when polled came over the sea from cameroon to berlin start oct fourth on t.w. . this is d.w. news live from berlin and pope francis kicks off his visit to the baltic states with a solemn tribute to victims of oppression in the way of years some one hundred thousand people were on hand there's france is on of those who suffered under the soviets and nazis later still pay tribute to holocaust victims in the capitol building we'll get a lot update from our correspondent also coming up. a smoldering wildfire in

northwest germany could threaten life some properties and weeks to come now the german military's helping battle a blaze it started weeks ago with its own rocket tests. and the precarious homecoming after years in lebannon it's now safe enough for some syrian refugees to return we'll say how one family is struggling to rebuild lives interrupted fun here's a bit. i'm rebecca riches welcome to the program. pope francis has paid tribute to lithuanians who suffered during soviet and nazi occupations this in a mass viewed by tens of thousands in the country's second largest city county it's the pope's first stop on a short tour of the baltic states that the one year last year and a stony or

a mocking a century since winning independence from russia after world war one. the pope urged residents of all three nations to draw on their. past experience to speak up for tolerance in europe. because only. the smallest the poorest in our midst whom we should welcome one hundred years after our independence who is it that has nothing to give us to make our efforts and our sacrifices worthwhile perhaps it is the ethnic minorities in our city or the jobless who have to immigrate maybe it is the elderly and the lonely are those young people who fly no meaning in life because they have lost their roots. well for more on this we turn to our correspondent constitute a constant pain of on a get in vilnius constantine good to have you with us what would you say was the pope's overarching message. i think the overarching message was very much of

lithuania becoming a bridge between east and west that's what he said in his first public appearance yesterday in venice and i think it's also very much a message of let's say anti-nationalism. and later i think you'll be talking about a very tricky subject which is holocaust remembrance when he visits the memorial to the jewish people that we killed in venice during the holocaust generally i think it's a message that will go down well with some here but some people really think that's maybe twenty five maybe thirty years are a little reading regained its independence from after the collapse of the soviet union probably it's a big to early to say that's it when he needs more people coming in because it still needs to kind of rebuild its national life it's an ongoing debate and in lithuania but i think generally he was very well received especially rebecca when

one saw this tens of thousands probably up to eighty one hundred thousand people in calling us today really really being very much in sync with the pope it was a very touching touching. picture i would say. the visits going well i want to turn now to the catholic six of the stand because i'm looking at the cover of a very important agenda magazine dash beagle it's the cover story here it does alternation lucan all valid shalt not lie in english attacking directly the pope's handling of the abuse crisis is this trip to the baltic states taking attention away from the scandal. well i think for the book at least it is very spite because this got a lot of making a lot always in in the vote extent it's in central europe in general of the catholic church and it's more than seventy five percent everything radians belong to the catholic church enjoys high popularity in. the twenty of probably slightly

sloping attendance. rates in especially the sunday masses but i think for him it's four days by the q.b. away from this scandal and from this constant pressure that he experiences from media and other parts of the west but i do think that eventually it will probably see into the public discourse in the baltic states too but if you permit me this twenty seconds the thing is that the catholic church structures were read bits in fact from nearly scratch offs up well the early one nine hundred ninety s. and because of that there is much less history and backlog for catholic institutions in these small nations abuse is this is a quite red least they are recorded by the media but very rare so i think that in fact becomes the church he enjoys much of that's out image than in other parts of the west w. correspondent constantine phoning it in venice thank you thank you

now to some of the other stories making news around the world in the mole days hundreds of thousands of accosting ballots and president-elect that have been mobbed by charges of vote rigging opposition candidate abraham mohammad sold a cast his ballot in the capital my lai he's looking to on say president abdoulaye young mean he's been criticized for cracking down on democratic freedoms. the first high speed train connecting hong kong and the chinese mainland has arrived in the city of shenzhen the connection cost around ten billion u.s. dollars and it cuts the journey time between the financial center and the manufacturing hub from around one hour to just fourteen minutes. and. volcanic island in indonesia showed off a dramatic eruption on saturday night and meeting sand ash and hot red rocks the volcano has erupted an estimated forty nine times since friday prompting or thought

is to expand the danger zone from one kilometer to. germany's defense minister has apologized to communities threatened by a wild fire broke out at a military training side on the line acknowledged that mistakes had been made during a visit to the area it's still not know how long it will take to put out the blaze completely. eight hundred hectares of more land smoldering for over two weeks no one knows how long it'll take to extinguish the fire. germany's defense minister was a left underly and visited the affected area near the border with the netherlands and offered a fresh apology to frustrated locals look in september obviously we made mistakes on september third on behalf of the german armed forces i'd like to apologize especially to the people of this region and to all those responsible for politics and administration for the fact that these mistakes were made by we'll

