Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
François Bayrou says Easter Monday and VE Day could become normal workdays as critics call plan ‘a direct attack on France’
France’s prime minister, François Bayrou, has proposed scrapping two public holidays as part of radical measures aimed at reducing the country’s ballooning deficit, boosting its economy and preventing it being “crushed” by debt.
Outlining the 2026 budget on Tuesday, Bayrou suggested Easter Monday and 8 May, when France commemorates Victory Day, marking the end of the second world war, although he said he was open to other options.
Charles says sacrifice of second world war heroes must not be in vain
King Charles called for a renewal of “global commitments to restoring a just peace where there is war, to diplomacy and to the prevention of conflict”, as the UK marked the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day.
Westminster Abbey was the focal point for national commemorations with a service of thanksgiving weaving poignant reminders of wartime deprivation and loss with the hopes for the future that historic day had promised.
Lai Ching-te says ‘message of history is clear’ as Taiwan for first time officially commemorates end of second world war
Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, has compared his nation to the European countries heading for conflict with Nazi Germany in the 1930s, in a punchy speech commemorating the end of the second world war in Europe.
“Eighty years after the end of the European war, the message of history is clear. Today, 80 years later, we share the same values and face similar challenges as many of the democracies that participated in the European war,” Lai said to a group of foreign dignitaries gathered in Taipei.
Exclusive: Poll before 80th anniversary of VE Day finds tensions with Russia seen as most probable cause
Eighty years after the second world war, polling shows many Americans and western Europeans believe an even more devastating third global conflict could break out within a decade, with tensions with Russia seen as the most probable cause.
As Europe prepares to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, the YouGov polling also showed large majorities felt that events during and before the second world war were relevant today and must continue to be taught to younger generations.
As Big Ben chimed at noon and with the Cenotaph, the symbol of sacrifice, draped in the union flag for the first time since its unveiling in 1920, the UK marked the 80th anniversary of VE Day with military pomp before large crowds who had gathered in central London.
Buckingham Palace may have served as the centrepiece of Monday’s spectacle before Thursday’s anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. At the event’s heart, however, were the VVIP second world war veterans, those remaining few who bore actual witness then and who today serve to remind.
PM writes of ‘debt that can never be fully repaid’ in letter marking 80 years since end of second world war in Europe
Keir Starmer has praised the “selfless dedication” of those who have served in the military before the anniversary of VE Day as the government unveiled a new £50m support system for veterans.
In an open letter to mark 80 years since the end of the second world war in Europe, the prime minister said the sacrifice made by members of the armed forces was a debt that could “never fully be repaid”.
Actor joins four days of national events including concerts, church services and a military procession in London
Eighty years after Winston Churchill addressed the nation from Downing Street with the words “This is your victory!” a recitation of his famous VE Day speech will be broadcast as the nation commemorates the day the Allies formally accepted Germany’s surrender in 1945.
Events across four days of national UK commemorations include a military procession through central London on Monday, with tens of thousands expected to line the route from Parliament Square to Buckingham Palace, and a service at Westminster Abbey on the 8 May anniversary on Thursday.
Four days of events planned in Britain to commemorate eight decades since end of second world war in Europe
For the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day the Cenotaph will be draped in union flags and there will be a military procession and flypast as well as a new installation of about 30,000 ceramic poppies at the Tower of London, it has been announced.
Four days of commemorations will begin on the bank holiday Monday of 5 May in tribute to the millions of people across the UK and Commonwealth who served in the second world war.
Ukraine will prevail over Russia as freedom prevailed over the Nazi dictatorship in 1945, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, will say in a TV address to mark the 77th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, in which he will accuse Vladimir Putin of falsifying history.
In the speech, which will be aired on German TV at 8.20pm CET (7.20pm BST) on Sunday, Scholz says the “legacy of 8 May” for his country must be to help to ensure that there will never again be genocide or tyranny in Europe.
Jaston Khosa was one of 600,000 men from African countries who fought for Britain. He was quietly buried on VE Day after a life of abject poverty
In a crowded, Zambian slum on VE Day, a family gathered to bury one of the last veterans of Britain’s colonial army. Jaston Khosa of the Northern Rhodesia Regiment was laid to rest on the day the world commemorated the end of the war in which he fought.
