there's no proof of you ever just. every ten minutes to. ten million people in the world the stakes have no nationality i'm told made up a long and it's such that everyone has got wise to us. everyone has the right to say. you're watching news asia coming up on the program toxic air cutting life short on the continent a new study says children born in india china and other places across the region are at risk to deadly disease linked to air pollution plus. is it the perfect metaphor for the struggle for women's rights and empowerment to women from nepal planned to take on mount everest the world's highest peak and.

only customs with a modern twist now some people finally do get their american express black card but in the afterlife. i'm melissa chan and welcome to the program it's good to have you with us air pollution is a huge problem around the world and we know it impacts our health now we know by how much toxic air shortens our lives by twenty months on average that's according to the health effects institute in their latest report the state of global air now that twenty number is an average when you break things down region by region you can see how asia stands out in south asia children lose thirty months of their lives in east asia people lose an estimated twenty three months that is five times

higher or maybe a better way to think about it is five times worse than what you have in north america or western europe pollution is now a bigger killer than malaria and road accidents it's as bad a smoking here's a closer look. donning a face mask part of the morning routine for many school kids in delhi where toxic smog and the city. for much of the year. some days twenty times above the w h o's recommended limit for dangerous fine particles in the air. india is home to fourteen of the world's most polluted cities exposure to air pollution cuts the life expectancy of kids there by two and a half years by increasing their risk of chronic heart and lung disease among other illnesses. delis toxic air hit home for one mother when her young son fell ill i also said that my son was falling sick

a lot with the pollution you know he was getting a lot of these. and it said that there might even be delays that there the problem was really alarming. in china the entire population breathes air that exceeds the w h o's safety standard. toxic air accounted for one point two million deaths in china in two thousand and seventeen. air pollution has dropped in recent years due to government efforts to curb emissions. but this time lapse in beijing shows the blankets of smog that worry many parents. the doctor says she's sick because of small and she was in the hospital for six days because of this i just picked her up. to the north in mongolia's capital longer tar a reliance on coal for heating has turned the air hazardous families are making hard choices. this mother makes

a three hour round trip each week to see her daughter who now lives with her grandparents in the countryside under doctor's orders after two bouts of pneumonia i mean as a mune system couldn't cope with the city air. i think she got sick because of the smoke. and we were surrounded by and by. now she has some fresh air she hasn't gotten sick she will get a sniffle here and there but there usually passes easily or. there exodus a stark warning for the future of much of asia's urban areas choking on dirty air. joining me now is dan green bomb one of the authors of the study dan now that we're armed with this data and this information has any of the governments responded well we've seen responses and in places around the world certainly there have been

actions on nouns in places like india with their new national clean air program or they are now saying well we really need to be serious about trying to implement this and i think it's going to be an important part of their election discussions of her have a currently the good news is that in china we report that they have started with a gap so they see an improvement but they still have quite a ways to go and you talk about china in the report as a fairly standout country are there other countries that are doing a relatively good job compared to countries that are not really doing much. well they they really are at the leading edge of the pack of developing and emerging economies in terms of taking action about air pollution india has started to they have a new program to put natural gas into homes instead of burning solid fuel they are

call it requiring cleaner vehicles the cleanest vehicles by two thousand and twenty but it's going to take a long time in those countries to deal with the these problems i did other part of the world that really needs this kind of attention in eastern europe has just started to deal with what fuels are burned in homes and how those affect outdoor which. now there are things that governments can do that the macro level but i wonder what an individual can get you better improve the air they breathe one thing that i look at is i see a lot of people in asia with the face masks and i've always wondered do they really work what personal actions can people take well face masks actually if they're well designed to help reduce the exposure but they're not going for the most part would be the major answer to this question. children can't be wearing these if they're at home in a crib or other places they're not going to be able to do that i can put it here couple things first of all just in your daily actions if you use less electricity

if you drive less if you do other things that can reduce the emissions you have a lot of control to do that secondly there are on the market some of them are quite well the. machines that can filter the air coming into a house into a house so that least for your children inside their home they would be cleaner but the number one thing is really that personal action to say i'm going to use less energy which hopefully will reduce air pollution for everyone. thank you thanks for having me. men have set their sights on mt everest for decades and it has mostly been men from the foreign mountaineers who visit to the nepalese share a climbers who assist them now to local women whose husbands died while scaling that peak will make their climb next month they say they want to force

