Summary

  • Wedding dress funded brother's 'IS' mission

  • Trial of three accused of murdering music shop owner

  • West Bromwich Albion sold

  • WBA joins Wolves and Villa in Chinese ownership

  • WBA's new owner is Guochuan Lai, 42

  • Updates from Friday 5 August 2016

  1. Learning to drive at the age of fivepublished at 17:47 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    Children as young as five have been testing out an electric two-seater car which has been designed for primary school age children.

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  2. Grealish signs new contract with Villapublished at 17:31 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    Aston Villa's England Under-21 midfielder Jack Grealish signs a new long-term contract with the Championship club.

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  3. Rare giraffes born at safari parkpublished at 15:53 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    Two Rothschild's giraffes, one of the rarest sub-species in the world, have been born at a safari park in Worcestershire.

    West Midlands Safari Park, near Bewdley, say the new arrivals are already six feet tall.  

    GiraffesImage source, West Midlands Safari Park

    The species is native to Kenya and eastern Uganda, but there are only 670 left living in the wild, according to the Rothschild's giraffe project, external.

  4. Birmingham's thinnest skyscraper?published at 15:39 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    Birmingham city centre is to get a new skyscraper, a 26-storey hotel described by the architect as a "knitting needle of a building".

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  5. Villa part company with legend Cowanspublished at 13:38 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    Aston Villa part company with former midfielder Gordon Cowans, a member of their 1980s league title and European Cup-winning teams.

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  6. Children's ward move will provide 'best possible care' says trustpublished at 13:24 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    The closure of the children's ward at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch due to a lack of specialist doctors will not affect the care children will get, according to the chief medical officer for the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust (WAHNHST).

    The children's ward in Redditch closed today and the specialist doctors and nurses have moved to the Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester.

    Worcestershire Royal HospitalImage source, PA
    Quote Message

    What I can guarantee is that we are putting in services that will give the best care for children, particularly in an emergency when they need to go where the expertise is."

    Dr Andrew Short, Chief medical officer WAHNHST trust

  7. I'm tough, not a quitter - Lee Clarkpublished at 11:48 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    Kilmarnock manager Lee Clark on his career experience, faith in youth, ambitions at Rugby Park and meeting Michael Jackson.

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  8. 'I wouldn't want to drive past one A&E department to go to another'published at 10:56 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    A Worcestershire paramedic says he isn't happy that he won't be able to take critically ill children to the A&E department in Redditch, but will have to make the journey to a hospital in Worcester instead.

    Stuart Gardner, who is a union spokesman, believes that if a child has stopped breathing it cannot be right to pass an A&E department in Redditch and travel instead to Worcester. 

    Stuart Gardner
    Quote Message

    If I had a child in cardiac arrest I'd want to get to the nearest A&E department. I wouldn't want to drive past one A&E department to go to another because from Redditch to Worcester we're talking we're talking of a good 35 minutes."

    Stuart Gardner, Paramedic and union spokesman

    The trust running Worcestershire's hospitals says due to a lack of specialist doctors inpatient children's beds are being centralised at Worcestershire Royal Hospital from today.  

    A spokesman for the trust said it had "fully engaged" with West Midlands Ambulance Service over the closure, and would "not be making the move if we did not believe it was safe".

  9. Man sought in suspected road rage attackpublished at 10:52 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    Moira Rawlings
    BBC Coventry & Warwickshire

    Police investigating a suspected road rage attack in the West Midlands, external have today issued an image of a man they would like to speak to.

    The assault took place on Coventry Road, Sheldon at around 16:20 on Sunday, 19 June.  

    SuspectImage source, West Midlands Police
  10. Relive Wednesday's Championship footballpublished at 10:33 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    Relive Wednesday's Championship action, as Aston Villa are held at home and Nicklas Bendtner makes his Nottingham Forest debut.

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  11. Relive Aston Villa's draw against Nottingham Forestpublished at 10:02 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    Relive the action as Henri Lansbury scores late and Hildeberto Pereira is sent off as Nottingham Forest draw at Aston Villa.

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  12. Watch: A parent's reaction to the closure of the children's ward in Redditchpublished at 09:30 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    BBC Hereford and Worcester

    Zoe Price from Redditch regularly takes her two-year-old son Oscar to the Alexandra Hospital.

    But from today the children's ward is closed and she faces a 40-minute drive to the Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester.

    Media caption,

    Mother's reaction to children's ward closure.

  13. Elderly pair in 'lucky' escape after car ends up on its roofpublished at 09:17 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    Allen Cook
    BBC Local Live

    An elderly man and woman had a "lucky" escape, say paramedics, after their car hit a central reservation in Cannock and ended up on its roof., external

    West Midlands Ambulance Service says it was on Stafford Road just before 12:00 yesterday and the woman had been rescued by the fire service by the time the crew arrived. 

    It says the crew worked with firefighters to help the elderly man out - he'd suffered cuts to his head.

  14. Is the badger cull helping control TB?published at 08:55 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    We now have data examining the impact of the badger cull on the incidence of TB in cattle.

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  15. Children's ward in Redditch closespublished at 08:54 British Summer Time 7 September 2016

    Matthew Bone
    Political reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester

    The children's ward at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch officially closes today.

    Ambulances carrying under 16s will have to make the 35 to 40-minute trip to the Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester.

    Alexandra Hospital Redditch

    The trust running the hospital says children who currently use the Alexandra Hospital for things such as blood tests, outpatient appointments and scans will continue to do so. 

    It is only those who are seriously ill and require an inpatient bed, who will receive their care at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, the trust says.

  16. Bournemouth v West Brompublished at 22:19 British Summer Time 6 September 2016

    Follow live text coverage as Bournemouth face West Brom in the Premier League at the Vitality Stadium.

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  17. Preacher 'abused woman over her jeans'published at 20:42 British Summer Time 6 September 2016

    An Islamic street preacher threatened to blow up a Muslim woman's house and claimed she was Satan for wearing tight jeans, magistrates hear.

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  18. Rail bidders told they can remove seatspublished at 20:34 British Summer Time 6 September 2016

    Bidders for the West Midlands rail franchise are being given permission to remove seats and create more standing room to fit more passengers in.

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  19. More arrests over stabbing deathpublished at 19:25 British Summer Time 6 September 2016

    Two more men are arrested over the murder of Mircea Gheorghe Cozmiuc who was stabbed in Wolverhampton.

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