is "f"france 24." it is time for 60 minutes around the world. i am genie godula. these are the headlines. a british judge ordered boris johnson to court over allegations he lied to the .ublic about brexit that is a hit for johnsoson, who has been seen as a favorite replace theresa may as british prime minister. today is the deadline for prime minister benjamin netanyahu

to build a coalition in israel. read to do wiwith coalition partners or hold a reelection one month after the last one. civil trial that could hold a drug company responsible for the opioid epidemic is now underway in oklahoma. the state is accusing drugmaker johnson & johnson of fueling the crisis in the u.s., at landmark case that could impact thousands more. also comoming up in business, uaweise tech giant walh hits back against a van in the u.s. and the thrill of a lifeline. the lining off the second floor of the eiffel tower. that is happening right now in paris. for now, our -- first, thohough, our top stories in paris. ♪

genie: let's start first with the latest twist in the brexit saga. we just heard on long ago that boris johnson, the man seen as the favorite to replace british prime minister theresa may has been ordered to appear in court over allegations he lied to the public over brexit. our international affairs editor armen georgian is with me to discuss more. what we know about this court case? armen: the court case was brought by a group of campaigners called brexit justice, and this campaign, we have to point out the timing here, it actually started long before theresa may announced that she was stepping down. back in september of last year, there was a crowd funding lost to have boris johnson -- have boris johnson

prosecuted for lying about britain's contribution to the eu. we will come to the actual message later, but just to give you the history of this first. so the crowdfunding started in september of 2018. money was raised to cover the cost of bringing this private prosecution against boris .ohnson the goal, according to campaigners, is to set a precedent in common law to make it illegal for elected representatives to live to the british public about public spending. so they are sort of portraying this as s something bigger than johnson, about the president of lying to the public, and it is a private prosecution, not a public want your genie: curiously, you were telling me that boris johnson did not come up with this notorious claim, 350 million, given by the eu to the ok every week. armen: yes -- the u.k. every week.

armen: yes. let that a freeze-frame of this widely notorious and pledge.ited obviously this was central to the message of taking back control. heads offewer than wtwo the u.k. statistics authority wrote to the campaigners who say this was misleading and a clear misuse of national statistics. this became a message of essential trumpian, alternative fact universe, which actually did vo work with voters in the 2016 referendum. however, boris johnson did not come up with this message. it was actually dominic cummings who was the mastermind of the leave campaign. so boris's supporters will say -- why is boris johnson being singled out?

they will see this as an attempt to stop him from becoming prime minister. the $1 million question, whatat kind of effect will this have on his chances? armen: it depepends partly on wt will happen with this court case. given the nature of the offense, mr. johnson could receive a prison sentence, but obviously we have to add a major caveat here, which is that there is no offense at the moment, it is an alleged offense, it has not been proven in court. but i suppose obama is politically, genis -- but i suppose the bottom line is politically, genie, boris johnson is someone who has wanted the job for many years, despite his numerous denials. he has said many times in interviews, you really want to become prime minister, don't you, he has said no. bubut it is clear he wants the p job and has wanted it for a long time. now finally there is an opportunity, so it seems,

because of theresa may about to step down and because he is now the remaining favor in a poll that was done of conservative but 100mbers, notmp's, 60,000 people who actually make the final decision over who becomes the tory leader, he was the clear favorite, so obviously he will do everything in his power to make sure something like the brakes as justice campaign does not -- brexit justice campaign does not get in the way of his career. genie: armen georgian, thank you for that. eu leaders have agreed to pick the head of the powerful executive arm by july. there will be a lot of wrangling until then, though. the recent ones have fragmented blocks. angela merkellor and french president emmanuel macron are already at all is over who should head the new commission. >> the process is supposed to be straightforward.

