[000:00:00;00] ah ah, ah, this is dw news lie from berlin, hong kong joins china in easing. pandemic restrictions, including welcoming arriving visitors without peace, your test showing their coverage free. but going the other way,

hong kong ers and chinese citizens will need test to travel to the us, japan and some other nations. also coming up an accident from the liberated ukrainian city of her son as it faces a blistering onslaught of russian shelley. some people are deciding not to risk becoming the wards next casualties and concerned gross over the health of former pope benedict. the 16th. the vatican says he is very unwell, and doctors are monitoring his condition around the thought. ah and greetings. 12 years round the world. i'm michael. ok. hong kong is dropping most of its cobit 19 restrictions following similar moves by mainland china. starting today, travelers arriving to the territory will no longer have to undergo sensitive pcr

tests. close contacts of those who test positive will no longer have to warranty hong kong vaccine pass system will also be scrapped, but compulsory mash in public places will continue. it is a significant move more given that city once had some of the toughest corona virus restrictions. in the world for more let's go to hong kong and dw corresponded. phoebe com. phoebe again, hong kong is dropping almost all. it's covered restrictions this week. what does this mean for people's daily lives or hong kong effectively can. so almost all of our face, i say candidates at strings and smashes that happened in post in really the good that you have mentioned in the reports and no more kids out test needed arrival with. and i know more limitations on public gatherings in the public space. and also dining and also moist,

actually the controversial facts in coffee strapped as well. so starting from today, people are free to go to any restaurants and genes ah, beauty salon and sex child without any vaccinations. so that is already a new south all hong kong people and very exciting moment for them that they have loaned it. they have waited for so long off or they are losing out the al restrictions. so people are really excited about the new meshes. i imagine people also relieved. huh. yeah, and i'm in our for ordinary people, our lives are their, their daily lives are in hong kong. has become much easier as people i no longer are subject to our that's very are many kind self. all restrictions in a day to day are men now, but are that kind of fly, be lack sation or so are follows?

a kind of light are size facts for people that are like many foreign countries are now considering or have already imposed our caps on travelers from mileage hina. and that includes hong kong as well. so it could be more difficult for home home, people to go abroad to travel overseas in the coming months because of these kind of new phoebe in the lesson half a minute that we have. i want to ask you, hong kong is following policies and mainland china. but is the situation actually comparable? what on the situation in hong kong and mainland china is pretty different at the moment, ah, late the infection rate that in hong kong is, are lower than that in mainland china. our china is just now it's embracing. it's fast, massive wave of infections ah, in late 2022 about hong kong has already passed that faith that hong kong has already undergone our very serious wave infections in the beginning of this year. so,

hong kong is now lay out entering the state of endemic and the medical system is much more prepared than that of manage heiner. so the relaxation in hong kong are, is not going to like, pose, much frat, are comparing to manage hina about hong kong people are also concerned about their potential search and infections because hong kong is going to opening up. ah, yes boy though with mainland china and that will bring more infections to the city and that will that bring out of that definitely bring more concerns to local medical system that people are you over to power, but our hong kong can top of that amount of light infection is like coming from my china, right? we'll have to enter there. that's a phoebe con in hong kong. many, many facts. the united states as it will screen all air passengers arriving from china for covered 19. italy made a similar announcement earlier. the 2 nations join a growing number of countries worried about a surgeon infections after beijing, east corona virus restrictions,

including for tourism abroad. u. s. health officials say the decision came because china isn't sharing enough information about coven 19 number. 62. how uni for chicken? about so what will these new restrictions change? that's what we asked. d. w, corresponded stephan simons in washington. well, there, make it harder for people who come from china to get into the united states without, without a negative coverage test. so this is what's gonna happen now. which is going to be requested starting january 5th at 12 or one a m eastern time. so a local time here, everybody traveling from china directly into the united states or via a 3rd country hub or gateway has to present a negative covered test and has to take a test 2 days before starting this travel activity towards the united states. why did the united states do this because it couldn't wait any longer. other countries,

like japan and india have already started implementing measures against china, travel, or travelers from china. why? because as we all know, china relaxed it's measures against cove it. and so the numbers of co infections are skyrocketing in china, the by the administration cannot just sit there and look, they are, there you go, you have the measures in place right now, starting january 5th, when ukrainian troops pushed russian occupiers out of her san this november there were scenes of celebration, but in recent weeks, their southern ukrainian city has become the target of intensifying russian attacks . ukraine's military says russia fired 33 walk. it's at civilian targets. in the 24 hours going into wednesday, many civilians are fleeing as russian forces pound populated areas with mortars and artillery care sown is

