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 record to the sound of thousands of marching feet from tasked with protecting the motherland and hot on their heels quite literally it was a procession military vehicles and equipment before the whole thing was topped off with a spectacular fright its. Clear. Hit. It. Well correspondents ask is how it was than red square and summed up the emotions of the day. To me actually the most moving part of the day its all to the present spoken and they say in unison. And thats 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 it up out my grandmother for chachi for india a 1000000 lot is independent womens battalion and it was an all female unit that was part of the fast polish army and that was part of the soviet full says and actually they fought out a bottle in london which is that of russia and they actually managed to break through to judgment a friend says take and hold talk a strategic area of the bridge that proved to be crucial and not the battle later on i could go up to any Single Person on the street also what did you write it seems to join the war each would keep me 80 tell from the story someone who fought and died at starting price someone who survived the blockade of leningrad so many fall with the partisans on so much who on the 24th of june 1945 walked on to that very scrap 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 the jubilee instead and it was not just a random day because back in 1905 the 1st of a victory parade was held on june the 24th when 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 and the great patrick wall for the june 24th 1905 im scheduling a parade of the active army the navy and moscow garrison the victory parade in moscows red square. It was a long anticipated and unthink get civil date 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 people to free the motherland bring back peace is my contribution so. All winding around reaching the troops i could see rain trickling from their camps but this year its really too high to even notice it was a gloomy sunday red squares cobblestones weds the bunches of flowers that we got after the parade were away but years on my heart doesnt believe in those memories the 24th of june 1945 has become a part of my life it was the most cheerful and sunny day. Plus time does march on from these world changing events it does seem that history is not always being remembered the same way in may the white has to pay tribute to the u. S. And the u. K. For delivering victory in the 2nd world war completely ignoring the soviet effort is not the only example either of airbrushing the past and hawkins reports now from victory park in moscow. Well theres then 145 american Great Britain had victory over the nazi but u. S. President came under fire for ignoring the part played by other allied nations in defeating fascism not least the soviet union which suffered over 25000000 casualties but recent events go beyond just one tweet on the 23rd of august 939 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 napoleon 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 unions role in world war 2 with that of nazi germany dear president putin heater 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 of skeletons in the closet the key aim is to learn lessons what can be done today to maintain violet of 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 to 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 russias position such as passing its own historical laws is telling rather than a debate accusations of deliberate false if occasion 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 were going to act in the future if we have a distorted a corrupt titian of history then were not going to be able to 1st of all know that a different future is possible but we see history being deployed for nationalistic propaganda stick for mythological for militaristic purposes all over the world and i mean russia is certainly guilty of that too to some extent im not saying that russia is outside of that but on the issues of world war 2 russia is much closer to the truth and to a vision of the world based upon collaboration between the United StatesRussia 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. Now in other news this week the u. S. Slammed the u. N. Throwing up a resolution critical of racism in america following the death of george floyd however activist groups to claim that the document didnt actually go far enough but it can stay if as this report. When the entire world gets these agri this few reus something must be done Rights Groups and Civil Society have mobilized armies of activists and lawyers to make sure that it does its 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 u. N. 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 Group 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 that the United States gets mentioned specifically for obvious reasons you watch my brother down there could have been me i hear the people you are but youre mad in a sense are your brother the 1st keep on air america and you have the power to help get very far by. The un human Rights Council hears that it gets to work on un draft statements and says what the people wanted to say strongly condemns racism against africanamericans and the Structural Racism built into the American Government it says it will investigate abuses against africanamericans in the United States this is far and stuff powerful and righteous we believe the situation in the United States warrants country specific intervention and that a thematic global investigation is also an idea what happened was a too harsh maybe an unacceptably strong stance against racism they call racism bad names because those righteous. Words didnt make it into the final report they were moved here is the watered down blah blah version that they agreed on the draft resolution now before the Council Requests the high commissioner for human rights with the assistance of 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 its a common problem see no longer will the Us Government be shamed and called out for the murder of george fraud now its a google murder we all black and white and asian and arab were 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 back room arm twisting is going down the us which queer the human Rights Council was successful in. The u. N. Missions of the u. K. France and australia to Work Together and undermine this important text the efforts of the us to board consular attention only highlights why Social Security is needed and how far there is still to go to dismantle the pernicious structures of institutionalized racism just one thing if George Floyds murder had happened in syria or in iraq it would have been a war cry at Police Officer knelt on a defenseless handcuffed mans 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 streaming and frothing for justice only to deny that very same justice to anyone else but i guess they are there still to come and we can facing is underway in russia on amendments to the countrys constitution details just up and abroad. Is your media a reflection of reality. In a world transformed. What will make you feel safe. Isolation or community. Are you going the right way or are you being led. By. What is true what is fake. In the world corrupted you need to descend. To join us in the depths. Or a maybe in the shallows. Join me every thursday on the alex simon show and ill be speaking to us of the world of politics sports business im show business ill see you then. Come back to the weekly now after months of locked people around the world have been enjoying their 1st taste of freedom in recent weeks following the easing of many coronavirus restrictions but for those thinking of the fight against the virus has now been won the World Health Organization is warning its only just begun. Globally but the plunder mickey is still accelerating. It took more than 3 months for the 1st 1000000. 00 cases to be reported. The last 1000000. 