welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines. us covid cases continue to rise — in a push to get the nation vaccinated, all federal workers could be required to have the jab, or face more testing. simone biles is out of another olympic event — the star of the us gymnastic team explains the mental health issue that caused her to withdraw. and i'm sarah mulkerrins live in tokyo on day 6 of the olympics — where the men's golf competition gets underway — with all eyes on masters champion hideki matsyuama for the hosts japan. and — the slate landscapes in north wales — that's been awarded unesco

world heritage status. it's seven in the morning in singapore, and seven in the evening in washington where president biden is expected to announce that federal workers will soon be required to confirm they are vaccinated — orface more testing. the numbers of coronavirus cases are rising with the director of the us national public health agency. the cdc, saying cases have increased over 300% nationally since mid—june. president biden has renewed his call for people to get vaccinated. so many people, well over 630,000 americans

have lost their lives because of covid—19. and the press keeps wanting me not to talk about covid—19 but i'm going to mention this one thing, we still have a lot of people not vaccinated. in the pandemic we have now is a pandemic of the unvaccinated. so, please, please, please, if you are not vaccinated, protect yourself and the children out there. it is important. i'm joined now by our north america correspondent peter bowes. president biden calling on his people to get vaccinated — what is the picture there now with levels of vaccination? phil there is a real there is real sense of urgency, fewer than 50% of people in this country are fully vaccinated but i think the most worrying statistic came from the cdc. today, they said just 24 the cdc. today, they said just 2a hours ago, those parts of the country better described as

hot high rates of infection, as in 63% of the country. today, it is 67%. they described as bad in terms of the radio transmissions and these are the areas that people are being advised that whether or not there vaccinated, to wear facemasks and doors in public settings. and i think we heard this in the tone and the words of the president bear. and we're seeing a reflected effort up we're seeing a reflected effort up and down the country with people being put on this to get vaccinated. companies also saying that you need to get vaccinated — with netflix requiring all its actors and other personnel on its us productions to be vaccinated — so companies are starting to request the same as the government? perhaps, the reaction will be the same across the country when people are advised to get vaccinated. to some extent,

this issue has been politcised and certainly in states like florida where there is a relatively low vaccination rate, as far as the employees of major companies are concerned, i think it still comes down largely to personal opinions as far as the reactions will be. i think people will have to make difficult decisions if they want to go back to theirjob in the office and the companies seem to be vaccinated. it seems they will have no choice. netflix, the first major studio to make a decision that all of its major cast members and anyone who comes into contact with them will have to be vaccinated for chris to go back to facebook and office and to be working alongside other people, that be vaccinated too. and of course very high—profile companies and low—profile companies and low—profile companies up and down the country having to make similar decisions.

i'm joined now by monica gandhi, an infectious disease expert at the university of california. what difference to you think this will make to infection rates? i think you'll make a big difference. if it's out of the fates were anyone can get a shot get a shot in this country. thinking about vaccine requirements, were presentjoe biden is contemplating is requiring federal employees to get vaccinated or have to submit the —— too taxing. facebook, apple, all these recommendations, not just recommendations if you want to come back to work, we are requiring vaccinations. this is the direction in which the united states is going it's

completely precedented and we actually have a lot in the books and supreme court from 1905 and people were taking the smallpox vaccine that is absolutely legal and ethical to require vaccinations. so, we are going to work with that because that lack of a vaccination uptake in this country. vaccination uptake in this country-— vaccination uptake in this count . . ., ., , country. the delta variant is spreading — country. the delta variant is spreading so _ country. the delta variant is spreading so quickly. - country. the delta variant is spreading so quickly. it - country. the delta variant is | spreading so quickly. it feels like it is a race between that virus and the vaccine. how concerned are you of the variant mutating and becoming even more contagious? it is variant mutating and becoming even more contagious?- even more contagious? it is a very contagious _ even more contagious? it is a very contagious virus, - even more contagious? it is a very contagious virus, one - even more contagious? it is a very contagious virus, one of| very contagious virus, one of the most transmissible virus as we have seen. i don't think it's going to get worse. i think the delta variant is going to be as bad as it is. and you're absolutely right that if we do not get people vaccinated, we will have many more susceptible people that we can give infections to the vaccinated people and we are

having a worse delta situation in the uk and we have a high rate of vaccination. so, depending on the region, we are having more of an effect on the delta variant and we should have with the availability of the vaccines. you're putting out the delta is making it more urgent to figure out if you require vaccine requirements and passports, different strategies to get our us population vaccinated. just really briefly, _ population vaccinated. just really briefly, we _ population vaccinated. just really briefly, we look ahead to the winter months, and i know you cannot speculate, will you start to see infections rise and the us and possibly depths? rise and the us and possibly de ths? ., rise and the us and possibly deths? ., ~' ., depths? you know, the thing about the _ depths? you know, the thing about the delta _ depths? you know, the thing about the delta variant - depths? you know, the thing about the delta variant and l depths? you know, the thing | about the delta variant and we saw this in countries that have much lower rates of vaccination like india, where it first started. people will get over the delta variant. the delta variant will come up and then it will come down because people will get actual immunity

