welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: half of yemen's population in acute need after years of war. we report from a hospital at the heart of the world's worst humanitarian crisis. you can see the front line from here. it's dangerous, but we have to carry on providing services, even if it's basic, because the people here desperately need it. cancer and the world's best—selling weedkiller. a california court demands compensation of more than $2 billion. hitting the depths. a record—breaking dive in the pacific discovers plastic pollution on the seabed.

case arraz —— -- and tributes to the hollywood legend doris day, who has died aged 97. we start with a special report on the terrible toll of the conflict in yemen, as a new round of talks is set to begin. aid workers describe it without hesitation as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. it has left about 2k million people needing assistance. a civil war has become a proxy war with the houthi rebels, supported by iran, fighting a government recognised by the un and backed by a gulf arab coalition, the us, and the uk. the city of taiz has a population of 500,000, but very few functioning hospitals. nawal al—maghafi, special correspondent with bbc arabic, has obtained exclusive footage.

another victim of a sniper attack, rushed to taiz‘s main hospital. this is the country's most brutal conflict zone, and the situation here is only getting worse. translation: since 10:30am, the sniperfire has been relentless. we have received patients, including nabil. the city lays in ruins, and the people here are living in danger, their suffering forgotten. abdirahim shows us the difficulty of moving around. translation: this is a barrier because the street is exposed, and the sniper can see from very far away. you need to put your head down and run. the city is trapped between two front lines. on one side, houthi snipers hold positions, and on the other, forces loyal to the yemeni government. those who remain are

too poor to escape. translation: did you hear that? someone has just been shot here. they have taken him to hospital. he was shot here. moments later, we meet another casualty. come and look, this is one of the victims. translation: i was checking around my house and somebody just shot me. a sniper also targeted this 11—year—old. she was helping herfather when she was shot in the back. translation: i looked outside, and i saw that she was bleeding a lot from her mouth and nose. i prayed, "dear god, if she's meant to come back to me then please save her. but if she's safer in your hands, then let it be." her mother shows us what doctors took out of her wound. even taiz‘s main hospital is no

longer a place of safety. translation: this used to be the main operating theatre. it's abandoned. life—saving surgeries once took place here. now, it's completely destroyed. translation: you can see the front line from here. it's dangerous, but we have to carry on providing services, even if it's basic, because the people here desperately need it. every day, the death toll mounts. hamdan was working with his brother when he was shot by houthi snipers. translation: suddenly we found ourselves attacked by the houthis. they started shooting at him, those cowards. we have nothing to do with this war. despite any peace talks, the fighting here continues, and for the people of taiz there is no hope in sight. nawal al—maghafi, bbc news. tensions have flared up again in sudan's capital, khartoum, with reports that a military police officer has been killed and many protestors wounded. the ruling military council and opposition groups say they have reached an agreement on how

to transition the country forward, but heavy gunfire was heard throughout this evening. the military council has blamed the bloodshed on armed groups who say there has been a lack of progress since president 0mar al—bashir was ousted last month. a jury in california has awarded more than $2 billion to a couple who say the world's most widely used weedkiller, roundup, was responsible for their cancer. the german pharmaceutical company bayer bought monsanto, the makers of roundup, last year, and it is the third time bayer has been ordered to pay damages over the product. live to the bbc‘s sophie long in san francisco. sophie, this is the third award, the biggest, i think, sophie, this is the third award, the biggest, ithink, and sophie, this is the third award, the biggest, i think, and the company faces thousands of similar lawsuits, doesn't it? it does, you are right, mike. this is the third case. we have just come from a press conference when we heard from the

couple concern. this time around. they were clasping each other‘s hands on both walking with walking sticks. we were told by their lawyer that alberta had problems standing, alva clearly had problems gathering his thoughts and speaking, but they both said that they blamed monsanto for their cancer. they both suffer from non—hodgkin's lymphoma, and it has changed their lives, alberta said stop she said we can't do the things we used to do, and we are very resentful against monsanto for doing that. she said that had round—up, the product, be labelled properly, had they known it could cause cancer, they would have been given a choice and they could have chosen not to use it. they are of course not alone stop this was the third case found against bayer, who bought monsanto in june third case found against bayer, who bought monsanto injune of last year. there are many thousands of cases waiting to be heard. i spoke toa cases waiting to be heard. i spoke to a lawyer involved with this particular case, he's a federal liaison officer. he said he believes that there could be now around cases waiting to be heard stop he said there were 1000 new cases last month

