism not least the soviet union which suffered over 25000000 casualties but recent events go beyond just want tweet. on the 23rd of august $939.00 the soviet union and nazi germany signed a treaty of nonaggression known as the molotov ribbentrop pact and its secret protocols dividing europe and the territories of independent states between the 2 totalitarian regimes and grouping them into spheres of interest which paved the way for the outbreak of the 2nd world war history is a set of lies agreed upon according to the podium but when former liberators are officially relabeled this occupants and victims as aggressors just with a few strokes of a pen then both truth and agreement become allusive rewriting history revisionism altering the past to fit with present political paradigms multiple

states at the center of those tragic events have been mired in controversy but when it comes to russia controversy turned to something and forgivable all but equating the soviet union's role in world war 2 with that of nazi germany do your president put in his her and stalin colluded to start world war 2 that is a fact part of was a victim of this horrible conflict from the munich pact and partition of czechoslovakia to western business interests in nazi germany many countries at the center of the wars outbreak have skeletons in the closet the key aim is to learn lessons what can be done today to maintain votive peace the russian president has his own thoughts the historical revisionism where witnessing in the west particularly with regard to the subject of the 2nd world war and its outcome is dangerous because it grossly cynically distorts the understanding of the principles of peaceful development laid down in 1945 by the conferences in yalta and san

francisco. the main historic achievement a few and other decisions of the time was the agreement to establish a mechanism that would allow the major powers to stay within a diplomatic framework when resolving their differences the response to russia's position such as passing its own historical laws is telling rather than a debate accusations of deliberate fortification and deceit to divide and conquer in pursuit of nefarious motives historians and politicians may argue for years about blame and responsibility but as the memory of conflict fades so does the fear of such tragedy repeating itself they say history is the sum of all things that could have been avoided a vast early warning system and the response to the president's peace may have missed the main point. the way we understand history shapes the way we understand the present and shapes how we're going to act in the future if we have a distorted

a corrupt titian of history then we're not going to be able to 1st of all know that a different future is possible but we see history being deployed for nationalistic for propaganda stick for mythological for militaristic purposes all over the world and i mean russia is certainly guilty of that too to some extent i'm not saying that russia is outside of that but on the issues world works to russia is much closer to the truth and to have a vision of the world based upon collaboration between the united states russia britain the french resistance forces china back to allow us to begin to reinvention a world in which we can begin to work together again. nothing news this week the u.s. secretary of state is a key to the u.n. human rights council of hypocrisy released

a resolution through an up in the wake of the killing of george freud last month my pump also pointed his finger to kiba china and iran where he thinks racial disparities are truly systemic however the un document itself is also being criticized by activist groups who being too soft would against if there's more when the entire world gets these agri this few reus something must be done rights groups and civil society have moved realized armies of activists and lawyers to make sure that it does it's now or never he is that silence to get rid of xenophobia and make this world a better place. the undersigned family members of victims of police killings and civil society organizations from around the world call in member states of the un human rights council to urgently convene a special session on the situation of human rights in the united states in order to respond to the unfolding growth human rights crisis born out of the repression of

nationwide protests the a.c.l.u. when $600.00 organizations have written to the un human rights council to take action to do something new to the united states gets mentioned specifically for obvious reasons you watch my brother that are there could have been me i hear people you imagine that in a sense are your brother the 1st escape on air america and you have the power to help were get there from. the un human rights council hears that it gets to workin on draft statements and says what the people wanted to say strongly condemns racism against african-americans and the structural racism built into the american government it says it will investigate abuses against african-americans in the united states this is far of stuff powerful and righteous we believe the

situation in the united states warrants urgent country specific intervention and that a thematic global investigation is also an order what happened was a too harsh maybe an unacceptably strong stance against racism they call racism bad names because those righteous words didn't make it into the final report they were moved here is the watered down blub blub version that they agreed on the draft resolution now before the council requests the high commissioner for human rights with the assistance of a resident relevant special mandate holders to prepare a report on systematic racism violations of international human rights law against africans and and. people of african descent by law enforcement agencies especially as those incidents that resulted in the death of george floyd and other africans and of people of african descent here some of the parts that washington convinced them to remove no longer does america have a problem with a race is just

a system now it's a common problem see no longer will the u.s. government be shamed and called out for the murder of george florida now it's a global murder we all black and white and asian and arab we're all potentially responsible for american police murdering a black man the a.c.l.u. said it best what a circus it is absurd that the final resolution passed by the united nations strips mention of the united states where police kill people particularly black people and alarmingly higher rates compared to other developed countries the united nations needs to do its job not get bullied out of doing it and hold the united states accountable the country must face independent global scrutiny for its oppression of black people witness the power of american diplomacy the ability to bully the african group predominantly made up of blacks into watering down

