Global action needed to solve the medical oxygen crisis

Murdoch Childrens Research Institute

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Targets for universal access, national roadmaps and more affordable and accessible care are vital to help fill the medical oxygen gap affecting more than half of the world’s population, according to a new global report.

The Lancet Global Health Commission report details for the first time how future investment in strengthening medical oxygen systems could have a huge impact by saving millions of lives and improving pandemic preparedness.

Almost 400 million children and adults require medical oxygen every year. More than five billion people, 60 per cent of the world’s population, don’t have access to safe and affordable medical oxygen services.

The Commission, co-chaired by Makerere University in Uganda, the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research (icddr,b) in Bangladesh, Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) in Australia, Karolinska Institute in Sweden and the Every Breath Counts Coalition in the US was launched in 2022 against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Commission was tasked with submitting actionable recommendations for governments, industry, global health agencies, donors and the healthcare workforce.

MCRI Dr Hamish Graham said the COVID-19 pandemic had put a spotlight on the longstanding global inequities in accessing medical oxygen.

“Oxygen is required at every level of the healthcare system for children and adults with a wide range of acute and chronic conditions,” he said. Previous efforts, including the major investments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, largely focused on the delivery of equipment to produce more oxygen, neglecting the supporting systems and people required to ensure it was distributed, maintained, and used safely and effectively.”

Dr Graham said channelling investments into national oxygen plans and bolstering health systems, including wider use of pulse oximeters (a small device that measures how much oxygen is in the blood), would help solve the medical oxygen crisis.

“We urgently need to make high-quality, pulse oximeters more affordable and widely accessible,” he said. Pulse oximeters are available in 54 per cent of general and 83 per cent of tertiary hospitals in low- and middle-income countries, with frequent shortages and equipment breakdowns.

“Concerningly, in these countries the devices are performed for only 20 per cent of patients presenting to general hospitals and almost never for those at primary healthcare facilities. We see the greatest inequities in small and rural government health facilities and across Sub-Saharan Africa.”

Dr Graham said the importance of medical oxygen must also be recognised and integrated into broader national strategies and pandemic preparedness and response planning.

“Governments should bring together public and private sector partners with a stake in medical oxygen delivery, including health, education, industry, energy and transport to design a system and set up a governance structure that supports the new Global Oxygen Alliance (GO₂AL) and replenishing The Global Fund with a strong oxygen access mandate,” he said.

Key findings from the report published in The Lancet Global Health include:

• The global need for medical oxygen is high. Every year, 374 million children and adults need medical oxygen, including 364 million patients with acute medical and surgical conditions and nine million patients with long-term oxygen needs due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.  
• Global access to oxygen is highly inequitable with huge gaps in coverage despite pandemic-related investments. Less than one in three people in low- and middle-income countries who need oxygen for acute medical or surgical conditions receives it.

• Costs to fill the oxygen gap are large but represent a highly cost-effective investment that will have wide reaching impacts. Closing the large acute medical and surgical oxygen access gap in low- and middle-income countries requires an additional $US6.8 billion annually.

• National Medical Oxygen Plans are essential to facilitate investment and effectively coordinate service delivery. Less than 30 countries have developed National Oxygen Plans to date but all governments are encouraged to have one by 2030.

• Oxygen systems must be designed to suit the context, include operational costs, and be affordable to all patients. There is no one-size-fits-all national medical oxygen system. Governments should define priorities and optimise their systems to suit local conditions.

• Pulse oximetry is the gateway to safe, quality, affordable oxygen care and needs to be integrated in clinical guidelines, education and all levels of the healthcare system. Pulse oximetry measures should be routinely assessed in patients at all levels of health care.

• A need for closer collaboration between the medical oxygen industry, national governments and global health agencies. Companies should adopt specific oxygen access targets and publish progress while global health agencies should regularly assess oxygen industry progress similar to how the pharmaceutical industry operates.

• Accurate and timely data on oxygen systems is essential for effective decision making and oxygen service access. New tools such as the 10 Oxygen Coverage Indicators and a national Access to Medical Oxygen Scorecard (ATMO2S) would help governments to both plan their national oxygen systems and report progress implementing the WHO Oxygen Resolution.

The report comes after it was announced MCRI would partner with 12 countries in the Pacific and Southeast Asia under a $10 million initiative to improve child and adolescent health across the region.

