the listening place, a detour with its waters connect people of many cultures, almost war and your phone do korean drift along with exploring ordered more styles to ring where it has a history left its traces. hearing their dreams. d w. you're watching d w. news asia coming up japan's dominant political party faces public scrutiny and questions about its relationship to a religious organization that some call a cult. how compromised are the legislators and paradise lost top to its

destination? them all these faces a mounting, plastic waste challenge and a closer look at an ancient previous skill revived once again in central asia. ah, i melissa chan, thanks for joining us. japan's governing political party faces questions about it's linked to a religious group known as the unification church. the assassin of former prime minister, sions, obey had blamed the church for bankrupting his family and had said it was the reason behind the attack. and since abe's murder, as scrutiny has grown, the public has learned that as much as half of the liberal democratic parties lawmakers have had some kind of contact with this church under pressure, prime minister for me. ok, shita has pledged action that i might. and oh,

that's all you gotta pay for. the shita just informed me that he wants me to proceed with the investigation. the unification church under the religious corporations act, vocal control. so some okay, i should, he thought, oh, i told him that i will start working now. so you got my stand on my credit though. i work hard to make sure that we enforce the act that might be joining us as a journalist, frank smith in so frank, this church has its origins in south korea before migrating to japan. tell us a bit about the organization and why it's controversial. well, it's called the unification church, but it's nickname is, is really the moonies. it's official sort of long form. title is the family federation for world peace and unification. it was founded in 1954 by reverend some

young moon. really a christian presbyterian offshoot that kind of became a cult. reverend moon suggested that that he was the messiah and the 2nd coming. it became quite famous here in south korean and known around the world really for it's mass weddings, where thousands of couples will, would be married at once. but what's significant here is the ties to. ready you know the l d p, the japanese governing party, back in the sixty's sion so abby, his grandfather then prime minister, no, was sue she, she really assisted the reverend moon in spreading the called in japan. and since obey himself appeared in church related events via, via image as recently as 2021. and now

it seems as if hast and dominant party the l. d p. has had some association with the character. what do we know? well, this comes out of an a l d p investigation after 2 years, a gummies, you know, admission that he was motivated because of the relations between abbey, the l. d, p and, and the moonies and, and blame the unification church for bankrupting his family. what the l d p investigation really sought to do was kind of limit the followed. but what it found was that something like a 179 out of 379, l d, p liberal democratic party, lawmakers, had affiliations, had ties to this group. now there are several lawsuits of, of victims pending and cause she to him self. he said ok,

i'm not part of this group. he called on lawmakers of the l. d. p to sever their ties. but he also admitted that the government could have done more to assist these victims of, of the unification church is supposed to abuse. and do we have a sense though, of just how influential this church is in japanese politics? i mean, i wonder if it's mostly just been standard political, meet and greets like have they influenced like policy? that's a, that's a difficult question to answer at this time. the information we have though, is that they provided lawmakers with volunteers to work in their offices. so if we were to look at this and say, all right, these members of the unification church are giving huge sums of their personal money to, to the church. they're obviously strongly committed to the church. so to suggest

that they would do political activities and coordinate those political activities. isn't that, isn't that for a leap to make it? so that's really, i think the question that the subsequent government pro might might look into mean, i wonder how upset is the public. i mean, will the investigation being launched help move? she does administration passed this controversy? well, one of the things that happened following the assassination of sion. so abbe is that more church members, former church members, i should say, have come forward with just horrific stories of, of abuse, how their families have been bankrupted. how their own childhood have been really sacrificed to this group. and we've seen them for me. ok. sheet is approval ratings. plummet from something like 64 percent or so down to 40

percent. now the question about how seriously this will affect his leadership, i think depends on the strength of this probe. are they going to be able a subpoena, for example, the hard drives of lawmakers, the meals of these volunteers for the lawmakers? are they going to be able to get a look at those? and i think it really depends the political follow the true political follow. from this will depend on what that pro fines melissa frank smith and so thank you so much for joining us. ah. when we think of the mild eaves, india, indian ocean, we think of christine sandy, beaches and clear blue waters. it is one of the most beautiful places in the world, but beyond the beach resorts, many residents face a different reality. tons of plastic washes up on its shores. mostly waste from

