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World News

VE Day commemorated across Europe

France, Poland, the Czech Republic and other countries have marked the day, 76 years ago, which represent the victory of allied forces against the Nazis.

Germany

Bomb squad scrambled to German forest for sex toy

A suspected WWII hand grenade found in a Bavarian forest was actually a rubber sex toy, German police have said.

Sweden

Sweden's ex-PM angers Norway and Denmark with Nazi resistance tweet

"The defence forces of Sweden in 1940 weren’t stellar, but still stronger than Norway and in particular than Denmark," Carl Bildt said. "Had [Adolf] Hitler decided to invade Sweden it would have been a fight."

France

French village inherits fortune from Austrian Jew it housed during WW2

In Chambon sur Lignon, only one person remembers Erich Schwam, who died at the end of December at the age of 90 in Lyon, leaving no relatives behind.

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Germany

Nazi concentration camp secretary charged with complicity to murder

It is believed to be the first time for several years that a woman has been charged in relation to wartime Nazi atrocities.

Russia

George Blake, notorious Soviet Cold War double agent, dies at 98

Blake was jailed in the 1960s for betraying the British foreign intelligence service but escaped and spent the rest of his life behind the Iron Curtain.

USA

World’s first supersonic fighter pilot Chuck Yeager dies aged 97

The first man to fly a plane faster than the speed of sound, Charles “Chuck” Yeagar, has died aged 97.

Switzerland

Swiss to evacuate village threatened by vast WWII explosive depot

A risk assessment of the underground depot carried out over the previous two years said it presents "unacceptable" risks based on current safety regulations.

Germany

It's 50 years since Willy Brandt knelt to apologise for Nazi crimes

The gesture forms the foundation of modern relations between Germany and Poland.

My Europe Series

Nuremberg trials: 75 years on from world's first war crimes tribunal

Nuremberg: How the world's first war crimes trial revealed the scale of the Nazi Holocaust

France

Watch: Macron leads Armistice Day commemorations in France

While France usually observes the public holiday with a parade in Paris as well as several other events around the country, this year will be different as the nation is under a national lockdown.

France

France pays tribute to 6-year-old wartime resistance hero Marcel Pinte

Known as "Quinquin", and celebrated as France's youngest resistance hero, he carried messages under his shirt to leaders of the movement against Nazi occupation.

Poland

Watch: Huge WW2 bomb detonates underwater during Polish navy operation

The bomb — nicknamed "Tallboy" and capable of causing a small earthquake — was dropped by the British in 1945.

World News

Facebook to ban posts about Holocaust denial

The move is the company's latest attempt to take action against conspiracy theories and misinformation ahead of the US presidential election.

Experiences

Following the tracks of the Tour de France on Vercors' balcony roads

The hair-raising lanes that were cut into the sides of sheer rock walls using dynamite pass through deep gorges, undulating hills, and huge wooded expanses; a serene alternative to the soaring, gnarly landscape of the Alps.

Norway

Nazi warship found 80 years after being sunk off Norwegian coast

The shipwreck was detected by an energy company using sonars to inspect undersea power cables.

Poland

Did Poland's WWII grievances delay German ambassador's approval?

Poland finally accepts the appointment of the German ambassador after an unusually long delay.

France

WWII memorial defaced in massacred French village

On June 10, 1944, troops from the SS "Das Reich" division brutally killed 642 villagers. They were herded into barns and a church before the town was set on fire.

Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein demands Prague stop recognising its citizens as German

Prague recognition of Liechtenstein citizens as German allows it to retain property seized after the Second World War.

United Kingdom

VJ Day: UK marks 75th anniversary of 1945 Japanese surrender

Boris Johnson laid flowers of remembrance and observed a two minute silence at the National Memorial Arboretum.