this is bbc news, the headlines at six: the uk chancellor, rishi sunak, says g7 finance ministers from the world's leading economies have reached a historic deal to reform the global tax system during talks in london. i think the crucial thing for people to take away is the principle of fairness. that is what we have achieved today, to ensure that there is a level playing field for all types of companies. the head of nhs providers, which represents health trusts in england, says the coronavirus vaccines appears to have broken the link between cases and serious illness. testing is ramped up as the uk sees the highest number of new covid infections in two months, raising more question marks over the further relaxation of restrictions. covid restrictions have eased across much of scotland, with people in glasgow allowed to socialise indoors and drink alcohol in pubs and restaurants

for the first time in nine months. the first big events in their year of uk city of culture take place in coventry — after a six—month delay. coming up at 6:30, we'll have a round—up of the day's sporting action in sportsday. good evening. it's being hailed as a historic agreement that could see global governments make billions. the deal made today by the g7 group of leading economies could shake—up the tax system for multinational companies, including big tech giants. it could include a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15% to avoid countries undercutting each other. the chancellor, rishi sunak,

said that it will mean firms pay "the right tax in the right places". tech companies google and facebook have welcomed the move. here's our business correspondent katy austin. how to stop multinational companies, particularly tech giants, avoiding tax by booking profits in low or no tax jurisdictions, that was one question at the heart of these discussions between the finance ministers of seven leading economies. i'm delighted to announce that, today, after years of discussion, g7 finance ministers have reached an historic agreement to reform the global tax system, to make it fit for the global digital age but, crucially, to make sure that it's fair, so that the right companies pay the right tax in the right places. they agree to the principle of a global minimum corporation tax of at least 15%, as well as rules to make the largest companies with profits of more than 10% pay more tax in the country where sales are made, notjust

where they declare their profits. the us had initially wanted a higher minimum rate of 21%. we do hope that countries will be ambitious and the agreement is at least 15%, so we have yet to set the final rate. the chancellor acknowledged that the deal would mean individual digital services tax, including the uk's, would have to go, but it is unclear when. the proposals must now go to the wider g20 group, including china, russia and brazil, then the rest of the world. the german finance minister hailed today as an important step, even if difficult conversations lay ahead with countries whose tax rates are below 15%. i'm sure that the decision that was made today is, will be very successful. this was a train that had already started and anyone canjoin a train. ireland has a 12.5% level of corporate tax. we will, even with an acknowledgement of the change

that is coming, continue to have that kind of legitimate policies in place in ireland that deliver a competitive approach for ireland and allow us to grow and retain employment. google and amazon have said they support the work being done to reform tax rules. so has facebook, which acknowledged it could end up paying more as a result. how transformative today's historic agreement will be depends on getting other nations on board and implementing reforms could take years. katy austin, bbc news. our economics editor faisal islam said it is fair to call it an historic agreement. i think it is fair to say that. it is very difficult to do these sorts of deals on tax, tax is the essence of the sovereignty of a state, but it does seem like they have decided to come up with this international agreement that will have an impact. we are already hearing from the likes of facebook that they envisage having to pay more tax and pay that tax in different places

as a result of this agreement, and it is clearly the context of the pandemic, of the fact that the exchequers of the biggest economies in the world have been, not drained but very badly hit by the pandemic and by the lockdowns. that has changed the equation, as has the presence of a very different us administration, too. some will say it hasn't gone far enough, the rate of 15% seems quite low, but will have an impact particularly on tax havens, but it does depend on that fine detail that will be negotiated with a wider group of countries. earlier i spoke with former director—general of the world trade organisation, and president of the paris peace forum, pascal lamy who gave me his reaction well, i think it is an important agreement for different reasons. the first one is that it is a major progress, step forward in global governance that will make it harderfor

multinational companies to avoid paying taxes. and the second reason, which in my view is just as important, is that it is a major ideological paradigm shift by the g7 countries which puts an end to the reagan—thatcher era, where at times the mantra for tax competition being a good thing in order to shrink government. this year is over, as we have just heard on your programme. it is a first step, there will be many others in order to ensure more fairness, but i believe it is a really big, promising change. how do you encourage more countries beyond the g7 to sign up to it, particularly smaller countries who, once committed, won't be able to alter their own tax rates independently?

well, to the first part of your question, i think the g20 will follow. i do not see come the g20, a country that would oppose this enough to prevent a g20 agreement. and on the second part of your question, let me be frank. if i am a small country, i can put a very low tax rate, attract a lot of fiscal base without having to shrink my public spending. this is unfair. it is unfair competition. this will have to change, and notably within the european union where, as we know, countries like island, luxembourg, the netherlands, have resisted steps of this kind. it is going to be much more difficult for them to do this, although we know this is still a decision

that has to be taken by unanimity in the european union, which is the reason why these countries are so far have succeeded in objecting to this. i think the resistance will be enormously eroded by g7 agreement. the latest government figures show there were 5,765 new coronavirus infections and 13 deaths in the latest 24—hour period. on average the number of new cases reported per day in the last week, was 4485. in the vaccine roll—out, over 174,9000 people have received a first vaccine dose in the last 2a hours. in total, more than 40.1 million people have now had their firstjab. that's 76.2% of the uk adult population. over 360,000 people had their second dose in the past 2a hours, meaning more than 27.1 million people have had both doses. that's 51.6% of the adult population.