The Australian Government has awarded MCRI a strategic grant as part of its Partnerships for a Healthy Region Initiative.

The three-year funding will be used to establish the ReALiSE program – the Regional Alliance for Learning in Systems for Equitable Child and Adolescent Health – which will strengthen resilience in public health systems and engage with youth leaders and local communities to improve the health of all young people.

One of the initiatives includes strengthening local health systems data to improve care and the use of oxygen as an essential medicine in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Papua New Guinea.

To read the full Lancet Global Health Commission on Medical Oxygen Security report.

Learn more as Dr Graham discusses the importance of medical oxygen at the MCRI Annual Showcase.

Publication: Hamish R Graham PhD & Carina King, Ahmed Ehsanur Rahman, Freddy Eric Kitutu, Leith Greenslade, Masooma Aqeel, Tim Baker, Lucio Flavio de Magalhães Brito, Harry Campbell, Karen Czischke, Mike English, Adegoke G Falade, Patricia J Garcia PhD, Mireia Gil MEng, Stephen M Graham, Amy Z Gray, Stephen RC Howie, Niranjan Tex Kissoon MD, Ramanan Laxminarayan, Inês Li Lin, Michael S Lipnick, Dianne B Lowe, David Lowrance, Eric D McCollum, Tisungane Mvalo, Jacquie Oliwa, Stefan Swartling Peterson, Rediet Shimeles Workneh, Heather J Zar, Shams El Arifeen and Freddie Ssengooba. ‘Reducing global inequities in medical oxygen access: the Lancet Global Health Commission on medical oxygen security,’ The Lancet Global Health.

Available for interview:

Dr Hamish Graham, MCRI Team Leader, International Child Health

---

Journal

The Lancet Global Health

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Reducing global inequities in medical oxygen access: the Lancet Global Health Commission on medical oxygen security

Article Publication Date

17-Feb-2025

Wildfire on remote French island threatens wildlife and research station

A wildfire burning for weeks on Amsterdam Island, part of France's Southern and Antarctic Lands, has so far destroyed 55 percent of the tiny territory in the southern Indian Ocean. A haven for biodiversity, it is also home to one of the world's two research stations monitoring greenhouse gas concentration worldwide.


Issued on: 12/02/2025 - 
FRANCE24
By: Cyrielle CABOT

This aerial view taken on December 31, 2022, shows Amsterdam Island, part of the five administrative districts of the French Southern and Antarctic Territories. The research station at Martin-de-Viviès is the only settlement on the island. © Patrick Hertzog, AFP

Since January 15, a wildfire has raged across Amsterdam Island, a tiny 58km² islet administered by the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF) in the southern Indian Ocean. The French government is powerless to intervene and must simply wait for rain to put out the flames consuming the territory – one of the world’s most isolated at nearly 2,800km from Reunion Island.

By February 10, more than half the island had burned, according to the TAAF prefecture, based on satellite images.

When the fire first broke out, 31 people – technical staff, military personnel and scientists –were living at the Martin-de-Viviès permanent research station on the remote volcanic island, which is only accessible by boat. Everyone was evacuated from the base on January 16. As luck would have it, a French lobster fishing boat, the “Austral”, happened to be operating nearby and took them on board.

Two days later, they transferred to the TAAF supply ship “Marion-Dufresne”, which was also on a mission in the area, before eventually reaching Reunion Island on February 5.

The fire broke out via unknown causes at Pointe Bénédicte, around 3km from the Martin-de-Viviès base, the prefecture said. It then “spread southwards, under favourable weather conditions marked by dry weather and strong winds”.

As of February 10, it was impossible to determine whether the fire was still active, as satellite images alone could not confirm the hotspots' level of activity.
A refuge for biodiversity

The impact of the fire is significant for two reasons. Firstly, Amsterdam Island, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is an important sanctuary for biodiversity. It hosts many seabirds including the endemic Amsterdam albatross as well as 84 percent of the world's Indian Yellow-nosed albatross population, according to the French Polar Institute. It is also home to colonies of elephant and fur seals, which breed on its shores at this time of year.

The islet’s vegetation is also unique due to the presence of the Phylica arborea shrub, the only tree-like structure present in the five districts of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, also according to the French Polar Institute.

