welcome to bbc news. i'm ben boulos. our top stories: as us covid cases continue to rise, federal workers could be required to have a jab, in a nationwide vaccination push. the exiled belarusian opposition leader, svetla na tikhanovskaya, meets president biden at the white house — in a strong show of support. a message to the whole world that the greatest country in the world is with us and this is success for all belarusians. on day 6 of the tokyo olympics all eyes injapan will be on the men's golf competition, and the home favourite, hideki matsuyama, who's the current masters champion. the hill—sides of north wales now on a par with venice

and the great barrier reef. and from behind the decks, to centre stage, the world's most famous music producer, mark ronson, joins us to talk about his new documentary series. president biden is expected to announce that federal workers will soon be required to confirm they are vaccinated, or face 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. 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. earlier i spoke to our north america correspondent, peter bowes, and asked him ifjobs are at risk. it raises the question. big companies are saying that if that employees want to come back to the campus, the office, the workplace, they have to be vaccinated that it leaves the question hanging, if they are not vaccinated for whatever personal reasons, what happens

to theirjob? we are in that period of time where things are changing rapidly. we have companies including google putting back the date they require their employees to come back to the office so the work at home policies are going to continue because of this scenario that the country is facing out with the delta variant prominent and with a number of cases and infections going up. it seems the status quo as far as working from home is going to be with us for some of these companies are perhaps pushing down the road some of those crucial and difficult decisions about employment. when you have tech companies taking a clear stand on this issue of vaccination, does it make it easierfor issue of vaccination, does it make it easier for other smallerfirms make it easierfor other smallerfirms to do make it easierfor other smaller firms to do the same? it certainly puts pressure on those smaller companies to perhaps do the same, to address this issue with workforce and again there are multiple issues

coming into play here. a lot of smaller companies of course had to shed workers during the bulk of the pandemic and now with things beginning to improve, although that is in question, they have actually found it difficult to get people to take the jobs. difficult to get people to take thejobs. while difficult to get people to take the jobs. while they are struggling to get employees, employers are faced with the difficult decision to say to people, unless you are vaccinated and you can prove it, you cannot come to work in my shop or restaurant, so it might be a situation where they can try to follow the high profile companies but on a real practical level, there are many, many difficult decisions for these private companies to make and some people are saying that the federal government, the biden administration should be taking more of the lead on this to help these small companies. let's get some of

the day's other news: 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. 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. 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. a woman has been jailed for 5.5

years for stealing diamonds worth more than £4 million or 5.5 million us dollars 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. president biden says he was honoured to meet the exiled belarusian opposition leader, svetla na tikhanovskaya, at the white house. she said the visit would prove inspirational to her opposition movement which is trying to oust president lukashenko from power after what they claim was a rigged election last year. mark lobel has more and his report contains flashing images. this was the state's response to protesters disputing what they called a rigged election back in august. few here believe the country's long—time president alexander lukashenko

when he claimed he had won re—election with 80% of the vote, and neither did governments in the eu, uk, canada and the us. and this is the woman who says she won that election, svetla na ti kha novs kaya. she met president biden at the white house on wednesday. this is a very significant meeting, a message to the whole world that the greatest country in the world is with us and this meeting is like success of all of the belarusians that are fighting at the moment. they include thousands of civilians taking to the streets for months, at risk of their own security. but the opposition is not being tolerated by the man dubbed europe's last dictator. keen to rally the beleaguered opposition, president biden tweeted he was honoured to meet the exiled opposition leader

adding that the united states stands with the people of belarus in their quest for democracy and universal human rights. it's like inspiration for our people to move forward, not to give up, although people are not giving up, for sure, but it's one more signal that we have strong allies beside us. but despite sanctions on his regime and international flight bans, president lukashenko has dug in with russian support. we talked about multiple points of pressure on the regime for the regime to stop violence, release political prisoners and start dialogue with belarus, and you know, i'm sure that belarus can be an example of non—violent transition of power. she told the president the us could be an invaluable future partner to an independent belarus, but for that to become a reality, the situation

on the ground would have to look vastly different to this, with no immediate sign it will. mark lobel, bbc news. now as promised, let's look ahead to what's coming up in day 6. 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. 0ur sports presenter sarah mulkerrins is covering the action in tokyo. and ireland has made history in the rowing. the men's lightweight double skulls vote has one gold. i lent�*s first—ever gold medal in rowing. they had so much pressure coming into these games. the world is fastest ——boat at the moment. they were pushed by the germans all the way. you may rememberfrom rio