the head of nhs providers, which represents english trusts, says the decision on easing restrictions in england on the 21st ofjune is finely balanced. chris hopson warned that the delta variant — first discovered in india — was still spreading, but he said vaccines appear to be breaking the link between coronavirus cases and serious illness. 0ur health correspondent naomi grimley reports. it's the big question of the summer. can hospitals still cope with the numbers of people who will fall seriously ill with covid—i9 before the full effects of mass vaccination are felt? hospital admissions are well below the levels we saw in winter. and today one of those representing health trusts appeared to strike an optimistic note. it does look as though the vaccines have kind of broken the chain between catching covid—i9 and potentially being very, very seriously ill and potentially dying.

bolton is the area hit hardest by covid's more transmissible delta variant, first discovered in india. looking at what's happening in hospitals is a gauge to whether the nhs in general will be able to cope. this graph shows the number of covid patients in bolton's hospitals over the last few months. you can see there are high peaks in november and again in january and february. in the last few weeks, the figures have been rising again but they are nothing like those earlier peaks. but new case numbers are rising noticeably as we mix more and some experts fear the delta variant could take hold in groups which haven't yet been fully vaccinated. more mutations could be incorporated

into the delta variant that could mean that vaccines are less effective and that's really what we want to avoid. the worst case scenario for us is a variant that is both more transmissible and resistant to vaccination. 0pinions in the scientific community remains split. perhaps the only thing everyone can agree on is that more data is needed. naomi grimley, bbc news. surge testing is being rolled out in parts of berkshire, where cases of the delta variant have risen. everyone over the age of 12 in parts of reading and wokingham will be offered tests from monday. public health england has said that the delta variant is now the dominant strain of coronavirus in the uk, with the number of cases confirmed by laboratory analysis rising by 79% over the last week to 12,151. coronavirus restrictions have eased for millions of people in scotland today. glasgow has moved down to level two, which means people can meet in each other�*s homes, in limited numbers,

and drink alcohol in pubs and restaurants for the first time in almost nine months. but a planned relaxation across some other parts of the country has been delayed. alexandra mackenzie reports. restrictions in glasgow have been eased. life is beginning to lookjust a little bit more normal. as the city moves to level two, it is the first time this new bar has been allowed to serve alcohol inside. it is starting to be a weight of people's shoulders. i think there is always an anxiety when everything is all the time, you know, it can be quite negative and today is a really positive day for everyone. cinemas also reopened in glasgow today. they had already opened in the rest of scotland. this new one in the city centre welcomed its first customers. it's really exciting for us as a family, we really enjoy going to the cinema. we are going to see cruella de vil land i'm really excited to go back| to the cinema again. at the number of cases of coronavirus in scotland has been

rising, more than tripled in the last month. the first minister has described the situation as fragile and is encouraging people to remain cautious. because of this, some easing has been put on pause. places including edinburgh and dundee had hoped to have more restrictions lifted, but instead, for now, those remain in place. in glasgow, people are making the most of fewer restrictions, but fear there is still some way to go before they can celebrate the end of the covid pandemic. alexandra mackenzie, bbc news, glasgow. indian officials have announced that lockdown restrictions will start easing in delhi, weeks after a devastating second wave of the virus. markets and shopping centres will be able to partially reopen from monday and offices can also reopen at half capacity. the city reported about 400 new infections today down from about 25,000 daily cases when the lockdown was announced seven weeks ago.

australia's second—most populous state of victoria has reported a small increase in covid cases as authorities try to find the source of the highly infectious delta variant that first emerged in india. a total of 70 new cases have been confirmed. the state capital, melbourne, entered its second weekend of a hard lockdown, which is due to end in five days. the home office says it's urgently investigating a report that a border force vessel in the channel entered french waters to pick up migrants heading towards the uk in a small boat last saturday. the daily mail says it has a recording of a radio conversation in which an officer on the border force vessel asks a french patrol ship for permission to get the group. several hundred migrants have made the crossing in the past week alone. border force dealt with four boats carrying 83 people on friday. so far this year, there have been more than 4,000 arrivals. the home office said it was "cracking down