alone. so a good day for alberta and alva, a very bad day for the company, bayer. a lot of disgruntlement from the shareholders when the first court found against bayer last year, since then their share price has dropped by 30%. they had been reports about shareholders being unhappy with the way the company is run. they will now have a couple of months to rethink their legal structure. the next case to come to court is in missouri in august this year. let's get some of the day's other news: the former us presidentjimmy carter is recovering in hospital from a fall that broke his hip. he is 94. he had just been heading off on a turkey hunt when he fell. he is the oldest surviving us president. he held office in the 1970s. the sri lankan government has insisted that security forces are in control of the streets and are preventing revenge attacks on muslims in the aftermath of the easter sunday suicide bombings. there was a curfew overnight after monday's violence, which saw mosques and

businesses attacked. facebook has confirmed that a serious vulnerability in whatsapp, which it owns, has allowed hackers to install spyware on users' phones. britain's financial times reported that malicious software developed by an israeli company has been transmitted to people's phones through whatsapp calls. us markets fell sharply on monday after china announced steeper tariffs on $60 billion worth of american imports. the dowjones ended the day down by 2.38%, the biggest daily loss this year. president trump, though, insisted that he was in a good position. he said he expected to discuss the trade dispute with the chinese president at next months 620 summit injapan. laura trevelyn has this report. wall street plunged on monday as investors were spooked by the worsening trade war between china and the us. it was china's announcement it

will raise tariffs on $60 billion worth of american goods which so rattled the markets. 0n state tv, the anchor told millions of viewers china will fight to the last. beijing's retaliation came after talks between us and chinese negotiators here in washington ended without a deal on friday, and mr trump raised tariffs on $200 billion worth of chinese goods, claiming beijing had backed out of a deal. as americans look at the wobbles on wall street, the us president is insisting there is nothing to worry about. i love the position we're in. there can be some retaliation, but it can't be very, very substantial by comparison. but his own economic adviser admits that american companies and consumers will feel the pain as the prices of goods imported from china rise. the president says china doesn't — china pays the tarrifs.

they may suffer the consequences, but it's us businesses and us consumers who pay, correct? yes, to some extent. i don't disagree with that. again, both sides — both sides will suffer on this. present trump is due to meet china's leader, xijinping, at the g20 meeting in june. the question is which leader blinks first in this escalating trade war. laura trevelyan, bbc news, washington. an american explorer has set a new record for the deepest dive ever recorded in a submarine. victor vescovo dropped nearly seven miles into the mariana trench, in the pacific ocean, and spent nearly four hours exploring the sea floor. what he found there was astonishing — not only four new species, but also the mark of humanity's impact on the planet, as our science correspondent rebecca morelle reports. 0k, roger that. we'll go for a release. the start of an epicjourney. in the middle of the pacific, heading beneath the waves, to the deepest place on the planet, a sub with a titanium core built to withstand the crushing pressure.

it takes 3.5 hours to plunge 11 km, that's seven miles, down. inside is american explorer victor vescovo. then... ..touchdown. at bottom. cheering. it seemed a bit like being on the moon. but a wet version of it. there were small critters here and there. there were slight undulations. there weren't rocks until you got to the southern and northern portions of the mariana trench. but it did have some variety, but it was quiet, it was peaceful. yet, in this most remote of places, life has found a way to thrive. there are eels adapted to live under immense pressures, and a ghostly snailfish. it is the deepest ever found. but signs, too, of our impact. this pyramid—shaped object to the right looks like a rock,

but it is a plastic bag. it's such an alien environment, and we've got so much to learn about what animals inhabit the different zones. you don't get sunlight penetrating to those depths, so it's important to learn, like, how organisms get their energy and how they survive and how they interact and rely on each other. archive: released by the us navy, these first films of the bathyscaphe trieste. few have ever set eyes on the mariana trench. the first risky descent was in 1960, in a creaking sub that took two explorers down. well done, team. now, 60 years later, resurfacing after hours underwater, the latest dive has broken records. well done! you did it, buddy. and it's part of a wider expedition to visit the deepest spots in all the world's oceans. the hope is the final frontier of exploration is truly open. rebecca morelle, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news.

still to come: the war orphan who met his mother. a miraculous reunion foran iraqifamily, after 30 years. the pope was shot, the pope will live. that was the essence of the appalling news from rome this afternoon, that, as an italian television commentator put it, terrorism has come to the vatican. the man they called the butcher of lyon, klaus barbie, went on trial today in the french town where he was the gestapo chief in the second world war. winnie mandela never looked like a woman just sentenced to six years injail. the judge told mrs mandela there was no indication she felt even the slightest remorse. the chinese government has called for an all—out effort to help the victims of a powerful earthquake, the worst to hit the country for 30 years.

