you've got to be cautious it in order to deliver in order to deliver what we want to see, which is an irreversible road map, but we are looking at the data today and again you've got hospitalisations up, you've got cases up. the prime minister says there is a "lot of misunderstanding" from the eu about northern ireland trade — as issues hang over his talks with fellow european leaders. meanwhile the us president's focus will be on forming an alliance of countries to combat the influence of china. wales begin their euro 2020 campaign against switzerland as england fans also gear up for their team's chances in their opening game tomorrow. now on bbc news, we're in coventry as the city's streets are transformed into a giant stage and the celebrations finally begin

for the covid—delayed year as uk city of culture 2021. radio jingle: bbc cwr! good morning, happy saturday! this is rachel new. i hope you've had some caffeine in you already, because today is going to be a very big day. the start of a summer weekend in coventry — but this is no ordinary saturday. today, the whole city will be become a giant stage, to mark the start of a big year... ..as the uk city of culture. stay with us all day, because we're going to make sure that you do not miss a moment of this. cove ntry. it's been a long time coming. coventry won the honour back in 2017... cove ntry! ..way before covid forced artistic directorjustine themen to change all her plans.

you see the track? it's down here. because we can't be bringing audiences together in large numbers, or even participants, we have had to think very differently. for a start, what is about to take place on these streets has had to be kept a complete secret... there's one of you that isn't... ..to avoid large crowds gathering to watch, with surprise events cropping up in neighbourhoods across the whole city. we thought, if people can't come in to us, we will go out to them. it may be that they've popped out for a bit of shopping and they encounter something running past them through the city centre. it might be that something turns up on their street. this cultural cocktail is also streaming online and social media for people to enjoy at home. we've created an event that runs from almost dawn to dusk and is animating the entire city. #0h... # high rise above.

# life falls below. # riverflow...#. it's eight o'clock, and the city of culture celebrations begin, live on a bridge in a part of town known as spon end. with a smattering of early birds treated to a dawn chorus featuring pauline black, lead singer of the ska revival band the selecter. coventry through and through. # river flows...#. i've lived in coventry for very, very many years, and to even be in a city that is coventry city of culture was good, but to be asked to perform at the opening ceremony, ijust thought was, wow! that was fantastic, it was brilliant, and to have it in spon end, it was brilliant, as well. the colours — lovely, and i'm glad it stayed dry for them, not pouring down with rain!

action. and bringing the hands up, just opening them out. - bringing one out in front... i'm singing the river song, i am the river, as you can see, with all this wonderful kind of blue make—up and all this flowing veil. because there is a river that runs underneath the city. and, of course, that's kind of the life spring, the well of everything, that was the reason why they settled, because there was a river. it's like miss haversham! i know this area and i know the people round here, or some of the people round here, and to have them actually contribute the lyrics, ijust thought, wow, that's wonderful. one of those local lyricists is mark gibbins, better known as gibbo. i've lived in spon end, now, for about... ..i think over 35 years, it is. you know, it gets a bit of a bad rap, people believe all the hype that they hear about it, you know, but you come round here at night and it's quiet, you can hear a pin drop. the river sherbourne,

it flows right past my house, all the way around, meanders windingly through the estate, comes right past the community centre. you know, if there weren't a brick wall there, i could throw a stone in it from here, you know? it's at the community centre that gibbo runs a men's mental health support group. it's a place where men can come along and speak freely about whatever issue's affecting them at that time in their life. and to help him come up with some good lyrics, gibbo turned to one of the group. yeah, so the bit there... we've dropped it about... a sentence or two — two sentences. tommy is an actual client — we did a brain—storming session, so we came up with loads of words, some actual lines — i mean, tommy was flowing with poetry. he was freestyling, like, you know. he was really good. mist begins, turns to haze l as recognition of the past...

i struggled a bit, but i got a few potential good bits out that i think were good, you know. ..has taken my tree away. that's lovely, that is. it's nice, i like that. that's good for me, innit? it's very good. you did another good one, as well. it's just nice to have the opportunity to actually speak about the area that i live in and to highlight spon end, you know, and what a great area it is to me. inspired by pauline�*s song, a group of young people follow the course of the river as it flows underneath the city. of course, most towns and cities were built up by a river, but, in coventry, that river was covered over in the city centre, so you might say to people, "oh, yeah, there's a river that runs through coventry," a lot of people would say they've never seen one. so, a group of young people follow thatjourney of the river, having encountered pauline singing her song on the bridge.