A male subantarctic fur seal is pictured on December 31, 2022 on Amsterdam island. The island is also home to the Amsterdam albatross. © Patrick Hertzog, AFP

Although it is still too early to assess the damage to the biodiversity caused by the fire, scientists are concerned about the species there now trapped by the flames.
Measuring global atmospheric pollution

Secondly, the fire risks creating scientific losses. Amsterdam Island is home to an important monitoring centre. Managed by France’s Laboratory for Climate and Environmental Sciences, the site is ideally suited for measurements of air, gases and air pollution.

“The island's geographical location, its isolation and the low level of human activity mean that measurements can be taken in a particularly 'clean' environment,” said Marc Delmotte, the centre’s head.

At the station, atmospheric concentrations of “carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone” are recorded second by second, Delmotte said. This data is then compiled with measurements from a network of twenty stations monitoring concentrations of various greenhouse gases, providing an invaluable resource for monitoring air pollution and studying climate change.

The data is all the more important as the observatory is one of the world's only sites for direct measurement of atmospheric background pollution on a global scale, alongside a site located on Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano. “As such, we always have two ways of taking measurements, so that we can ensure continuous readings even if one malfunctions,” Delmotte said.

What's more, “within the national network, this observatory is our oldest station. It is therefore the one for which we have the longest series of measurements in the entire southern hemisphere", said Delmotte. “An interruption in the readings is therefore a very unfortunate loss of data.”

However, since the fire broke out on January 15, no further measurements have been taken – a first since 1981. “We’re hoping this interruption will be as brief as possible,” he said.

Difficult to determine the damage

“The images we have seen show that all the vegetation around the monitoring site has burned, but we don't yet know whether our instruments have been damaged,” Delmotte continued, adding that every possible precaution was taken before the site’s staff were evacuated.

While the living quarters at the research station still appear to be standing, infrastructure vital to personnel on site does seem to have been affected. “Water access and telecommunications systems are no longer operational,” the prefecture announced. There are no rivers on Amsterdam Island, meaning that the only available freshwater is collected and stored rainwater, and the photovoltaic panels ensuring the island's electricity production have been affected.

A reconnaissance mission is due to depart from Reunion Island during the week of February 10. Comprising seven TAAF personnel including a doctor and four firefighters, its aim will be to more precisely measure the extent of the fire, identify potential remaining hotspots, and take stock of the damage and facilities.

“This isn't the first fire to hit the island, but it's certainly the biggest in a long time,” said Delmotte. “And depending on the damage highlighted by the mission, we'll have a better idea of what work needs to be done.”

In any event, the needed repairs “will generate significant costs” and “take time” because of the island's extreme isolation, he concluded, issuing a call for the French state to mobilise on a grand scale so that scientists are able to resume their important work ”as soon as possible”.

This article has been translated from the original in French by Nicolette Bundy.

Zelensky warns US not to strike peace deal with Russia 'behind our backs'

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Washington not to seek a peace deal without Kyiv's involvement following reports that the US and Russian presidents spoke this week. Zelensky also urged Europe to take steps to ensure its own security, calling for the creation of a continental army.

15/02/2025 -
FRANCE24
By: NEWS WIRES

01:36

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivers a speech during the 61st Munich Security Conference in Munich, southern Germany on February 15, 2025.

 © Thomas Kienzle, AFP


Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday warned the United States not to strike a deal with Russia "behind our backs", as he urged Europe to stand up and make its voice heard.

Speaking at a gathering of top policymakers in Munich, the Ukrainian leader issued a rallying cry for Europe to take responsibility for its own security – including by eventually forming a continental army.

The plea from Zelensky came a day after he met US Vice President JD Vance as Kyiv scrambles to ensure it is not sidelined in Washington's push to wrap up the three-year war.

"Ukraine will never accept deals made behind our backs without our involvement," Zelensky said in a keynote speech.


"No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine. No decisions about Europe without Europe."

Watch moreTrump's call: Does direct overture to Putin betray Ukraine?

US President Donald Trump stunned allies and upended the status quo of US support for Ukraine this week when he announced he would likely soon meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin to start truce talks.

Zelensky cautioned Putin would seek to use Trump as a "prop in his own performance" – possibly by trying to get him to Moscow for Russia's WWII victory parade in May.

Kyiv has urged Washington to come up with a "common plan" to confront Russia but Zelensky suggested there was not yet a joint stance after his meeting with Vance.