the computer deep blue has tonight triumphed over the world chess champion, garry kasparov. it is the first time a machine has defeated a reigning world champion in a classical chess match. america's first legal same—sex marriages have been taking place in massachusetts. god bless america! this is bbc news. the latest headlines: four years of war in yemen has left half the population in acute need. new peace talks are due to start. the makers of the world's best—selling weedkiller have been ordered to pay $2 billion in compensation over claims it caused cancer. amar kanim, seriously injured in a napalm attack in iraq, spent 30 years believing he was an orphan, that his family had been wiped out in the same attack. he was brought to the uk

for treatment in 1992 by the former mp emma nicholson. but a bbc investigation has discovered amar‘s mother is still alive. 0ur correspondentjon kay travelled with amar back to iraq to see the family reunion. amar kanim is heading back to iraq, to be reunited with his mother. 30 years ago, he left the country as an orphan and came to live in britain. everyone believed his family had been killed in a napalm attack. this is the first time he's returned. extremely exciting, you know, i can't wait. it is a big day and i don't know if i'm going to sleep tonight. amar is waiting. zahra is on her way, with her husband and youngest son.

it was 1991 when amar was found alone, burned and close to death. his rescuers and doctors thought his family had all perished. but bbc news has confirmed that amar‘s mother survived the bombing after all. we tracked her down and proved the link with dna. the purpose of this journey is just purely for her, you know. nothing else, just purely for the woman... my mother, shall i say now? i've got to start getting used to saying my mother. it's hard to believe but, yeah, my mother. now, three decades after a terrible mistake in the confusion of war, a reunion. they speak arabic she calls him her brave lion, her superhero.

so many years to catch up on. but mother and son soon relax in each other‘s company. and the arabic amar thought he'd forgotten is fluent. he shows her his life now, in rural devon... # happy birthday to you #. and videos of his childhood there. amar never knew his birthday. but zahra has his birth certificate, and he's three years older than he thought — almost a0. it's nearly your birthday! yeah. got a reason to celebrate now, haven't i? "i'm so happy and so proud," she says. it turns out the ink mark

on his arm is a family tattoo, to identify them if they were ever lost. and now, amar is found. "welcome home, son." over the next few days, amar reconnects with his culture. i feel blessed. loads of sweets. i was very scared to come here at first. he speaks arabic there's no... there's nothing to be worried about. you're now speaking half arabic, half english! yeah. so it's very, very confusing. but it's amazing, it's amazing. it's overwhelming. the mp who first brought him to the uk and set up a charity in his name did search for relatives over the years, and now she can't

believe what she's seen. it's an absolute miracle. i think it's fabulous. he's one of the bravest boys i've ever met in my life. i've always been proud of him, from day one. before he heads home, one more reunion — in najaf, the world's biggest cemetery... where amar‘s father is buried. mother and son finally here together. all these emotions have been building up for years, you know? i feel like i've achieved what i needed to achieve. the last couple of days has been the shortest day here, but i've done what i needed to do, i think. thank you. amar says he will now support his family financially and will come back again to see his mum soon.

ijust hope she's very proud of me. i get that feeling she is. this has been the best moment of my life. jon kay, bbc news. and the full report about amar‘s amazing reunion with his mother, tune into panorama on bbc world news this weekend. the times are on your screen now — with first airing on saturday at 0230 gmt. people have been voting in elections in the philippines. president duterte is trying to take control of the senate stop howard johnson is in manila. what we've seen today is around 60 million people across the country coming forward from 7,000 different islands to vote in these congressional mayoral and provincial elections. what's at stake is the senate. 12 seats to control the senate. president rodrigo duterte, was elected three years ago

on a hard ticket to clampdown on law and order and criminality, he would like to get to see more of his candidates in the senate so he can pass through legislation like lowering the criminal age of liability and also perhaps reintroducing the death penalty for drug traffickers. liberal politicians are aghast at what he is suggesting and say they would like to see a return to human rights—based law and order and also the return to due process. initial results are starting to come through. there have been allegations of vote buying and also machines breaking down but the full results will not be known until the end of the week. official results expected on friday. howard johnson for us there. police in sydney have arrested 13 people after removing greenpeace climate change protesters off the sydney harbour bridge. these cables to suspend themselves below the bridge, holding small banners that read "0ne hundred % renewables. "

holding small banners that read "0ne hundred % renewables." and "make whole history." climate change has been an issue for the centre—right morrison government leading up to the federal