welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. our top stories: torn apart by the islamic state group, the yazidi families of iraq this is bbc news. rebuilding their lives after the fall of is. the headlines: we have a special report. the bbc has been speaking to many of the yazidi families of iraq, trying to rebuild their lives after the fall islamic state group is on the run of the so—called islamic state group. since the extremists were defeated in syria, now, but the pain and the suffering hundreds of yazidis who had been captured and enslaved are now free that they've caused has been and reuniting with amplified with tens of thousands their broken families. of families here in iraq, a landmark trial linked and in syria too, and that's to the opioid epidemic going to take generations that is killing nearly 1,000 to recover from. americans each week has america's opioid epidemic. begun in oklahoma. now, a major drug company goes on trial in a landmark court case, accused of cynical brainwashing. state authorities are suing the pharmaceutical giantjohnson & johnson, accusing it of deceit in the way it marketed highly addictive painkillers. the company denies any wrongdoing. european leaders meet to thrash out

who gets the top eu jobs, and already there is disagreement. there is a top—level disagreement at least one person has been killed in the european union over by a powerful tornado striking the eu's seniorjobs. kansas in the the us midwest. the two big powers in europe, the germans and the french, have different views over who should be the next president and we meet the adrenaline junkies of the european commission. reaching consensus will be more difficult because the recent zooming across paris. since the fall of the extremist group the so—called islamic state in syria hundreds of its prisoners have been freed. many are yazidis, a religious minority who were captured and enslaved when is swept through their homeland in sinjar in northern iraq in 2014. is tried to wipe them out. now, those who survived are trying to rebuild their lives and reunite broken families. our middle east correspondent quentin sommerville reports from iraq.

five years without play, five years of cruelty, five years a slave. ii—year—old nashaat is now free from the islamic state group's torment. translation: they would buy us children, no matter what the age, and make us servants, and buy women of any age and make them wives. they treated their children nicely, like a piece of gold, but they kicked us out at night to sleep in the garden or the sheepfold. i don't know why they would buy us, if they didn't want to look after us. is brought ruin to his town of sinjar, in iraq. not farfrom here, they murdered the men, and then they took the women and children, sold into a life of servitude. most thought they'd never see sinjar again. many did not. terror that is brought

here to the yazidi people was genocide, says the united nations. for his last years in syria, forced to convert to islam, he was alone with monsters. his father had escaped, but his mother, sister and brothers were sold to is fighters and their families. nashaat‘s family was traded half a dozen times. four years ago, nashaat‘s mother's freedom was bought. for fawzia, here in the pink, it was a bittersweet moment. nashaat and his sisterjolene were still trapped in syria with is. granted asylum in germany, she had no peace while her children were missing. translation: our kids were crying. each hour, is would come and take the young women and the children from their mothers. we were forced to live in disgrace and humiliation. they treated us like sheep. they told me, "a man has bought you." i said, "i'd rather be killed

than go with that man." then in march this year, nashaat‘s sister, nine—year—old jolene, was found. safely in iraq, she tries to forget about the last five years of work, cruelty and forced prayer. she speaks rarely now. but this is all in the past. now, nashaat and jolene wait at an airport in iraq. their mum is flying in from germany. so much has stood in the way of this embrace. weeping. under the same roof for the first time in years, the family can

finally sleep without fear. we all know the islamic state group's crimes on the battlefield, but this is where it's really felt. they tried to destroy this family. they tried to wipe out the entire yazidi people. but they didn't, they failed. islamic state group is on the run now, but the pain and the suffering that they've caused has been amplified with tens of thousands of families here in iraq, and in syria too, and that's going to take generations to recover from. but countless other yazidi families will never be reunited. the yazidis were a people that their country and the west failed to protect. despite this, nashaat‘s family endured, and that in itself is another victory against the islamic state group. quentin sommerville, bbc news, northern iraq.

don't forget you can find more on the demise of the so—called islamic state and find out what happens next for the jihadist groups still active. just go to bbc.com/news, or you can also download the bbc news app. let's get some of the day's other news: senior un officials have warned that a humanitarian catastrophe is developing in north—west syria, where millions of people are threatened by fierce fighting. they are urging the security council to protect civilians in the region. the us supreme court has agreed to compromise on whether indiana's strict abortion law should be reinstated. the justices chose not to rule on part of the law, which would prohibit all abortions carried out on the basis of foetal characteristics such as gender, race and disability. raids by kosovan police in the serb—dominated north of the region have sharply raised tensions, and european union officials are urging kosovo and serbia to show maximum restraint.