Zelensky is pushing for "security guarantees" from both the United States and Europe to ensure that any peace deal does not allow Moscow just to restart the war later.

"Putin cannot offer real security guarantees, not just because he is a liar but because Russia in its current state needs war to hold power together," he said.

The Ukrainian leader said forceful sanctions on Russia and building up Ukraine's military could help secure peace, and said he was "open" to eventually having European peacekeepers.
'No time to lose'

European leaders backed up Zelensky's call to action – and for their continent to play a key role.

"There will only be peace if Ukraine's sovereignty is secured," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told the Munich Security Conference.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk pressed Europe to establish its own stances on Ukraine and security as the United States sows doubts about its commitment to Europe.

"Europe urgently needs its own plan of action concerning Ukraine and our security, or else other global players will decide about our future," Tusk said.

"This plan must be prepared now. There's no time to lose."

Ukraine could 'drive out' Putin if US armed Ukraine 'to the teeth', allowed attacks deep into Russia
18:20

NATO boss Mark Rutte said that leaders in Europe were "now getting into the concrete planning phase" of possible security guarantees.

US officials have said that Ukraine will not be left in the cold after three years of battling Russia's invasion.

Vance said after his sit-down with Zelensky that Washington was looking for a "durable, lasting peace" that would not lead to further bloodshed in coming years.
Rare earths deal?

But US officials have sent mixed messages over Washington's strategy after Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth appeared to rule out Ukraine joining NATO or retaking all of its territory.

That has sparked major worries in Kyiv and Europe that Ukraine could be forced into a bad deal that leaves the continent facing an emboldened Putin.

In a bid to keep Washington close, Kyiv has held talks over granting access to its rare earths mineral deposits in return for future US security support.

Zelensky said the negotiations were ongoing after his meeting with Vance.

While Zelensky engages in his diplomatic push, on the ground in Ukraine the situation for his forces continued to deteriorate.

Russia's army on Saturday claimed to have captured a village in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region close to a road linking key towns as Moscow slowly eats up territory.

Despite suffering heavy battlefield losses, the Russian army has been creeping forwards in eastern Ukraine for more than a year as it looks to cut off access to Pokrovsk.

The advances came after a Russian drone struck a cover built to contain radiation at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, with radiation levels remaining normal.

"A country that launches such attacks does not want peace. Not. They don't want it," Zelensky said.

"It is not preparing for dialogue."

(AFP)

FASCIST FRIENDS OF A FEATHER

Vance meets leader of Germany's far-right AfD, attacks European 'firewalls' against populism

US Vice President JD Vance on Friday met with Alice Weidel, leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. Vance lectured European leaders about free speech and said there was no place for “firewalls” against right-wing parties.


Issued on: 14/02/2025 - 
FRANCE24
By:NEWS WIRES

US Vice President JD Vance delivers a speech at the 61st Munich Security Conference (MSC) in southern Germany, February 14, 2025. © Thomas Kienzle, AFP

U.S. Vice President JD Vance met the leader of a German far-right party during a visit to Munich on Friday, nine days before a German election. During his visit he lectured European leaders about the state of democracy and said there is no place for “firewalls.”

Vance met with Alice Weidel, the co-leader and candidate for chancellor of the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party, his office said.

Read more'We are ready to move as quickly as possible towards real peace,' says Zelensky

Mainstream German parties say they won’t work with the party. That stance is often referred to as a “firewall.” Polls put Alternative for Germany, or AfD, in second place going into the Feb. 23 election with about 20% support.


News of the meeting came after top German officials pushed back hard against Vance’s complaints about the state of democracy in Europe, with the defense minister calling it “unacceptable” to draw a parallel with authoritarian governments. He and Chancellor Olaf Scholz defended German mainstream parties’ firewall.

Vance said at the Munich Security Conference that he fears free speech is “in retreat” across the continent.

“To many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like old entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don’t like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote a different way, or even worse, win an election,” Vance said.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, speaking a couple of hours later, said he couldn’t let the speech go without comment.

“If I understood him correctly, he is comparing conditions in parts of Europe with those in authoritarian regimes,” Pistorius said. “That is unacceptable, and it is not the Europe and not the democracy in which I live and am currently campaigning.”

Vance also told European leaders that “if you’re running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you.” He said no democracy could survive telling millions of voters that their concerns “are invalid or unworthy of even being considered.”

“Democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters,” he said. “There’s no room for firewalls.”

Pistorius countered that “every opinion has a voice in this democracy. It makes it possible for partly extremist parties like AfD to campaign completely normally, just like every other party.”

He noted that Weidel was on prime-time German television on Thursday night along with the other contenders.

But he added that “democracy doesn’t mean that the loud minority is automatically right,” and that “democracy must be able to defend itself against the extremists who want to destroy it.”

Scholz took to social network X to “emphatically reject” Vance’s comments.

“Out of the experiences of Nazism, the democratic parties in Germany have a joint consensus — that is the firewall against extreme right-wing parties,” he wrote.

Bavarian governor Markus Söder — a prominent figure in Germany’s center-right opposition bloc, which leads pre-election polls — told reporters that “we take every opinion seriously, but we decide ourselves with whom we form a coalition,” German news agency dpa reported.

Vance’s meeting with Weidel came after she was received on Wednesday by Hungary’s right-wing nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The vice president’s office said Vance also met Friday with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and opposition leader Friedrich Merz, while he met Scholz earlier this week when both were in Paris for a summit on artificial intelligence

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre took issue with how Vance urged European officials to stem irregular migration in Friday’s speech.

Vance said the European electorate didn’t vote to open “floodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants.”

“He speaks as though we are not focused on immigration in Europe,” Gahr Støre said. “I mean, this is the big theme in every country, that we want to have control of our borders.”

He argued that Ukrainian refugees accounted for a significant increase in unvetted immigrants in recent years — and they were accepted “because there is a bloody war going on, which he did not mention, which I think is not really addressing reality.”

“I don’t agree with him that what’s happening in Ukraine, what’s happening in Russia, what’s happening in China is less important than the presumed loss of freedom of speech in Europe,” Gahr Støre said.

(AP)

Rally against Germany's resurgent far right draws thousands in Berlin

One week out from Germany's general election, tens of thousands of people gathered in Berlin to protest the growing support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. A quarter of a million people joined a similar rally in Munich last weekend.


Issued on: 16/02/2025 

FRANCE24
By: NEWS WIRES

Demonstrators hold placards during a protest against right-wing extremism, racism, anti-Semitism and queerphobia and for social justice, fair working conditions, climate protection and responsible international politics ahead of the upcoming general election, in Berlin, Germany on February 16, 2025. © Christian Mang, Reuters


Tens of thousands of people joined a Berlin demonstration against the far right on Sunday, a week before Germany votes in a hotly contested general election.

Around 30,000 people took part in the protest, according to police, while organisers put the number at 38,000.

Many carried placards with slogans denouncing the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is expected to become the second-biggest party in next Sunday's vote.

09:03

Robert Porth, 32, an employee at German rail operator Deutsche Bahn, said he was "really scared by the current political developments in Germany".

"I don't want to have to reproach myself later that I sat at home on the sofa and did nothing about it while I still could," he said.

Pensioner Hannelore Reiner, 71, said she saw "a lot of parallels to 1933, to the time before the war when Hitler's fascism came to power".

"A lot reminds me of that. The discussions back then, the exclusion, the anti-Semitism. And I'm afraid history will repeat itself," she said.

The conservative CDU-CSU alliance of former chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to be the biggest party after the election, with the AfD second.

The anti-immigration party has seen its poll ratings edge upwards in recent months and is expected to register a record-breaking score of around 20 percent of votes.

The resurgence of the AfD – aided by US support, most notably from tech billionaire Elon Musk – has alarmed its critics, with several demonstrations attracting large crowds in recent weeks.

Some 250,000 people attended a demonstration against the far right in Munich last weekend, with a similar demo in Berlin the week before drawing around 160,000.

(AFP)

On the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Dresden, tributes to victims are hijacked by far right

More than 25,000 people died during the Allied firebombing of the city of Dresden, Germany, from February 13 to 15, 1945. Eighty years later, thousands of people have linked hands to form a human chain in the city to pay tribute to the victims and to push back against right-wing extremists who use the anniversary to push their own revisionist agenda.


