welcome to bbc news — my name's mike embley. our top stories: drug companyjohnson & johnson fined over $500 million for its part in america's opioid addiction crisis. the g7 summit ends with the possibility of a meeting between president trump and the iranian leader. and the promise of financial aid to help tackle wildfires englufing parts of the amazon rainforest. and found floating in the pacific ocean — a vast raft of stone.

hello. ajudge in oklahoma has ordered the giant healthcare companyjohnson &johnson to pay $572 million for its role in the opioid addiction crisis in the us. the case is the first to go to trial out of thousands filed against drug manufacturers and distributors. two other firms have reached settlements with oklahoma out of court. the judge said prosecutors had demonstrated that johnson & johnson contributed to a "public nuisance" in its deceptive promotion of highly addictive prescription painkillers, and "compromised the health and safety of thousands". the company is to appeal. those actions compromised the health and safety of thousands of oklahomans. specifically, defendants caused an opioid crisis that is evidenced by increased rates of addiction, overdose deaths, and neonatal abstinence syndrome in oklahomans. live now to our north america

correspondent, peter bowes. this is significant but very far from the end of things. 0h, this is significant but very far from the end of things. oh, yes. this is a landmark ruling that could have far—reaching consequences because as you imply, there are many more cases. more than 2000 cases around the country of a very similar nature and the lawyers working on those cases will have been closely watching what happened here. because as you mentioned, the legal argument was the company was a public nuisance. johnson & johnson described that as a radical description of what happened. they clearly disagreed with it but it could well be a benchmark for other lawyers to mould their cases, ultimately to get similar outcomes in many, many other states. a0 other states are pursuing similar cases, accusing the drug companies, several drug companies of selling their

drugs, perhaps misleading people into the benefits and not being totally honest about some of the dangers of these addictive drugs. peter, of course, the opioid crisis goes on and well outside oklahoma as well. yes, this is a national problem and it is a country that is still struggling to contain that problem. estimates are huge and incredibly depressing, frankly. the number of people who have died in the last 20 years because they've developed addictions to these drugs, whether they've been prescribed to them or they've obtained them through other means and it is a huge problem that is still ongoing. peter, thank you very much for that. more on that to come. world leaders did a lot of talking at the g7 meeting. one of the most delicate and divisive issues — how to negotiate with iran. the french president favors dialogue and suggested a meeting between the american

and iranian presidents. translation: what i told minister zarif and what i told president rouhani over the phone is that if he accepted to meet president donald trump i'm convinced that and agreement can be found. we know the terms, the objectives, now we need to get round the table and manage it. so i hope that in the next few weeks, on the basis of these conversations, we can manage to organise a meeting at the highest level between resident rouhani and president trump. i think he's going to want to meet. i think he's going to want to meet. ithink iran i think he's going to want to meet. i think iran wants to get situation straightened out. is that based on fa ct straightened out. is that based on fact or based on gut? that is based oi'i fact or based on gut? that is based on gut. we can't let them have a nuclear weapon, can't let that happen sol nuclear weapon, can't let that happen so i think there is a really good chance we would meet. our diplomatic correspondent james landale has more from the g7. ever since the united states pulled out of the deal curbing iran's nuclear programme last year, tensions have been rising in the gulf. the americans imposed sanctions

and the iranians have been enriching more uranium fuel and targeting shipping in the area. this meeting revealed today at the summit, the idea us president donald trump might meet president rouhani in coming weeks came as a complete surprise and it's significant because it's the first time in many, many months of quite a deep and divisive stand—off that we've had a signal that possibly both sides might be willing in principle to step back from the brink. the idea president macron is talking about is perhaps getting the americans to soften their embargo, getting the iranians to go back in full compliance with the deal. we're a long way from all of that yet. these meetings might not yet happened but they could and if they could it would be the first sign that both sides are not happy with the current status quo and potentially it could lead to a future deal, maybe at the very least some kind of deescalation. so a small note of hope in what's been a pretty bleak story in recent months. leaders at the g7 did agree some

measures to help tackle the fires raging in the amazon rainforest. president trump was the only world leader not to attend the session on the amazon, and climate change. campaigners say the more than $30 million promised, forfirefighting equipment and military assistance, will not go far. and brazil's president was critical even of that, accusing other nations of treating his country like a colony and infringing its sovereignty. the bbc‘s will grant is in the brazilian state of rondonia. as each day passes, another chunk of the amazon disappears. this is just one of the 75,000 fires in brazil which have prompted such an angry response is a finite resource vanishes before the world's eyes. but now it seems the world's wealthiest nations are at least trying to react. the g7 have promised funds for the battle to save it. £18 million to be precise. while that's welcomed