starring in a film of the river runners' journey, two dancers, childhood friends nancy and louis. good! bro! see what you're missing? so, we met at school. it was the induction day, so we were in year six, maybe 10, 11 years old at this point. yeah. by the end of the day, i asked her to be my girlfriend. my reply was, "i'll tell— you in septembah," i literally said it like that, "septembah!" she walked out of the gate and looked over her shoulder so majestically, and then i had to wait a whole summer to find out the answer — and it was worth it because i got a yes. i grew up born and bred in coventry, the city of villains, you know! yeah, and ijust knew that i wanted more, and whatever it was, i knew there was a greater calling, and there was a purpose for me out there, and i had come across dancing on the tv — i didn't even know, i wasn't exposed to these kind of things, it wasn't...not that it wasn't acceptable, but it was so unconventional, it was so far away from me, you know?

i'm from cov, and being able to be a part of it and be here _ and especially being with louis, as well, it's just crazy. - that's the best part! some people put coventry down, and i think you have to leave it . to really appreciate the resilience of the city and how strong - we all are and how diverse everyone is, and how, - just, we are a community. on their way into the city centre, the river runners encounter six exotically dressed energies, making up the spirit of the city — all well—known coventry faces, like paralympian sprinter kare adenegan. i'm the energy of resilience, and coventry has a great history of resilience linked to the blitz, so it's a great way to celebrate that, and also embody that. kare and her fellow energies offer up poetic pearls of wisdom. when you feel like stopping, know that your city persisted. when you feel alone,

know that those who have come before you are cheering you on. they walked so you can run, and you will run so that those after you will be able to fly. another of the energies is the artist and model daniel lismore, embodying the spirit of innovation. i grew up in a small village called fillongley. it's just on the border of coventry, and all my family are in coventry. i went to school in coventry, as well, and this is kind of where i grew up. it's been amazing, actually — you know, my life is so crazy, and i've been travelling the world constantly, and all of a sudden i'm back with my mum. close your eyes for a moment and imagine a place where creation is constant, where there's courage and space to transcend and to test. i think compared to 18 years ago, it's been very different, people have been very positive. i rememberjust outside there, i was bullied at the bus stop for being, you know, queer, all the time.

and now i canjust happily walk across the city without — you know, a few smiles, a few glares, but...! we need to start appreciating each other, and i hope the city of culture does that. it's time that we kind of accept each other — cos we're all here. meanwhile, somewhere in the suburbs, people and horses are gathering. modern—day lady godivas are preparing to ride into town from the four corners of the city. we have 14 women who do extraordinary things across the city, making change within the city with some of the city's most disadvantaged communities. people who are really active, particularly during the pandemic. the original lady godiva rode naked through the streets of iith—century coventry in protest at high taxes for the townsfolk. today's 21st—century equivalents

are more modestly dressed, and most have had to learn how to ride a horse. reena, a teaching assistant who has also founded her own theatre company, is one of them. here we go, reena. here's del boy, or delaware. i'm the kind of person that would probably ride on a horse naked if it was to fight social injustice and kind of protest in a creative way, like lady godiva, so i think that is probably why i was nominated and selected. i come from a community that are considered to be the lowest of the low, we're very downtrodden. we're the untouchables of india, we're seen as sub—human, and those kind of ideas and ideologies carried on here in the uk and, you know, caste discrimination is still an issue. that is where my activism started. just enjoy it where you can, i and try not to be as panicked and as scared as you might look — try and flip the switch. _ i thought i had horse riding experience but, no,

what i rode about 13 years ago was a donkey, i'm sure it was! i am excited, but i'm a bit nervous, too, because, you know, riding a horse, on the streets, in procession... a lot of these ladies have never sat on a horse before. - they've not even sat _ on a donkey on blackpool beach, so to get them on a real horse that is moving in a parade - environment with drummers - and trumpets and flags and people, it's going to be a challenge. so, this is toby. he is... well, he's been my mate since the start, i've been on him every time. i think we are very well—matched. when i first saw him, i was like, "oh, he looks a bit slower," so i was like, "please give me that one." so, yeah, good mates now. i feel really honoured to be involved in city of culture, i really do feel really privileged, and yeah, i'm so excited! del boy, i've got some apples for you, nice granny smiths! as the godivas make ready, the streets reverberate to a different sound.

engine revs. cars — all of them, at one time or another, made in coventry. the motorcade stops at various points on its journey through the city. out leap dancers — irish... ..caribbean... ..bollywood. each routine a tribute to the different migrant communities that came to coventry to help rebuild after the destruction of the war. i think everyone on the street really needed that, after the past 18 months — and just to have that happen on our street has cheered everyone up, and, yeah, love it. i've lived on the street all of my life, my parents live just six doors up, and we've never seen anything like that. it's always been a friendly, multicultural street,

but that was just brilliant, thatjust brought everybody together. the irish settled first, and brought with them their love of dance. two of the motorcade performers are sisters — 17—year—old grace and 14—year—old molly. we've got a very irish background, and most of our family is irish and our mum also irish—danced at the same school that we dance at as well, so it was just inevitable that we were going to dance, really, and just carry on the tradition in the family. i placed second at the world championships and in the top five in all major competitions. i won the american nationals twice, i won the scottish nationals, the all—scotlands, the great britains, and yeah, i've been very successful! big jumps, good girl. their rehearsal studio is tucked in behind

