from quality to flash from closing a good time this is where they are. welcome to the 77 percent. this weekend. this is the w. news asia coming up august on baby boom for many families even talking about birth control is frowned upon is this taboo driving a country tour in population predicament. and in another weekend of our you know test in hong kong but is the movement losing momentum. plus the puppet show in indonesia inspiring kids to join the resistance against plastic pollution.

i'm melissa chan welcome to news asia thank you for joining us it's a topic that's still taboo in pakistan's conservative muslim society sex education once married women face pressure to procreate fear of a backlash from islamic clerics discourages public discussion about family planning and access to contraceptives is pretty limited just 34 percent of pakistanis can get them this means the population continues to boom there are more than 200000000 people in pakistan and often individual families feel they can barely manage with so many mouths to feed here's the shots of july ani with more. standing up to make a difference. is a community health worker in the town of picher in sindh province in a conservative muslim society she reaches out to women focused on public health system freedoms to reach. today she's speaking about family planning and

reproductive health but it's not an easy sell. yet the american people are more aware of family planning these days but they're often reluctant because they're myths and misconceptions about using contraceptives some women are afraid that it will make them infertile forever others think it's against their religion their child is not a trained nurse or a doctor but she lives and works in the community so when she refers them to the local government run hospital they trust her enough to go and get professional help . rima is a mother of 2 this is her 1st ever visit seeking advice on birth control the doctor takes a medical history and advisors her on her options an injection for a 3 month gap bills for a daily use meal contraception as well as implant method for 5 to 10 year contraception but unlike her most women in pakistan are not allowed to make these

choices order says that more than the women it's her in-laws and the husband who call the shots as doctors we have to talk to the families because without their consent women usually can say no to having babies. no wonder then pakistanis produce more babies than any other country in south asia except of ghana stan millions of these children will never go to school they will be malnourished because their parents can't afford a decent meal for their large families boys may have a better chance of survival but girls will most likely face a bleak future. the question is where good dissolute pakistan a nuclear armed country lagging way behind its neighbors in human development to find out i have come to meet the men of disapproval community at this village meeting people see benefit in family planning but this if fear of a backlash from islamic clerics is a major obstacle. they say i learn has promised. that he will provide food for the

rich i love this city that family planning is a sin and who are you to interfere in god so yes but then we try to explain to them that it is not against the release of why you would other muslim countries promo control to believe the mission there's no called a nation of public good at the top of it in my time here is a doctor i have never seen a family planning official visit to sleep unless you invest in communities the government plans for a micro than a community or home. it's true that decades of militarism and corruption has taken a big toll on pakistan's social development but it now seems the biggest long term trick to the country may not be external but could come from its unchecked population growth. at this point if you've managed to keep track hong kong has had its 21st straight weekend of anti-government protests police made

more arrests and large tear gas canisters at crowds and once again protesters flung molotov cocktails clashes took place in pockets around the city it doesn't look like either side moved the needle much crowds did turn out but in fewer numbers not like the hundreds of thousands even millions of protesters we've seen in the past so is the movement losing momentum. joining us is journalist holmes chan of hong kong free press who have some answers holmes weekend after weekend we've seen the protesters demanding things here the hear the things they demand they want to make sure that there's an independent investigation into police brutality they want to make sure that the protests themselves are not labeled riots and they want to make sure that protesters detained or like go they also of course want the leader of hong kong kerry land to step down paving the way for universal suffrage you were there this weekend are we seeing any progress. so over this past week

has entered into a cycle of protest again which started with street marchers which escalates into clashes between protesters and police so we are at the stage where it's almost at a. gridlock between 2 factions neither of which want to back down and we saw police have even stepped up their law enforcement tactics for example targeting rallies the 4 that you know. and this has led to a large number of arrests over 200 arrests in the past week so the stance of the government so far seems to be they are unwilling to back down and they have given all the concessions that they tap is what they're saying earlier this month has been announced that the extradition bill hasn't formally was drawn that is one outside of the core demands of the protesters but since the other things involve a democratic form for example the government has shown no sign at all that it's willing to even listen to the protesters or even having changes incremental changes