if they don't get vaccinated. they will be hospitalised and died. and that is terrible. so, i don't think that the winter is going to be another search of the same variant. we will get through this variant and models are looking like you'll be at the of september like you're saying in the uk, the decrease in case it started happening. this is likely over six weeks behind you and it's likely to happen in late september and our country. thank you forjoining us on the programme. and you can find much more about this story on our website. we have a special section dedicated to all things coronavirus — with everything you need to know about latest figures and vaccines. just go to bbc.com/news. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. peru's new president has been sworn into office,

pledging to reduce poverty and to boost the public health system to tackle the covid pandemic. pedro castillo is a former primary school teacher, who was elected by a razor—thin margin. his defeated rival keiko fujimori has vowed to block his proposals in congress. officials in india say more than 160 people have died in the past week due to severe floods and major landslides. many people have also been reported missing in villages along the country's western coast. heavy rains have also caused flooding in the cox's bazar area of bangladesh. at least 11 people have been reported dead, including children. republican and democratic leaders in the us senate have reached agreement on the key elements of a $1.2 trillion infrastructure programme. the package is supported by president biden, who said the breakthrough showed that american democracy could "function, deliver and do big things". the vote takes place on wednedsay. china is expanding

its capacity to store and launch nuclear missiles, according to scientists in the us. satellite images from xinjiang province in the west of the country suggest it is building a nuclear missile silo field. it is the second new silo field reported to be under construction in western china in the last two months. still to come a bit later in the programme, the slate landscapes of gwynedd in north wales are awarded unesco world heritage status. we'll take you on a virtual tour. but first, let's head to tokyo now, where its day six of the olympic games. and japan is starting the day still on top of the medal tally with 13 gold medals, one more than china, with the united states sitting in third place. we'll have an update on the day's events in a minute, but first, as we were just talking about, coronavirus cases are on the rise in asia and japan is not immune.

tokyo is suffering its worst outbreak of coronavirus since the pandemic began. wednesday saw a record of more than 3000 cases in tokyo alone. i'm joined now by mariko oi, who is in the vibrant shimbashi district in tokyo. we've been talking about how the delta variant is now spreading rapidly across the us with many parts of asia. tell us the situation injapan with the record numbers with seeing, how is it affecting hospitals that are under increasing strain? . , that are under increasing strain? ., , ., strain? hospitals are getting overwhelmed _ strain? hospitals are getting overwhelmed but _ strain? hospitals are getting overwhelmed but it - strain? hospitals are getting overwhelmed but it should l strain? hospitals are getting l overwhelmed but it should not affect the games because we heard from the country and officials, emphasising that the games would continue. but it was probably, the fourth state of emergency, people have been joking that it's no longer an

emergency, it has become the norm. were not stuck in particular, but surrounding prefectures that are asking the national government to declare a state of emergency. in i need to have thousand yesterday as well but if you were just watching people going about, the number of people has actually gone down. we were here last night after 8pm which is where restaurants and bars were told to close but many of them remained open partly because of money. the government has promised financial support, government has promised financialsupport, but government has promised financial support, but they're financial support, but they�* re not financial support, but they're not getting it quickly enough if you ask people on the street, they would argue that you can't exactly tell us to stay at home when the governments decision to forge ahead with the olympics despite the strong public opposition and many of whom are concerned about this becoming a super spreader event. while japan's gold rush is for example we saw him become the new hero of gymnastics yesterday. we are

starting to see some negative headlines coming back to newspapers and local media as well. notjust about newspapers and local media as well. not just about the covid—19 case an enormous amount of food was wasted during the opening ceremony because the organising committee failed to cancel all the food that they ordered even the food that they ordered even the spectators weren't allowed. as you can imagine, public opinions that we saw positive headlines over the past week. i can see is a very busy day. but as you say, that the fatigue is sitting in for coronavirus. thanks to mariko there. now, as promised, let's look ahead to what's coming up in day six. all eyes will be on the women's gymnastics and the individual all around final after four—time gold medallist simone biles pulled out for mental health reasons. biles had already withdrawn from the team final on tuesday, saying she felt like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.

