syndrome this is the business briefing. i'm samantha simmonds. johnson &johnson‘s share price soars after it's ordered to pay over $500 million for its role in the opioid epidemic — we'll explain why. g7 leaders have headed home, but the trade issues that dominated the summit will continue — how much optimism is there for concrete solutions? and markets rally after president trump says the us and china could be heading back to the negotiating table.

a so—called landmark ruling in the us opioid crisis has been handed down to drugs giantjohnson & johnson by a judge in oklahoma. the company was ordered to pay $572 million for its role in the crisis — which is more than double what other firms have already shelled out. oxycontin—maker purdue pharma settled with the state for $270 million. and there was an $85 million settlement with israeli—owned teva pharmaceutical industries announced earlier this year. around 2,000 other lawsuits related to the opioid crisis are awaiting trial on a federal level — that's due to head to court in october. now shares injohnson &johnson rose about 5% following the verdict. that's because the fine is fraction of the multi—billion dollar settlement the prosecution was seeking. the company says it

will appeal the ruling. samira hussain in new york has more. thejudge in the judge in oklahoma thejudge in oklahoma says the judge in oklahoma says that johnson &johnson was responsible for fuelling the johnson &johnson was responsible forfuelling the opioid johnson &johnson was responsible for fuelling the opioid crisis that the company was only find $572 million, just a fraction of the 17 billion dollars the state of 0klahoma was asking for. in a brief statement made by the judge, 0klahoma was asking for. in a brief statement made by thejudge, he indicated the fine being levied on the company was the maximum amount he could force them to pay. lawyers for the drug maker argued that physicians knew the risks associated with opioids, that abusing the drug could lead to overdose and death. ultimately, though, it was the state's argument that the aggressive marketing tactics helped to flood the market with drugs, leading to thousands of overdose deaths over the past decade in oklahoma alone. now, this court case was being closely watched because it really opens the doorfor other

closely watched because it really opens the door for other lawsuits against drug companies and it is why johnson &johnson against drug companies and it is why johnson & johnson has against drug companies and it is why johnson &johnson has already said it will appeal the decision. if the company is found responsible in this particular case, it could be found responsible in other pending lawsuits or lawsuits that have yet to be filed. the g7 summit has wrapped up in france, but the proof will be in the pudding, as to whether the talks between the world leaders actually bear fruit. 0n the programme yesterday we discussed the promise of trade deals between the us and the uk as well as america and japan. the summit‘s host french president emmanuel macron had some final words about the wto and digital tax — but it was president trump talking about the trade war with china that caught the most attention. and i very much appreciate the fact that they came out last night, very late last night and said, you know, they want to make a deal, they want it to be under common circumstances, it to be under common circumstances, it was a little bit of a different

kind of statement, i thought it was a beautiful statement. translation: i hope that in the coming days, we can work out a framework to modernise the world trade organisation and to act together on taxation within the framework of the oecd. worth of these would be very useful. -- both of these. jeremy stretch is head of currency strategy at cibc world markets. the trade was seem to have dampened down the fear that that would ratchet up, which is what happened on friday, with both of them seeming to double down. donald trump's assertion that talks are imminent doesn't seem to be what china thinks. know, there doesn't seem to bea thinks. know, there doesn't seem to be a slight difference of opinion in the context of where those talks actually are. i think it may well be, we are very much dealing with the nuances of where the chinese believe their stance is relatives to the us. it is the classic trump playbook here, the constructive ambiguity in terms of the language

it really does create problems for markets because markets are trying to interpret where the scenario really is and is there any real progress? queally on friday mood music was negative. rush clearly. markets were holding onto the optimistic tone of trump yesterday and that has been carried through into asia. —— clearly. —— trump. will we see a more optimistic environment? there is still a great deal of uncertainty which causes confusion. also the confusion as to where they will have this. there have been talks already so we will see what comes of it. what about the wto reforms that have come from the g7? the wto has been around for almost 25 years or so in a sense you can argue the world has inevitably changed, particularly in the sense of the developing nations which were given some protection in the 1990s as we came out of the old form into

wto. it is going into india and china in terms of tariff barriers to some of the domestic industries because those domestic industries have grown and strengthened and in a sense you could argue that there is an opportunity to perhaps look at those rules but if it is once again going into very fraught, politically charged atmospheres and that will make it very difficult for the wto reforms to really be pushed forward. and overall, what was your assessment of the g7? they seemed to be reluctant to lighten the dark mood? you could argue we have been ——we have come out the other side of the g7 without an unholy row or the g6 plus one which was the fair. trump was talking about bringing russia back in which of course it changes the political dynamics a little bit. we have come out the other side without a breakdown of relations which i suppose is probably as good as... better than

last year. yes. if you think back more than ten years since the great financial crisis, at that time we we re financial crisis, at that time we were worried about the bigger the neighbour policies being put in place in terms of tariff barriers and ten years on, that is now the fear but we have come out the other side without any obvious deterioration and that is how low the bar has become. it has good as it gets. and during that g7 meeting india pledged to step up imports of american goods. let's go to our asia business hub where shara njit leyl is following the story. that is right because $4 billion of imports are already in the pipeline going to india. we know india isn't pa rt going to india. we know india isn't part of the g7 but prime minister moody was an invitee and he it comes in the wake of lots of strange that have popped up in the bilateral

relationship between india and america in terms of trade and political interest — make issues over kashmir. trade is an important pa rt over kashmir. trade is an important part of the tubing bilateral strategic partnership — make issues over kashmir. there have been a raft of tariffs escalating leading to fears of a protracted trade war. it hasn't always been a smooth sailing between the two and trump has called india the tariff king and there is a yawning trade gap between the two in favour of india. india has dragged the us to the world trade organisation over it dispute on trade. we do know that mr moody will be seeing trump again. —— never enter a modi. he will travel to houston where there is expected to bea houston where there is expected to be a roundtable with energy companies. he will see how india could import more from the us and see how the us could invest in the energy sector as well.

