welcome to bbc news — i'm ben boulos. our top stories: alarm injapan — is home success at the tokyo olympics fuelling the continuing rise of covid cases? there is a time lag between the rise of infection and the rise of the seriously ill patients inundating the hospitals and leading to the collapse of the medical system. president biden tells millions of federal workers to get vaccinated or face regular testing, but there is a cash incentive. i know that paying people to get vaccinated might sound unfair to folks who've gotten vaccinated already, but here's the deal — if incentives help us beat the virus, i believe

we should use them. an inquiry into the murder of a maltese anti—corruption journalist says the state must bear responsibility for her death. i'm sarah mulkerrins live in tokyo on day 7 of the olympic, where the focus will start to shift to the track where the world's fastest women are in action in the 100m heats. the final rowing action. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. we start in tokyo, where there's increasing concern that enthusiasm for the olympics has contributed to a spike in coronavirus cases. for the first time since the pandemic began, the number of new daily infections there has passed 10,000. the japanese authorities say the dramatic rise will not

affect the olympic action, but experts are warning if something isn't done to control the spread, the city's healthcare system could soon be overwhelmed. from tokyo, rupert wingfield—hayes reports. this is tokyo in the middle of a state of emergency, in the middle of a pandemic. these bars are not supposed to be serving alcohol and should be closed by 8pm, but no—one is taking any notice. "i'm not worried at all," this young man says. "i want to go drinking. "i want to go out drinking." "lots of people want to stay at home", his girlfriend said, "but we all have our limits". the japanese government says this behaviour is nothing to do with the games, but even its own advisers disagree. what we really need to have is the leadership by the governors or even the prime minister, and those people may have kind of mixed messages. now we have the olympics,

so the people may not really be cautious to covid—19. cheering. critics call this the olympic effect. we saw it last week on the streets around the olympic stadium during the opening ceremony, and it's all happening in a country where most people under the age of 50 remain completely unvaccinated. to tell people, ok, it is dangerous, you have to stay at home, you have to watch your behaviour is just not credible. it is as if heavily smoking parents tell their children, smoking is dangerous. the japanese government is now telling young people to go out and get vaccinated as soon as possible, so how do you do that? first of all, this is all the paperwork you need. this is actually for my son.

and then you go on one of the government websites and make a booking. now, most of the places that i've tried to make a booking today have been offering slots in mid—september, although i have managed to find one place which is offering a slot in mid—august, which means he could be fully vaccinated by the beginning of october. but others here say the olympics is going much better than expected and, despite record infections, there were just eight covid deaths in the whole of japan yesterday. is the threat being exaggerated? the mood must have been quite jolly before the titanic sank. there is a time lag between the hole in the ship and the actual sinking taking place. there is a time lag between the rise of infection and the rise of the seriously ill patients, inundating the hospitals and leading to the collapse of the medical system. at the current rate of increase, tokyo's covid wards could be full before the olympic closing ceremony happens at the end of next week.

i'm joined now by mariko oi who is in tokyo. mariko, how effective has the vaccination strategy been injapan? it has been relatively slow, and it does feel a little unfair, as rupert said, young people are encouraged to get vaccinated, even though there isn't enough jab is to go around. young people have also been somewhat blamed for not listening to the state of emergency and staying at home, although i have seen every age group out. this is the fourth time of the state of emergency, so people are fed up, they got used to it. the fact that the olympics are taking place is also sending the wrong message. you touched on this point before, about the japanese constitution not allowing any strict lockdown measures to be brought in. is there any way?

