stepped forward in eradicating pollyanna, the list of and and finally running an average marathon is too much for most people, definitely for me. but what about running a race that takes $43.00 days and last for almost 5000 kilometers? that's exactly what italian under a m a category did as he won the world's longest footrace, looping through the streets of new york for a 3rd straight time. he got through 13 pairs of shoes in the rain. he did get to sleep at night. that's it for me on the new steam, dw, new session with every journey is full of surprises. we've gone all out to give you some tips with i'm in your northern

most count to please ah, for a time long, but still very much alive. that when you travel, you will go to the suspension in germany. it recognizes where exactly what i learned a lot, our culture history, all their d. w. travel extremely worth a visit with 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, a 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 to move that

a my on or to the saudi. a whole gotta a for your order. he shita just informed me that he wants me to proceed with the investigation. the unification church under the religious corporations act, liquid mahogany, torso. smoker was cut, he thought, oh so i told him that i will start working now. she thought you wanted to garden less than other mosquito. i'll work hard to make sure that we enforce the act as smith. my name is joining us is journalist frank smith in sole 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. this 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 son, 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 that the ties to. ready you know, the l d p, the japanese governing party, back in the sixty's should. so abby's grandfather then prime minister, no was who 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 in recently as 2021. and now

it seems as if half the dominant party b p a has had some association with the cherokee. 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 abby, 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. busy 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 helped move? she does and ministration passed this controversy. well, one of the things that happened following the assassination of shin, so ab a is that more church members, former church members, i should say, have come forward with just horrific stories. ready 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 to subpoena, for example, the hard drives of lawmakers, the meals of these volunteers for the law makers? are they going to be able to get a look at those? and i think it really depends the political follow, the true political followed from this will depend on what that pro finds. 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. peals gather regularly to clear the beaches, but more and more plastic is carried in by the ocean. now the mirror for vermont le island has a plea for the world. wherever the roll you live, lazy, no thought brooding above digs for morgan o, a roof and beer. what was the reason that up again? lifestyle in 2020 a study found that the maldives have the world's highest level of micro plastics. most of the plastic of the nations, 1192 islands, comes from tourists as well as trash flowing from countries upstream like india. find her thumb now extensively testing the water quality with nuclear and her

brother. so the people that will carry that water informal herd, michael's prosecution, jaretha microprocessors are being done. it is very important for a fog 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 be plastic. fairly easy to move. what have you seen it? ah, when it comes to small particles, which they and they can like and i'll say removing those in solution that you possible. so that stops. well, well, all right, 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 hope is 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 uzbekistan said they're producing a type of paper. they believe will be in demand for generations to come near the ancient city of samarkand. they've revived an ancient paper making technique that's captured a lot of attention. this is a start of a painstaking process. work as at this mill, it was back. it's done 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 woman gallows victims, those paper is better because it last for

a long time for friday, for it last for more than 2000 years. every room. and thanks to this paper, we learned our history here to read 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. i have a bomb, i 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 mashed with the device powered by an old water mill wagon. otherwise, the shock, the paper is called silk because it is made of mulberries and used because it was carried along the silk road. it is smooth and shiny like silk, so it is called silk paper. away from duncan morbid the secrets of paper making was allegedly revealed by chinese prisoners of war. in the 7th century. the type

produced here eventually displaced the pirates used in europe in 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 sh rev. it's all about e mobility. we travel through china without a driver, take a deep pool into the history of the electric car and how to get the most out of charged

batteries. and take a new truck for us. been rep that. oh d w. ah, oh, what people have to say matters to us. i am. that's why we listen to their stories. reporter every weekend on d w. to day on ref, the auto and mobility show going for a ride in the drive in his car in china. the new electric truck that's designed to maximize road safety how to max out your range and save.