by environmental campaigners in brazil, most would say it's nowhere near enough for the scale of the problem. this is the scorched and blackened earth of another small part of the amazon destroyed by the fire. president bolsonaro says the idea of an international alliance to save this would turn brazil into a colony or no man's land. more evidence, if any were needed, of the deep hostility between the international community and brazil's leader on this issue. an operation by brazilian forces is supposedly under way in the state of rondonia, but resources appear thin and critics say the response has been slow and woefully undermanned. that is at the heart of why people are turning out on the streets in brazilian cities. in rio and sao paulo, people rarely protest over the amazon but this is their country and thousands in the urban centres are furious at bolsonaro. the wildfires aren't contained

to brazil's borders either, with neighbouring bolivia facing a daunting challenge in bringing its own under control. it's lost overi million hectares of the chiquitano forest in the east of the country. president morales of bolivia does want international help. however, with much of latin america in flames, europe's response is insufficient to put them out. will grant, bbc news, rondonia province, brazil. live now to manaus and speak to carlos durigan, director of the wildlife conservation society's brazil programme. thank you very much for your time. we should be clear, there are always fires in the amazon but this is far worse than usual. yes, good night, here in manaus it is 9pm now. and we are passing through a very bad season now. are passing through a very bad

season now. we haven't increase in fires here as you saw and we are now just starting the dry season here in the region. we will have more, at least two months ahead and the situation tends to be worse in good prevention and back to wildfires must be done. it does no harm to remind us alljust how important the amazon is and how damaging what we are seeing is. excuse me, i didn't listen well. what i'm trying to get to is how important the amazon is, just a reminder of that for brazil, for the rest of the world and how damaging what is happening now is. yes. we have here one of the last

regions in terms of forest, amazon is not only forest. here we have the largest river basin system. we have more than 300 ethnic groups, indigenous groups, nonindigenous communities and of course a lot associated with this biome so when we lose forest and we see the situation like this, it's a very sad scenario because we are passing to situations like this for years during dry seasons and of course, this year is worse in terms of policies to combat this damage. so we are losing an important natural

area and a huge part of global biodiversity. and emissions from fires and the burning forest increase the contribution of the region. carlos, what chance is there of something being done by this? surely whatever the world thinks and tries to do, as all‘s president is against it, very little will happen. yeah, infact against it, very little will happen. yeah, in fact we need a change of this position and i think positive criticism and positive pressure is important and was important so we are now seeing possibilities to change this and we need of course

actions to combat fires. we need a more aggressive planning of development of the region and of course, cut the forest without a burn the forest. we need a more consultation approach test —— progress “— consultation approach test —— progress —— process for a more sustainable way. thank you very much indeed for talking to us. let's get some of the day's other news. with tensions high between israel and the hezbollah movement, backed by iran, the lebanese president has described israeli drone strikes as a "declaration of war". over the weekend two drones crashed in the suburbs of beirut where hezbollah has its stronghold. the united nations has called for "maximum restraint". harvey weinstein's trial has been pushed back to january because prosecutors have filed a new indictment that will allow

a third accuser to testify against him. she is annabella sciorra, the actress best known for her role in the sopranos. the disgraced producer has pleaded not guilty to new charges of sexual assault. he already denies rape and sexual assault involving two women. indonesia's president has announced where the country's new capital will be built on the island of borneo. the president said the decision is the result of a three year study which said jakarta, home to 10 million, is one of the fastest—sinking cities in the world. it is built primarily on swampy land. expert analysis suggests it could be entirely submerged by 2050. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: ‘sewing' dissent. how one american artist started embroidering donald trump's tweets to put today's politics in perspective. he's the first african—american to win the presidential nomination of a major party,

and he accepts exactly a5 years ago to the day that martin luther king declared, "i have a dream." as darkness falls, an unfamiliar light will appear in the south—eastern sky. an orange glowing disc that's brighter than anything save the moon — our neighbouring planet mars. horn toots there is no doubt that this election is an important milestone in the birth of east timor as the world's newest nation. it'll take months and billions of dollars to repair what katrina achieved injust hours. three weeks is the longest the great clock has been off duty in 117 years. so it was with great satisfaction that clockmakerjohn vernon swung the pendulum to set the clock going again. big ben bongs this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the g7 summit ends in biarritz