leaders of the european union set out and pick a candidate to head the european commission. choices then ratified by parliament. but behind the scenes, it is wrought with wrangling, a power struggling between rival nations and ideology. leaders met in a closed-door dinner tuesday. officially, without naming names, a discussion of picking the next commissioner and other top jobs. already, strong differences were clear. angela merkel wants to stick with the space and candidate -- zenkandidate system, and it is come manfred weber -- in this case, manfred weber. we stand for our leading candidate, the epp candidate, which is manfred weber. > the candidacy hangs by a thread with some arguing he does

not have enough executive experience. parties, theeft social's; rules and reigns, many more seats in the eppa against him,. emmanuel macron feels that they should share the alliance's vision for europe. president macron: i want these appointments to be gender-balanced, meaning that we have two men and two women. i want us s to have the best profiles p possible. and of course i want them to be balanced politically and geographically. >> earlier tuesday, macron -- frenchmark's negotiator, and kellerman as more ideal candidates. eu leaders said they hope to agree on the next commission president by next summer, on june 21, but still, filling all of the top spots could be a long, contentious process. genie: israeli prime minister

benjamin netanyahu could be facing an election one month after winning the last one in he has just hours left to form a coalition government, but there is one crucial holdout. hard-line lieberman is sticking to his guns in a stalemate over military draft exemptions for jewish seminary students. the conflict has only deepened the political uncertainty in israel. 's"e is more from "france 24 philip torres. lip: if you look at the results from the election, which took placece in apriril, he is running neck and neck with the blue party. he has got support from smaller needs theut he also support of one of his archrivals, who is always causing difficulties for him.

his name is lieberman. ind to work with netanyahu the 1990's when he was first prime minister lamothe and he fell out with him. he was a minister under him later on, but he has decided that he would also like to run for prime mininister, so he does not want to support benjamin netanyahu, because h he thinks f netanyahu will fall, he will fall within. so he is saying the excuse being he wants to push legislation on pushing all orthodox sjews into military service. he will not be able to form a coalition. we wilill not know until tonigit very late exactly what is happening. genie: let's say he cannot form a coalition by tonight. what happens than? then?

there are several scenarios during the president of israel will then give someone else the opportunity to form a coalition with someone else, pegging in april's election, meaning benjamin netanyahu will no longer be e ime ministster of israel. the second case scenario is the president will give the prime minister another two weeks to try to warm a coalition -- form a coalition. no real reason to think they will do a better in two weeks than he is doing today. the other possibility isis early elections. that is the preferred scenario for benjamin netanyahu, because he thinks if they were to go back to the polls again, he may be ablble to get a better majory in parliament and not have to depend on lieieberman for his supppport, but he is not sure tt will happen to him, either. the best thing ththat happened r benjamin netanyahu is for an agreement today with the other arteries to get t that coalitio, and there is a strong possibility at the 11th hour,

like one minute until midnight, there may be some kind of coalition deal, but this is israeli politics, and people execute the lights on until the last minute. we'll have to wait to see what happens. genie: that cons as senior white house adviser and donald trump son-in-law jared kushner is leading a u.s. delegation to the middle east this week. he is trying to get support for at akshop next month aimed large-scale investment in the palestinian territory. kushner will visit iman in jordan and in israel after a push on a long promised but yet to be delivered peace plan for the region. syria, more than 20 civilians were killed tuesday at the syrian government continued to bombard the last rebel stronghold in the province of it dlib. worldame after denouncing

powers for doing nothing to stop the destruction and bloodshed. the bombings in idlib have left more than several hundred debt in just one month. several killed were children. viewers may find this report difficult to watch. >> idlib under a rain of bombs. rescuers rushed to free you dust- -- free dust- and blood-covered victims. according to human rights groups, dozens of civilians have been killed since sunday on a relentless bombing campaign homage the jihadists-controlled region. on tuesday, washington condemned what it said were indiscriminate attacks by bashar al-assad troops and the russian allies. an all-out offensive could trigger a humanitarian catastrophe. >> the operations will overwhelm all ability.