a rethink about the role of widows in their conservative community and to inspire other women. they're training for the climb of their lives but it's not only the world's highest mountain these women want to conquer it's also said trees of gender stereotypes and discrimination against widows and vastly more. in terms of what we have felt and seen widows led very far behind were seen differently and is less important society in general looks at us widows differently. today. for generations climbing has been the realm of men among the legendary sherpas of nepal tradition dictates that women care for the home while their husbands conquer the himalayan peaks but when for domus husbands died helping their foreign clients ascend everest they suddenly found themselves without a male breadwinner and they had to rethink their traditional roles. almost the

group was more after our husbands died we just sat home crying and remembering them for a year or two we had no education either. then we started talking and joined guide trainings and mountaineering trainings. stuff so you know when i mean it when you being a widow in nepal still carries stigma and some parts widows even considered thout luck and ostracized but these two women say their own experiences in addition to meeting other sherpa widows who also enjoy discrimination have made them even more determined to reach the summit coming up the city when we are part of the two widows mount everest expedition and how would you say the message we want to give is that single women and widows shouldn't be trapped in their homes when we get out there is nothing that we cannot do to hurt me when the going was that you couldn't hire me almost four thousand sherpa men have ascended everest since it was first

scaled by said man hillary and tenzing norgay sherpa in ninety. fifty three that's compared to only thirty four women but attitudes towards women who climb off slowly changing and in the last season alone a record eighteen women reached the peak of the world's highest mountain. it's a practice in many cultures the celebration and the commemoration of the dead across the chinese diaspora it's called sweeping day or ching ming and in places such as taiwan and i should also add hong kong where i'm from people like to burn paper offerings for the dead return to taipei where tradition meets the twenty first century. a dream design or. complete with the perfect family. and inexpensive. these intricate models would

look at home in any architect's office. instead they're being painstakingly prepared for the bomb. in taiwan these domestic dreams will all go up in smoke so the deceased can enjoy an eternity of luxury under the fourth of the often off to someone passes away these are litigious thinking that the deceased would want to buy big house and fortunes would burn these play call for eagles before on the day when he's laid to rest on through without the thought there's one thing for. burning offerings for the dead is an ancient custom in chinese culture traditionally bereaved relatives but paper money but in taiwan they're moving with modern times. now as well as houses they can have designer clothes and watches. a fleet of sports cars. the

latest my ball funds and for everything else there's even a pipe a credit card. they give birthday gifts birthday cards valentine's day gifts christmas gifts during important cations and holidays we show our appreciation by giving gifts and when a person is passed away why can't we also show our laps and through giving paper offerings to keep out al and i know. offerings with this level of detail don't come cheap some can cost the equivalent of thousands of euros . many tall renee's are prepared to dig deep to feel that their loved ones a living large in the off the laws. that story and more on our website that's conforte slash asia and you can also join the conversation on twitter and facebook as well that's our show it's clear that spring has arrived with all the footage we've been showing this time we'll leave you with scenes from

the largest tulip garden in asia it opened this week in srinagar in india controlled kashmir see you next time. not everyone who loves books has to go the same. t.w. literature list british street. for dream international talk.

to us week in german politics than europe resolve bitter divisions over migration the government it is said stand into the abyss could friendly fire from president trump defeat one of the strongest military alliances in history point oh my guests have to say on point three go. on. again they. go into a fourth round as. is rearrested in japan prosecutors now accusing him of misappropriating company funds for personal gain. there's a new twist in the proposed merger between. this is business.

as welcome. as gold has been rearrested by police in japan less than a month after he was released on bail he had been awaiting trial over claims of financial misconduct gone is now back at the prosecutor's office to be questions over further allegations. this is the moment carlos was taken out of his temporary accommodation and back into the custody of tokyo is police force it's the fourth time he's been arrested in japan media there say his latest attention is related to a file looking at payments made to a dealership in oman. original to arrest someone who is released on bail to take all of his documents including is related to the preparations for his trial i believe is something to be seriously looked haggard by the international community . is barely a month since going was released on a nine million dollars bond pending his trial for financial misconduct which he

denies he says his latest arrest is outrageous.