could they extend emergency measures to make the more effective? that is the question. the government has proposed to expand the state of emergency to the three surrounding prefectures of tokyo, also to osaka stop and okinawa has seen an extension. how effective it will be, we don't know. there has been a state of emergency here for two weeks now, but we continue to see a rise in covid cases, so what the government can do is the bigger question. of can do is the bigger question. of course, while young people have been blamed for not listening, the fact that the olympics are taking place, and also the fact that all those athletes have been winning and the prime minister has been congratulating every single one of them for winning a gold medal, which is a nice thing to do, but he hasn't tweeted ones about the recent surge and covid cases. i remember this

interview between a doctor, one of the top medical advisors to ligament, and also a popular singer, and the singer told him that a lot of young people don't even know that the state of emergency is in place. the shock that was on his face was quite something. in reality, young people don't watch television. they look at instagram and twitter for news. the fact that the premise to hasn't said anything has been criticised, because if you wanted to send a message to young people, they need to change the method of communication. thank you very much. we'll have all the latest on the sporting action in tokyo a little later in the programme with our sports presenter sarah mulkerrins. the uk has warned the united nations security council that half of myanmar�*s population of 5a million people could be infected with covid within the next two weeks. earlier in yangon, people

burned the country's flags in protest against the military junta who seized power february. the uk ambassador to the un says myanmar is facing a serious health, political and economic crisis. the covid situation is of particular concern. the coup has led to a near total collapse of the healthcare system, and healthcare workers are being attacked and arrested. the virus is spreading through the population very fast indeed. president biden has ordered two million american government workers to get vaccinated, or else face compulsory covid testing and restrictions. the administration is struggling with increasing infection rates, while around half the population is refusing a jab. mr biden also offered incentives, including cash, for people who go to be vaccinated. live now to our north america correspondent david willis,

he joins me from los angeles. what more details do we have on this effort to get vaccination numbers up? coronavirus cases have risen in all but one state over the course of the last seven days. most of it fuelled, of course, by the spread of the delta variant, yet barely 50% of the population here is fully vaccinated, leaving about 90 million americans who are eligible for a vaccine but to have so far chosen not to get one. today, president biden expressed a measure of frustration and desperation, saying this was not a political issue, there was nothing political about this, and he also blamed misinformation on social media and other platforms — for reasons, a lot of people not getting their

jabs. he announced new requirements for federal government workers to either get vaccinated or undergo regular testing, and he pushed, as well, for cash incentives to be made available to those in areas of the country where vaccination rates are low. that is to incentivise them to get a jab. this is what he said about that. today, i am calling on all states and local governments to use funding they have received, including from the american rescue plan, to give $100 to anyone who gets fully vaccinated. i know that paying people to get vaccinated might sound unfair to folks who've gotten vaccinated already but here's the deal — if incentives help us beat this virus, i believe we should use them. he also said he is calling on the us defence department to make a coronavirus vaccine one

of the required vaccinations that it gives two members of the military here, whether that to be the case, about another 1.5 million people would be vaccinated automatically. he has talked of reimbursing small and medium sized businesses who give their staff paid at judgement paid time off to get vaccinated. whether this will work, we will have to wait and see. if it doesn't, the next alternative is mandatory measures, and that is something the biden administration is unwilling to deploy. unwilling the ma unwilling to deploy. unwilling they may be. _ unwilling to deploy. unwilling they may be, but _ unwilling to deploy. unwilling they may be, but i _ unwilling to deploy. unwilling they may be, but i wonder. unwilling to deploy. unwilling they may be, but i wonder if. they may be, but i wonder if there is a role for individual states to play in it does, and could we have a situation where we end up with a sort of patchwork? interesting question, i think

the biden administration is then hopeful that some of the measures laid out today will provide a model for local governments, state governments, and so on going forward. these measures, for example, to put pressure on workers to get vaccinations where possible, this sort of thing. they stopped short of a mandate, and thatis stopped short of a mandate, and that is something that, as i mentioned, the biden administration is reluctant to deploy, for the simple reason that this is seen as very much a civil rights issue here, putting something and somebody�*s arm, mandating that is very much something that they think good, if it was forced on people, increase the push against vaccinations, and of course could also lead to some sort of legal challenges. david, thank you very much for that. let's look at some may

news around the world. israel will become the first country in the world to offer a third dose of the coronavirus vaccine. people over 60 can get the top—up starting on sunday. the us and the eu have yet to approve the booster shots. israel was one of the fastest countries in the world to vaccinate its population with the first two doses. tourists on turkey's aegean coast have been forced to flee from their hotels as the emergency services battled multiple wildfires for a second day. three people were confirmed dead in a forest fire. dozens of villages were evacuated. officials said more than 60 wildfires have now erupted along the aegean and mediterranean coasts. russia has upgraded its capabilities on the international space station after its new nauka module, intended to serve as a research laboratory, successfully docked with the iss. nauka — named after the russian word for �*science' — makes the iss seventy cubic metres bigger.

