A continent devastated by the coronavirus will mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe today, as the economic destruction of the current global crisis was laid bare.

Large-scale parades that had been envisaged to commemorate victory over the Nazis have been downsized as the world grapples with a fearsome new enemy that has killed 277,000 people and sickened more than 3.7 million.

Despite limitations, some ceremonies are to go ahead in commemoration of the end of hostilities in World War II.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier are due to lay wreaths at the country's main memorial.

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