with president trump considering a meeting with his counterpart in iran. it's "realistic," he says — although iran's state media has rejected the idea. the drug companyjohnson & johnson is fined over half a billion dollars for its part in fuelling america's opioid painkiller addiction crisis. joining us now from oklahoma is lenny bernstein — health and medicine reporter for the washington post. good for the washington post. to talk to you, i know yol done good to talk to you, i know you have done a lot of work on this, how significant would you say this ruling is? there are many other cases coming up. i think it's quite significant, it is the first time that a judge has held a drug company responsible for the prescription opioid epidemic in this country. there are many cases coming up, as you said, there has been one in which a judge throughout a similar claim, but this was the first time

we are seeing anyone say that these drug companies are culpable and they're to have to pay to omitted they're to have to pay to omitted the situation. is it likely to be a problem? it's quite an unusual application of the particular piece of law. it may be, johnson &johnson is going to appeal and we will seal what the court has to say about it, it certainly is an expansion or another use of this public nuisance law here in oklahoma, taking something that was generally used to protect the body, to keep neighbours from doing anything with their property that harms someone else, so it could be a problem down the road but for now, the judge says it's legal. we reported that two other states have already reached out—of—court settlements with a grammar. give us a sense of how big the legal proceedings are across the whole of the country. oh, my, there

are a0 some odd states lined up to sue various companies, various parts of the pharmaceutical industry, virtually every state in the united states has a lawsuit going on this. then there are 2000 twentieths, most cities and counties but also native american tribes, hospitals, other health groups. they are all consolidated into one enormous, federal case and that is in ohio. at the first two of those plaintiffs, they are called the bellwether plaintiffs, they are a test case. they're supposed to go forward in october. but while all that goes on, the opioid crisis goes on, of course. it does. deaths from prescription opioids have levelled off, deaths from parent have levelled off but now we're in the third wave the opioid crisis which is continuing completely unabated and overdosed deaths from fentanyl

continue year after year. thank you very much for talking to us. my pleasure. the united nations has warned that deadly flooding in sudan could continue until october. at least 62 people have died and hundreds of thousands have been affected by flash flooding across 15 states. white nile state in the south of the country has been hit hardest. gareth barlow has more details. the desperate search for positions in floodwaters that having of the nation. within 37,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed. there we re been damaged or destroyed. there were no floods before but now when you look around, everything is gone. thank god there were no lives lost here but all our belongings are gone. we're with nothing. all the houses have been destroyed. nothing

remains. you are unable to collect a furniture. it is the first time in our lives such floods have happened. we only ask for one thing, we only ask for our right to have a case to stay. as communities take refuge in temporary camps, aid agencies when the flooding could continue until october. sudan has suffered from political instability and for the fledgling government, the floods are a test of its abilities. united nations has called for $150 million in aid with the threat of waterborne diseases. but for the people in the affected states, there is no escape from harsh reality. neither age nor the government can stop the rain. —— aid. it sounds and looks like something out of science fiction — a raft of pumice rock the size of manhattan is floating through the pacific ocean. it was first found by australian sailors, and is believed to have come from a nearby underwater volcano that erupted earlier this month. tom whitehead and shannon lenz

sailed their boat into the pumice field.

tim bell who was essential in

margaret thatcher ‘s victory has died, he was 77, he was behind the lab isn't working slogan in the run—up to the general election. he went on to go into ministration in 2017 with his firm. president trump's use of language is very distinctive. whether he's tweeting, or on stage at a rally, this star of reality tv knows how to make an impression. and that proved a challenge to american artist diana waymar. she wanted to find a way of relating to the current political atmosphere. so she began knitting mr trump's words, and invited others to get out their needles too. the results are on display in new york — we've been taking a look. it has been so incredible to see people come into the store and experience it for the first time. to literally woken to a space that is a 3—dimensional twitter feed. literally woken to a space that is a 3—dimensionaltwitterfeed. i literally woken to a space that is a 3—dimensional twitterfeed. i was inspired in january of 3—dimensional twitterfeed. i was inspired injanuary of 2018 to stitch the words "i am a very stable

genius" into an inherited piece of needlepoint. i hadn't found a way to process the language that was being used by donald trump and i certainly wasn't following him on twitter very closely. and i set a goal to stitch about one piece a weekjust to keep track of what he was saying. and it was partly a way for me to process and engage in us politics. but it very quickly wrapped up to three or four pieces a week and that pretty much, by six months later, i couldn't possibly keep the response to the exhibition in new york has been pretty amazing. people talk about when they remember hearing which quote and then look for their friends pieces. 1—piece identity show people when visit the exhibit, it's his the best thing that ever happened to porter rego is