i'm joined from tokyo by our sports presenter sarah mulkerrins. it would have been simone biles' big day, but she's not there. who else is in the running today? absolutely. i think everyone the world over would be expecting to watch simone biles and when she is at her best when she feels comfortable and confident, she will be pulling off tricks like no other gymnast can do. she has four skills named after her. she is head and shoulders above the rest we know that she will not competing in the all—around title but we do not know about the four individual events to come for her. i will be monitored on a day by day basis. i think the other gymnast will for while, this could be an opportunity for me because she is so ahead of the competition in qualifying for this all—around final, rebecca entourage came second and now she is a real good chance of olympic gold here and what a story that would be for her.

she has gone through so much adversity to get to hear. she has torn her acl, the ligaments in geneva three times over the past couple of years and she has been ruled out of those world championships every single time she had that injury. she's also been having to train in the coronavirus pandemic, had to leave brazil, training in portugal. real opportunity for her to get brazils first gymnastic olympic medal. she will be the favourite coming into this but another american qualifies in third and she will be a part of the team event on tuesday that simone biles withdrew from and she pulled off some very confident and comfortable performances there. no doubt the americans to be pulling their hopes on her in that event now and hopes for great britain. two young superstars jennifer and jessica, britain. two young superstars jenniferand jessica, new jennifer and jessica, new heroes in jenniferand jessica, new heroes in great britain at 16 years old, they are twins and they were part of that team that won the surprise bronze

medal in 19— medal in 19 what is the big s-uortin medal in 19 what is the big sporting event _ medal in 19 what is the big sporting event that - medal in 19 what is the big sporting event that you're | sporting event that you're looking at today that you? looking at today that you think will be the highligh? it's about a0 minutes away from tokyo and we've seen so many metals and over the next four days, they be following very closely headachy, he is the big japanese golfer here. he won the masters here. he is the first japanese player to win the masters and it was an amazing story that he is here. he said a bit of a troubled build up because he contracted covid—19 a couple months ago and the builder to these games and the builder to these games and it will be interesting to see how it goes with everybody following this, he came back to the olympics back in 2016 after an absence. but the next four days, it will be all eyes on

him. i days, it will be all eyes on him. ., ., ., ., him. i look forward to hearing all about it. _ if you want to get in touch with me, i'm on twitter, @bbckarishma. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme, the hillsides in north wales that are now on a par with the canals of venice, the galapagos islands and the great barrier reef. cheering. the us space agency, nasa, has ordered an investigation after confirmation today that astronauts were cleared to fly while drunk.

the last foot patrol in south armagh, once an everyday part of the soldier's lot, drudgery and danger. now no more, after almost four decades. if one is on one's own in a private house, not doing any harm to anyone, i don't see why all these people should wander in and say you're doing something wrong. six rare white lion . cubs are on the prowl at worcestershire park- and they've been met with a roar of approval from visitors. they are lovely and sweet, yeah, cute. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm in singapore. our headlines — as us covid cases continue to rise — the push to get the nation vaccinated means federal workers could be required

to have the jab, orface more testing. on day 6 of the olympics — the men's golf competition gets underway — with all eyes on masters champion hid—ki matsuyama for the hosts japan — there'll also hideki matsuyama for the hosts japan — there'll also be golds up for grabs in rowing and swimming. let's stay with the olympics — the games are usually marked by people from all over the world coming together to celebrate athletes competing at the peak of their ability. but with no fans allowed in the stands, and people watching from their homes in tokyo and around the world instead, social media is more important than ever to help keep people engaged and up to date with all the gold medal drama. well one of the people behind the social media accounts is daum kim, digital media manager for the tokyo games, she's been telling me of her experience so far. well, we are more relaxed than we were in the last weeks. even into the last minutes, we had challenges and concerns but because the cauldron was lit on the 23rd,

the operation has been going smoothly and it i can feel will bring excitement to people. how different has it been in comparison to what you might have expected? the games have been plagued with problems — covid cases, an impending tropical storm, lots of anti—olympic sentiment amongst people injapan. yeah, i mentioned this briefly last week. but we are under many uncertainties can even now we have uncertainties. but i feel that we have been pushing through, which is also the essence of the olympic spirit to really show how resilient we are and how truly show how the world can come together even digitally on social media on our website, to show that we are truly living in a connected world. what's been your best moment so far? it is only been a week but in terms of the excitement, what would you see it is?