the star of the marvel superhero film black widow, scarlettjohansson, is suing the walt disney company over its simultaneous release of the movie in cinemas and on its streaming service. msjohannson alleges the action cost her millions of dollars. she said the way the film was distributed breached her contract. disney says the lawsuit has "no merit". a public inquiry into the murder of a maltese investigative journalist, daphne ca ruana galizia, has found that the state bore responsibility for her death, by creating a "culture of impunity". she died four years ago in a car bomb attack near her home. her revelations helped to trigger an early election by publishing allegations linking the then prime minister, joseph muscat, to the panama papers scandal, which exposed the use of tax havens by the rich. our europe correspondent, nick beake, has more. for the last two years, this

independent enquiry has been hearing from dozens of different businesses and has been trying to piece together what happened in the moments before death. the findings today — the maltese state have some responsibility. that is not to say that there was some direct evidence that members of the government or associates were involved in the assassination but it talks about a culture of impunity created on the island, which allowed people who may be wanted her dad to be able to act and believe that they could simply get away with it. it also paints a devastating picture, really, of corruption, and the tentacles that reach between the judiciary, the police, and also parts of the government, and potentially people involved in organised crime and corrupt networks, so i think it is a pretty strong message today from this independent panel. stay with us on bbc news, still to come:

searching for a new time lord — the star of the hit tv show, doctorr who, announces she's leaving the long—running series, in the new year. 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: a spike of covid infections in tokyo raises concern that the olympics are contributing to the surge in the cities hospitals can soon be overwhelmed. president biden has told millions of federal workers to be vaccinated or face compulsory testing. he also announced a $100 cash incentive. it's day 7 of the olympics. there's more action in the pool and on the water — and the first heats are now underway in the athletics. here's the medal table as it stands — china leads at the moment,

with japan and usa close behind. our sports presenter, sarah mulkerrins joins us live from tokyo now. sarah, we've had ourfirst medal in the rowing for the day? we certainly have. welcome to tokyo bay where it is raining here. the rowing is not far away from us that they have had no conditions. we are not sure how that has happened. it is the final day of the rowing regatta and i can tell you that there have been a couple of great story so far because in the women's singles skulls, new zealand �*s emma twigg won gold. she came out of retirement to return to these olympics because in the last two olympic finals she finished in probably the worst place to finish, fourth. she always wanted that olympic medal and gave it one last push and, boy, was it worth it for her. she let all the way from the start. she was not going to give that title

up. victory therefore emma twigg of new zealand. there was also a great story in the men's skulls because the gold—medallist only started rowing in 2019 in this boat, he had an olympic record and that is the first—ever rowing gold medal for greece. is the first—ever rowing gold medalfor greece. a is the first—ever rowing gold medal for greece. a wonderful story there. i can tell you that in the women's eights, canada have won a new zealand finished second. they are having a good meet and we are waiting on the result for the men's and then we will focus on the pull because the action there will get under way shortly. tatiana from south africa has a silver medal already and she is going for gold in the 200 metres backstroke. so we will keep an eye out on her. great britain have had a brilliant meet in the pool. the first time since 19 no way that they have won three olympic gold medals and duncan scott is going to go in

the 200 metres individual medley. he has won gold and silver already so can he add to his collection there? we will be looking out for that and there is also women's foot all, track and field getting under way. the rain may be pouring but it is not dampening our spirits. but it is not dampening our sirits. . , . ., spirits. that is quite clear, sarah. you _ spirits. that is quite clear, sarah. you are _ spirits. that is quite clear, sarah. you are conveying l spirits. that is quite clear, i sarah. you are conveying the enthusiasm quite well and i wonder, for those who are fans of athletics, was not seen very much but that is where focus will now shift.— will now shift. absolutely. it is all about _ will now shift. absolutely. it is all about the _ will now shift. absolutely. it is all about the change. - is all about the change. everyone who loves the olympics knows that track and field athletics play such a big part of that. we always have the swimming and some of the other events early in the olympics and then the athletics takes over and it is hard to get a word in edgewise from the other sports. we will have some of the action this morning. on the screen below me i can see that they are out on the olympic stadium in the centre of tokyo, that rainbow bridge leading to the centre where you will find them. a lot of action coming up in that. they want to look out