president trump. it appears to be stitched into fabric like all the rest of the pieces that when you look more closely, you realise that she has stitched the quote into a square piece of paper towel. when you look at something and you see each individual stitch, you are forced to wonder about the person who made it and then wonder how they we re who made it and then wonder how they were impacted by what they were stitching. and in many cases people are stitching words that they find very challenging and very upsetting andi very challenging and very upsetting and i think that when we are in that space, and we can see the contradictions, we can see them because we know that it has been made by a person. who has made a commitment to sharing what they are hearing, how they feel about what they are hearing. europe's speaker street party has bound up by now, in record—breaking heat in west london. more than1 record—breaking heat in west london. more than 1 million record—breaking heat in west london. more than1 million people record—breaking heat in west london. more than 1 million people filled the streets for the notting hill

carnival,. for some, it's the first carnival, but others had been coming for decades. how many times have you done this before? i'm 2a, and i've been doing carnivalfor 2a years. absolutely beautiful. it's the best time of year for everybody, black, white, green, pink, yellow. notting hill carnival has been running for 50 years and the costumes, community and dancing will continue for many years to come. the menus again, a judge in oklahoma has altered the giant health company johnson &johnson to pay $572 million for each —— its role in the opioid addiction crisis in the us. this is the first case to go to trial after thousands fired against —— failed again struck many factories, to other firms —— failed again struck many factories, to otherfirms have read in oklahoma out—of—court. much more on the bbc website.

and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — i'm @bbcmikeembley. hello once again. in some areas of the british isles the late august bank holiday has been marked by unseasonably high temperatures and the records have been tumbling through sunday and indeed into the bank holiday on monday. on both days, 30 celsius was exceeded in the south—eastern quarter of the british isles. come the middle to end of the week, you'll be looking at something a good deal closer to 23 or 2a. perhaps that suits you a good deal better. and it's there, waiting in the wings behind this particular weather front. we've got all that fresher, atlantic air waiting to pile its way across the british isles. but even before that arrives, right from the word go into the south—west across wales and then eventually through tuesday up into the north of england, perhaps eventually come the evening

into lincolnshire and cambridgeshire, we may well find some pretty heavy showers and thunderstorms. temperatures still in that south—eastern quarter around about the sort of 32—33 degree mark or so. so the change not quite in hand through tuesday but certainly we'll notice it through wednesday, so thunderstorms quit the scene overnight on tuesday, then on wednesday we push that weather front ever further towards the east. ahead of it again, we may well find the odd sharper burst of rain getting down towards east anglia and the south—east. a lot of cloud around but a brighter end to the day. and there you see the temperatures no longer 33, it's closer to 23 or 2a. and that's what marks the middle and indeed the end of the week, where we go into a period of atlantic—derived air, the jet stream kinking a trough there, quite a marked one too, just initially to the western side of the british isles but then gradually tumbling its way ever further towards the east and no longer do we sit on the warm side of the jet stream, we are very much in the firing line of a succession of low pressure

areas firing their way, particularly towards the north—western quarter of the british isles. the high pressure for the second half of the week very much confined to the southern counties. so as we get on through thursday we'll find yet more wet and windy fare driving its way across the british isles, some brighter skies following on behind, but everybody just about at risk of a sharper burst of rain at some stage in proceedings. temperatures in the teens to the low 20s. not a great deal of difference on through friday with regard to the temperatures, but certainly, i think we'll find the rain at this stage largely confined to parts of scotland and northern ireland, perhaps just getting across the border later on into the north—west of both england and wales. the driest of the weather at that stage, further south.

she this is bbc news, the headlines: the us pharmaceutical giantjohnson &johnson has been ordered by a judge in oklahoma to pay a fine of more than $500 million for fuelling an epidemic of pain—killing opioids in the state. the ruling is being seen as a test case for litigation against drugs companies across the united states. president trump is considering the prospect of meeting his iranian counterpart, following a diplomatic effort by france's president macron. mr trump said the talks could take place if the circumstances were right. iran's foreign minister made an unscheduled visit to the summit but did not meet the president. the g7 nations have agreed a fund of $22 million to help countries in the amazon to fight fires that are devastating the rainforest. president macron also announced that there would be an international initiative to examine ways to reforest the damaged areas.