w. . this is g w news live from berlin tonight the battle over dresden germany marks a 75 years since the allied bombing one of the most controversial attacks in the 2nd world war joining in a human chain the german president. he led the commemoration on the ring the 10s of thousands who were killed but he also urged germans today to stand up against far right extremism also coming up china's deadliest day yet in the corona virus outbreak a surge in deaths and infections china says due to new reporting methods is the

virus now a greater threat to china and the world than we thought was extreme vacations gone too far one of the 2 german who 1st crossed an article on foot 3 decades ago sounding the alarm about mass tourism on the frozen concert. i'm off it's good to have you with us today germany marked the 75th anniversary of the allied bombing of dresden one of world war 2 some most controversial moments as the board neared its end the british and american planes dropped a fire bombs on the city for 3 days killing tens of thousands of people the assault left dresden in ruins and it sparked a lasting debate for some the attack was a necessary step in defeating nazi germany for others it was

a senseless tragedy of. under the church of our lady the symbol of the trust and bombings they formed a human chain german president frank val to steinmeyer joined in this show of unity the message to the thousands of people gathered in the city's main square never forget. when we join hands with our neighbors then we confess. we want to take responsibility together for peace among people at home and throughout the world. over a period of 3 days british and u.s. planes dropped nearly 4000 tons of explosives on preston the attacks killed some 25000 people and totally wiped out the city's historic center what happened in dress 10 has been seized on by the far right to portray germany as a victim as an earlier ceremony steinmeyer said crimes shouldn't be compared

there's a very hard to do at least i don't wish to say clearly today anyone who still counts the dead of dresden against the dead of auschwitz anyone who tries to downplay german wrongs anyone who tries to falsify historical facts we must stand up to them as democrats and contradict them loudly. out she'd be just management thank. you born of threats against democracy. the far right alternative for germany is the 3rd biggest party in germany's parliament. we are also experiencing in our country how anti semitism and racism are beginning to poison public life again how states governed by the rule of law and democratic institutions are being scorned. if elected members of parliament

a mocked and ridiculed in the parliaments in which they said this is an attempt to destroy democracy from within. their mccarthy for instance are still. of the i'm. dressed in the physical scars have long since healed the psychological ones are taking somewhat longer. and our correspondent the only phenomenon she is in dresden good evening to you really only so talk us through the main points of today's ceremony and told us also what else happened today. yes so there were a few official events marking this 75th anniversary here today we saw some of them mention in the reports earlier today. the main commemoration event held

a speech at the palace of culture the mood was very somber a lot of the participants also came from greece patna cities in poland elsewhere in the world and cities that have experienced destruction and war firsthand like greece and frankfurters time i stressed in the speech the importance of standing up for democracy for humanity and for peace the peace that has lasted for 75 years here in europe he then went on to join thousands of others off to dress and said jason a citizens in standing hand in hand in a human chain forming a human chain that went through the whole city send off trace just a few hours ago people who i talked to who joined the human chain actually told me they came out because they once they want to commemorate this day they want to commemorate the victim remember the victims but also remember germany's responsibility in causing and creating this war is the responsibility for the war

and the it shows its trust cities and to stand up to forces in german societies right now who are questioning that responsibility and who are trying to rewrite history and i'm standing just now in front of an event organized by the a 50 it's not part of the official event calendar of the city of. 50 that's organized to come in. narration behind me i'm just met with thousands or hundreds of counter protesters who are just devices from the safety by the police the unsexy there's a lot of police here right now so the far right posse a 50 definitely has a presence here today too and just met with a lot of counter protesters who are saying it is downplaying the nazis there german nazi germany's responsibility and the destruction who are also saying that the

destruction of jason as a cultural capital stocks it's a lot early in 1933 with the 1st book burnings here in the city center so there definitely yeah lots of different events the city is torn between it its different factions and its way of remembering the states 75 years ago comparing you know competing narratives there of the truth against rebalanced history what about today the city of dresden today how important are the bombings for the city of dresden today. i'm so in the speeches and everyone talks to him it was definitely always civic issue a lot of people talks about the role of safety they talked about the far right gaining access to the public sphere and the public debates taking up a lot of room and so