several people were injured and at least 20 arrested in what kosovan authorities describe as an operation against organised crime. huawei has accused the united states of using the strength of an entire country to target a company. washington says the telecoms company is a national security threat because of its close links to the chinese government. huawei denies the allegation. the legal battle over who is responsible for america's opioid crisis has begun in an oklahoma court. the drug makerjohnson &johnson is accused of carrying out marketing campaigns that deceptively promoted the benefits of opioids to treat chronic rather than short—term pain, and underplayed the potentialfor addiction. our north america correspondent peter bowes told me more about the background to this legal case. this is just one of many, many cases that are pending. up to 2,000 other cases could come to court later this year.

but this is being seen as a landmark case, potentially a benchmark case, as well. johnson &johnson accused of essentially deceiving people about the potential addictive nature of these drugs, going back many, many years, of flooding the market, of not being upfront about the addictive nature of these drugs that are causing so many problems. approximately 130 americans die every day, and the numbers have increased sixfold, numbers dying sixfold, since 1999. and the state of oklahoma says it has caused a tremendous amount of money, and that's why it's taking the company to court. and peter, a benchmark case, a landmark because of the impact it would have on many other cases. johnson &johnson, of course, also involved in another serious case as well? yes, and there have been a number

ofjudgements against the company because of its talcum powder products, that many women say has resulted in them getting cancer. now, again, the company has denied responsibility in that, but there have beenjudgements against them, and litigation in those cases continues. so, taken together, this simply adds to the company's legal woes. there is a top—level scrap developing in the european union, a polite but intense disagreement over new appointments to the eu's seniorjobs. the two big powers in europe, the germans and the french, have very different views over who should become president of the european commission, and reaching consensus is likely to be more difficult because the recent elections have left the eu so fragmented. gareth barlow reports. france and germany have long been the political powerhouses in europe, and though the traditional parties lost their majorities following last week's elections, it seems angela merkel and emmanuel macron

still want to exert their influence. at a meeting of eu leaders in brussels, mrs merkel was pushing for one of her allies to be the next president of the eu commission. but emmanuel macron has his own preferences for the next eu leaders. translation: the key for me is that the people in the most sensitive positions to share our project should be the most charismatic, creative and competent. that's all, i don't have any other criteria. a time when the people of europe are increasingly politically divided, the leaders are keen to find unity, as parties on the far—right and far—left also gain ground. the president of the european council, donald tusk, says, despite division, brexit had brought people together. i have no doubt that one of the reasons why people of the continent voted for pro—european majority is also brexit. as europeans see what that means in practice, they also draw conclusions.

brexit has been a vaccine against anti—eu propaganda and fake news. the eu has committed to balancing gender, geography and political affiliation when it fills its top jobs. but, before that, the 28 leaders will need to find balance amongst themselves if they want to secure the future of europe as they've known it. gareth barlow, bbc news. the release of two reuters journalists has been widely welcomed, but campaigners warn of an increasing attack on freedom of speech. 50 journalists have been charged since aung san suu kyi took office in 2016. our correspondent reports from yangon. this is a comedy act that could have

landed you in prison during the humourless military dictatorship. a satirical sketch, burmese style, often at the expense of the powers that be. but those who thought the army would see the the funny side were mistaken. when the still powerful generals watched it on facebook, they had the performers arrested for painting the armed forces in a bad light. so this morning, this woman is going to court, accompanied by her mother and sister. they have no idea if she will be coming home tonight. this kind of situation is very bad, and we didn't make violence, and we just went to the streets and performed in front of the people.

it really shows what other people are feeling, in their mind. but we didn't dare speak out, so this is our freedom of speech. do you regret that you have been charged? not at all. the case held up as myanmar‘s most high—profile attack on freedom of speech was that of the reuters journalists who were jailed as the exposed a massacre of rohingya muslims by the military. they may now be free but many others are being hauled before the courts, including this woman, who alongside six friends has just been charged with defaming the military. this became a regular sight during five decades of military dictatorship, but now, under a civilian government, there are growing numbers ofjournalists, activists, and artists being prosecuted. democracy activists are trying to sound the alarm. translation: this case was brought by the army, so too are the other cases. the civilian government

cannot stop them, but they don't do anything to try to stop them, so the freedom of speech is getting worse. the government of nobel peace prize—winner aung san suu kyi has insisted it will deliver legal reform, but has so far failed to do so. and the army, out of government but still in control, is trying to jail more and more citizens. the filmmaker who called for the generals to get out of politics. the farmer who told ms suu kyi at a public meeting that the military had grabbed his land. the newspaper editor who published reports of the latest fighting in the western state of rakhine. back at this courthouse, this woman is taken to prison to await trial. her mum will not see her tonight. "is she really a criminal?", she asks. "how can they treat her like this? "they didn't even give me a chance to hold her." the traditional burmese performers, who now face four years behind bars