other countries in the islands, leaders are tired of cleaning it up. the mountains of trash on this island and the maldives are unrelenting groups of fallen deals gather regularly to clear the beaches, but more and more plastic is carried in by the ocean now and the mirror for vermont le island has a plea for the world. were there all you live? losing all thought brooding above digs for logan, earth and birth was worth reason. that up agree and lifestyle. in 2020 a study found at the maldives have the world's highest level of micro plastics. most of the plastic on the nations, 1192 islands, comes from tourists as well as trash flowing from countries upstream like india. find her for now extensively testing the water quality nuclear and her brother.

so the people that organ, that water and formula heard, michael wasik bush, you leave has micro crossteck arbion down. it is very important for him for, for us to hurt the people to turn that i've. so the fear is that the fish and the ocean have absorbed micro plastics which in turn are ingested by people. these particles are smaller than 5 milli mito deep plastic. fairly easy to move on. whatever you sing it, ah, when it comes to small particles, which they and they can, i cannot see removing those in solution that you possible. so that stops, well, well over a well we'll be there for great years to come until the world listens. maldives, as trying to change people's relationship with plastic internally and entrepreneurs dawning shredded bits of plastic into cutting boards. and children are being taught how to swim,

the hoping that that will make them enough the ocean and fight for it. in the age of digital technology and cloud computing, who needs paper anymore? well, actually i do right here. and also artisans in a village in whose becca stands said they're producing a type of paper. they believe will be in demand for generations to come. near the ancient city of samar can't, they've revived an ancient paper making technique that's captured a lot of attention. this is the start of a painstaking process. work as at this mill, it was pakistan on making paper the way their ancestors did well the 1000 years ago . but it's not just to draw for tourists. it's also a connection to a past that might have not been preserved. had it not been for this paper is one that the will magole returns. those paper is better because it last for

a long time for friday, for it last for more than 2000 years everybody. and thanks to this paper, we learned our history here to be and that was those books that were written on this paper are still preserved for avi center sharma and all of the books. it's barbara nama, they are all written on this paper. they will my get. the crafts people are using techniques handed down through the ages. the branches of mulberry trees are soaked in water. after being stripped of their bark trouble. the pope is matched with the device powered by an old water mill wagon, otherwise the folk, the paper is called silk because it is made of mulberries unused because it was carried along the silk road. it is smooth and shiny like silk. so it is called silk paper work from johnson to morbid. the secrets of paper making was allegedly revealed by chinese prisoners of war. and the 7th century the type produced here

eventually displaced the pirates used in europe and the middle east. it was said to be smoother and more durable. today it's used by calligraphy and artists and for the restoration of old books on it. and although it takes 10 days to make just $200.00 sheets of this paper, the results could be around for people to see for millennia. that's all for tuesday . be sure to check out our website and social media as well. will levy with some pictures of people winging it in wing suits that is high above india's taj mahal. thanks for watching.

ah hello guys. this is the 77 percent the platform with issues and share ideas. you know, on these channels, we are not afraid to young people clearly have the solution,

the future the 77 percent. every weekend on d, w, a b o, a 3 child policy aiming to reverse the trend with an an aging population will get expert analysis on what china's demographic challenges mean for the world's 2nd largest economy. also coming up germany to decide to extend the life span of

another of its last nuclear power plants. as the energy crisis forces a rethink about supplies and a hawkish monetary policy being felt around the world will show you what the impact the federal reserves aggressive interest rate hikes are having outside view. i'm chris kolber, welcome to the program. the communist party congress is in full swing and beijing and chinese stocks are up. that was premier lee catch young vows to support economic growth. he made their marks at the ongoing congress and just a day after china delayed the release of economic indicators scheduled for publication this week, including countries. 3rd will quarter g d, p. dad. visitors are closely watching the congress where the parties general secretary jumping is expected to be handed a 3rd term in office not as.