2016 that they want silver and they did go viral for that post rowing interviews. a lot of excitement in ireland but disappointment in great britain. in the women's fair everybody was looking at helen and polly. they had one goal in 2012 and 2016 and if they finish down in fourth as new zealand one that race. croatia won the men's pair and that is interesting because it was brothers in that they had one gold in rio at a different class of ——boat. they managed to win gold here today. gearing up to win gold here today. gearing up for day six. action in the pool later. the start potentially the error apparent to michael phelps in his first individualfinal. —— the

to michael phelps in his first individual final. —— the start potentially hair apparent. the home hopes definitely with hideki matsuyama, engulf. looking to add gold to his green jacket. looking to add gold to his greenjacket. ——in golf. rory mcilroy potentially for ireland. mcilroy potentially for ireland-— mcilroy potentially for ireland. ~ ., ., , ireland. we would have been keein: ireland. we would have been keeping an — ireland. we would have been keeping an eye _ ireland. we would have been keeping an eye on _ ireland. we would have been keeping an eye on simone i ireland. we would have been i keeping an eye on simone biles today but of course she is no longer in the running. who else should we be watching out for on the gymnastics front? it is remarkable. _ on the gymnastics front? it is remarkable. simone - on the gymnastics front? it 3 remarkable. simone biles is essentially head and shoulders above the rest of the competition so i do not know whether anybody was expecting of anybody else for the gold medal. simone biles had the opportunity to win gold in this event and going back to back

since 1968. look out for the brazilian qualified second in qualifying. really interesting story. she has had so many injury issues over the years and had high hopes for the rio games. it did not work out for her. she had changes for her training in the coronavirus pandemic. she had to leave brazil and train in portugal. she could be the first ever gold—medallist in gymnastics brazil for the women. the brazilfor the women. the americans will be looking at lee. they are probably the two names to look out for. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: mark brunson speaks to us about his new documentary series.

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 metl with a roar of approval from visitors. - they are lovely and

sweet, yeah, cute. this is bbc news, the latest 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, or face more testing. covid-19 covid—19 caches are also surging across the asia pacific region. i'm joined now by dr peter collignon, infectious diseases physician and microbiologist at canberra hospital in australia. it's good to have you with us. why has the region seen this sharp increase that it didn't see perhaps in earlier waves? i think there is a mixture of reasons, one is the delta variant is twice as infectious as the original strain that came from wuhan so that's made a lot of difference. there is

also an element of complacency because for instance in australia we haven't had any significant transmission for close to a year and that was mainly in melbourne so people are closer together than they were last winter and winter is the time when it really spreads and it is currently winter here, so it is not a surprise we have had outbreaks. the outbreak in sydney is a bit bigger than we would have expected, 250 cases or thereabouts today which by world standards is still very low, but much concern here because we still don't have enough of the population vaccinated.— enough of the population vaccinated. �* ., ., vaccinated. and on that point do ou vaccinated. and on that point do you think _ vaccinated. and on that point do you think that _ vaccinated. and on that point do you think that perhaps - vaccinated. and on that pointj do you think that perhaps the population is notjust in australia but across the region will have more of an incentive and be more inclined to get vaccinated now than they were when the impact of the earlier waves was not quite as severe as this one? i waves was not quite as severe as this one?— as this one? i think it will be as this one? i think it will be a big factor- _ as this one? i think it will be a big factor. both _ as this one? i think it will be a big factor. both in - as this one? i think it will be i a big factor. both in melbourne where they had a bit of an outbreak a couple of months ago and now in sydney, vaccine hesitancy has really gone down.

people realise how bad this disease is and how much a difference it makes to get vaccinated. if you are vaccinated. if you are vaccinated you decrease your chance of dying by 20 fold or thirtyfold so that means we are in a better position than last year we had a big outbreak in melbourne because there was no vaccine at that time. now there is and we are seeing people are getting into hospital and dying almost exclusively here are people who haven't been vaccinated, so taxation makes a huge difference and people can see it obviously in their own city and that makes a lot of difference for people wanting to be vaccinated. we need 80% plus of adults vaccinated here. currently we don't have that but that is achievable over the next four or five months but we basically need more vaccine to be able to give to people and thatis be able to give to people and that is on the road, so to speak, but we really have high uptakes in people over the age of 70, it is 70% or 80% with at least one dose and those in nursing homes where most of the deaths occurred last year they