for expressing how the country feels. myanmar‘s leaders of tomorrow, the prisoners of today. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: the nuclear refugees. eight years after the fukushima disaster, local people begin to return home. in the biggest international sporting spectacle ever seen, up to 30 million people have taken part in sponsored athletic events to aid famine relief in africa. the first of what the makers of star wars hope will be thousands of queues started forming at 7:00am. taunting which led to scuffles, scuffles to fighting, fighting to full—scale riot, as the liverpool fans broke out of their area and into the juve ntus enclosure. the belgian police had lost control. the whole world will mourn the tragic death of mr nehru today. he was the father of the indian people from the day of independence. the oprah winfrey show comes

to an end after 25 years and more than 11,500 episodes. the chat show has made her one of the richest people on the planet. geri haliwell, otherwise known as ginger spice, has announced she has left the spice girls. i don't believe it! she's the one with the bounce, the go, the girl power. not geri. why? welcome back. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: the bbc meets the yazidi families of iraq, torn apart by the islamic state group, who are now rebuilding their lives after the fall of the jihadists. a major drugs company goes on trial in a landmark us court case about the opioid epidemic, killing nearly 1,000 americans every week. eight years after the meltdown

at the fukushima nuclear plant injapan, people are finally being allowed to return to their homes. they were evacuated when a huge tsunami struck the area. just under half the land in(map the small town of 0kuma has been cleaned up. so, are people actually now taking the chance to go home? rupert wingfield hayes sent this report, from there. oops, i pulled the whole lot out. salad fresh from the fields of fu kushima. speaks japanese. (n0 audio translation available). i am eating their salad without asking. after eight years as a nuclear refugee, this 70—year—old man is back in his fields. this is very interesting, this man has come back here, planted his crops. this is basically for his own consumption and to experiment,

to see what grows here, whether it's safe after it's grown. he says they have taken the top five centimetres of soil, it's been removed from his fields and from his garden here, and he said consequently it is not nearly as good as it used to be. on a nearby field, in giant letters, the japanese words "we came back". they were planted by this 80—year—old man. translation: i have been back many times, so i am not worried about radiation at all. only a tiny part of 0kuma has been reopened, the rest remaining completely off—limits. as we have driven down into 0kuma town proper, the old town, the atmosphere completely changed. you can see the gates, abandoned buildings, nothing has been touched here for eight years. the centre of the town is four kilometres from the nuclear reactors of fu kushima.

before the disaster, 11,000 people lived here. you can see by the door post here, the name of the man who took us on patrol this morning. this is his house. he couldn't come with us because he is busy, but he can't come back here, and this is how it has been for the last eight years or more, because this is considered a high radiation zone still. this is a hotspot, and you can see it is because water has gathered here, and the water tends to, when it washes down from the hills, it tends to bring a lot of radiation with it. you can see just this local area he has a particularly high reading. this is the first time i have been back here in the exclusion zone around the powerplant in about 3.5 years, but it doesn't get any less strange.

radiation levels, we have taken measurements, they are much higher than outside the exclusion zone, around ten to 15 times higher. whether the levels here are a danger to human health is open to debate. some scientists say you could quite safely live here without much damage to your health. others say that can't be determined. whatever the truth about that, this place is now pretty much abandoned for the foreseeable future. there are no plans to clean it up, no plans for people to move back here. an elderly man has died in ohio when a tornado picked up a vehicle and smashed it into his house. many more people have been injured, and severe storms and tornados have left millions in the region without power. in ohio, the damage was so severe that snowploughs were used to clear away debris.

one storm after another pummelled the nation's midsection leaving a trail of death and destruction. from some 53 twisters that may have touched down over eight states overnight. the tornado destroyed our house. in ohio, winds up to 140 mph ripped homes from their foundations, raised roofs and toppled thousands of trees. a dollar store on the outskirts of dayton now looks to be worth about 10 cents. in the north ridge section of dayton wejohn barber, a resident here for 44 years. i grabbed a flashlight and i knew we'd go into the basement, and before we got out of the bedroom the lights went out. directly across the street, jeremy sutter surveyed what is left of the home he purchased just five months ago. you were basically in the hallway? i had this mattress covering everything, i had a blanket over us.