a lot of people who joined the human chain some of them who are survived who survived the bombings 75 years ago i talked to one who was a 4 year old boy 75 years ago and and he told me it's now more important than ever to stand up against the forces who are trying to take down this democracy again and who are trying to forget about the war crimes 75 years ago that also germany committed so. this topic yes definitely. whenever i talk to anyone ok all right leone even hammerstein in dresden the only thank you. here is some of the other stories now that are making headlines around the world that european commission president or so far the lion has acknowledged mistakes in how external consultants were hired when she was german defense minister but she defended the use of consultants fund a lie and testified today before a german parliamentary committee investigating accusations of nepotism and

inefficiency british prime minister boris johnson has fired several ministers in a major cabinet reshuffle and in a surprise move he his finance minister resigned rather than firing his own aides and installing once chosen by boris johnson now replacing him is the man you see right there. a treasury deputy widely seen as a johnson loyalist the un has released a report accusing more than 100 israeli businesses of being complicit in violating palestinian rights by occupying or operating in the occupied west bank palestinian officials have broken the report israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu describing it as a shameful attempt to blacken his country's name. there's been an alarming surge in the number of infections and deaths from the corona virus which scientists are now calling code vid 19 health officials are getting increasingly worried the number of infections worldwide and shot up 260000 now that's after 15000 new cases reported

in just one day using apparently a new diagnostic model over 250 deaths were recorded on wednesday alone in the chinese province of who bay where the outbreak began. the new normal in will harm people taking extra precautions to avoid contagion from the coronavirus chinese media shows images of a massive response medical supplies being rushed to patients military medics on the move despite the spike in diagnosed cases officials are emphasizing a different number. from the 7th of february on every day we've seen a big increase in the number of patients cured and discharged today for example the number of cases is already over 5000 if such a trend can be maintained we see this as a very positive signal. european health ministers better in brussels on thursday to

discuss the crisis. so far in europe and that with a new pin union detection and containment works we are able to to stop the infectious chains. but we have to admit that today and could get through us before it becomes better a. good asia the fear level is higher vietnam has quarantined a town of 10000 people in indonesia there's been a rush of panic buying of face masks. this cruise ship has been quarantined in the japanese port of yokohama more than 200 cases diagnosed on board so far the biggest cluster outside china passengers are passing the time as best they can. you know eat where you are wandering in the city. you know try to keep clean and organized as much as we can and i'm going to. do or. yeah it's

a step to it. there's still among the lucky ones as the world waits to see how much worse the outbreak gets here. well despite recording a record high temperature there just a couple of weeks ago antarctica and. it's vast expanses where they still are trying to venturers 30 years ago 2 germans became the 1st people to cross the carnage on foot it took them a 100 days today trekking across the ice is was a matter of stamina much more a matter of money. at the end arctic with a different place when ryan hold mess now and i've had folks set out to make history in temperatures of minus 35 degrees the 2 adventurers sometimes used kites and skis to cross the south pole marching through the icy expanse freezing cold feet were just one of the problems they faced. in those

days the antarctic was truly hard to reach but things have changed a lot today there are top right is that a lot of business there. if you need. arrival at one of the world's most remote tourist destinations air travel now extend to the antarctic and planes ferry passengers to airstrips carved into the ice. distances that took messner and folks several weeks on foot now take only a few hours by air. private jets and luxury camps tourism here does not come cheap a week's holiday costs over $80000.00 euros per person day trips including champagne picnics are also on offer. i don't like it when the antarctic is just saying as a form of entertainment. just to say they've been there. since the 2 should appreciate this unique continent with its magnificent nature.

these emperor penguins are tourist magnet for more and more people visit their breeding grounds in the eternal winter. though travel to the white continent is comparatively cheap for a few $1000.00 tourists can admire the animal kingdom as they travel to the pole. about $52000.00 tourists visited the antarctic last year these numbers are predicted to rise. stuff into unsought from 2 there has to be a cap on the number of people visiting the antarctic mass tourism cannot be allowed their doctors who must so when messner and folks enter the record books by crossing the antarctic 30 years ago they travelled for 3 months without seen another soul.

are george w. news from berlin coming up next business with kate ferguson and don't forget you can get all the latest news and information around the clock on our website d w dot com i'm 4th off for all of us in berlin thanks for the company. much of it. surely to news from africa and the world is your link to exceptional stories and discussions from the news of easy town i would say debbie did comstock's traffic join us on facebook. for cause.