in many areas, humanitarian operations have been suspended. >> one of the last syrian province is not reclaimed by the regime, idlibib was designated a buffffer zone under an agreement last year, but the region is largely controlled by jihadist groups, hts, and terrorist organizations, which syria and russia say is excluded from the cease-fire. >> these are not violationons, because the group, hts, is not included in any agreement with the cease-fire. usingrs of hts are civilians as human shields. according to the united nations, around 270,000 people have been displaced since the regime ramped up its bombing campaign in idlib in late april,

making this the most intense escalation in syria in nearly a year. genie: the first civil trial that hold a drug company responsible for the u.s. open your epidemic is now underway. it is a landmark case that could impact thousands of others like it. the trial hits the state of -- pits the state of oklahoma against johnson & johnson, accusing the drugmaker of downplaying the risks of addiction and downplaying. austin was 22, a student and standout sportsmen at the university of f oklahoma when he died of f a painkillller overdo. >> when he got that taste of opioid, he said to himself, "wow, i found my answer." >> now hisis parents arere exped witnesses.d as

johnson & johnson has been taken to trial in oklahoma in a case that help determine pharmaceutical companies' role in america's opioid crisis. the ststate government claims te manufacturer's masking of addiction will cost them billions of dollars. >> there are centuries of experience, well-documented history of an apartment of a deceitful, cynical, multiyear brainwashing campaign. >> more than 1300 people in the u.s. die each day from an opioid overdose. to costemic is expected the government more than $17 billion a year. johnson & johnson says it is not responsible, claiming prescriptions are doctors decisions and have nothing to do with sales. in court, their lawyer said statements made by the company were no different to those made by the government in 2009. >> we are seeing here the fda of it federal government said

rarely causes addiction. >> in a separate case earlier reachedr, purdue pharma a settlement with oklahoma over the allegedly deceptive tactctis it used to selell its painkiller oxycontin. genie: we are here in france as of today, a select number of competition winners will be the planning off the eiffel tower. that is in celebration of the big tennis match, the french open. there is nothing but a wire in a harness to support them, so it is really not for the faint of heart. they will be launching themselves 115 meters into the air at 90 kilometers per hour. if you are afraid of heights, look away now. the eiffel tower zipline is back the roland garros

tournament. it starts 150 meters off the ground. >> it is huge. i do not know, when i i woke up this morning, i did not know it was going to be this big. this is huge. >> for there is not much time to admire the view. the dissent takes just minutes before arriving. >> you do not feel anything all the way down. you fly. you really fly. there is no jolt. given that you are seated when you start, it is you who pushes forward and takes off. they let us slide along, and that is it, is a real flight. >> there is a catch. thrill seekers cannot pay for their spot, they h have to wiwi. famousrganized byby a fram french brand of sparkling water. it has ordered down the winners on social media, but there will rent has already picked out the winners on social

media, there will be an additional chance to win. 260 people will get a chance to take part. genie: let's take a look at today's headlines for you. a british judge has ordered boris johnson to face court over allegations he lied to the public about brexit. that is a hit for johnson, who has been seen as the favorite to replace theresa may as british prime minister. today is the deadline for israeli prime miminister benjamn netanyahu to do build a government coalition. a dealurs left to reach with coalition partners or wholly new election one month after the last one. and the first single trial that hold a drug company responsible for the opioid epidemic in the u.s. is now undederway inn oklahoma.. the state is accusing drugmaker johnson & johnson is fueling the crisis in the u.s., a landmark case that could impact thousands more. time now for our business news with brian quinn. hi, brian. you will start with the ongoing

conflict between washington and huawei. brian: that is right. huawei have e asked the e courto declare u unconstitutional a law babanng the e equipment t and tr contraractors. to company's latest attemptpt fight back t to sh it t t of global markets. yuka royer has the story. the uniteded in threats, branding any firing back, announcing it had filed a motion that washington's band on while we was unconstitutional -- ban on huawei was unconstitutional. >> tomorrow, it could be you are industry, your company, your consumer. is an update to

