this is 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. i'm sarah mulkerrins live in tokyo on day 6 of the olympics — where the us swimming star caeleb dressell blazed to victory in the men's 100 metre freestyle.

the hill—sides of north wales now on a par with venice and the great barrier reef. 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. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. 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. and the press keeps wanting me not to talk about covid 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. let's speak to our north america correspondent peter bowes. federal workers and employees of google, facebook, netflix, we understand will have to show they have been vaccinated or face more testing but does this mean they cannot go to the

workplace or does it mean they cannot do theirjob at all? at cannot do their “ob at all? at the cannot do theirjob at all? git the moment it is about going to the moment it is about going to the workplace, back to the office and the campus in the case of these huge companies like facebook and google but at the same time, google is actually extending its work at home policy into 0ctober so there is still the option at least in that company for people to choose to work at home but let's assume and hope that the virus eventually goes away or is at least under control, that people can return to the office in large numbers and i think that is the part where it is going to become a huge issue and dilemma for many companies, notjust the large companies, notjust the large companies but small companies, challenge corporate america of how they deal with this issue of some people insisting for their own personal reasons that are not want the vaccination. with these giant tech companies

taking a stance on this, does it make it easier for smaller firms to follow suit? t it make it easier for smaller firms to follow suit?- it make it easier for smaller firms to follow suit? i do not think it necessarily _ firms to follow suit? i do not think it necessarily makes i firms to follow suit? i do not think it necessarily makes it| think it necessarily makes it easier because some smaller companies, let's say the many restaurants that almost went out of business during the pandemic and had to let off a lot of people, and just beginning to start again and they have found it difficult in some cases to reapply people so it is an extra challenge for them to have to insist perhaps them to have to insist perhaps the people they employ have had the people they employ have had the covid vaccine. a lot of issues on a number of different fronts for smaller companies and a lot of people are saying they would like to see more of a guidance from the federal government, perhaps to make it easierfor government, perhaps to make it easier for these smaller— mid—range companies to make decisions on this. look into resident by the to say something on this issue. —— presidentjoe biden. it will

have implications to wider americans.— have implications to wider americans. . americans. under the federal level, americans. under the federal level. how — americans. under the federal level, how much _ americans. under the federal level, how much power - americans. under the federal level, how much power do i level, how much power do individual states. level, how much power do individualstates. —— level, how much power do individual states. —— that is under the federal level. you have hit the _ under the federal level. you have hit the nail— under the federal level. you have hit the nail on - under the federal level. you have hit the nail on the - under the federal level. m, have hit the nail on the head. according to states, in terms of how much power they have, they certainly have much more influence and power in terms of designing policies to do with healthcare. the onus is on states and local authorities to enforce regulations that safeguard their people's health. it is within the realm of possibility although unlikely that we will see individual states introducing guidelines or indeed laws that will force people to have a vaccine. i think that is littered with all sorts of bigger issues about freedom and freedom of choice that many states simply would not want to

go there and i think that would prefer to have an informative and perhaps widespread campaign, potentially expensive campaign, potentially expensive campaign, to encourage people to have vaccination rather than forcing them. to have vaccination rather than forcing them-— forcing them. peter, for the moment. — forcing them. peter, for the moment, thank _ forcing them. peter, for the moment, thank you - forcing them. peter, for the moment, thank you very - forcing them. peter, for the - moment, thank you very much. an infrastructure bill worth about $1 trillion has cleared a major hurdle in the us senate, after passing a procedural vote. a formal debate can now begin on the programme, one of president biden's main priorities. earlier republican and democratic leaders announced they'd agreed on the legislation's key elements following months of negotiations. mr biden said the breakthrough showed the world that american democracy could deliver and do big things. 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. let's head to tokyo now, where it's day 6 of the olympic games. we'll have an update on the day's events in a minute, but first, as we were just talking coronavirus cases are on the rise in asia and japan is not immune. tokyo is suffering its worst outbreak since the pandemic began. wednesday saw a record of more than 3,000 cases in tokyo alone. mariko 0i is in the japanese capital and told me

about the pressure this is placing on the health system. hospitals are getting overwhelmed and warnings from medical experts but when it comes to the olympics it is not having much impact. the country's administer an official saying the games would continue but it is concerning to see the number of covid cases rising notjust here in tokyo but surrounding prefectures. three of them asking the national government to declare a state of emergency as well and also the national number has hit almost 9500 yesterday so definitely concerning but it is fed to say that it was probably inevitable because, as you said, i am in a district popular with office workers where they come for a drink after work, and behind me all the restaurants and bars and we were here yesterday after 8pm, when they were asked to close early, but some of

them remained early and actually staff members coming out on the street telling customers that they were open, partly because of money because the government promised financial support but it has taken way too long for those businesses to receive the money to stay afloat and it is the fourth state of emergency and people have been joking fourth state of emergency and people have beenjoking that this is no longer an emergency butjust the norm. people on the street will say you cannot say to alice to stay at home, it was a government decision to forge ahead with the olympic games. — say to us. the first set of emergency, it was down 30% now it has gone down 2% so it is almost back to normal. t it is almost back to normal. i suppose the danger with having gone ahead with the olympics is whether or not the olympics are