the old standard triumph club — a social hub once surrounded by production lines churning out cars with household names. a reminder of an industry that once employed generations of coventry workers. our grandparents came over to work in the building industry over 50 years ago, and one of the things they were involved in building was the ring road, and they set their roots here, they built their family here, and our whole family hasjust been thriving in coventry ever since. can ijust see you pointing at the person that you're going to have a connection with? during rehearsals, the sisters find themselves sharing their skills with their fellow dancers. we do our irish dancing, then we also, there's bhangra dancing, ska dancing, and then also there's a mashup at the end where we get to learn

parts of their dancing, is an amazing opportunity, and to be part of something that's going to be so worldwide and hopefully that will go down in history as something that was amazing, to be a part of that is something that hopefully i can show my family in the future and they'll be proud of me.

reena and her fellow godivas are now on their way into the city centre, on their mission to deliver their manifesto to the city's politicians. i'm going to be feeling so proud and i hope that i represent all the voices of everybody in coventry, notjust women — absolutely everybody — so i'm representing the whole city. on the opposite side of the city, the streets are streaming with bikes and tricycles. bicycle bell dings. pedal power — one of many life—changing innovations that coventry can take credit for. the first place to mass—produce a bicycle, so that's something that feels really important in terms of the city's democratic heritage. we produced bicycles that meant people all over the world could cycle from a to b in a much speedier way than if they were walking. on the roads and in the air — inspiration is everywhere! i

it was brilliant. it was really good. you don't see that kind of thing here, ever. - so it wasjust nice and refreshing to see something different - and to not know it was coming. what did you think? child mumbles. it was really good! he laughs. reena and her horse both reach their destination in one piece! and these modern—day godivas present their vision of the future to the city's political leaders. living together in cultural understanding and embracing diversity. # remember the tree so deeply rooted. # it spread...#. pauline black's day comes to an end in broadgate, underneath the ribboned canopy of cofa's tree. # shelter from the storm shade from the sun...#.

words of hope, written on the ribbons by the people of coventry, their aspirations for the future of the city. legend has it that cofa's tree was a tree that was planted by a man called cofa, by the settlement, when it was first built up by the river, so that people from all around could see where the settlement was and come to it with ease, and cofa's tree, over the years, apparently became coventry. the banners on the approaches are designed by local schoolchildren, reflecting the themes of today's event. three of them — daniel, frankie and cristian — along with teacher nina, are from the coventry extended learning centre, a pupil referral unit for children struggling in mainstream education. they helped design the banner on the theme of socialjustice. i drew a mouth to project why everyone should -

have the freedom of speech. a lot of our students have come here because they have been either manage—moved or permanently excluded. mainstream hasn't worked for them for whatever reason. for them to come here and be part of the banner creation is great pride for me, for them and for their parents, because they've had such a difficult journey and just to be seen in a different light is really amazing. it makes us look like i we have a really great achievement in our lives, - showing people that we can do a lot of great stuff. that's our banner! the third one down, socialjustice. the eyes of justice. oh, it's brilliant, doesn't that look great? seeing their banner up for the first time — a magic moment. i feel proud because i've actually worked on something that is actually

going to be put up and so loads of people can see it. i feel fantastic, brilliant, - all of my hard work and time i put into that, yeah. ijust want them to be seen as these amazing young people that they are. i'm really happy the banner is up there because whenever i will take my friends outside, i'lljust show it to them — "look what i did!" like, "are you proud of me?!" ours is the best, anyways! high five! 12 hours after it began, and this day of cultural celebration is reaching its climax. a musical moment designed to unite everyone across the city. can we run it again? that would be lovely, please. composer danjones is famous for making epic compositions

using ice cream vans and hot—air balloons. we strategized about how we were going to deliver a piece of music that could reach all of coventry citizens in the space of seven or eight minutes. so, we came up with this idea of working with different radio stations so that each radio station had a layer of music, and if people came together with all seven of those radio stations playing, they would hear the full composition. it's kind of in the model of clapping for carers, people going to their front door, going out into their front garden, into the street, and sensing that, you know, communality of making something happen together. in the run—up to the premiere, some of the children who gave their voices for the composition get a sneak preview. we went into schools with a microphone and we did two things — we interviewed them about the future, talking about the future, we also recorded them singing their own musical ideas, so rather than me telling them what to sing, i wanted them to tell me

