brain changes. so get ready for the brain up to 40 to the answer to almost everything. starts january 15th on d, w. ah ah, this is dw lie from berlin. concerns are growing over the health, the former pope benedict, the 60, the current hope francis has visited his predecessor and asked the faithful for prayers for german born benedict who became the 1st pope to retire and 600 years.

also on the program, liberated ukrainian city is now losing residence. as russia steps up its attacks on caps on some people, i decided they will not risk becoming the was next casualty class. the death toll from north america storm of the century rises as people in buffalo, new york, big they were out. some of the dead are found frozen in cars and snow banks. ah golfers welcome to the program. the health of the former po benedict is deteriorating. pope frances has visited his predecessor and described him as very sick vatican confirmed that benedict condition is worsening, as spokesperson said he is receiving constant medical attention to the 95 year old

former pontiff as been almost entirely absent from public view. and yes, those who have seen benedict in recent weeks reported that he was frail, but his mind was still shar for the pope. and it also born in germany as joseph brasel. he was the 1st pope to resign, in some 600 years benedict step down and 2013 due to declining health. when he was succeeded by francis. a i'd like to ask all of you for a special prayer for meritus, poke benedict, who in silence is sustaining the church. i remind you that he's very sick in let's ask the load to comfort him and support him in his testimony of love to the church, to the very end process thinking that we cannot go to rome and to speak. the offer in general is philip. well for philip, could you tell us

a bit more about the condition of the former pope? yes. well 1st we have heard of it declined wiring decline and his health came from his success about francis himself. as you mentioned, that has been confirmed by that can spokesman, who says that there is concern for his health and attribute problems to his advanced age. other sources suggested that he's suffering from a respiratory problem. and we do know that he has been very frail for a number is now let's see in a wheelchair and the most recent photos of that are available. i show him looking very cool and frail that the people who visit him and his voice is

very feeble. it's mine is lucy, but it's very hard to understand what he's saying. now for benedict became the 1st pope to resign in 600 years. what can you tell us about his papacy? well, it is widely at my and i guess a conservative elements in the catholic church. and when he resigned, becoming the 1st to do so in 6 centuries, he already cited finding help as a factor in decision making him feel that he was unable to carry out his job as a leader with 3000000000 catholics. but a factor in his decision was undoubtedly a scandal. internal documents leak to italian journalist that

revealed in fighting and corruption in the back in a state of affairs. he just couldn't deal with at that point in his life. now po process has been visiting his predecessor benefit frequently working or tell us about their relationship. when the 2 men publicly express admiration to one another and their little smiles when they meet at the beginning of his pay to see francis spoke of having a hand, it comes into the vatican gardens as a great blessing and refer to him as a wise grandfather he could turn to for advice, but as time went on the a to live

a life of silence and prayer. and i did from time to time into the logical and moral matters concerning the catholic church. and as i mentioned, he became a conservative or unhappy with the pope's francis's reformers. and so they have been suggestions that has been growing tension between the parents or to rival courts. buying for control and influence in the catholic church and francis and reduce the frequency of his visits to his precept. obviously, also a good deal . thornton was phillip william in rome forest. thank you very much.

let's have a look. and now at some of the other headlights, italy as imposed mandatory cove 19 tests for travelers arriving from china. it joins a growing number of countries worried about the surgeon infections after bay. jane eats east toronto virus restrictions, including for tourism abroad. will you be the best so from devastating floods in the philippines has risen to 25, dozens of others are still missing. heavy rains last weekend in mandated eastern central and southern parts of the country. authorities say many homes and roads were damaged, more than 80000 people are in shelters. north korean leader kim jong owen, has presented new goals to further bolts to his military. he made the remarks that a meeting of top party officials where key policies are being set for the coming year of korea conducted record breaking number of weapons test this year, ratcheting up regional friction head that it is all these southern ukrainian city

of care of san was a scene of jubilation in november when ukrainian troops pushed russian occupies out . but in recent days it has been the target of intensifying russian attacks. grains military says russia fired $33.00 rockets out, civilian targets in the 24 hours going into wednesday. hundreds of civilians are fleeing as russian forces pounds. the populated areas with mortars and artillery chair sewn is a city slowly being reduced to rubble. key says moscow is deploying more tanks and armored vehicles to the area. and further stepping up its aerial bombardment of the city, people harris already seem more that their fair share of this brutal war. that in recent days and nights, things have become even worse. you know, i do,