Issued on: 13/02/2025 - 
By: Stéphanie TROUILLARD

FRANCE24

View taken from the destroyed Dresden town hall after the Allied bombing raids of February 13-14, 1945. © Walter Hahn, AFP


Victor Gregg, a British prisoner of war in Dresden in 1945 who lived through the Allied bombings of the city, described the onset of the attack in the Guardian in 2013:

“As the incendiaries fell, the phosphorus clung to the bodies of those below, turning them into human torches. The screaming of those who were being burned alive was added to the cries of those not yet hit. There was no need for flares to lead the second wave of bombers to their target, as the whole city had become a gigantic torch. It must have been visible to the pilots from a hundred miles away.”

“I still suffer at times the memories of those terrible events,” Gregg wrote.

The British veteran, who died in 2021, wrote that he considered the Dresden bombing a war crime, and many historians have seen the attack as a senseless killing of civilians in the final stretch of the war.

In the months leading up to the infamous bombing, however, the end of World War II did not look so imminent.

“In the West, the Allies had been slowed by the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and were only as far as the Rhine. In the East, the Red Army was still blocked around Breslau (Wrocław) in Poland,” says Jérôme Bazin, lecturer in contemporary history at the Université Paris-Est Créteil.

The city of Dresden destroyed by deadly Allied air raids in February 1945. © Associated Press

A mixture of explosive and incendiary devices

In January 1945, the Soviets launched a major offensive against Germany and made rapid progress. As the end of the conflict seemed within reach, the Anglo-American General Staff decided to revive the ‘Operation Thunderclap’, which had been proposed in the summer of 1944 and initially intended to massively bomb Berlin. But in 1945, the plan was modified to carry out bombing raids on many cities in eastern Germany, including Dresden.

“The aim was to hinder the reinforcement of German troops from the Western Front by paralysing German infrastructure,” says Dutch historian Bas von Benda-Beckmann, author of a thesis on the German historiography of the Allied bombings.

“In addition, British military leaders believed that a decisive blow aimed at civilian areas would be capable of provoking a complete collapse of German society and, consequently, the rapid surrender of Germany. The Western Allies also wanted to demonstrate to Stalin that they were contributing to the Allied victory” with the bombing campaign, he adds.

Dresden, one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, had been spared Allied air attacks until the night of February 13, 1945, when the first bombs fell on the former capital of Saxony. “The Royal Air Force first bombed the city with 800 planes, dropping a mixture of explosive and incendiary devices. The aim of the raid was to cause as much damage as possible over a wide area. Over the next two days, the US Air Force continued these attacks with a further 400 aircraft,” Von Benda-Beckmann says.

Photo dated 1945 showing residents and emergency personnel cleaning up the rubble in the east German city of Dresden, following the Allied Bombings on February 13, 1945. © Richard Peter, AFP

Most of the bombs were dropped on residential areas. This old town, with its narrow streets and alleys lined by wooden buildings and houses, burned for several days. “The destruction was rapid. In just a few days, the centre of the town was razed to the ground. It wasn't as quick as the atomic explosion in Hiroshima, but there was destruction of stupefying proportions,” Bazin says.
A dispute over the human toll

The death toll was difficult to establish precisely, says Bazin. “Calculating the number of victims was a contentious subject. Bodies were burnt, and many people fled the devastated city while the country was in total chaos. Survivors’ accounts bear witness to families being separated and dispersed.”

The Nazi authorities took advantage of the situation to inflate the number of victims. As early as March 1945, Joseph Goebbels, the Third Reich's Minister of Propaganda, put forward the figure of 250,000 dead “in order to take advantage of international indignation and, above all, counter British criticism of the systematic destruction of cities” by the Nazi regime, notes historian Robert Beck from the University of Tours, author of the study "The bombing of Dresden. Remembrance, commemorations, historiography" (Le bombardement de Dresde. Souvenir, commémorations, historiographie).

In the post-war decades, estimates of the death toll varied widely. After the war, historians in the new Federal Republic of Germany put the number as high as 400,000 dead – a toll that exceeded the number of victims of the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

Beck says that this high estimate could have been a way of minimising the horror of the destructive power of the atomic bomb at a time when West Germany, soon to become a member of NATO, was placing itself under the protection of the American nuclear umbrella.

A woman lights a candle during a rally by Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) commemorating the 72nd anniversary of the deadly Allied bombing of Dresden during WWII in Dresden, eastern Germany on February 14, 2017. © Jens Meyer, AP

In 2010, after six years of research, a commission of German historians finally concluded that 25,000 people had perished under the 650,000 incendiary bombs dropped by the Americans and the British. But this figure has since been contested by Germany's far right, including the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which believes that it underestimates the death toll. In its political discourse the party uses the term ‘Bombenholocaust’ ("Holocaust of bombs").

