D-Day wreath ceremony as virus keeps crowds away

A wreath-laying ceremony was held at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville on Sunday to honour and pay tribute to those who took part in the D-Day landings.

It took place against an eerily quiet backdrop, as the coronavirus pandemic kept almost everyone away - from world leaders to frail veterans who might not get another chance for a final farewell to their comrades.

Sunday marked 76 years since some 160,000 soldiers from the United States, Britain, Canada and others who spilled their blood to free foreign beaches and fight on to finally defeat Nazism almost one year later.