when paul came over the sea from cameroon to berlin starts october fourth on g.w. . this is d.w. news live from berlin and pope francis kicks off his visit to the baltic states with a solid tribute to the victims of oppression and the sway me of some one hundred thousand people were on hand as france's honor those who suffered under the soviets and the nazis will get an update from our correspondent in the news also coming up the fate of germany's embattled domestic intelligence chief threatens to bring the

german government to a standstill full pressure to resolve the impasse proved too much for chancellor merkel and her country's a fragile governing coalition. and of her character's homecoming after years of lebannon it's now safe about for some syrian refugees to return home to see how one family is struggling to rebuild lives interrupted by years of war. dan. thanks for joining us i'm mary in athens to. pope francis has paid tribute to lithuanians who suffered during soviet and nazi occupations at a mass due by tens of thousands of people and columnist francis paid homage to victims of the holocaust and warned against

a resurgent anti semitism it's the pope's first stop on a short tour of the baltic states. and dystonia are marking 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 you should. be clearly the pupil smallest the poorest in our mates whom we should welcome a hundred years after our word 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 emigrate maybe it is the elderly and the lonely are those young people who find no meaning in life because they have lost their roots. also far in this tour pope francis has heard little or nothing regarding the catholic church sex abuse scandal here in germany though the

influential spiegel magazine has published an extensive report titled thou shalt not lie detailing the pope's allegedly gross mishandling of abuse cases we spoke earlier with the correspondent constantine fun egerton villainess about whether the pope's baltic trip has diverted attention from the ongoing scandal. it is very spite because this got a lot of making a lot always in in the baltic states and in central europe in general the catholic church and more than seventy five percent a wreath when aeons belong to the catholic church enjoys high popularity in. the twentieth probably slightly sloping attendance. rate in especially the sunday masses but i think for him it's four days when he'll be 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 probably seen into the public discourse in the baltic states too but if you permit me this twenty seconds thing is that the catholic church structures were rebuilds in fact from nearly scratch. 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 instances of white red least they are reported by the media but very rare so i think that in fact the government church he enjoys much that's out in the edge than in other parts of the west. and now to some of the other stories making headlines this hour grieving families are preparing to bury victims of tanzania's devastating ferry disaster over two hundred people are confirmed dead after the crowded vessel capsized in lake victoria last week one man was pulled alive from the boat after two days underwater but hopes are

fading of finding any more survivors. polls have just closed in the maldives where hundreds of thousands of people have cast ballots in presidential elections opposition candidate brahe mohamad saw a leak cast his ballot in the capital. he's looking to unseat the president to do a guy human who's been criticized for cracking down on democratic freedoms. not krakatau a volcanic island in indonesia showed off a dramatic eruption on saturday night emitting sand ash and hot red rocks the volcano has erupted an estimated forty nine times since friday prompting authorities to expand the danger zone from one kilometer to two. now the fate of german chancellor angela merkel's embattled government hangs in the balance today as her three party coalition tries once more to resolve their dispute

over this matter germany's scandal tainted dometic spy chief hans-georg masson now the controversy erupted earlier this month after a far right protest in the eastern city of chemists back then transfer americal condemned video footage showing what she described as migrants being hounded by protesters voters by chief question the authenticity of the video which triggered accusations that he harbored far right views there were calls for muslim to be sacked bombed instead the coalition agreed to transfer him to another position within the interior ministry but that's still not the end of the story because the transfer in fact turned out to be a promotion that comes with a pave rives while this move infuriated merkel's junior coalition partner the social democrats and prompted widespread public outrage on friday the head of the

s.p.d.m. to hand knowledge is said the decision on muslim had been a mistake and needs to be renegotiated. well the gridlock over the mosque in case shows just how high passions are running on both sides and among those who feel mohsin is being treated unfairly many work in german law enforcement some german police say they don't get enough respect for doing their jobs and their growing disillusionment could translate into increased support for the far right the political handling of the mohsin affair has angered many enjoy many but no it is the former intelligence chief supporters in the security services who are up in arms the chairman of germany's police union said the treatment of hands mohsen by politicians is simply disgusting. and a former spy chief said many employees of the security agencies are doing their

jobs full of pent up frustration the case points to a growing disillusionment on the front lines seen here at the recent how forest protests. and there's a lot of dissatisfaction among police officers out there on duty for days and nights and then face criticism including from politicians who say they've made this or that mistake certainties. they face more than just criticism environmentalists trying to prevent the clearance of the humbucker forest through feces that police. some states are introducing spic carts used to prevent suspects from spitting at police officers as you mentioned. we depend on the police to ensure that we can live in a free and peaceful society. the these people who often risk their lives are being attacked and the alternative for germany party the f.t.c.

is an opportunity one e.f.t. member who's also a police officer says there's strong support in the rank and file in the tot going to. following lively discussions we've had with colleagues as usual i would agree that we're deeply rooted in the police. forces are going full tilt and in heston's upcoming states election the less to far right f d candidates also includes a retired inspector and two seven police officers and ciders believe the a.f.d. might hold a certain appeal for the rank and file. if a morton doesn't it gives up the t.v. we suspect the a.f.d. could be attractive to police because the party stands for a strong state of clear rules and clear dominance. of the goon club. for years japanese political leaders have tried to improve conditions for security services providing more passive now better equipment and resources but the mosques

in case may yet prove to undermine such efforts now with the syrian government preparing to retake the last major rebel stronghold of italy and 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 and often for years well 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 shean 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 point fighting broke out between the syrian army and the opposition. well 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 on the floor. at least buckeye and his son malik found

work in lebanon 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 then as. 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 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 are 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 lebanon 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 a 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 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. the world's largest beer festival october fest is now officially underway here in germany in the bavarian count on unic some seven million liters of brew are expected to flow at the two week celebration for event attracts revelers from all over the world. i. i was after this he cries it's topped 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 various state premier zurita. 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. 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 fast runs until october seventh.

a quick reminder now of our top story. in lithuania pope francis has paid tribute to those who suffered under nazi and soviet occupation and a mass encounter the twentieth is the first stop on his four day trip to the baltic states.