Von Benda-Beckmann says that the aim of the extreme right is to use the bombing of Dresden to minimise the crimes perpetrated by the Nazis: “The extreme right wants to argue that Dresden constitutes a war crime that far exceeds the destruction caused by Luftwaffe bombers and is ‘just as horrible’ as the atrocities committed at Auschwitz and other death camps.”

Using this line of argument is not a recent development. Since German reunification in 1990, the anniversary of the destruction of Dresden “has served as a rallying point for far-right groups", Bazin says. “The commemorations of February 13 have been an opportunity for various ultra-nationalist groups to make their voices heard in the public arena, by saying that Germany also suffered during the war, that it was a victim of violence.”
A human chain

Parties opposed to the far right in the 1990s began to organise anti-fascist demonstrations in Dresden on February 13.

And since 2010, thousands of people mark the day by linking hands to form a human chain in the city centre to pay tribute to the 25,000 victims, but also to protest against marches organised by the extreme right.

This human chain is part of a series of municipal commemorations surrounding World War II, including events marking the deportation of the Jews of Dresden and the German surrender.

People hold hands to create a human chain along the banks of the River Elbe in Dresden, eastern Germany on February 13, 2024, during commemorations marking the 79th anniversary of the city's bombing in 1945. © Jens Schlueter, AFP

A communiqué from the city council web site reads:

“On February 13, 2025, we commemorate the bombing of Dresden 80 years ago. We commemorate the immeasurable suffering that the National Socialist tyranny brought upon humanity.”

“Unfortunately, Dresden's destruction in World War II was not an isolated incident; the city was neither ‘innocent’ nor a ‘victim’,” the communiqué reads, recalling the fate of the cities of Coventry and Leningrad, which were largely destroyed by the Wehrmacht.

In the run-up to the German federal elections scheduled for February 23, and with the AfD in second place in the polls behind the conservative CDU/CSU, the municipality was hoping to attract as many participants as possible to this year’s commemoration.

“February 13 reminds us to take a stand when our democracy is in danger, when people are discriminated against and intimidated, when verbal and physical violence has become acceptable,” the city statement notes.

At 9.45pm, church bells throughout the city were set to ring, marking the time when the first bombs fell on Dresden 80 years ago.

This article was translated from the original in French.

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Slaughterhouse Five Or The Children's Crusade

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After Trump's comments on Gaza, why were some media afraid of using the term ethnic cleansing?

13:58 min
From the show


US President Donald Trump's plan to take control of the Gaza Strip and clear out Palestinians has drawn international condemnation. Western and Arab governments, the United Nations and human rights groups were all quick to say it was tantamount to ethnic cleansing. But many media outlets in the US and France did not make the same connection. Why? Was it poor taste, bad judgment or something else? Our guests are Thomas Fenton, head of FRANCE 24's English channel; Kethevane Gorjestani, foreign editor and former White House correspondent; and Arno Pedram, co-founder of the anti-racist journalist organisation AJAR.

By: William HILDERBRANDT

Issued on: 16/02/2025

Trump's plan for Gaza: 'Ethnic cleansing is not acceptable,' UN chief Guterres says

In an interview with FRANCE 24, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres addressed US President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza, saying that "ethnic cleansing is not acceptable". © FRANCE 24

Issued on: 16/02/2025

In an interview with FRANCE 24, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressed US President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza, saying that "ethnic cleansing is not acceptable in our world".

Speaking on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Guterres said it was "essential that the fighting does not start again in Gaza, which has already suffered too much".

Negotiations for a permanent ceasefire must continue, he added.

Concerning the crisis in DR Congo, where Rwanda-backed rebels are making gains, he said Rwandan President Paul Kagame told him at the AU summit that he was "ready for a diplomatic solution".

Guterres said the essential principle of any negotiation must be the DRC's territorial integrity.

Finally, he called for a ceasefire between the warring parties in the Sudan conflict, saying General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo should enter into negotiations.