on the despicable criminal gangs behind people smuggling" and more than 4,000 people had been prevented from making the crossing so far this year. the headlines on bbc news: the chancellor rishi sunak says g7 finance ministers from the world's leading economies have reached a historic deal to reform the global tax system during talks in london. the head of nhs providers, which represents health trusts in england, says coronavirus vaccines appears to have broken the link between cases and serious illness. testing is ramped up as the uk sees the highest number of new covid infections in two months. this week has seen a spate of knife attacks in london, including two involving machetes in broad daylight in greenwich and hyde park. as scotland yard increases its patrols in certain areas to reassure residents,

campaigners are saying not enough is being done to steer young people away from knife crime. this report from tarah welsh contains footage some people may find distressing. what the hell's happening?! a child asks what's happening as men fight with large knives in broad daylight in greenwich on wednesday. one man is in a serious condition in hospital after being stabbed. it happened just a day after an attack in hyde park. these images show the moment a teenager was chased and stabbed as onlookers enjoying the sun screamed. the 17—year—old is in a stable condition in hospital and one arrest has been made. but this is just one of several violent incidents in london in the past week. there are various hypotheses for why it could be. obviously, we are coming out of a lockdown, the weather has got warmer. on saturday, flower seller tony eastlake was stabbed to death in broad daylight in islington. on sunday, a man was

stabbed in croydon. on monday, a teenager was killed in barnet. and on tuesday, a man was stabbed in the face in lewisham. 0n the same day as the violence in hyde park, a man was found stabbed to death in hackney. our main priority as the metropolitan police is just to make sure that we can respond effectively and make sure that we are giving visible reassurances through, as we see here today, operations like this, weapon sweeps, making sure we are doing community engagement activities. step back is a short film about knife crime and the impact it can have on an entire community. it was made by leo powell to try and make young people aware of the consequences. he's worked with young people for over a decade but is still shocked by the level of violence recently. it's no regard for life now. the situation that we are seeing now is that it's a kill or be killed mentality. what do we do about this?

we've seen this kind of thing happen years upon years upon years, and the government is aware that we have an issue in income—deprived areas, so there needs to be money that's invested in those areas to different organisations, to youth services, to give our young people opportunities so they can say, you know what, i'm interested in getting involved in this as opposed to getting involved in the street life. the government says it has invested millions tackling the roots of violent crime and is recruiting more than 1000 officers to the met. in the meantime, many will be left affected by what happened here at hyde park and the incidents across the capital. a coroner has called for an urgent review after the suicide of a prisoner who should have been released. mark culverhouse, who was 29, took his own life at woodhill prison in milton keynes, after his release was delayed by the easter bank holiday in 2019. the prison service said it would consider the coroner's findings. two men are recovering in hospital following a racially aggravated

assault in liverpool city centre. the incident took place near sir thomas street around 5:40 this morning. 0ne victim suffered suspected stab wounds while the other received a chest injury from an unknown weapon. both are said to be in a stable condition. visitors may be returning to some of the uk's most popular tourist destinations, but employers are reporting problems recruiting staff. in cumbria, tourism bosses are warning the situation is reaching crisis point, and say the sector has been badly hit by new post—brexit immigration rules. yunus mulla reports. the lake district is looking busy. the visitors have returned in large numbers, but fewer people are choosing to work here. emma's deli in grasmere is facing an all too familiar problem. its owner has another cafe in keswick, that is down to opening just five days a week. here the chef retires soon. that position has not been filled. when we reopened lastjuly,

we didn't seem to have a shortage of people coming forward forjobs and something seems to have shifted. but it might mean we have to reduce what we can offer in terms of either the days we are open or the days when we can offer food, because we just cannot keep up with the demand. the scale of the staff recruitment crisis facing the county's tourism and hospitality sector is said to have doubled within the last month. cumbria tourism's latest survey has highlighted the challenges facing businesses here in the lake district, with 68% saying there is a significant problem recruiting staff. business responses also reveal 73% cite a lack of applicants and 44% say there is a skills shortage. lack of affordable housing and public transport difficulties is not new, but many businesses were not expecting the current staff shortages. i have had clients in tears, you know, i have had them ringing up saying, please help. in fact, i had a head chef say to me the other day that the hours he is having to work because he is six or seven people down in the kitchen, he said he is going to end up in an early grave.