filed in marchi against the defense authorization act. passed in congress last year, the law bans federal agencncies and lawmakers from banning huawei on national security grounds, ties with the beijing government. u.s.tly, the administration essentially barred u.s. firms from doing business with huawei. the world's second-largest smarartphonene maker says this l haveve far-reaching consequence. >> this will be a very bad thing ,or the totalal global ecosystem to the tech industry, to consumers in all countries. yuka: huawei says about 1200 u.s. businesses will be hurt by the trade ban, and millions of consumers could b be impacted as the rarace heats up for ththe nt generation 5g communication network. it is confident it will be able to cope with the u.s. measure,

which prompted u.s. is like google to distance themselves from huawei. genie: as the tech/trarade war lls on, there e is a new inindication china could be plan to -- planning to play a trunk card. bryan: that is rigight. it i is ready to restrict expors groupare earth mineral, a of 17 elements critical to high-tech manufacturing. china dominates the global supply, accounting for 80% of america's rare earth imports by way of a global supply chain. so far, the elements have been left out of the escalating trade war, but titus as beijing is now ready to use its l leverage. that move would significantly escalate tensisions afafter an h round ofof talks ended with no deal, both sides instead raising tariffs on each otherer's imimp. genie: what do we see on the markets today? bryan: china''s rarere ear minin firms s sawr sharess -- s

their shares soar. if trade tensions increase, all major indexes losing significant ground at midday. the ftftse 100 off by 1.13%. new data shows economic growthth and inflation both slowing in the most r recent quarter. german unemploymentt figures result fromexpected it. the eueu considers d disciplinay fines on rome for excessive budget deficits. genie: general electric's plan to cut roughly 1000 jobs at its bill for plant in e eastern frae is a blow toto the site's worke, bubut it doeoes not comome as mf a susurprised. bryan: that is right. the brand is facing a major slump. after acquiring f france's alomm energygy business, the move is proving a disastrous one for ge. in france, only 29 units were

produced last year, less than than 100 of more last year. as of the global gas line market is expected to shrink by 40% by 2022. >> the gas turbine market has collapsed. perhaps in a few decades when a transition from coal-based power has really started, we will see renewed demand, but that is not happening today. >> the plant owner, general cut 800, wants to 250 and possibly up to other positions. this w will be two straight yeas of losses. the powerplant unit lost a staggering $2.8 billion last year. when i it bought the factory f m plastic to create

1000 jobs to win back a deal from the french government. falling wher well short of that commitment, the company created just 25 jobs and in february agreed to pay a 50 million euro fine. vowing to fight to prorotect workers, the french government says it wants to use the money paid by ge to support new products in areas such as aeronautics and wind power. >> we want the french president to take strong decisions, because the energy sector depends a lot on public orders, and the like of evs. >> emmanuel macron himself oversaw the eu deal without his economy minister at the time. genie: to a rather sensititive matter,a meeting of leaders between the renault and mitsubishi today. bryan: that is right, discussing a merger between his firm and italy's fiat chrysler with nissan's ceo.

renault and nissan n have a sold and successful 20-year past behind them, but the arrest of strained thatas relationship. nissan has resisted renault's moves to a merger. he is not necessarily opposed to the deal. genie: just to wrap up, bryan, in bususiness, how much would you u pay for a laptop t t you knknow is ririddled withth mamalware? bryan: normally, people pay to have it off, but an art piece is the exception. anonymous buyer has been $1.6 for an -- $1.6 million laptop with six of the most infamous ransomwares, including ransomware, which

caused around 400 billion dollars in damage. the laptop itself is functionally isolated from spreading as viruses, but not to worry, there is plenty of worse stuff out the these days. genie, these are essentially

claudette zepeda-wilkins: american is a relative term. what is american? personally i think the border is, you know, just a speed bump in between two countries. as a child, i think we took tj for granted not because it was a different country to me. to me, it was just like, "oh, it's just tj. it's where the other half of my family lives." and even iff i was in tj my entire life, being this farar north, yu are sort t of removeded from the other parts o of mexico and the cullture. yoyou're mexin,n, but you dodont really know. my last restaurrant was mexican,