i'll say the unforgettable moment was when i went to the olympics venue with spectators for the first time. last week for volleyball, i was surprised to see that the venue is just fully ready for the spectators. music, lights, the displays, the cheers. everything is live and we had spectators and the atmosphere everything was live and we had spectators and the atmosphere truly gave me goose bumps. however, there was something missing in the venue, even though we had the audio of cheering sounds and fans displayed on screen. and as a digital media person, i often have to ask whether our hearts can be shared and found online in the absence of physical presence. butjust as how our skin is a vehicle, to feel the heart. i thought that not having the stimuli meant that we are missing the warmth of people,

which is key to any sporting event like this. but on the other side, the essence of the olympics... sorry. really briefly, i want to ask if you would do it again? definitely. even without spectators, with what we are doing on social media, we would do it again. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. dusty hill, the bass player for 22 top, has died at the age of 72. that's according to a statement from his bandmates. they say he passed away in his sleep at his home in houston, texas. hill was one of the long—bearded musicians behind such hits as sharp dressed man. the band toured for nearly half a century and was inducted to the rock and roll hall of fame in 200a. a woman has been jailed for 5.5 years for stealing diamonds worth more than £a million, or $5.5 million us, from a jeweller in london. the court heard that lulu lakatos, who is 60 and was born in romania,

swapped the gems for pebbles. prosecutors said it was the highest value theft of its kind in the uk. what do the great barrier reef, the canals in venice and the galapagos islands have in common with the slate landscapes of north west wales? the answer is unesco world heritage site status. the area, including six sites in snowdonia, is now one of 32 uk sites on the prestigious list. our wales correspondent tomos morgan reports. adopted. applause 20 years in the making — and recognition is finally here. the slate landscape that dominates parts of snowdonia is now on a prestigious unesco world heritage list that includes the great wall of china and machu picchu. and the pioneerfor this bid was dr david gwyn. i felt there was something very wonderful here, almost magical.

i'm naturally delighted to hear now that after 20 years our ambitions have been realised. it's said wales built the world in the 19th century, and in its heyday the industry employed close to 20,000. so why does welsh slate have such a good name worldwide? firstly, it is the best slate in the world. it is one of the more denser slates, it has been proven on rooves for over 200, 300 years. for fred hughes, this area has always been special. this place could have gone to rack and ruin, forgotten about, more decay than there already is. so maybe this is a pathway to get it back up on its feet, have the recognition. it's just fantastic news. just as the taj mahal has

for india and the pyramids for egypt, the hope is that the recognition for the slate mines here in north wales will also bring an economic boost to the area. for the locals, it's tourism, a key employer here, that will hopefully benefit from today's announcement. in order to get the tourists, we need the investment to get businesses, that help businesses get up and running. for 1800 years, slate has been mined in the silvery, striking and rugged landscape. and now this stone which has roofed houses across the globe has got an accolade sought the world over. the fact that it might affect the environment there is well. that's all for now. stay with bbc world news.

hello. wednesday brought us another day of some sunny spells, but some really heavy downpours and frequent thunderstorms with lightning and hail, too. this was the picture in telford during wednesday afternoon. now, the outlook is for the unsettled theme to continue, so i think thursday will bring another day of sunshine and showers. it'll be quite cool and breezy. but the showers won't be as heavy or as frequent as they have been over recent days. that's down to the fact that this area of low pressure that's bringing all of this showery weather is just drifting its way off towards the north and north—east. we have got another area of low pressure developing in the south west, and that'll be more of a player through thursday night into friday. so, for much of northern ireland, scotland and northern england, quite a cloudy start to the day with some showery rain. further south across england

and much of wales, largely dry with some sunshine around. there will be some brightness developing in the north during the afternoon, but down towards the south west, expect some rain to arrive later in the day. the breeze picking up here, too. it will be quite a blustery feeling sort of day and not particularly warm for this time of year. but temperatures generally somewhere between 18—22 degrees for most of us. not too bad down towards the south east, a drier day here than we have seen recently. now, into thursday night, the showers in the north will gradually ease away, but our tension turns to the south west of england where this area of really heavy rain will move its way in and look at those wind gusts around about a0 to 50 mph, unseasonably strong gusts of wind through the english channel, through the bristol channel as well. so, it's going to be very blustery in the south first thing friday morning and a pretty wet start to the day, too. whereas further north, it's looking mostly dry to start the friday and quite a bit of dry weather for friday across parts of scotland, northern ireland and northern england just a few showers around. further south across england and wales, we've got that initially heavy rain and brisk

winds which gradually clears towards the east through the day, and then a return to some sunshine and scattered showers around, too. temperatures cooler in recent days, around 17—20 degrees on friday. and then heading towards the weekend, low pressure still not far away, but it is starting to move off towards the east. we've got a northerly air flow coming down and higher pressure out in the atlantic is trying to nudge its way in. so, between weather systems as we head through the course of the weekend. perhaps one or two showers around, but quite a bit of dry weather through saturday and sunday, too. some sunny spells and temperatures on the cool side for this time of year. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour as newsday continues straight after hard talk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm sarah montague. it's a year since lazarus chakwera became president of malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world. the preacher turned politician won power promising to create a millionjobs and to clear the rubble of corruption. but a year on, the economy is being hit hard by the effects of covid. his government admits it

has no idea how many jobs have been created, and he's been criticised