when the lake district country hotel group reopened with the easing of restrictions, 10% of staff did not return. but brexit and the ending of the free movement of people is a bigger problem. our biggest problem in our area is pre—brexit we had 47% of our staff came from the eu. however, since the end of free movement, we are now finding it a lot harder to find people. unemployment in our area is just shy of 1% and it is an ageing population in our area, so people are migrating away from our area rather than coming to it. businesses here are doing what they can to find a way out of this staffing crisis, but to grow and recover, there is also a call for government intervention. yunus mulla, bbc news, grasmere. coventry is staging its first major events to mark its year

as the uk's city of culture. the pandemic meant that celebrations had to be postponed until restrictions had started to ease. there are pop—up performances throughout the day, including 14 modern—day lady godivas who will ride through the city. music. it's been a long wait. now coventry is ready. from street theatre to music, pop—up performances are set for today's launch. welcome to coventry. the city will showcase its cultural heritage, from postwar brutalist architecture to the birth of iconicjaguars. # but when i switch on i rotate the dial... breathing new life into coventry�*s two—tone legacy is pauline black, from �*80s band the selecter. # 0h, take me back, back to the days... she says the city's year in the cultural spotlight will bring much—needed regeneration

and investment. coventry is, if you like, the phoenix rising from the ashes, because of how much it was, you know, it was decimated here by the world war ii bombing. it is the youth that is going to take that forward. but to take it forward, you need to know about your history, so i'm part of that. hundreds of performers and production teams have been rehearsing for months now, putting finishing touches to moments like this that will move through the city. rather than come to coventry to see it, the message from organisers for now is to stay at home and watch from there. the halo that i have on right now was inspired by the bicycle wheel, it was a manufacturing boom of bicycles here. artist and model daniel lismore uses his body as a living work of art. his career has taken him around the world, but his roots are firmly planted in coventry. i rememberjust thinking, like,

you know, "what is there for me?" and then coming back later on, and the city is booming, you know, there are so many amazing things. the legend of lady godiva, who rode naked on a horse to protest against taxes, plays a central role in the opening. this modern—day godiva is an nhs nurse, campaigning for better pay and ppe during the pandemic. for me, it's about empowerment and ensuring that everyday people like the community are empowered to be able to be involved. and helping people, you know? it has been a challenging feat, planning a cultural programme in a pandemic. concerns about crowds have kept announcements low—key in secret. so a city of surprises awaits. colleen harris has spent the afternoon talking to the performers in coventry.

i'm in the beautiful grounds of coventry cathedral and on my right is the herbert gallery, where the turner prize will be coming later this year. this is a centre point for part of the uk city of culture opening event and also for the city, its rich history of resilience is a nod to coventry�*s past, when it was bombed in world war ii, and out of that, it became a symbol of peace and reconciliation. and these are the stories that will be told by street performers and artists that are moving through the city currently. moving because organisers have had a real challenge to deliver a programme that is covid—safe, they are asking people to watch at home, do not come in, and so we've been here all day, following the events, which opens with pauline black, the singer from the 70s and 80s band the selecter, she's performed on a bridge in a residential part of the city, so there was element

of surprise there for residents that were waking up early doors, and thatjourney has been followed different neighbourhoods in the city by river runners and parkour performers and bmx performers representing the youthful energy, and that is part of the story too, as well as innovation. coventry�*s history with car innovation and manufacturing. s, let's have a chat with some of the performers who have taken part and been involved in putting on such a spectacle and display. marius first, you are a creative dancer, tell us about the part you played in this. so i was one of the movement associates for coventry moves, as well as one of the creatives who have developed showcases in the city. as part of my movement

associatejob, i have choreographed two pieces, one to do with extreme sports artist, a scooter, bmx rider, trail rider and parkour artist, and one is a duet between a girl dancer and bmx rider. and what if you try to evoke about the city through movement in your choreography? it is to evoke energy and youthfulness but also to leave a legacy for the future and to showcase that coventry is full of energy still and will be for a lot of years to come. as a coventry—based artist, what you hope will the legacy be for coventry, having this moment? i think to have communities involved and having a lot of people being a part of this and to leave that legacy for them, where they can go and ask people and collaborate with different artists to grow each other as a city and to develop showcases and different arts performances.

let's chat to ashley now, what has your role been? we've been working to help some of the structure of the river run, understand parts of how people can get involved. we are both local people and artists and connecting with other artists and their talents and just building a real buzz around it and making the event is something that can be a lasting legacy for the city. both of us are creating performances that will be live today, so people who are walking past, who aren't coming to the city to see work but to go shopping, and those people who are staying home safe can watch it online through livestreams and the internet. thank you. so you guys are dancers, you can show us some of the moment we can expect. i'll move out of the way.

applause. thank you. guys, just one last question, just tell us, what does this mean for the young people of coventry, to be involved in uk city of culture, what is this moment? they're the future, the young people in creative arts and collaboration and outside—the—box thinking have been in coventry since before i was alive. i think now we're going to continue to innovate

and make the year as flamboyant and amazing and interesting as possible. it also gives them a voice and the confidence get out there and collaborate with different artists and make it happen. if they have a passion, they should go for it and keep motivated for the future. guys, thank you so much. so, a message from organisers is do not come into the town centre to see any of these pop—up events, they will be moving through the city, you can catch it all online while covid restrictions are in place. now it's time for a look at the weather. hello there. much of a country saw a fine day today except for that washington friday. we have cloud in outbreaks

of rain trundling eastwards through the night into parts