starts october third on. this is d w news live from berlin pope francis takes off his visit to the baltic states with a solemn tribute to victims of oppression in the way he also one hundred thousand people were on hand as friends honor those who suffered under the soviets and the nazis and get an update from our correspondent in vilnius also coming up from the state of germany's embattled don't dance to get intelligence chief threatens to bring the german government to a standstill if pressured to resolve the impasse proved too much for chancellor

merkel in her country's fragile governing coalition. and a pretty terrorists homecoming after years in lebanon it's now safe enough for some syrian refugees to return home and see how one family is struggling to rebuild lives interrupted by years of hitler. welcome to the program i'm marrying evan stand. pope francis has paid tribute to lithuanians who suffered during soviet and nazi occupations a short time ago he laid a wreath at the monument of his illness ghetto for the country's jewish population and was almost a wife out seventy five years ago during the nazi occupation pope francis is on a tour of the baltic states as the three nations mark

a centuries since winning independence from russia after world war one. at a mass earlier today francis urged residents of the baltics to draw on their past experience to speak up for tolerance in europe. be clearly. the 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 worth while perhaps it is the ethnic minorities in our city or the jobless who have to emigrate maybe it is the elderly under lonely or those young people who find no meaning in life because they have lost their roots. well so far in this tour pope francis has heard a little or nothing regarding the catholic church sex abuse scandals 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 well we spoke earlier with a correspondent constantine fun eggert who's an illness and i asked him whether the pope's baltar trip has diverted attention from the ongoing scandal. it is very spite because this got a lot of making a lot of waves in in the both extents and central europe in general the catholic church and more than seventy five percent everything radians 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 but he'll be away from this scandal and from this constant pressure that he experiences from media in other parts of the west but i do think that eventually to probably see 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 like 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 up in the edge than in other parts of the west. and now to some of the other stories making headlines this hour iranian president hassan rouhani has criticized the u.s. following saturday's deadly attack on a military parade in the city of oz gunmen killed twenty five people including twelve soldiers civilians and a four year old girl rouhani said that quote bully us and as the gulf state allies

had enabled the attack for its part washington has dismissed the allegations. polls have just closed in the maldives where hundreds of thousands of people have cast ballots in presidential elections opposition candidate ibrahim mohamed slowly cast his ballot in the capital molay he's looking to unseat the president guy you he's been criticized for cracking down on democratic freedoms. krakatau a volcanic island in indonesia showed off a dramatic corruption 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

disputes over this matter germany's scandal tainted dometic spy chief hans garrick masson now the controversy erupted earlier this month after a far right protest in the eastern city of candidates back then transfer americal condemned video footage showing what she described as migrants being hounded by protesters but her spy chief question the authenticity of the video which triggered accusations that he harbored far right views there are 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 but it comes with a payroll as well 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 said the decision on muslim had been

a mistake and needs to be renegotiated well the gridlock over the mosque and 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 mohsen 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 hangi masson 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 like north seen here at the recent how back forest protests. for inclusion calling and there's a lot of dissatisfaction among police officers they're on duty for days and nights and then face criticism including from politicians who say they've made this or that mistake certainties dusty squeezed. 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 top.

following lively discussions we've had with colleagues as. i would agree that we're deeply rooted in the police. forces are in full tilt and hessians upcoming states election the less to far right f d candidates also includes a retired inspector and two seven police officers and soldiers believe the a.f.p. 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.p. could be attractive to police because the party stands for a strong state clear rules and clear dominance. clout of the 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. 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 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 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 point fighting broke out between the syrian army and the opposition. well before 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 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 then as. the high cost of living and the low wages were 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 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 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 for mohamed 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. and

finally the world's largest beer festival october fest is now officially underway here in germany in the bavarian capital munich some seven million liters of brew are expected to flow in the two week celebration the event attracts revelers from all over the world. the o's after this he cries it's tapped in english the start of the one hundred eighty fifth october fast as announced by munich's mayor de taffeta and those tradition demands he's joined by various state premier marcos. 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 silent. 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. and 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 he laid a wreath at the monument of the vilna steptoe on day two of his trip to the baltic states. and europe to date now on the news off and back again at the top of the hour and there in evans' dean thanks for watching. the to cut. we make up over a week watches over africa the end of the two pipes we all of the civil service i. mean want to shape the continent's future good to be part of it and join our youngsters as they share their stories their dreams and their challenges the seventy seven percent platform for africa chart.