on that front now we also are reading reports that journalists have been targeted this weekend tell us more. in fact it is not the 1st time that targeted journalists there have been very blatant cases of police directing pepper spray or gas or even water cannons at journalists or it clearly they're wearing for example their respective press showing their credentials but nevertheless they get treated this way one recent complication is that hong kong passed an emergency law to ban the use of masts which that would also include gas masks or respirators so that people can breathe and remain unaffected. now the government has promised that drollest should be able to wear gas masks when they're doing their jobs but over this past week there are some incidents of police officers pulling off the mast from the face of journalists despite that they are journalists and they're in an

environment where there's tear gas so that has less to condemnation by 3 of the largest press organizations in hong kong saying this has troubling implications about press freedom. now holmes tell us what's on the horizon einar standing next few weeks there will be a local elections is that what people are focused on right now. well the local elections are for the district council so a relatively community level election it is not a major decision making or doesn't have a lot of political power nevertheless the pro-democracy side is expected to have large gains next election partly due to how the agency i'd have lost favor with the public now there's been a lot of doubt as to whether there are all of the patients affecting these protests elections especially because there are pro-democracy candidates was half interest

for fight in previous elections now so far we haven't seen that yet and most of the candidates even those who have very progressive views they seem to have entered into the race ok however the only remaining case. as most viewers probably know joshua long as one of the most prominent pro-democracy activists and has temp change so far has not been has not been given the green light. holmes chan thank you thank you. there's a major problem piling up in indonesia plastic waste at the moment the country is 2nd only to china when it comes to dumping plastic trash into the world's oceans and it ends up in rivers as well 4 of indonesia's rivers are among the 20 most polluted in the world many indonesians don't understand how damaging plastic waste can be for the environment now

a group of performers is trying to change that. that's a traditional indonesian puppet show but not quite the puppets used in this performance but made entirely out of trash and the property is a school children 11 year old yuan is one of them to show he and his friends are putting on this full of heroes and villains the baddie in this play plastic pollution burn lights. it is very helpful because it teaches us how we can reduce plastic waste at home and in the environment. of the world the public cheers of travel to the capital jakarta from their home on the island of lombok their performance is meant to encourage the young audience to take action and make personal changes to help limit the trail of trash. but the ticket that small items of trash can pile up and become

a much bigger problem with therefore we encourage people to resolve the race problems in their own homes one of the ways is by turning waste into puppets. indonesia has been struggling to cope with the waste of producers much of which goes into landfill sites for the young pup it is there a treasure trove. they collect and sort through the waste in the neighborhood and then assemble and paint their puppets. for the me these close up of the lawyer for us at sa sockpuppet your school this is fun and we hope this can benefit many people and have an impact on our environment and the world's environment and gladly dounia. in a country with a strong tradition of puppet theater it's a unique and effective way to get their message across reduce your waste or try to

recycle it in the creative way. that's our show for today you can find more on our website www dot com forward slash asia and on facebook and twitter as well please tell us what you think about what we cover and what you like to see we leave you with a look at the bali celebrations in india and pakistan. might see it here but as predicted there was a pollution hangover of the fireworks air quality in several cities have taken a nosedive thank you for watching the next time a good buy. no

i'm sure that it was. in support of. what's able. to be a book. take a trip on us to go christmas market hopping with d.w. in cologne and we'll go up to tom on airfare and hotel or included for you and

a guest. just tell us which german street is your favorite. what's the most beautiful place in germany. what would you like to explore most to enter china d.w. dot com slash travel good luck and enjoy some. a warning from the i.m.f. to much of the middle east reform your economy street restore stability the protests keep growing demonstrators demand accountability from their governments in both lebanon and iraq. asian banking great h.s.b.c. warns of further financial headwinds saying its profit outlook for next year isn't looking great. and lobsters caught in a train to war canada cashes in on a business their american rivals filled with china as trump towers backfilled

leaving you ways fisherman empty headed. and going to school and let's do business a message to failed states and the authoritarian international monetary fund says unemployment and slow economic growth is fueling growing unrest in the arab states the i.m.f. says middle eastern and central asian economies will need to diversify if they are to overcome their problems and the un racist. another morning in lebanon another day of protests monday started with demonstrators blocking main roads into beirut their latest tactic to pressure the government into radical economic changes they accuse ministers of burning through public money for personal gain while hitting ordinary people with ludicrous new taxes it's images like these that occupy the mind of the i.m.s. die.