The Royal Air Force Red Arrows pass over Buckingham Palace. Photo: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images
Europe celebrated Friday the 75th anniversary of V-E Day — Victory in Europe — marking the surrender of Nazi Germany to Allied forces at the end of World War II.
Why it matters: This was to be a day of parades and one last great hurrah for veterans, now mostly in their nineties, who had tasted the thrill of liberation. Instead, it's largely a time of lockdown and loneliness, per the AP.
French President Emmanuel Macron is seen at the statue of General Charles de Gaulle during V-E Day ceremonies in Paris. Photo: Francois Mori/Pool/AFP/Getty ImagesGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel lays a wreath alongside other government leaders at the Neue Wache Memorial in Berlin. Photo: Hannibal Hanschke/AFP via Getty ImagesPiper Louise Marshall plays at dawn along Edinburgh's Portobello Beach. Photo: Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty ImagesThe residents of Cambrian Road in Chester, England, dress up in period clothing and have a socially-distanced tea party. Photo: Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty ImagesLou Myers, 92, stands at the Cenotaph in London to honor V-E Day. Photo: Dominic Lipinski/PA Images via Getty Images10 Downing Street is decorated in British flags to celebrate V-E Day. Photo: Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images
The death toll from Tuesday's explosion in Beirut, Lebanon has now surpassed 130, including at least one U.S. citizen, amid a search for answers as to why a huge store of ammonium nitrate was left unsecured near the city's port for nearly seven years.
What we know: The government says around 5,000 people are injured. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said current indications are that the massive explosion was accidental, despite President Trump's puzzling claim on Tuesday evening that it appeared to be a bomb attack.
Protests in Beirut. Photo: Maxim Grigoryev/TASS via Getty
Lebanon's prime minister and cabinet have resigned amid massive protests in the aftermath of a deadly explosion in Beirut that killed more than 160 people, injured 6,000 and left roughly 250,000 homeless.
Why it matters: Protesters blame the incompetence of the ruling elite — widely viewed as corrupt — for the disaster. The unstable and deeply distrusted government will remain in place in a caretaker capacity until a new prime minister is selected.
Protesters and riot police clash in Minsk, Belarus, on Sunday during a demonstration against President Alexander Lukashenko's claim of a landslide victory. Photo: Misha Friedman/Getty Images)
Riot police clashed with protesters in Belarus overnight after a government exit poll predicted Sunday President Aleksander Lukashenko, an authoritarian who has ruled the Eastern European country since 1994, had overwhelmingly defeated a pro-democracy opposition candidate.
Why it matters: It's a precarious moment for the former Soviet republic, where decades of repression and a complete disregard for the coronavirus pandemic threaten to topple "Europe's last dictator." Rights groups said at least one protester was killed and dozens more wounded in a "police crackdown," per AP.