Birmingham Mail

Top US rapper Mr Capone-E  handed out almost £4,000 in tips, external to staff at a Birmingham shisha lounge following his appearance in the city.  

BBC WM Sport

Aston Villa were beaten 1-0 at promotion-chasing Huddersfield , and defender Alan Hutton is the latest player added to their injury list. 

Image source, AFP

He's had a scan on a knee problem that kept him out of last night's match.   

Shefali Oza
BBC Midlands Today

You can also get the latest forecasts for your part of the West Midlands by heading to the BBC Weather website.

CCTV images have been released of people police want to speak to about two assaults in the early hours of Saturday morning in Stourbridge.

A taxi driver was attacked by two men and two women inside his cab at around 03:30 GMT after picking up the group on Hagley Road.

Image source, West Midlands Police

They asked to be dropped off on the Wrens Nest Estate in Dudley but had no money even after the driver stopped for them to take some out at the BP petrol station on Pedmore Road. He was attacked as he took the group back into Stourbridge, according to police, external .

The driver's left arm was grabbed through the plastic divide in the cab and as he tried to fend off his attackers, he crashed into a stationary vehicle. The women ran off while the men opened the driver's door and demanded cash from him before punching him and running away down Pedmore Road.

A 31-year-old man was stabbed three times to his body and suffered two head wounds in another assault on Hagley Road at around 04:10 by a group of two men and women described as white and aged in their 20s. 

Officers are appealing for information to find out if they were carried out by the same group and wish to speak to the people pictured in these CCTV stills.

Under-pressure Birmingham City manager Gianfranco Zola admits the Championship side are not safe from relegation.

Westminster's sodden village green on a Budget Day of mixed metaphors

Kathryn Stanczyszyn
Political Reporter, BBC WM

Police watchdog the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) will investigate officers' response to the triple stabbing in Wolverhampton earlier , it has confirmed.

The IPCC routinely investigates cases of deaths or serious injuries after people have been in contact with the police and unarmed and armed officers today had to intervene to try and detain the attacker before he turned his knife on himself.

IPCC Commissioner Derrick Campbell said: “These were traumatic events in Wolverhampton this morning and my sympathies go out to all those affected. 

"Our investigators are now busy conducting initial inquiries to gather a full picture of the police involvement in what unfolded. 

"It is proper that in such a serious incident as this there is independent scrutiny of what took place.”

Monica Rimmer
Journalist, BBC Online

Unarmed officers were the first on the scene and entered the property "not knowing what they would face". 

Officers used tasers after being confronted by a man armed with a knife, but to begin with the taser was "ineffective", police say. 

Supt Keith Fraser added: "I want to stress that the man was armed so we had to act quickly and officers did that."

Two confirmed dead at the scene as stun grenades used to storm the block of flats.

Commenting on the incident itself, Supt Keith Fraser said it was "really shocking" and the force's sympathies "go out to the families and friends of all those involved" . 

A woman, who is thought to be 59-years-old, remains in a critical condition after suffering "serious stab wounds to her stomach",  West Midlands Police have said, external .

Police have remained at the scene of the triple stabbing in Wolverhampton since around 09:45 today.

• A man and a woman have died and a third is critically injured
• Two officers have sustained "minor injuries" - one suffered a stab wound to the arm and another a leg injury
• Unarmed officers entered the flat first and were met by a man with a knife, who then turned the knife on himself 
• Tasers were used but at first were "ineffective"
• Three air ambulances attended the incident 

Kathryn Stanczyszyn
Political Reporter, BBC WM

Police have remained at the scene of the triple stabbing in Wolverhampton since around 09:45 today.

Forensic experts have pored over the area. This is the scene outside Highfield Court now in Leasowes Drive.

BBC WM

Police have been unable to confirm at this stage of their inquiries if the knifeman or either of the women who were stabbed were in a relationship or had been previously.

Investigations will now look into whether the man was known to police before the attack today.

Supt Keith Fraser said officers were “checking [the knifeman’s] background to understand a little bit more what has happened.”

“It’s very, very early stages in the inquiry.”

Alex Homer
BBC Local Live

It has emerged two police officers were injured tackling the knifeman - one received a "stab wound to the arm" and the other a leg injury while being chased, according to Supt Keith Fraser.

He was unable to clarify if those officers were the unarmed officers who first arrived on the scene or the armed back-up that arrived in support afterwards.

Kathryn Stanczyszyn
Political Reporter, BBC WM

A witness from the block of flats where the triple stabbing unfolded said she was "shaking" after it happened.

West Midlands Police has confirmed no shots were fired during the storming of the flat, contrary to what the witness suggests here.

Alex Homer
BBC Local Live

Supt Keith Fraser initially told the press the knifeman had been detained and then had turned the knife on himself but when pressed with further questions, he said he could not clarify the exact chain of events as it was "early stages" in the investigation.

Supt Keith Fraser has addressed assembled media outside the block of flats where the triple stabbing took place earlier in Wolverhampton.

He said unarmed police officers asked for support from armed colleagues for their safety, which was why stun grenades were used to try and distract the suspected knifeman so he could be arrested.

Those stun grenades were "ineffective in stopping this man from attacking officers", Ch Supt Fraser said.

The Midlands Air Ambulances from Cosford, Strensham and Staffordshire were all sent to the scene of the triple stabbing in Wolverhampton earlier along with three land ambulances, three paramedic officers and a doctor.

Image source, Express & Star

A woman and a man suspected of being the knifeman, and both in their 30s, were pronounced dead at the scene in Leasowes Drive, Wolverhampton.

Another woman is fighting for her life with stomach wounds and a police officer suffered a minor arm injury.

Nicola Beckford
Reporter, BBC Midlands Today

We will bring you all the latest from the scene of the triple stabbing in Wolverhampton on the Midlands Today on BBC One from 13:30.