figure out what we're going to do in detail and then inform the public. funded lie and says she wants to check whether the rocket tests that sparked the fire were appropriate considering germany's long dry summer. firefighters are still battling the blaze on land used by the german military they're now being assisted by jets using infrared cameras to identify where embers a small ring underground authorities in the state of lower saxony have to clear the fire a regional catastrophe. or the syrian government preparing to retake the last bangura rebel stronghold of live there is signs the country's civil war could be entering its final stages the was driven hundreds of thousands of syrians to seek refuge in neighboring lebanon often three years now beirut wants them to return home to areas that have been deemed safe for one returning syrian

family the last five years has been a struggle on both sides of the border. the small village of beit din near the lebanese border is home to mechanic mohamed al buckeye he returned to just a month ago he was forced to leave in two thousand and thirteen when fighting broke out between the syrian army and the opposition. when we left because of the armed groups my wife my children and i were able to escape when i opened a garridge eleven on the floor. at least buckeye and his son malik found work in lebanon on many syrians don't the country is small and expensive syrians they're also usually earn significantly less than the locals. it was tough we couldn't really live in lebanon comfortably we decided to come back but. the high cost of living and the low wages weren't the only reasons they left

eleven on after five long years. most people respected us but some kept telling us you're taking away our work. his former house was badly damaged during the war now his family has to live in rented accommodation but they aren't complaining so it's a wonderful feeling i can't explain it now we are here again in my village after all that's happened this is still my home if you travel or forced to flee as a refugee there's only one place you can call home. but just eleven years of age their daughter has lived almost half her life in lebannon now she's starting a new adventure joining classes at the local school. on the first day of school i was really happy that i knew friends at school different friends than those i had in lebanon. from our harvard it's not an easy restart he

doesn't know who damaged his former house whether syrian government forces or rebel fighters from ahmed it's an important he's looking to the future. here and it's difficult to see my house like this but we're determined to rebuild it despite everything we're in god's hands and god willing and new house will stand here in the coming year. along with others who have returned mohammed wants to bring life back to the village he once again calls home. now many t.v. stations around the world hand out a goal of the month award in football the likes of wine all messy most cristiana rinaldo a regular winners but in germany a r d t v's goal of the month for august wasn't awarded to a megastar instead for the first time it was given to a blind footballer. settled shelby dribbles of the ball close to his foot for half

the pitch and then fires into the net for sam paoli. because of the salute because. i realized i had beaten a couple of players but i didn't know the goal was that great. in blind football football is extra heavy and it makes a noise so players can hear it. for outfield players and the psyche goalkeeper play on a team not many fans watch live football normally but celebrities goal of the month has given the sport valuable publicity the player himself was given a medal and a certificate in braille. was a gold for blind football for sport and the whole of society i congratulate you on presenting your certificate it is so in. church he was born in turkey but has lived for twenty years in germany he went blind as a teenager following a detached retina. for the more not all of the month of august twenty eighth being

served all charity. it's what a lot of these young men because she dollars a month is one for the history books and in general i enter the running for goal of the year another chapter awaits the chapter which blind football hopes will lead to even more recognition in the future. of the world's largest beer festival the october fest is now officially underway here in germany in the very end capital munich some seven million liters of brew are expected to flow at the two week celebration the event attracts revelers from all over the world. oh. my oh oh soft is he cries it's tapped in english the start of the one hundred eighty fifth october fast as announced by munich's mayor. and as tradition demands he's joined by various state premier miko's. and there's no shortage of pomp

and ceremony at the start of the festival both inside. and outside the beer tents. an estimated six million locals and tourists are expected to descend on munich for the festivities which run for sixteen days and for many they have only one thing on their mind. and very rarely to get a ten in trick all day lots of beer lots of let's go off in this mode of hopefully this year there won't be any problems it'd be nice to see the hill over there not used as a toilet i just want a festival to be quiet and peaceful and to ensure that peace and quiet some six hundred police officers and hundreds of stewards will keep order at the fenced off fairgrounds. once inside revelers can enjoy some

tasty german sausages and did i mention the beer. october fest runs until october seventh. it's like a lot of fun you're watching it date over the news live from berlin i'll be back with you at the top of the al and don't forget you can get all the latest news and information around the clock on our website at state of any dot com thanks for joining me. time for an upgrade. our furniture grows old boy. pose with. design highlights you can make yourself. tips and tricks that will turn your home you special.