a city slowly being reduced to rubble. key says moscow is deploying more tanks and armored vehicles to the area. and for the stepping up it's aerial bombardment of the city. people here if already seem more that bear fair share of this brutal war . but in recent days and nights, things have become even worse. yeah, i do like you. yeah. this woman says she lost her son and an overnight grade. for those children, the pinball man, 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, it was only our lives a ruined welcome rushes. relentless shelling is destroying her songs, critical infrastructure, and taking a massive toll on civilian life. a mortar attack on christmas eve killed 11 people and injured dozens more among the dead. a social worker, a butcher, and

a woman selling marble 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. digging out while they still can. so some really done so we stayed this whole time and thought it would pass, but when the home next to as an my father's home were hit, 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. hope frances has called for prayers for the former pontiff benedict. the 16th who he says is quote, very ill. francis has visited benedict in his residence inside the vatican where he's been living since stepping down as a leader of the catholic church. for some 600 years, no pope had resigned from

a pontiff benedict the 16th. and at that centuries long stretching 2013 fighting poor health since then, his left a quiet life out of the spotlight known as pope ameritas, burglary saw the benedict condition worse named his successor. pope francis has asked people to pray for him at a general audience. in the vatican, we're here til the boy i would like to ask all of you for a special prayer for pope ameritas benedict, who in silence is sustaining the church as will fare. let us remember him. he is very sick, came out on asking the lord to console and sustain him in this witness of love for the church in christa until the end. more yet he is he not ruffin benedict was pope for less than 8 years. he became the 1st pontiff to apologize for scandals over clerical sex abuse of children, but was criticized for failing to and cover ups by the church. and although his health has been declining in his retirement,

but francis is known to have said that benedict retained a good sense of humor, with her own box in rome and across europe in cities. many people were sad to hear the news of his blossoming help. yeah, i don't remember him as for because i was still a child, but he is suddenly a good person, but he's no sick. so i think it's right that people pray for him because di bellansanti summer didn't of course we identified with him very much because he was a german pope. and i have great respect for him or perhaps sick as we're worried. because the death of a pope is very important and we hope it's not going to happen. hope and prayer for a pontiff is short and controversial. pepsi broke with tradition benedict. the 16th is now being closely watched around the clock by dr. earlier journalists, philip will in realm explain the significance of pope bennett. explain your answer

. well, i think it will be remembered as the 1st to resign his office in 6 centuries. that something really extraordinary, almost without precedent and inevitably, is fixed in the minds of people who follow the activities in the church. but he also was a very erudite theologian and custodian of the dogmas traditional teachings of the catholic church. and since he resign, he's become a focus or opponents of the liberalizing reforms. francis with the impression that they've been to paypal for one or 2 eggs in

a convent in the data. and the on the court around frances. and so this would be a certain amount of tension between the 2 men, even though francis it himself said he would retire into silence and devote his life to prayer and meditation and music. of course, the only days he enjoyed playing the piano, but i think people remember him as the custodian of traditional catholic teaching. while many catholics concerned about the way the church is changing on the process. 2022 is rapidly drawing to a close and it will soon be time to look forward to what the new year will bring. but it's also time to reflect on the good and bad of 2022 for sun. that means waving good bye to unpleasant memories. and that's exactly what people have been doing at the annual good riddance event in new york time square.

i dashing into 2023 after shredding thrashing and bashing 2022. for the people here this year has been one to for guess. they lined up to write down all the bad things they wanted to say. good riddance to in 2022. they range from poverty to single use plastics. a moment of catharsis, and an opportunity to look forward. so in 2023, i'm trying to get rid of a lot of doubt that i had it funny funny too. i just enjoy, like more. you know, it's been very, it's been a very negative couple years. i hope that 2023 of course in scope has gone down. oh, it will be better. and for woman, it was an opportunity to celebrate simply being alive. but this was my hands are masked. i had the we're going through radiation and chemo. got diagnosed in january

of this year. and my daughter emo radiates in surgery. and it means that i made it through at bay. why still alive? that's it. oh, good riggins 2022 a year with its fair share of highs and lows. now all that's left to do is cross over into 2023 and see what the new year has to bring your way into a $30.00 gift card. well, that's all for now. don't forget there's more to be found in our breaking news app and on social media, the handle for instagram and twitter is at t w's a. mike local in berlin from me and the rest of the team. thanks for watching. ah ah ah ah,