A terrorist suspected of trying to go to Syria is jailed for misleading police over his travel plans.

Families of victims of the Birmingham pub bombings are to meet the home secretary weeks after appealing for government money to fund their legal bid for answers.

Relatives of nine of the 21 people killed in the double IRA blasts in 1974 are to sit down with Amber Rudd for a private meeting in London on September 5.

Julie Hambleton, whose sister Maxine died in the attacks, said she was "hopeful" the meeting could clear the way to public funding for their legal representation at inquests into the deaths.

The relatives' solicitors, at KRW Law, say they need legal aid if they are going to be able to challenge police and government agencies' legal representatives who will be funded by taxpayers' money.

The families' legal counsel who helped to successfully make the case for fresh inquests have been acting free of charge so far.

Protestors who staged a sit-in in Birmingham have said they hope to "finally get answers" over the death of Kingsley Burrell.

A 67-year-old man has been left with a "serious head injury" after being pushed over on a bus in Yardley earlier, police have said.

The suspected assault happened on a bus on Yew Tree Lane at around 10:00.

No arrests have yet been made, but West Midlands officers are appealing for information and have cordoned off part of the road.

Image source, West Midlands Police

Alex Homer
BBC Local Live

Here are our headlines on Friday:

- Protesters, calling for prosecutions after a Hockley man's death in police custody, have occupied the Crown Prosecution Service's Birmingham offices

- A Wolverhampton man has been arrested on suspicion of the attempted murder of a woman in Milton Keynes

- Claims the A&E of a Smethwick hospital which has not yet open, could never open, have been rubbished by the NHS trust running the project

Rebecca Wood
BBC Weather

It's the question everyone asks heading into a Bank Holiday weekend: Will the weather be any good, or will the brolly sellers be rubbing their hands?

Rebecca Wood brings you the latest news.

Two men were stabbed in Wednesbury in the early hours of this morning, police have confirmed.

The men are described as being in a "serious but stable" condition after the attack at a property in Barlow Road.

Officers said they were treating the stabbing at about 02:30 as a "domestic incident and not a random attack".

Phil Mackie
Midlands correspondent, BBC News

Here are some of the approximately 30 Justice For Kingsley Burrell protesters who are occupying the Birmingham offices of the Crown Prosecution Service.

They're calling for action after 29-year-old Mr Burrell died in police custody in 2011. They say a decision on whether to prosecute police officers is taking too long.

A Wolverhampton man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a woman was stabbed outside the civic offices in Milton Keynes on Monday morning.  

Thames Valley Police said a 25-year-old man from Wolverhampton had been detained following the attack on a 34-year-old woman in Saxon Gate East.

The victim remains in a stable condition in hospital.

Image source, Google

BBC Sport

The players are back out in the field after lunch on the last day of Warwickshire's Championship match at Durham.

The away side declared for 381-8, and Durham are into their second innings trying to chase down that total.

Keep up with all the latest action here.

Phil Mackie
Midlands correspondent, BBC News

Around 30 protesters who have been calling for prosecutions after the death of a man in police custody have occupied the lobby of the Crown Prosecution Service's Birmingham offices.

Earlier this afternoon, the Justice 4 Kingsley Burrell movement had been outside Birmingham Cathedral, saying developments were taking too long. Mr Burrell, 29, was detained in March 2011 after West Midlands Police attended a disturbance in Birmingham. He later died from a cardiac arrest, with a 2015 inquest ruling failure to provide basic medical attention contributed to his death.

Image source, PA

Three officers are being investigated by the police watchdog, the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

The CPS says it is still considering the evidence.

Michele Paduano
Health correspondent, BBC Midlands Today

The NHS trust behind the new Midland Metropolitan Hospital being built in the Black Country is this lunchtime denying that plans for NHS cuts will mean axing its A&E department - even before it's been built.

I'll have more for the Midlands Today on BBC One at 13:30.

BBC WM

There are calls for councils to take back some control of academy schools to help monitor finances. 

It comes after controversy over financial issues at two academies in Birmingham.

Last month Baverstock Academy in Druids Heath announced it would close next year because it had ran out of money. In March, the Education Funding Agency raised serious concerns about weakness in financial management at Perry Beeches Academy Trust, from which the head resigned to allow "changes required to move the trust forward".

Richard Watts, from the Local Government Association, said councils "provided much more local knowledge, oversight and accountability than central government...sometimes working hundreds of miles away".

League One side Walsall sign Aston Villa's young Irish defender Kevin Toner on a five-month loan until January.

Tamworth Herald

NORTH Warwickshire MP Craig Tracey has organised a public meeting, external regarding Arriva's plans to axe the 116 bus service from Tamworth to Birmingham.

Alex Homer
BBC Local Live

Here is a recap of the stories we have been covering in the past few hours:

- Draft NHS plans suggesting an A&E will close at a Smethwick hospital that has not even opened have been dubbed 'complete nonsense'

- A council says it has cancelled a contract for children's sports activities because staff did not have the proper criminal records checks

 - A drug dealer who had cocaine worth £185,000 with him on a day out to Birmingham with his young daughter has been jailed for eight years

A new way to recycle the super strong magnets our gadgets rely on

It's not clear how long it will take to re-open the children's A&E service at the County Hospital in Stafford. 

It was suspended yesterday amid concerns it was not clinically safe.

In the meantime, sick children could have to go to New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton or Walsall Manor instead. 

Jeremy Lefroy, the Conservative MP for Stafford, is concerned about the situation but says he is glad patient safety has been prioritised rather than the hospital attempting to "muddle through".

Birmingham Mail

It’s a familiar gripe - that it always rains on the August bank holiday weekend - but it turns out we're not just moaning.

It actually does usually rain on August bank holidays, external in Birmingham.  

Plans are being drawn up that could see cuts to NHS services across England.

The BBC has seen draft sustainability and transformation plans (STPs) which propose ward closures, cuts in bed numbers and changes to A&E and GP care in 44 areas.

There has so far been no consultation on the plans, which include the closure of Midland Metropolitan Hospital's A&E department. The move has been denied by the trust which will run the site, yet to open in Smethwick.

Image source, Thinkstock

NHS England, which needs to find £22bn in efficiency savings by 2020-21, said reorganising local services was essential to improving patient care.

Toby Lewis, chief executive of Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS Trust, said: "The new Midland Metropolitan Hospital opens in less than 800 days. It is complete nonsense to suggest that the A&E department could close. The new hospital build is progressing well."