a statement against racism the united states which itself pulled out of the human rights council asked its friends apparently to do a little arm twisting it looks like a backroom arm twisting is going down the us which quickly human rights council has successfully enlisted the un missions of the u.k. france and australia to work together and undermine this important text the efforts of the us to board consular tension only highlights why such security is needed and how far there is still to go to dismantle the pernicious structures of institutionalized racism just one thing if george floyd's murder had happened in. syria or iraq it would have been a war crime police officer knelt on a defenseless hammock of the man's neck as he slowly suffocated begging for his mother and all those american diplomats they would have been in the front ranks

pretending to care screaming and frothing for justice only to deny that very same justice to anyone else. now many italian businesses are facing the heartbreaking decision of whether to cut their losses and close their doors for good 3 month coronavirus lockdown has cast a devastating blow to small and medium enterprises in the country and in particular the hospitality sector leslie has been one of the hardest hit by 19th and wishes financial losses could amount to 170000000000 euro many thousands of companies are at risk and considering closure and it is estimated this could all leave about a 1000000 people out of work. the days of closure killed us cause us more than one kind of them 2000 euro damage and to do. we will find those only stores with. the current situation is sad this restaurant

began in 1910 thanks to my father i have been managing it for 58 years and i can tell you that i have never really seen such a desperate moment. serious year old old it is unthinkable that human beings can experience all this i believe that it is basically a punishment from heaven perhaps we have always thought of being modest little the earth but instead we are nothing but grains of sand he called a lockdown over a virus and the consequent lockdown has created many problems for us we've lost 3 months of revenue and if we remain closed throughout the summer or lose even more money the consequences unfortunately the choice is inevitable i spoke to my brother and after 59 years we've decided to close the family restaurant let's start this in response the italian government has offered lifelines to businesses although there are complaints that these measures have faired have had little effect for many do say that they've received no financial help whatsoever companies continue to suffer

losses as they are still expected to uphold their social obligations to employees and pay taxes all while being forced to remain closed. but let me let it go that definitely something more could be done is all the state made us close and did not understand that we needed immediate help all the companies that have requested the money from the state have received absolutely nothing but the many reservations have been canceled i'm thinking of closing everything because i have many employees in if i don't i risk getting into a lot of debt if things go wrong for 2 months your risk failing so it's a very bad situation as an audio otherwise i'm not a lot of almost came in any way they didn't stock them an old i'm still apply for subsidies but i don't know if they've received them yet we have not received anything for 3 months this was our only job for 3 months we've been continuing with the money we had but you but i cannot continue because we would risk going into

more tat with stuff still to come on the way clear week of voting is underway and i'm going to rush out on amendments to the country's constitution but have a look at the details on that because of the stories just off the back.

so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy confrontation let it be an arms race this is often spearing dramatic development ali and going to exist i don't see how that strategy will be successful very critical time to sit down and talk. hello again our vote on reforming the russian constitution kicked off on thursday and polls are now open nationwide until the 1st of july the vote had been originally planned for april the 22nd but was delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic and to alleviate concerns too about crowds polling stations are open for

a whole week instead of a single day there are around $200.00 members proposed to the constitution constitution and one of the changes would allow planning to potentially run for president for another 2 terms critics have argued over the all or nothing approach to the vote because people can pick and choose which amendments they back and which they don't put in support of the changes in the speech in the state duma back in early march. it was january when president putin stunned russia by proposing changes to the country's foundational law the constitution within hours the entire government had resigned the current constitution dates back to $993.00 to western backed president boris yeltsin built from the debut of the communist soviet era yeltsin's constitution created what would be criticized as a hyper presidential system the president called all the shots. and it was forged in bloodshed as

a hostile communist control parliament trying to impeach yeltsin he resorted to the military to keep in power. 187 people were killed but all to. one of the most important proposals today is to end that hyper presidential system while keeping the fundamentals of the constitution intact so what powers does the president currently have only he alone can nominate the prime minister and other cabinet members parliament just gives a formal green light to the candidates the proposal would flip that giving parliament the final say on who serves in government and the president would not be able to reject the m.p.'s choices powers would be redistributed between various branches of government intended to lock in more checks and balances into russia's government system another big change would limit the president's tenure to only 2 terms in total as opposed to no more than 2 terms in a row as it is now that means future leaders won't be able to serve for as long as putin has. but it's not

a member which has got western media excited putin's perceived trick to stay in power forever the existing rules say putin must stand aside in 4 years time after his 2nd consecutive term albeit his 4th mandate in total m.p.'s are pushing a proposal to 0 out his term count a reset button for an updated constitution i propose to add to the new constitution that the current president like any other citizen would have the right to be elected to the post of head of the state that would mean putin could run again in 2024 and in 2030 if he wants to rewind back to january and why putin said he wanted to change the constitution he says it's to develop a welfare state and the reason for these amendments is to ensure the further development of russia as a state governed by the rule of law to increase the efficiency of institutions in our country with that in mind the room more than $140.00 amendments one guarantees that the minimum wage will not be lower than the cost of living another secures an

