and the opportunity for peace. starts oct third on d w. business d.w. news live from the land pope francis kicks off his visit to the baltic states with a solemn tribute to victims of oppression in lithuania some one hundred thousand people were on hand as francis all of those who suffered under the soviet i'm not see occupation is a place where he'll pay tribute to holocaust victims in the capital dili as well get an update from correspondent also coming out of. a smoldering wildfire in

northwest germany could threaten life and property for weeks to come and now the german military is helping battle a blaze it started weeks ago put it on rockets. and prepare his homecoming optimism levanon it's now safe enough for some syrian refugees to return home we'll say how one family is struggling to rebuild lives interrupted by years of. armor becker it is 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 countess it's the pope's first stop on a short tour of the baltic states with a whiny a lot fear and a star near a mocking. centuries 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. piccoli. more list 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 effort 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 find no meaning in life because they have lost their roots. well for more on this we turn to our correspondent cons to take constantine von eggert 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 were killed in venice during the holocaust generally i think it's a message that will go down well with sound here but some people really think that's maybe twenty five needed thirty years of early twenty 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 sex abuse stand because i'm looking at the cover of a very influential german magazine der spiegel it's the cover story hits does alternation new can all of the 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 of waves in in the baltic states and in central europe in general of the catholic church and it's more than seventy five percent of its radiance 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 quiet read least they are reported by the media but very rare so i think that in fact the conflict church he enjoys much of that's out image than in other parts of the west d.w. correspondent constantine phoning it in venice thank you thank you.

now to some of the other stories making news around the world iranian president hassan rouhani has criticized the u.s. following a deadly attack on a military parade in the city of us on saturday gunmen killed twenty five people including twelve soldiers civilians and afore you kill a four year old girl rouhani said the quote bully us and its gulf state allies had enabled the attack. in the old dave's hundreds of thousands of casting ballots in presidential elections that have been marred by charges of vote rigging opposition candidate abraham mohammed sali cast his his ballot in the capital my lai is looking to unseat president abdoulaye young mean he's been criticized for cracking down on democratic freedoms and that krakatau is a volcanic island in indonesia and it 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 both or at least to expand the danger zone from one to two kilometers. well here in germany the defense minister has apologized to communities threatened by a wildfire that broke out on a military training side over the phone the lion acknowledged that mistakes had been made during a visit to the area it's still not known 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. with the syrian government preparing to retake the last major rebel stronghold of it live there are signs the country's civil war could be entering its final stages the war has 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 have 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 in lebanon. at least baccarat and his son malik found work eleven on many syrians don't the country is small and expensive syrians there 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

lebanon on after five long years. most people respected us but some kept telling us you're taking away our work in the form of. 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 eleven on 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. 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 you house will stand here in the coming year. along with others who have returned mohamed 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 lionel messi mo salah and christiana ranallo are regular winners but in germany they are days t.v.'s goal of the month august was awarded to a megastar instead for the first time it was given to

a lesser known blind footballer. settled chill of the dribbles of the ball close to his foot for half the pitch and then fires into the net for sam paoli. the hope is that this little sister in particular in the 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 respond to all that was a goal for blowing football for sport and the whole of society i congratulate you on presenting your certificate it is. sure that he was born in turkey but has lived for twenty years in germany he went blind as

a teenager following a detached retina. what is more not all of the month of august twenty eight hundred search. it's worth 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 that chapter which blind football hopes will lead to even more recognition in the future. the world's largest beer festival the oto the test is now officially underway here in germany in the their own 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. 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 the very. state premier. 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 fine let's go. to the hopefully this year there won't be any problems it would 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. looks like a lot of fun you're watching d.w. news live from the then more coming at the top of the hour and don't forget you can get all the latest news and information around the clock on our web site that's.

tomorrow today. w.