what to write. i then had the job of managing to weave together all those different musical lines, and so today was the first time they've heard that, the fruits of their labour. ready? all: three, two, one... go! music starts. in the future i want to be a famous singer. i wish that i could sing every day. in the future, - i want to be a singer. i wish that i could sing my whole life. and maybe also a paramedic. in the future... um, it was loud and i liked it and i really loved it. i heard myself and i said, "i hope singing never goes away." it's good that people showed that people liked the community- of the whole entire world. i was so proud of myself. i was smiling. basically, the children of coventry are taking over all of coventry's independent radio stations,

and hopefully it'll spread all the way across coventry from the centre outwards into the beautiful suburbs. time, then, for the people of coventry to come together in their musicalfinale. we are having a street party to end all street parties. the residents of stanley road determined to make their contribution as loud as possible. we've got the street decorated. we are celebrating, city of culture. it's going to be really fascinating to see how all of the different streams come together and then work as one. i'm really excited to see how that's going to play. like a symphony of radios i to create one piece of music. a bit anxious, but fingers crossed it is going to sound amazing. we've got our own devices, we're ready. we are coming out of covid, you know, we are embracing our community, we are

embracing our city. who cares if it doesn't sound good? we are here, we are doing it! at exactly 20:21, it's time to close the show. when it's quiet, i like to imagine that the wind swishes the leaves of the trees. i always hear the wind whistling. like when you are trying to whistle, and you can't. relaxing music. when it's peace and quiet, l i like to hear relaxing music. # la—la—la, la...#. when it's quiet, i like it because it is peaceful. and we just stood in the middle of the road and we could hear all of the different pieces of music and, yeah, it made me feel really emotional. it made me feel massively proud that i am from coventry. i was like, "yes, we've got our place now on the map!"

they all chat. it was like a soup . of music, wasn't it? some bits were a bit like... she hums. laughter echoes. you know, sometimes people or places can get caught up in the past, but i think it's really important to focus on the future, and i think coventry has got loads of things that are happening in the pipelines. music continues. in coventry, there will be parties every thursday night. _ there will be less . people getting sick. do you know, in the future, there won't be a coronavirus in there. no more coronavirus. we all should hope that we all have happy lives in our country. applause and cheering. child: and that's it.

hello. heat and humidity levels will be on the up again this weekend as we start to see increasing amounts of sunshine across the uk, and through the rest of today and tomorrow, more of you will see skies like we saw earlier in paignton. there will be more cloud, though, continuing today across western scotland, northern ireland, the odd sunnier break, a few isolated light showers to the north and west of scotland, the vast majority dry. breeze always strongest here, but elsewhere, compared with yesterday, less of a breeze, and so, even though there is a slightly fresher feel compared to what we have had over the past few days, it will still feel pretty warm out there in the sunshine. temperatures up to around 2a, 25 across the south, 19, 20 degrees across some parts of eastern scotland. into this evening and overnight, cloud continues to feed in across parts of scotland and northern ireland, and there will be some rain later in orkney, shetland, and maybe also the hebrides. most will stay dry. clearest skies to england and wales, and, again, it could be a little bit fresher than last night across some parts of central and eastern areas of england.

temperatures down into single figures, but humid air fighting back in the west. that's because we've got high pressure established to the south, low pressure towards the south of iceland. that strengthening the south—westerly flow all the way from the tropical mid—atlantic. so, more in the way of tropical air coming ourway. some rain, though, orkney, shetland and certainly later in the hebrides. most will be dry. a bit more sunshine through parts of western scotland and northern ireland, even if it's a little hazy at times. sunny spells for the rest of us, and as humidity levels creep up, so do the temperatures. 28, 29, maybe 30 degrees across some parts of central and southern england, 26 celsius to the east of scotland. so, if you are heading off to the second test, be prepared for some very strong sunshine overhead in edgbaston. no interruptions to play expected, though, and it will remain hot and sunny through the afternoon for england in their first match at wembley in euro 2020. 28 degrees the high, maybe a little bit more, and that humid feel continues into sunday night, but we will see some rain into parts of scotland

and northern ireland. a few thunderstorms may be breaking out further south, as well, butjust notice the temperatures into monday morning — staying in the upper teens. it will be an uncomfortable night to get some sleep in. that humid air lasts across southern and eastern areas as we go into the start of next week, could get even warmer, in fact, for the south—east on monday, but cooler elsewhere, with one or two showers. bye for now.

this is bbc news. i'm ben brown, live in cornwall for the g7 meeting of world leaders. the lifting of england's remaining coronavirus restriction could be delayed by up to four weeks — as the prime minister says it's a race between the spike in cases and vaccines. you've got to be cautious it in order to deliver what we want to see, which is an irreversible road map, but we're looking at the data today and again you've got hospitalisations up, you've got cases up. the prime minister also says there is a "lot of misunderstanding" from the eu about northern ireland trade — as tensions over

the issue hang over his talks with fellow european leaders.