scuppered the first. these are live pictures from cape canaveral ahead of take off. we ll take you back to these pictures and our correspondent when it s time for countdown. serena williams is defeated in the third round of the us open in new york, in what is likely to be her last competative match. good afternoon. the funeral is taking place of mikhail gorbachev the last president of the soviet union, who helped bring the cold war to a peaceful end. he died on tuesday at the age of 91. russian president vladimir putin is not attending due to what he described as constraints on his schedule. our russia editor steve rosenberg reports. it was the final farewell to the man who changed the world. in the columned hall of moscow s house of unions, mikhail gorbachev lay in state, a steady stream of mourners filing past his open casket. there was a guard of honour, but the last leader of the soviet union had not been honoured with a full state funeral. a sign that today s kreml
hello, good afternoon. the funeral is taking place of mikhail gorbachev the last president of the soviet union, who helped bring the cold war to a peaceful end. he died on tuesday at the age of 91. russian president vladimir putin is not attending due to what he described as constraints on his schedule. our russia editor steve rosenberg reports. it was the final farewell to the man who changed the world. in the columned hall of the house of unions, mikhail gorbachev lay in state. a steady stream of mourners filing past his open casket. there was a guard of honour, but the last leader of the soviet union had not been honoured with a full state funeral. a sign that today s kremlin has little interest in guarding mr gorbachev s legacy. many russians blame gorbachev for the fall of the ussr, the collapse of their superpower. yet out on the streets muscovites were queueing up to pay their respects. gorbachev had given many here their first taste of freedom and democracy. in
gorbachev s legacy. many russians blame gorbachev for the fall of the ussr, the collapse of their superpower. yet out on the streets muscovites were queueing up to pay their respects. gorbachev had given many here their first taste of freedom and democracy. in today s rusher, both of those things are under attack. rusher, both of those things are under attack. . , ., , ., under attack. there are people who came to gorbachev under attack. there are people who came to gorbachev to under attack. there are people who came to gorbachev to thank- under attack. there are people who came to gorbachev to thank him, . under attack. there are people who| came to gorbachev to thank him, to say thank you, mr gorbachev. you gave us a chance, and we lost this chance. ., ., ., . ., chance. the end of an era. we hear that phrase chance. the end of an era. we hear that phrase so chance. the end of an era. we hear that phrase so often, chance. the end of an era. we hear that phrase so often, d
and we lost this chance. the end of an era. we hear that phrase so often, don t we? its meaning has almost been diluted. but the death of mikhail gorbachev really does mark the end of an extraordinary era in history, a rare period when russia was opening up to the world, when people here where being given freedoms and when east and west pledged to live together, in peace. mikhail gorbachev had played a key role in ending the cold war, working with america to slash nuclear arsenals. but under vladimir putin the east west confrontation is back. president putin did not attend the funeral today. he was too busy, said the kremlin. and there were few foreign dignitaries. hungary s leader, viktor orban, the only western leader here a sign of russia s international isolation.