for, the women's 100 in that. they want to look out for, the women's100 metres event. we will have the heats today and that will be all eyes on the jamaican sprinter. twice and olympic gold—medallist, going for her third year. if she were to get that she would be the only woman to ever win three olympic sprint golds however she will have difficult competition from her compatriot elaine thompson who won gold in rio in 2016. great britain �*s dina asher smith is also a silver world medallist from last year and she will be running. we will see how they fare in the heats and then there will be one medal up for grabs on day one of the athletics meet a little later we will have the men's 10,000 we will have the men's10,000 metres with the ugandan sprinter —— runner going for gold. so if he were to win gold in both those he would become the eighth man to do that. thank you very much, sarah. we will speak to you a little —— we will speak to you again a

little later. the bbc has confirmed that jodie whittaker will step down from her role as the current doctor who next year. she took over as the 13th doctor in 2017 — the first woman to play the famous time lord. our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba talks about her legacy and who might be in the running to replace her. some will have liked her, some will have liked other particular doctors that have come in the past and for those of us who grew up in the 1990s, the fact that doctor who was still on air means that it has been a success and the programme going. when herfirst episode aired it got something like 11.5 million viewers. doctor who's custodians for almost a decade. there seems to be a groundswell of support, presumably because she was the first female. it. people are fascinated and wanted her to succeed in the role. it is fair to say that her first two series saw the ratings drop

away to closer to what they were for the ratings of peter capaldi during his tenure. not as big as it was at the start. i'm joined now by todd vaarwerk from the doctor who fan club the buffalo time council. good to have you with us. what did you make of the announcement? was it a surprise?— announcement? was it a surrise? , . surprise? were you expecting? not really- _ surprise? were you expecting? not really. the _ surprise? were you expecting? not really. the recent - surprise? were you expecting? not really. the recent doctorsl not really. the recent doctors have had a pattern of doing it for three years and then leaving so, and there had been rumours about it, if you believe the internet, for six months or more. so it was not really a big surprise here. find really a big surprise here. and what do you — really a big surprise here. and what do you think _ really a big surprise here. and what do you think her legacy will be estimate what will she be remembered for? i will be estimate what will she be remembered for?- be remembered for? i think, well, be remembered for? i think, well. she _ be remembered for? i think, well, she will— be remembered for? i think, well, she will be _ be remembered for? i think, well, she will be definitely i well, she will be definitely remembered for being the first woman to play the doctor. there is no way that you can escape that mark on the glass ceiling. it is also, i think, about the kind of stories that she

attempted to tell. i think that there is something to be said that every producer who picks a doctor brings their spin to the stories and the stories try to be timely and entertaining and important to the people who watch. ~ ., ., ,, ~' important to the people who watch. ~ ., ., ~' , watch. what do you think they will do next? _ watch. what do you think they will do next? obviously - watch. what do you think they will do next? obviously it- watch. what do you think they will do next? obviously it was| will do next? obviously it was a big thing to have the first woman to play the time lord. who do you showed and who do you think might be the next doctor? i you think might be the next doctor? ., ., , ., doctor? i am not the guy to speculate — doctor? i am not the guy to speculate on _ doctor? i am not the guy to speculate on who _ doctor? i am not the guy to speculate on who might. i i doctor? i am not the guy to - speculate on who might. i think that continuing to talk about the diversity of the dock it relates to the human experience is a good idea. for me, i would be happy to see an african—american doctor. different ways to tell the story. i think i can see a scarf behind you which looks

