d.w. . welcome to the book is the getting here. we're going to talk about the. countries that's a little. so you don't want. to just. go. what should have been a defining day in the ongoing opioid crisis in the u.s. leaves many questions as a traveler mark trial of the state of ohio is settled for millions of dollars of the battle is far from over. also on the program the e.u. faces out palm oil imports from malaysia on environmental grounds but kuala lumpur says it's accelerating sustainable development. and it's been one of asia's top

travel destinations but now thailand's tourism industry is sounding the alarm chinese visitors especially are developing a taste for other places. it's time for business on the w m how you know i guess it's good to have you with us monday should have seen the start of the biggest ever court battle in the ongoing opiate crisis in the u.s. but shortly before the trial began the parties decided to settle the case the 2 suing counties in ohio will receive $260000000.00 from pharmaceutical companies however thousands of similar cases are still open. these flags bear witness to an american tragedy they represent the 400000 people who have died of an opioid overdose over the past 2 decades. contend the drug makers doctors pharmacies and wholesalers all frivolously feel the excessive prescription and consumption of opioids while at the same time flagrantly ignoring the risks of

addiction a total of $2600.00 lawsuits are pending throughout the u.s. cities counties and states are suing for massive damages they say they need to cope with the epidemic the final bill could come to more than $450000000000.00. the ohio hearing was considered an important test case only 2 counties were prosecuting israeli drug maker teva and u.s. distributors mckesson america and cardinal health but any ruling was expected to set the benchmark for trials across the country an attorney for the 2 counties explains why they settled at the last minute instead of going to trial that was the problem. that was. there we're talking billions of dollars. trickles. down to start its program and that's why we recommend to the county that that was a good deal for the county or anyone else we had. to the national so. the 4

companies will now pay a total of $260000000.00 to the plaintiffs it's money they urgently need for preventative measures and health education but a national solution to the opioid epidemic appears distant. for the subject i'm now joined by financial correspondent on wall street. it's good to see you so we saw stock prices of most of the pharmaceutical companies involved tag today what does this mean for the makers. well it means that the uncertainty will remain with us recently there was talk about a countrywide settlement amount of roughly $50000000000.00 so now we have this small deal but as i mentioned and as we heard there are thousands of more cases out standing those 3 companies by the way they've distributed roughly 90 percent of

drugs in the united states and we will see what this settlement now means for all of the other cases by the way it's very common in the u.s. that those. actually have never go into trial but settlements are more than usually here in the united states among those lost as we saw in the stock prices shares in tevar which is an israeli maker of opiates did climb what's the reason behind that. yeah there we got 2 words from the company itself that they actually had a broader settlement and was a couple of states and here in the united states and they seem to have broader settlement they also are saying that they will actually donate drugs that are crucial to the fight against addiction in the amount of good to $23000000000.00 and that's always interesting to see here on wall street it's not

necessarily about the amount itself but it's about the certainty and even if we're talking about billions of dollars of wall street has something to play around with so they have a concrete figure and so therefore we saw the stock price. increasing by 8 percent even enfolds it was not all the claims are settled at this point so this story is going to stay with us for quite some time but at least it was one of the bright spots at least speaking on wall street in terms of here at the beginning of the week in costa giving us the perspective from wall street thank you very much . now to some of the other business stories we're following for you at this hour facebook says it has removed 4 networks of state backed fake accounts based in russia and iran which sought to disrupt elections in the us north africa and latin america in the past year it says the moves are part of ensuring it is not used as

a tool to interfere in politics and democracies around the world. and office space sharing company we work has reportedly been given a $5000000000.00 debt financing offer by japanese tech conglomerate soft that would make soft bank a majority owner of the struggling u.s. started rework has been scrambling to raise cash after scrapping its i.p.o. plans last month chairman adam human could apparently step down as part of the deal . palm oil has been linked to rainforest destruction and climate change that has led the e.u. to face out imports of oil for biofuel that's bad news for malaysia the 2nd largest producer of palm oil in the world the government there now says it's taken efforts to accelerate sustainable development for the local industry. every single fruit is valuable yesterday the harvest helpers were here now for the man hariri is gathering the fruits the fellow on the ground there very bright so he can get more

money for them he's the proud owner of a 5 hectare palm oil plantation. i know that europeans think badly of palm oil. but it has so many good sides that you people don't know about. the oil is healthy the trees are robust and we're much more environmentally friendly than people think. as he carries out his inspection round he get some news that shocks him the e.u. plans to phase out palm oil based biofuels by 2030 hariri thinks the decision is absurd he says now his fast growing oil fruit will be replaced by sawyer rapeseed which he calls worse for the environment palm oil has been called malaysia's golden crop. it's lifted farmers out of poverty and spur the malaysian economy in recent years in the capital kuala lumpur at a meeting of big palm oil companies the e.u.