the prime cause of the rise in cases or whether it is the delta variant or other factors, people will make that connection and say this is exactly what we feared? figs connection and say this is exactly what we feared? as you sa , it is exactly what we feared? as you say, it is complicated. - exactly what we feared? as you say, it is complicated. i- exactly what we feared? as you say, it is complicated. i think. say, it is complicated. i think it is partly because of the very infectious delta variant but also of course there are people who are blaming the elite x for the surge we are seeing now. at the same time, when it comes to hospitals, medical experts have been wanting about this quite a while and it is not about covid patient, other patients who need other treatment, they might not be able to get what they need and that has been the morning from medical experts. 0thers morning from medical experts. others will argue that despite the surge we are seeing, in terms of the deaths it has not gone up that much which may suggest at least the elderly population have been vaccinated and therefore the number of

deaths is a slowing down but when it comes to younger people into their 20s, 30s, very few have managed to receive that vaccine. 0f have managed to receive that vaccine. of course, there are people who are reluctant to receive it but at the same time japan just does not have enough vaccines to go around just yet and that has or has been a concern that once the games are here, the younger generation would get covid—i9 and while they might not get as serious as the older generation, that is why we are seeing the growing number of cases in the country. now as promised, let's look ahead to what's coming up in day 6. the us is now leading in the medal tally. we can go live to our sports presenter covering the action. some success in the

pool for team usa? absolutely, that is why _ pool for team usa? absolutely, that is why they _ pool for team usa? absolutely, that is why they are _ pool for team usa? absolutely, that is why they are now - pool for team usa? absolutely, that is why they are now top - pool for team usa? absolutely, that is why they are now top ofl that is why they are now top of that is why they are now top of that metal table because in the last half hour we have had a gold medal in the pool for the swimming sensation from the usa, caeleb dressel, he was going in the men's 100 metres going in the men's100 metres freestyle final, the blue ribbon event in a swimming. two lengths of the pool and swim as hard as you can. caeleb dressel, he flew out to a really fast start and did ever so well to get to the wall and turn and then he hung on and hung on all the way to the finish. he almost got paid by the gold medal winner in rio 2016, kyle chalmers. 600 of a second faster. it was a really fast race, one in olympic record. it is really interesting for caeleb dressel

because many people think he is the heir to michael phelps. he has won three 0lympic medals but they have all come in relays. this is his first individual gold medal and you can see what it meant to him. he has been speaking to the media where he said his taking the time to let it sink in. earlier, an american gold in the 800m freestyle for the men, bobby fink winning that. the first time that event is being held at the olympic games and good news for china as well. zhang yufei winning gold in the women 200 metres fly. she had one silver earlier in the games for the 100 metres fly. and the australian a zac stubblety—cook winning gold as well. and some exciting stuff on the

rowing front as well? absolutely, and some exciting stuff on the rowing front as well? absolutely, there and some exciting stuff on the rowing front as well? absolutely, there has and some exciting stuff on the rowing front as well? absolutely, there has been and some exciting stuff on the rowing front as well? absolutely, there has been the first 0lympic absolutely, there has been the first olympic gold medal and rowing for ireland, it is really a thriving sport over the last few years because there was a pair that one silver and rio, they were brothers and it was one of those, paul 0'donovan along with vinton mccarthy who won gold in the men's lightweight double skulls, pushed all the way by the german crew but it was the irish pair who won it in the end, they had gone and as favourites with lots of pressure on them so history for them and ireland, there was also a great story as well with croatian brothers, they won gold back in 2016 in the double skulls, they have changed their class of boat, they were competing in the men's' pair and they managed to win gold in that for croatia as well so a very talented pairing of

brothers and in the women's lightweight double skulls that was a really close race, four boats separated by a second, it was italy who won that and new zealand dominant force and picked up the gold there. {lita picked up the gold there. 0k, sarah, thank _ picked up the gold there. 0k, sarah, thank you _ picked up the gold there. 0k, sarah, thank you very much indeed. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: one of ...we we willtake we will take a short break but they want we will take a short break but they want to we will take a short break but they want to give we will take a short break but they want to give you we will take a short break but they want to give you some breaking news. the ever given, the ship that blocked the suez canal back and march is arriving in rotterdam, this is after being released by the egyptian authorities onjuly the seventh, so this is the scene live at the port of rotterdam where the ever given, that large container ship that locked the suez canal for a number of days in march is now

arriving back after being released by the egyptian authorities. looking across that. any significant development, we will bring that to you on bbc news. now we will take a break. one of the world's most famous music producers, mark ronson, 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 world 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. the exiled belarusian 0pposition leader, svetla na tikhanovskaya, meets president biden at the white house, in a strong show of support.

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. let's get some of the day's other news. 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. a woman has beenjailed for five and a half years

for stealing diamonds worth more than £4 million orfive and a half 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. 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. —— which premiers 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 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 ijust wanted to be around music and i think

because i 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. i just 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? yeah, well, we all know what a great song is but behind that in a great recording and our favourite classic recordings whether it's eleanor rigby or skepta, it's the sounds and we don't even realise 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 the beatles were revolutionising technologies, so was t—pain, so was charli xcx, and they take these sounds that were very outside in the beginning and bringing them to the mainstream with their talents so i wanted to get behind that and talk to these people and i have always 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 some 60s girl group pop, so sound has always been front and centre when i've been thinking about music. and you had so many big names when you were making this series including paul mccartney, was that intimidating talking to him, or not? you know, in this show i'm sort of more the interviewer so i'm just more 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 new light on something that he's still never talked about, so that's where my head was at. i have so much respect forjournalism, music journalism, 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, so ijust over prepared like

hell, just like i always do. mark ronson they're speaking to my colleague. you can reach me and most of the team on social media. you can reach me on twitter, i'm @benmboulos. 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 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.