suspiciously like a replica of one of the previous doctors. is that a clue as to who your favourite doctor of all time is? it does, but not intentionally. this turns out, my girlfriend made this for me out of scraps of yarn. i live in buffalo and there is a lot of snow here during winter and it turned out to be a great tom baker scarf and you are correct, tom is my favourite doctor. �* ., , ., ~' doctor. and what you think the endurin: doctor. and what you think the enduring appeal _ doctor. and what you think the enduring appeal of _ doctor. and what you think the enduring appeal of the - doctor. and what you think the enduring appeal of the show i doctor. and what you think the l enduring appeal of the show is? i'm speaking you from the uk and it has a big fan base here. it clearly has a big fan base in the us. what is it about the show that transcends nations and oceans?— and oceans? again, it is the stories- _ and oceans? again, it is the stories. the _ and oceans? again, it is the stories. the stories - and oceans? again, it is the stories. the stories are - and oceans? again, it is the. stories. the stories are about all of us and they are exciting and you are talking about saving the world. you might be saving the world. you might be saving the world through the uk but you are still saving the world. i think that that

translates across oceans. tom, i am afraid — translates across oceans. tom, i am afraid we _ translates across oceans. tom, i am afraid we are _ translates across oceans. tom, i am afraid we are out - translates across oceans. tom, i am afraid we are out of - translates across oceans. tom, i am afraid we are out of time i i am afraid we are out of time —— todd, we are out of time. we have no tardis to take this back so i shall say goodbye to you and goodbye to our viewers from now on. hello there. storm evert is bringing a quite exceptionally windy spell of weather for this time of year across the south of the uk, with a met office amber warning issued for a good part of cornwall and the isles of scilly. it's all because of this area of low pressure, quite a small low, but quite a powerful one tracking its way eastwards, with the strongest winds on the southern flank. you can see the amber warning area here across cornwall into the isles of scilly. those are the wind gusts in the black circles. but the winds also really quite brisk across a good part of devon, dorset, into hampshire, up the bristol channel and across the south coast of wales as well. so, some damage and disruption quite possible as we start the day, and with this curl of wet weather as well, some heavy and potentially thundery bursts of rain at times.

our storm tracks its way eastwards across england and wales through the day. for northern ireland and scotland, calmer weather, quite a lot of cloud and some showers, some of which could be heavy, but a few sunny spells breaking through as well. stays windy for a good part of the day down towards the south, but those winds will slowly be easing as we head towards the end of the afternoon. temperatures, well, a bit disappointing, really, for this time of year, 17—20 degrees. now, you can see our swirl of low pressure clearing away eastwards as we head through friday night. into the early hours of saturday, fairly large areas of cloud, one or two showers and some clear spells. temperatures between 12—15 degrees as we begin the weekend. so, the remnants of storm evert clearing away eastwards. high pressure trying to build in from the west, but not having much luck. stranded between low pressure and high pressure, we will have a northerly wind through the weekend, and that means it will, generally speaking, be rather cool for the time of year. we will see some spells of sunshine, but also some showers, some of which could be quite heavy. quite a lot of cloud, i think,

as we start saturday morning. some outbreaks of patchy rain here and there. some sunny spells developing, but some pretty sharp showers, especially down towards the south. could be the odd flash of lightning, the odd rumble of thunder. in the sunniest spots, up to 21—22 degrees. and then as we look ahead to sunday, again quite a lot of cloud, some showers or potentially longer spells of rain, the odd thunderstorm down towards the south later on. we will see some sunny spells, but temperatures quite disappointing, especially in northern scotland. here, just 111—15 degrees.

this is bbc news, the headlines: there's been a spike of new covid infections in tokyo, amid concern that the olympics has contributed to the surge. the japanese authorities say the surge will not affect the games but doctors are warning if something isn't done to control the spread, the city's healthcare system could be overwhelmed. president biden has told millions of american government workers and contractors to get vaccinated against coronavirus, or face compulsory testing and restrictions. mr biden is also offering a $100 payment for the newly—innoculated. the initiative follows a sharp rise in covid infections, fuelled by the delta variant. day 7 is underway at the tokyo olympics — with the sporting world hailing the united states' newest gold—medal—winning gymnastics star, 18 year old sunisa lee. later all eyes will turn to the track, as the women 100 metres heats begin the athletics programme. now on bbc news — click.