have 90% plus with full vaccination so we will see deaths, we are seeing death here but a lot lower than what has happened last year because at least we have got the higher risk groups partially vaccinated if not fully vaccinated.— vaccinated if not fully vaccinated. ~ , ., ., vaccinated. 0k. australia did have a zero _ vaccinated. 0k. australia did have a zero covid _ vaccinated. 0k. australia did have a zero covid strategy l vaccinated. 0k. australia did| have a zero covid strategy as did new zealand but when you have got neighbouring countries andindeed have got neighbouring countries and indeed other countries around the world not doing the same to try to eliminate it, is there not a choice then to be made of either indefinitely closing your borders and cutting yourself off from the rest of the world or having to adapt your strategy to one of learning to live and manage and contain the virus? i do learning to live and manage and contain the virus?— contain the virus? i do think we need _ contain the virus? i do think we need to _ contain the virus? i do think we need to live _ contain the virus? i do think we need to live and - contain the virus? i do think we need to live and learn i contain the virus? i do think. we need to live and learn with that strategy. zero covid is not a long—term option but i think it is an important option at least keeping things at very low levels until about november or december this year, because it is only then when all the aduu it is only then when all the adult population will have had access to vaccine and the ability to get vaccinated, but once we have actually rolled out the vaccine to everybody

who wants to be vaccinated then i think the whole game changes. then i think we have got to say look, we will suppress it to a low—level as can within the constraints of reasonable restrictions but we can't go back to zero covid and i think at that stage we will gradually open up our borders although to be honest i think that might not be until next year because we need to see what happens and england, america, places with a lot higher vaccinations and what happens in your next winter because that will temper how quickly we can open our borders to higher risk lower risk areas.— borders to higher risk lower risk areas. we must leave it there, thank _ risk areas. we must leave it there, thank you _ risk areas. we must leave it there, thank you very i risk areas. we must leave it there, thank you very much | there, thank you very much indeed forjoining us. 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. 0ur wales correspondent tomos morgan reports.

adopted. cheering 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. the pioneerfor this bid was dr david gwyn. i felt there was something very wonderful here, almost magical and i am naturally delighted to hear now that after 20 years our ambitions have been realised. few of us can resist the sight of men digging a hole. it's said wales roofed the world in the 19th century, and in its heyday, the industry here employed close to 20,000. so why does welsh slate have such a good name world wide? firstly, it is the best slate in the world. it's one of the more denser slates, it's been proven on roofs for well over 200, 300 years. for former quarryman pred hughes, the area has always been special.

this place could have gone to rack and ruin, been forgotten about, more decay than there already is. so maybe this is a pathway to get it back up on its feet and have the recognition. it is just a fantastic piece of news. just as the taj mahal has for india and the pyramids for egypt, the hope is that the recognition for this slate mines here in north wales will also bring an economic boost to the area. for the locals here in blaenau ffestiniog, it is tourism, a key employer here, that will hopefully benefit from the announcement today. in order to get the tourists to stay in blaenau we need investment putting in to blaenau to get businesses, to help businesses get up and running. for 1800 years, slate has been mined in this silvery, striking and rugged landscape. and now the stone that's roofed buildings across the globe from westminster hall to melbourne to rio has got an accolade sought world over.

mark ronson is the oscar, grammy and brit award winning music producer behind some of pop's biggest hits. now, he's taking centre stage with a new documentary series: �*watch the sound' on apple tv+, which prrmiers on friday. earlier he talked to my colleague, reeta chakrabarti, about his time working as an intern at rolling stone magazine, at the age of 12. my my voice hadn't even broken yet, i had this high—pitched squeak and they let me answer the switchboard phones, in those days it was like the old school buttons and i'd be like, hi, rolling stone! it's amazing what they let me do. but i'd just wanted to be around music and i think because they wasn't some piano guitar prodigy or something i thought, maybe i'll write about it, maybe i'll make it, i'm not sure. arejust want to be around it all the time. so in this new series that you've made for apple tv+ you

are charting the history of music production, tell us a little bit about what you look at? ., little bit about what you look at? . ., ~ ., at? yeah, well, we all know what a great _ at? yeah, well, we all know what a great song _ at? yeah, well, we all know what a great song is - at? yeah, well, we all know what a great song is but i at? yeah, well, we all know. what a great song is but behind that and a great recording and our favourite classic recordings whether it's eleanor rigby or sceptic, it's the sounds and we don't even know how much goes into that, so going to talk to people like paul mccartney or tame impala or the beastie boys about the revolutionary technologies that they use, even at the beginning they use, even at the beginning the beatles were revolutionising technologies, so was t—pain, taking the sounds that were very outside in the beginning and bringing them to the mainstream in their talents so i wanted to talk to these people and i have was been so fascinated with sound, the first time i'm met amy winehouse the first thing she said is i want my album to sound like this and she played me 60s girl group pop, so sound has always been front and