decision was the dominant topic the producers say war has been declared and they have lost. more lobbies are very very strong and very focused one of the problems we face with the n.t. palm oil lobby is that these lobbyists do not make an attempt to differentiate palm oil coming from different when you said nations and we have already always stated that malaysia dusted differently at this oil mill the loads of palm fruits arrive by the minute this is production on an industrial scale malaysia is the world's 2nd biggest producer of palm oil after in new nisha. the fruit pulp is separated from the kernel to be pressed then the oil goes to a refinery to be processed into cooking oil or bio diesel. on the outskirts of kuala lumpur a limb tech when takes a look at one of the sites that infuriates him this new home construction site was

rain forest just a few years ago a unique ecosystem. but although the forestry expert with the organization the rescue is committed to preserving malaysians rain forest he's concerned about the ease attitude. unfortunately of palm oil is a fact of life and forests are continuing to be developed now the question is whether or not you countries in the e.u. will work with the groups in malaysia who are like myself who are trying fighting to save the forests or whether you would just say sorry and disengage and say no the malaysian government has pledged to keep 50 percent of the land covered by natural forest but environmentalists like lim tech when believe that more forest is making way for plantations than people realize that before we go you may know thailand as a tourism hot spot with beautiful beaches friendly people a rich culture and delicious food but this year visitor numbers are on the decline

the holiday island of forget has been hit especially hard. for years paddling beach was one of the most popular beaches on to catch thailand's island paradise welcome to millions of tourists every year but this season the beaches felt remain than usual. but they get since june it's been the same every month and it's. coming here for 15 blows season should not never seen anything as bad as what it is at the moment local tourist associations say visitor numbers have fallen by up to 30 percent on the island in particular one of the largest groups chinese tourists one reason is the strength of the box another is the u.s. china trade dispute which hotel owners believe has made the chinese more cautious about spending money in terms of business it's not good. yeah because you know more business we we we have more tales more room to say oh you have to morristown all

small coffee shops and yes i mean declining already. now thailand is hoping to attract more tourists from other countries like india for example this year 25 percent more tourists came from there than usual thanks to a growing middle class and that could be the solution when it comes to filling those empty hotel rooms. i would mind filling those empty hotel rooms that's all for business thanks for watching us you next time or whenever you want on the w. dot com.

here france dear antone and here's a see here this is opposite us i'm sitting on the terrace in twilight it's peaceful my 3 grandchildren sleep on trouble that's asked outside time when i was 8 trances in germany was split in 2 and remain divided for decades and it was my given among your mother was born in 1969 the wall was already 8 years old. my grandchildren

were born after the wall fell born in a marine unified germany the full time a time of great joy. 3 generations one family on a journey through recent german history. a little bit. more friendly and costs starts november 6th on d w. city programs are a. symbol of a long conflict in the philippines between the muslims and the christian population last month by strangers occupied the city center in tulsa 17 president detergents response was called. i am. again looking. for

a conquest turned into tragedy is not the kind of freedom that we want. how did we become a great way to islamist terror. exclusive report from a destroyed city. in the sights of our us starts oct 24th on t.w. . hello there and welcome to arts and culture well he's perhaps the most famous dutch artist of all rembrandt a master of light and shadow and an innovator of the famous dutch golden age of painting and the 300 and 55th anniversary of his death the rights museum in amsterdam has a special exhibition on and more on that after we take a quick look at what else is coming up. in our series 100 german

must read the banks's novel the swimmer is a gripping family drama set against the turbulence of 950 s. hungary. and lucy landed or is not the type to keep quiet the multi percussionist she finds sound wherever she goes and meet up with her. in geneva switzerland. for its rembrandt year 29000 the rights museum in amsterdam has opened a landmark exhibition juxtaposing the 17th century dutch master with one of his spanish contemporaries diego red ass case well there are 2 countries spend 80 years at war back in those days as the protestant dutch republic battled for independence from catholic spain and it was a conflict that colored the lives and the work of both painters and their

respective traditions.