annual adjustment to improve the real value of pensions and allowances that would also be tougher requirements for civil servants such as banning key officials from having foreign citizenship or foreign bank accounts the would also be a ban on giving away any russian territory and a priority to domestic law over international there are some controversial proposals to marriage would be classified solely as a union between a man and a woman and god gets mentioned all the constitution will still say russia is officially a secular state it's an all or nothing vote russians won't be able to pick and choose which of the amendments they want to see it's simply a yes or no to the whole package and the changes will only be enacted if the russian people give it an unequivocal mandate. if people do not vote for the amendment they will not be added to the constitution now as we said online voting is being held for the 1st time in russia 2 regions are holding their vote electronically and it is. another measure to help quell the fear is the online

platform being used as promised to data encryption and gives privacy guarantees registration for online voting closed last week now while some of the proposed reforms are proving to be controversial analysts have also argued that overall change is needed for russian society. i think it's very important to note that the present constitution came out of violence came out of the time of deep uncertainty a time of very small just events after the collapse of the soviet system here we are 2027 years later and this document is a centralized power dramatically who feels it needs to be changed opinion polls suggest a majority russians feel it should be changed as well while the western media is focusing on the putin term limits thing which by the way doesn't mean yes to go initially one day anyway who says he will respect me technically by the way he didn't have to have this national vote at all i mean he was passed by every russian

region all 85 federal so it's passed in the state parliament the duma passed the national parliament he didn't have to have this vote he's chosen to do it because he obviously wants a public democratic genesee in fairness i think if there have been that many ballot papers we're going to have a lot more confusion than a single ballot papers and yes or no. now with the growing voice of the black clive's matic campaign in the us major corporations have been caned to show they are doing bad bits but with the spotlight firmly fixed on inequality at home some firms will be hoping it doesn't swing further afield that explains why. a problem that's been ignored and shunted aside for far too long is finally being addressed in the us major corporations are shelling out massive donations revamping their racially insensitive brands and also tripping over themselves to apologize it's comforting to think that maybe this is just the beginning even the idea of reparations for slavery is finally gaining traction now. go and that's what.

this. oath. to. be reparations the california assembly passed a proposal to establish a task force to study and prepare recommendations on giving reparations to african-americans i don't want to add. to be done now when you know what to do let's not wait let's go do the study and decide whether it should be direct cash payments but it would need time you know what has to be done but perhaps we should be forced to ask the question how much of this is a saving politics and brand activism and how much of this is a real attempt to change a broken system and maybe even more importantly who's being left out at this point will this reparations being paid to caribbean countries as well for example it is not enough to say sorry we are not asking for anything is mendicant is handing out checks to people on street corners the issue of money is secondary but in this instance the moral discharge of one's juicy does require in

a market economy that you contribute towards development and what about the exploitation taking place in africa right now don't worry apples on it things must change and apple's committed to being a force for that change today i'm proud to announce apple's racial equity and justice initiative with a $100000000.00 commitment things for the equivalent of your spirit change ted but let's not forget that your company is one of a number accused of benefiting from child labor and the democratic republic of congo. tooth and apple alpha that dell microsoft and tazz la are knowingly benefiting from and aiding and abetting the cruel and brutal use of young children in the democratic republic of congo to mind cobol and a key component of every rechargeable lithium ion battery used in the ellett tronic devices these companies manufacture.

microsoft good. well and several other firms were also named in that lawsuit and those 2 are pledging donations to fight racial inequality but perhaps the line share of that money is going to be spent at home and not on the sprawling the global and sometimes shadowy supply chains faction is finding its conscience as a wealthy clothing retailer h. and m. is splashing the cash levi's the say today h. and m. group will donate half a 1000000 dollars to the national association for the advancement of colored people color of change and the american civil liberties union we support these are going is ations in their efforts for justice economic rights and democratic empowerment

let's change together we're giving a $100000.00 grant to the american civil liberties union for its critical work in criminal justice reform and racial justice we must listen to the voices of then heard and join them so it becomes a lasting chorus that leads to progress and yet just a year ago people making clothing for them and other top labels were struggling in ethiopia to live on just $26.00 a month and yes we get it you can't just say it's all the companies fault would be great if it were that easy but competitive pricing and cheap foreign labor that's the way of the world and it's likely that those textile workers in ethiopia might be even worse off if they didn't have those jobs paying them next to nothing just like there's no saying that those people yes even children at risk in their lives when the cobalt mines to be shut down what we're seeing is the structural consequences of colonialism and slavery throwing money at the problem is not going to cut it anymore taking out a few statues of racists.