now let's brief you on some other business stories. the man behind volkswagen's global expansion, ferdinand piech, has died aged 82 — according to the bild newspaper. mr piech is credited with transforming the carmaker from a mid—sized german company to an international powerhouse. piech was a grandson of ferdinand porsche, the father of the iconic volkswagen beetle. boeing is reportedly facing its first lawsuit by a customer over the grounding of the 737 max jets. russian leasing company avia claims the planemaker was negligent in the two fatal crashes and withheld critical information from us regulators. avia ordered 35jets and now wants that cancelled and is seeking $115 million in damages. apple chief executive tim cook has donated $4.9 million to charity — and the company said it is giving an unspecified amount to help restore the amazon rainforest. mr cook tweeted that the tech giant wants to preserve the biodiversity of the indespensible forest. it's estimated tim cook's wealth

is about $675 million. that's it for the business briefing this hour — but before we go, a quick look at the markets. asia is trading higher as there's a cautious optimism that the us and china will head be to the negotiating table — and perhaps get closer to a solution to that trade war. we've seen a lot of ups and downs in recent days as investors react to president trump's changing tone on china. the word ‘calm' was used a lot on monday and tuesday and that seems to have had a knock on effect. up next — newsbriefing. we'll take you through the stories making headlines in the global news media today.

the bbc has seen documents which show that the uk government and hs2 knew — several years ago —that the new high speed railway was over budget and was probably behind schedule. our transport correspondent tom burridge reports. wright until very recently, we were told by ministers and bosses at hs2 that the programme to build the new high—speed railway was on budget and on time. there was only one budget for hs2 and it is £55.7 billion. on time. there was only one budget for h52 and it is £55] billion. but for h52 and it is 55.7 billion. but bbc news has obtained documents which show that at least three years ago, the government knew that wasn't the case. the evidence we have got suggests you, the taxpayer, who is finding it, were not given the full picture. this letter was sent in may 2016 to that then chancellor george

osborne. in it, the transport secretary at the time, patrick maclachlan, admits that the first stretch of the railway linking birmingham to rate ——to london, was already over budget by nearly £1 billion. he also proposes opening the railway a year late to try and save money. and all of these warnings crucially before the first phase of hs2 had been signed off by parliament. h52 does have strong support but the evidence we have seen, not only raises questions about value for money but about transparency and trust. h52 has responded by saying there has been extensive scrutiny of the project by the national audit office and parliamentary committees. in the department of transport says like in any major complex programme, delivery plans evolve over time but with the team appointed by the government to review the scheme set to begin their work tomorrow, it is ha rd to to begin their work tomorrow, it is hard to say how high—speed to will

evolve in the coming weeks. —— hs2. coming up at 6:00 on breakfast, charlie stayt and louise minchin will have all the day's news, business and sport. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: the us pharmaceutical giantjohnson &johnson says it will appeal after being ordered by a judge in oklahoma to pay a fine of more than $500 million for fuelling an epidemic of pain—killing opioid. the ruling is seen as a test case for litigation against drugs companies across the united states. britain's labour leader meets opposition mps today as he looks for support for his plans to block a no—deal brexit. jeremy corbyn said leaving the eu without agreement would put britain at the mercy of president trump and us corporations. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the financial times which has this picture

of presidents trump and macron, taken at the g7. the paper says: mr trump is open to a meeting with iran over a new nuclear deal. staying with president trump, and the japan times has this: "trump claims china trade talks to get reboot". the two countries are to return to the negotiating table after trump said chinese officials had contacted us trade counterparts overnight and offered to kickstart talks. the guardian reveals that legal advice to the labour party calls the prime minister's threat to shut down parliament and force a no—deal brexit the "gravest abuse of power" in living memory. the new york times reports on the landmark legal case in oklahoma. johnson &johnson have been ordered to pay $572 million in an opioid trial, that could pave the way for plaintiffs in similar lawsuits pending across the country. and finally, the bbc online — a study of researchers in the us have discovered that optimistic people are more likely to live longer! are you an optimist?

we will be finding out in just a second. with me is fiona cincotta, senior market analyst at city index. welcome back. let's start of the financial times. trump is open to an meeting over the nuclear deal stop this is beheading the drive to de—escalate tensions between iran and the united states. he has done a really good job here this is the first real positive step forward that we have seen from trump towards the situation for some time. tensions have been escalating to end the middle east and the us. and this isa the middle east and the us. and this is a move forward, we always have to ta ke is a move forward, we always have to take everything that trumps says with a pinch of salt. he said that he is willing to sit down under the right conditions and said that if the situation in the gulf deteriorated, that they would still be met with force. this isn't a definite we're going to sort everything out and it's all going be

fine, but it's a baby step forward in the right direction. the fact that we are looking at the