Europe and US mark 70th anniversary

Ceremonies are being held across Europe and the United States in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the end of the second world war.

Paris, London, Berlin and Washington are just some of the cities where ceremonies are being held. Moscow will hold its own ceremony on Sunday.

BBC reports that US Secretary of State John Kerry joined the commemoration in Paris, laying a wreath at the Arc de Triomphe alongside French President Francois Hollande.

Earlier in the week, a ceremony was held in the Polish port of Gdansk, at the site where the first shots of the war were fired and was attended by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and a number of leaders from eastern European countries.

The event has been organised by Poland as an alternative for those leaders who are boycotting Moscow's Victory Parade because of ongoing tensions over Russia's role in Ukraine's conflict.

Russia is planning to showcase its military might at its Victory Parade on Saturday.

In Germany, parliament held a special session in which speakers paid tribute to both Western Allied forces and the Soviet Army who brought the war to an end.

Also in the US, President Barack Obama gave a radio address, praising a "generation that literally saved the world".