Our guestsAntonio Guterres

UN Secretary-General

Play (08:53 min)From the show

Nearly 400 Rabbis, US Jewish Leaders Say 'No' to Trump Push for Ethnic Cleansing of Gaza

"It is vitally important that we in the American Jewish community add our voices to all those refusing to entertain this insidious plan," one rabbi said of Trump's proposal.


Partners for Progressive Israel shared the ad, published in The New York Times, on Bluesky.
(Photo: @partners4israel.bsky.social‬)

Jessica Corbett
Feb 13, 2025
COMMON DREAMS


Over 350 rabbis and dozens of Jewish public figures on Thursday placed a full-page advertisement in The New York Times protesting President Donald Trump's proposal to force all Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip and take over the coastal enclave recently decimated by U.S.-armed Israeli forces.

"Trump has called for the removal of all Palestinians from Gaza," the ad states. "Jewish people say NO to ethnic cleansing!"

The ad then lists the hundreds of people who signed on, including V (formerly Eve Ensler), Peter Beinart, Judith Butler, Molly Crabapple, Ben Cohen, Ilana Glazer, Tavi Gevinson, Nan Goldin, Naomi Klein, and Joaquin, Rain, and Summer Phoenix.

"Donald Trump—like Pharaoh in the Bible—seems to believe he is God with authority to rule, own, and dominate our country and the world," said Rabbi Yosef Berman of New Synagogue Project in Washington, D.C., a signatory to the Times ad.

"Jewish teaching is clear: Trump is not God and cannot take away Palestinians inherent dignity or steal their land for a real estate deal," Berman continued. "Trump's desire to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza is morally abhorrent. Jewish leaders reject Trump's attempts to wring profit from displacement and suffering and must act to stop this heinous crime."

Glazer, a comedian and actor, similarly stressed that "we, Jews, and all of us who care about basic human rights, must speak up and stand up to ensure Palestinians remain on their land, so they can rebuild their homes and lives in Gaza after the genocidal destruction they have endured. All of our safety is intertwined."

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its 15-month military response to the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack. The Israeli assault killed more than 61,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to estimates by local officials. A fragile cease-fire took effect last month.

After Hamas threatened to suspend the release of additional hostages over Israeli violations of the deal—which prompted Israel to threaten more violence, seemingly backed by Trump—the group said Thursday it would free three captives this weekend.

The ad in the Times on Thursday is just part of the growing opposition to Trump's proposal to kick Palestinians out of Gaza and turn the territory into what he claimed could be the "Riviera of the Middle East." Polling published Wednesday by Data for Progress shows that a majority of Americans are against the United States seizing control of Gaza, and nearly 7 in 10 oppose sending U.S. troops for the takeover.

A coalition of over 100 groups led by A New Policy—founded by Biden administration officials who resigned in protest—and the Quaker organization Friends Committee on National Legislation said Monday that they "decry and oppose any effort or initiative, and any calls for, the forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, and support the joint statement of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, the Palestinian Authority, and the Arab League that similarly rejected any such steps."

The Guardianreported Thursday that Cody Edgerly, director of the In Our Name Campaign and one of the organizers of the Times ad, pointed to Trump's relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that it came at "a critical time as political redlines that were once thought immovable are rapidly shifting as the Trump-Netanyahu alliance takes hold again."

It has been "heartening to witness such a rapid outpouring of support from across the denominational and political spectrum," added Edgerly. "Our message to Palestinians is that you are not alone, our attention has not wavered, and we are committed to fighting with every breath we have to stop ethnic cleansing in Gaza."

Beinart, editor-at-large of Jewish Currents and author of Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning, said in a statement that "as someone who loves the American Jewish community, and lives my life in the American Jewish community, and could not imagine another way of living. It is utterly horrifying to see the degree to which people who enjoy great legitimacy and respect in our community are willing to support something that would be considered one of the greatest crimes of the 21st century."

Another signatory to the ad, Rabbi Toba Spitzer of Congregation Dorshei Tzedek in Newton, Massachusetts, said that "it is vitally important that we in the American Jewish community add our voices to all those refusing to entertain this insidious plan."

Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's "dream of making Germany 'Judenrein,' 'cleansed of Jews,' led to the slaughter of our people," Spitzer added. "We know as well as anyone the violence that these kinds of fantasies can lead to. It is time to make the cease-fire permanent, bring all of the hostages home, and join in efforts to rebuild Gaza for the sake of and with the people who live there."