The 95-year-old great-grandfather was among 600,000 Africans who fought for the British during World War Two, on battlefields across their own continent as well as Asia and the Middle East. Although their service has largely been forgotten, the mobilisation of this huge army from Britain’s colonies triggered the largest single movement of African men overseas since the slave trade.
Thousands of people, including elderly veterans of the second world war, turned out for Belarus’s Victory Day parade despite the coronavirus epidemic. Images from the parade showed large crowds as the country’s leader, Alexander Lukashenko, boasted of holding the only parade in the former Soviet Union to mark the defeat of Nazi Germany
Somehow the quiet made it louder. By rights, marking the 75th anniversary of VE Day in the midst of a pandemic that has confined us to our homes – forcing us to keep our distance from one another, denying us the right to gather in crowds – should have muffled this commemoration. A celebration in private would surely feel like no celebration at all. Katherine Jenkins singing to an empty Albert Hall, streets with no street parties and the pubs all shut: how could that add up to anything other than a damp squib?
And yet Friday’s marking of the end of the second world war struck a deeper chord than it might, had it been just another sunny bank holiday. Yes, the usual rituals had to be suspended. There could be no wreath-laying at local memorials; instead, Prince Charles and Camilla laid two small wreaths on their own, in a crowdless corner of Balmoral, watched by a lone piper. There could be no veterans’ parades, no reunions for those who had served, no grateful handshakes from the politicians: 102-year-old former staff sergeant Ernie Horsfall had to make do with a Zoom call from Boris Johnson. And there were limited opportunities for silliness: the Winston Churchill impersonators were all dressed up with nowhere to go, forced to perform their cigar-and-V-sign shtick online.
The Queen led tributes to the wartime generation on Friday night, recalling the “never give up, never despair” message of VE Day as the country marked the 75th anniversary of victory in Europe.
In a special broadcast, on a unique day of remembrance, reflection and celebration taking place during the coronavirus lockdown, she said: “Today it may seem hard that we cannot mark this special anniversary as we would wish. Instead we remember from our homes and our doorsteps.
Seventy-five years ago crowds massed in the streets of Europe, singing and dancing as their leaders announced the end of six years of bloody war. Today, the streets were empty, and leaders stood alone in silence at places of commemoration, as a continent marked the heroics of the war generation in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic.
A picture from VE Day celebrations at Holly House residential home in the village of Milton Malsor in South Northamptonshire.
Naeha Menon from Holly House said:
We went into lockdown on March 9th to stop our residents getting coronavirus, and with the support of our great staff we remain covid free, but taking precautions to ensure everyone can celebrate happily and safely.
Footage of Prince Charles reading an extract from his grandfather George VI’s diary entry for 8 May 1945, has been broadcast to mark VE Day 75.
The extract reads:
The Prime Minister came to lunch. We congratulated each other on the end of the European War. The day we have been longing for has arrived at last, & we can look back with thankfulness to God that our tribulation is over.
No more fear of being bombed at home & no more living in air raid shelters. But there is still Japan to be defeated & the restoration of our country to be dealt with, which will give us many headaches & hard work in the coming years…
“The day we have been longing for has arrived at last.”
The Prince of Wales reads an extract from his grandfather King George VI’s diary which describes The King’s experience of #VEDay on 8th May 1945.#VEDay75pic.twitter.com/Rx0bsrh0SI
Russian media pours scorn on Europe, but the only progressive way forward for our common continent is together
In the early 1990s Russia used to have a strong sense of belonging in Europe. This began to change: the post-Soviet shock therapy reforms were a punishing transition to a free-market society, when a kilogram of sausage cost about the same as a monthly pension and many families experienced malnutrition and hunger. The sudden shift to a more “westernised” way of running the economy left many impoverished, which was eventually capitalised on – after the oligarchic power wars – by a new political leader who embraced a conservative, nationalist rhetoric: Vladimir Putin.
Today, Russian television presenters feed us stories about a European continent in decay, where “aggressive migrants” run amok, where social services take children away from their parents for being “slapped”, where “sexual minorities” destroy traditional families.
Britain observed a two-minute silence on Friday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE Day, marking the end of the second world war. Charles, the Prince of Wales, and the Duchess of Cornwall led the ceremony from Balmoral in Scotland. Political leaders also paid silent tribute at 11am along with the rest of the nation. Nazi commanders surrendered to allied forces in a French schoolhouse 75 years ago to the day.