00 cases were reported in just 8 days well among those whove already felt the 2nd wave is china a recent break was traced to a local wholesale food market which supplies more than 80 percent of Agricultural Products to the Capital Beijing the government acted quickly shutting it down and firing up its Testing Program it was planned to test an entire area in just 3 days thats more than 60000 people we are slow of course the process when. I thought it would be fast to take such a test but in fact i spent 3 hours queuing up for the test but when i saw the doctors my heart sank because their protective goggles were all folks and their sweat was running down their faces meanwhile in germany new cases of the coronavirus have continued to pop up in various regions leaving local authorities to impose countermeasures which have differed from city to city after breaks at a Meat Processing plant the german food and agriculture minister has called for price increases to help create a safer working environment peter oliver has more data. Dealing with coronavirus here in germany has moved away from sweeping National Measures with restrictions being lifted or imposed based on regional factors. Here in berlin authorities have lifted restrictions that had limited get togethers to a maximum of 5 people from 2 different households earlier the same move it being made in the states of brandenburg. Its a very different picture in north rhinewestphalia an outbreak centered around a meat packing plant in the city of looters law the scene over 1500. 00 people test positive and a Strict Lockdown until the end of the month has been imposed on the area. Undoes we will order a lockdown for the whole district of killer slow the purpose is to calm the situation to expand testing to establish whether or not the virus has spread beyond the employees of tony and well get a better picture of the situation here intensive testing you can then see more clearly within 7 days what the situation is we want to bring about this locked us which will stay in place until june 30th and bring us more clearly at the front to use the mouse longears have formed as tests have been made available to everyone in the affected regions the military being drafted in to help with the large scale testing Operation Health professionals suggest that a large number of symptomless code carriers a behind the spike the largest localized outbreak in germany. Is already the idea of these tanks because we know that there are symptomless people who dont have a high fever and carry the virus if you and i dont fortunately spread it out today weve counted around 400 to 600 people waiting for it and we would also be setting up a hotline in the next few days to help with registration. Local skewing to test science at all happy with the slaughterhouse at the center of this spike all the state authorities they say should have done more. Akin to 40 found that dont want to be careful and take the tests i dont have symptoms and what should i say im a bit angry with the slaughterhouse that they didnt read sooner and now our region is headed into another log down we have to go through it. And find definitely the politicians in their thirtys should have reacted to you know and then completely convinced that the 1st condoms those infected were faked and then not taking any responsibility it isnt guns away from north rhinewestphalia theres also a localized lockdown in the city of. Workers and is being seen bringing water and supplies to some of the 800 also families who are being taught. To quarantine. Around 700 people remain in an apartment complex and get again a forced quarantine which turned violent last weekend. And remember i said restrictions were being lifted in berlin well not for old berlin as in the friedrich schein area of the german capital almost 40 households of being put on lockdown those living nearby a concerned about the risk posed a not too happy with those who faulted social distancing the party in the summer. And i have a feeling the fear can you explain why because i belong to the risk group and i have medical conditions. We are doing this for weeks and months we dont do visits anymore mostly we sit on the balcony apart from Grocery Shopping or a walk pharmacy or the doctor thats it. If you dont understand why some hope in the parks and in the compounds we dont understand this. Off the back of those regional covert 19 spikes authorities here in berlin have said that they will be enforcing fines against those law wearing face coverings on public transport or in shops as we try to get back to his normal a life as possible while still remembering that corona virus is infectious today as it was a few months ago peter all over all see it. Now on thursday a vote on reforming the russian constitution kicks off stay in polls are open nationwide until the 1st of july votes had been originally planned for april the 22nd but was delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic and to alleviate concerns about crowds polling stations are open for a whole week instead of a single day there are around 200. 00 amendments proposed to the constitution one of the changes but alas potentially landed me pitching to run for president for another 200. 00. Critics have argued over the all or nothing approach to vote so people can pick and choose which amendments they want to back and which they dont potent support the changes in a speech in the state doing that back in march. It was january when president putin stunned russia by proposing changes to the countrys 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 de breze of the communist soviet era yeltsins constitution created what would be criticized as a hyper president ial 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 that autumn. One of the most important proposals today is to end that hyper president ial 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 russias 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 wont be able to serve for as long as putin has. But its not a member which has got western media excited putins 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 is 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 is 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 there would also be tougher requirements for Civil Servants such as banning key officials from having foreign citizenship all Foreign Bank Accounts would also be a ban on giving away any russian territory and 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 or the constitution will still say russia is officially a secular state its an all or nothing vote russians wont be able to pick and choose which of the amendments they want to see it 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 amendments they will not be added to the constitution while online voting as we said is being held for the 1st time in russia at a very sincere holding their vote electronically its another. Measure to help quell the phase the Online Platform being used also promises they train trips and has given privacy guarantees registration for the online voting last week now while some of the proposed reforms are proving to be controversial analysts have argued that i rule changes needed for Russian Society but i think its 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 doesnt mean yes to go unless you want to anyway who says he will respect that vote you mean technically by the way he didnt have to have this National Vote at all i mean he was passed by every russian region all 85 federal somethings passed in the state part of them to do a cost of the National Parliament he didnt have to have this vote hes chosen to do it because he obviously wants the public democratic legitimacy in fairness i think if there have been that many ballot papers were going to hell of lot more confusion than a single ballot paper saying yes or no. Just coming up to half past 2 in the afternoon here in moscow to be watching the weekly were back again in about 30. I dont know crowd. No shots. I actually felt it. Was dr no the 1st one. Which you thirst for action. And. On balkan 2 worlds apart we often hear that human life is priceless which may sound virtuous as a political statement but its simply not true in economic terms economists have at the taj a price to act if you must live reach like Everything Else in the market is susceptible to fluctuations but what is the cost of putting human lives above Everything Else while to discuss that im now joined by david handers and a Research Fellow with the Hoover Institution at Stanford University professor henderson its good to talk to you thank you very much