most of those we spoke to have insurance but it will be a very long time before they are back in this neighbourhood. where are you going to spend the night? back in my mum's garage. i'm a homeowner, back to my mum's garage. gotta love it. at least 130 people were injured in the widespread storms overnight, and unfortunately the weather forecast for here in ohio and elsewhere is for more stormy weather tonight, tomorrow and possibly even thursday. the ex—wife of amazon founderjeff bezos has promised to give half her fortune to charity. tx it's estimated mackenzie bezos is worth almost $37 billion. she divorced jeff bezos earlier this year. she'sjoined billionaires including the investor warren buffett and microsoft founder bill gates in committing to the so—called giving pledge. it's being billed as a ‘once in a lifetime' journey.

on the 130th birthday of the eiffel tower, members of the public are being offered a hair—raising trip. as gail maclellan reports, it's not for the faint—hearted. the eiffel tower, paris's 324—metre—tall wrought iron landmark. your first thought is probably not to hurl yourself off it. tourists gawp in amazement. from today untiljune the second, those lucky enough to have won a ticket in an online ballot will climb to the second level of the monument, 115 metres, and spend a terrifying 60 seconds flying across paris to end up at the ecole militaire. it's huge, i didn't know, when i woke up this morning i didn't know it was going to be this big. the temporary zipline celebrating the tennis french open coincides with the 130th anniversary

of the eiffel tower. translation: the feeling is smoother than it would seem, the start is incredible because it feels like we're going to fall but it is actually very smooth. and it is huge, the length is huge. it's great. 7 million people climb up the iron lady every year, but only 260 of them will get to fly back down. if you think that was fairly hair raising, let's take you to this. it is the fourth? for tornadoes, as we we re is the fourth? for tornadoes, as we were saying. we are about to go off

air but we want to get the latest from you. how is it to be inside the tornado area? it wasjust incredible. we were there after it passed through an some provided us with a video and just seeing the devastation and people walking around bewildered by the scenes and we are trying to get stories and piece together what happened but you talk about those averages around the country, just here in pennsylvania was surpassed by the average totals we re was surpassed by the average totals were last year already this year so oui’ were last year already this year so our meteorologists have been talking about how rare this is for our portion of the country. this is not to nato hourly or anything like that. —— tornado alley. to nato hourly or anything like that. -- tornado alley. thank you for coming through for us. that's it for coming through for us. that's it

for now. much more on all the news any time on the bbc website. thank you for watching. hello. it looks like being a very warm start to the weekend across some parts of the uk, but right now we are in a spell of cooler weather, there has been a bit of rain, there's another chance of rain on the way during wednesday as an atlantic weather system pushes outbreaks of rain eastwards as the day goes on and here it comes. ahead of that, though, with clearing skies, it'll be a fairly chilly start to wednesday with a lot of dry weather around, maybe still a few showers rushing through the northern isles, but single figures for most, and cold enough across parts of northern england, especially in scotland. and the coldest spots could even see a touch of frost. but already that weather system coming in, as outbreaks of rain feeding towards western england, into wales, northern ireland, and then on towards southern scotland. feeding further east during the day, so early sunshine across eastern england,

cloud building, there may be a shower, not a huge amount of rain though arriving until either late afternoon or indeed into the evening. so northern scotland will see the lion's share of the sunshine. notice though the winds switching direction. breezy out there but from a northerly more to a southerly. we are going to eventually bring in some warmer air in with that, but at least for wednesday nowhere is particularly warm. and there's some heavy showers in the northern isles, while just single figures for some of us. but on that south—westerly breeze, we'll start to draw in some warmer air the south—west. certainly more humid on through wednesday night and into thursday morning for some of us. still with plenty of cloud and some outbreaks of rain. still fairly chilly in northern scotland, whereas elsewhere we're going to see those temperatures starting the day on thursday into double figures, and quite mild and muggy start to the day. and we are going to draw in ever warmer air, but particularly in parts of england and wales, on through the rest of the week into the start of the weekend. weather fronts never far away from scotland, and northern ireland, north—west england and north wales at times. and on thursday plenty of cloud around.

still quite breezy out there. it feels humid, a bit of patchy rain. that rain looks like pepping up through north wales, north—west england, northern ireland and to parts of scotland, as we go on through the day. some cloud breaking though, through central and eastern areas of england, and this is where we will get to see some warmer sunny spells coming through. and the temperature heads up further here friday and into the start of the weekend, peaking in the upper 20s in a few areas. but again, those weather fronts close to scotland and northern ireland giving clouds, some outbreaks of rain and a very wet end to the week in western scotland, for example. but of course that's going to hold temperatures down here, though for some into the mid teens. that weather system moves south at some stage over the weekend, some uncertainty about the timing, but right now, it looks like the warmth in england and wales is going to peak on saturday. 00:28:47,890 --> 2147483051:51:08,659 it will turn a bit cooler and it'll 2147483051:51:08,659 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 feel less humid by sunday.