centre when i've been thinking about music.— about music. and you had so many big _ about music. and you had so many big names _ about music. and you had so many big names when i about music. and you had so many big names when you i about music. and you had so. many big names when you are making this series including paul mccartney, was that intimidating talking to him, or not? ., ~ ., intimidating talking to him, or not? ., 4' ., , intimidating talking to him, or not? ., ~ ., ,, ., �* not? you know, in this show i'm sort of more _ not? you know, in this show i'm sort of more the _ not? you know, in this show i'm sort of more the interviewer i not? you know, in this show i'm sort of more the interviewer so l sort of more the interviewer so i'm thinking 0k, sort of more the interviewer so i'm thinking ok, i don't want to ask paul mccartney some question that his answered like 700 times, what can we talk about that i know he will get excited about too and maybe shed light on something that his still never talked about so that's where my head was at. i have so much respect for journalism, musicjournalism, all of it. i thought i'm not going tojust go in all of it. i thought i'm not going to just go in there and be some kind of unprepared idiot because that would be a wasted opportunity to sit with some of these brilliant people, some of these brilliant people, so i'd just over prepared like helljust so i'd just over prepared like hell just like so i'd just over prepared like helljust like i always do. tide hell 'ust like i always do. we will helljust like i always do. we will take that _ helljust like i always do. we will take that respect, mark, thank you. and that is good advice for any budding journalist. i wonder if they can talk to you a bit about your emotional connection with music. what is the best state of mind for producing really

quality music? does it come from pain or does it come from happiness? i from pain or does it come from happiness?— happiness? i think it can come from either, _ happiness? i think it can come from either, as _ happiness? i think it can come from either, as long _ happiness? i think it can come from either, as long as - happiness? i think it can come from either, as long as it i happiness? i think it can come from either, as long as it is i from either, as long as it is authentic. if i'm going into the studio and feeling super happy on a day like that, we werejust in the happy on a day like that, we were just in the most like happy on a day like that, we werejust in the most like kind ofjoyous mood and we were just jamming on instruments and that's how that song was sort of berthed and there was other times when pain, i think there is more brilliant classic sad songs then there are happy songs, you really have two look at it because it's hard to make at it because it's hard to make a happy song kind of cool and away but as long as it's from a genuine authentic emotion and not trying to copy anybody else's thing or whatever you always have a chance of making some interesting. you always have a chance of making some interesting.— always have a chance of making some interesting. you were very close to amy _ some interesting. you were very close to amy winehouse - some interesting. you were very close to amy winehouse and i i close to amy winehouse and i wonder how you are feeling now that we have just marked the 10th anniversary of her death?

yeah, i mean i don't really think about it in milestones or years. it is strange to think it has been ten years. she's the person that, she kind of put me on the map. the work we did together is why i have a career, why i am talking to you. i think the lessons are learned working with her really about authenticity, she just wrote for that harder than anyone so whenever i thought to do anything that sounded a bit fake or not true, i can feel any�*s voicejust being fake or not true, i can feel any�*s voice just being like hey, really? like with her arms crossed. and i think that is some kind of, this thing why she is always around and she was a great friend, a miss her humour, a miss her energy but that's what it is.— that's what it is. fascinating insi . hts that's what it is. fascinating insights therefrom - that's what it is. fascinating insights therefrom mark i that's what it is. fascinating i insights therefrom mark ronson speaking to my colleague. you can reach me on twitter, i'm @benmboulos.

this is bbc news, thanks for watching. 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. the headlines: president biden is expected to announce that federal workers will soon be required to confirm they are vaccinated, or face more testing. a national vacination push is being initiated after infection rates across the united states increased by over 300 per cent in under a month. president biden has met the exiled belarusian opposition leader, svetla na ti kha novs kaya, at the white house to offer his support. mr biden said the us stands with the people of belarus. ms tikhanovskaya considers herself to be the real winner of last yea r�*s election in belarus. which was widely criticised as rigged. day 6 of the tokyo 2020 olympics is well underway. all eyes injapan will be on the golf competition, and the masters champion, hideki matsuyama, who'll be representing the host nation. there are also medals up for grabs in rowing and swimming.

now on bbc news, it's time for click.