it's do you think this woman says she lost her son and an overnight rate for the children? the room and i must have felt that something would go wrong in the morning because i urged him to wake up and leave the house. but he didn't, that was a lives ruined. russia written in this, shelling is destroying hassan's critical infrastructure and taking a massive toll on civilian life. a motor attack on christmas eve killed 11 people and injured dozens more among the dead. a social worker, a butcher, and a woman selling mobile sim cards every day civilians at the cities central market. some who have held out here. now say they can't take it any longer, they getting out while they still can, this is really done. we stayed this whole time and thought it would pass. but when the home, nick's dwells and my father's home with it,

it was too scary. just last month there was celebratory scenes in his own as keith retook the regional center. now it appears moscow was trying to retake it either that or simply raise it to the ground. the us and canada are digging out a wall from what's been called the blizzard of the century and emergency has been declared for new york state, which has been bearing the brunt of the snow storm. more than 50 people have died across the united states. snow has buried parts of buffalo, buffalo, new york, and emergency crews are struggling to reach trip residents. some of the dead have been found frozen in cars and snow barks ah, a lighthouse encased in ice in across the continent. winter storm elliot has left striking scenes of beauty in its wake

and frightening scenes of devastation, radio state, and new it. she police have been called into the hard hit city of buffalo to ensure drivers keep off the roads. a driving ban had been issued earlier, but some was still found dead in their cars. so what people are stated like roads that are completely blocked right now, that have no access whatsoever. and people are trying to drive into on these roads or trying to get into these neighborhoods and they can't please, please, you are the mayor bag. i'm begging stay whole. the storm has also cause chaos for travelers during the holiday season. popular budget carriers, southwest airlines cancelled more than 10000 scheduled flight, leaving passengers surrounded and scrambling to find lots luggage

to for airports to airline 3 days late as residents try and dig their homes out from the snow or story. it is a warning that more bad weather may be on its way rain and a rapid rising temperature or in the forecast which could cause flooding. it's been called the blizzard of the century and will certainly be remembered here for a long time. with the holiday season still here, many of us including me, i finally have all the hard to get off the sofa and exercise us. researches might have found that it's not all just down to sheer willpower though. in a study on mice published in the science journal nature, they discovered that got book tyria appeared to play a key role in motivating animals and humans to get to move on. got bacteria play

a fundamental role in human health. that research is at the university of pennsylvania are investigating exercise didn't set out to give the mike hope i am yet another starring role. they studied mice to try and understand what biology can tell us about the motivation to work out. according to the world health organization, more than one in for adults worldwide, don't get enough physical activity to stay healthy. the us scientists wanted to find out if mice could show them why. what we did in the studies. we took very large cordele for genetically diverse mice. and we prefer the exercise capacity. the research has looked at what impact the my says genes metabolism, blood chemistry, and got flora had on their willingness to exercise. they did that by altering the rodents, got my car by ins. some were given no, got bacteria retool, others were given the floor of top performing mice, others of lazy mice. the animals could run as much as they liked on wheels and i

cages. what was clear from our experiments is that if we later michael by an overlap missouri, we use a champion also doesn't have to start with exercise capacity is reduced by about 50 percent. i'm so this is a really, really strong overall contribution that contributes to basically half of the animals axis has performance. after running on the wheel, the mass is got my cape. i am cause day to mean to surgeon it's gray matter. plus the new transmitter that drives the brains reward system. the discovery of this connection between the gus in the brain and how it influences exercise is new and could prove groundbreaking, the sciences eye catching, but would hold true for humans. in fact, the, the circuits in the brain that control motivated behavior are actually extremely conserved between mice and humans and, and many other mammalian species. and so we hypothesize that if this is a very ancient and evolutionarily conserved mechanism that drives the motivation

practice as it might be present in humans as well. a study in humans is already underway to see if got bacteria could make us exercise. just like the mice you or take. the w news is a reminder of the top story we're following for you. but frances says, the former pontiff benedict, the 16th is very ill. doctors at the vatican are monitoring the worsening health of the 95 year old. the german born form of pontiff resigned at 2013, becoming the 1st pope to do so in 600 years. and that's it from me or the team fence. we're watching. every journey begins with the 1st step and every language with the 1st word college pinnacle. rico is in germany to learn german why not learn with him? it's simple online, on your mobile and free to shut the w.