Summary

  • 2 Sisters plant in Smethwick could shut

  • Chocolate factory gets £75m makeover

  • Wolves boss named manager of the month

  • Updates from Friday 7 April 2017

  1. Sport headlines: County cricket gets underwaypublished at 09:56 British Summer Time 7 April 2017

    Steve Hermon
    Journalist, BBC WM Sport

    Top stories we're covering this morning include:

    
          Wolverhampton Wanderers manager thumbs up to Stoke City manager Mark Hughes
        Image source, Getty Images
    • Albion face Southampton in the Premier League and Walsall against Oxford in League One  
  2. Chocolate factory gets £75m makeoverpublished at 09:29 British Summer Time 7 April 2017

    BBC Midlands Today

    A multi-million pound investment at the Cadbury plant in Bournville has been formally unveiled. 

    New production lines will help boost efficiency and ensure the factory remains competitive with sites around Europe.

    Cadbury production line

    The £75m investment at the Birmingham plant comes almost eight years after a controversial take-over by American food giant Kraft. 

    Now renamed Mondelez International, bosses say it's an investment for the long-term.

    Creme eggs on the Cadbury production line
  3. Mosque raises £1.2m for Syrian's caught in conflictpublished at 08:39 British Summer Time 7 April 2017

    A Birmingham mosque has raised £1.2m in aid to help victims of the Syrian conflict.

    Green Lane Masjid in Small Heath, Birmingham

    Green Lane Masjid in Small Heath launched the Syria Bread Project, external last year. 

    Enough money has been raised to buy 3,000 of flour, which they hope will provide 42m meals for those caught-up in the violence.

    BBC News is featuring the heartbreaking story of a dad who lost his "sweetheart" baby twins, wife and 20 other relatives in the suspected chemical attack in Syria.

    Media caption,

    Syria chemical 'attack': Father mourns twins Aya and Ahmed

    You can follow live updates on BBC News as the US launches missile strikes.

  4. Video: What's the weather got in store today?published at 08:19 British Summer Time 7 April 2017

    Charlie Slater
    BBC Weather presenter

    Plenty of sunshine around with some cloud at times. Staying dry with highs of 14C (57F).

    You can find a detailed forecast for your area on the BBC Weather site .

    Media caption,

    Latest weather for the West Midlands

  5. Friday: Live updates for Birmingham and the Black Countrypublished at 08:00 British Summer Time 7 April 2017

    Stephanie Barnard
    BBC Local Live

    The weekend is almost upon us and it looks set to be a warm one - more details in the weather forecast shortly.

    I'm in the BBC WM newsroom bringing you the latest news, sport, travel and weather updates from across Birmingham and the Black Country between now and 18:00. 

    If you see something happening in your local area you think we should be covering -  email ,   tweet us at @bbcwm, external  or message via  Facebook, external   .

  6. Man jailed for killing 'popular' postmanpublished at 18:59 British Summer Time 6 April 2017

    Kamaljit Singh Dhaliwal, 54, was found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.

    Read More
  7. Gaelic sport HQ threatened by M42 bypasspublished at 18:07 British Summer Time 6 April 2017

    The plans are 'taking memories away', says the British Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association.

    Read More
  8. Our live coverage across the daypublished at 18:00 British Summer Time 6 April 2017

    We'll be back with our usual mix of news, sport, travel and weather from 08:00 tomorrow, but keep an eye out here for more updates this evening and into the morning.   

  9. Bears name 15-man squad for openerpublished at 17:54 British Summer Time 6 April 2017

    Warwickshire have chosen a 15-man squad to travel down to London to play Surrey at The Oval over the next four days in their 2017 County Championship Division One opener.

    Boss  Ashley Giles takes charge for the first time since returning to Edgbaston from Lancashire over the winter.

    
          Ashley Giles (far right) was previously boss at Edgbaston from 2007 to 2012
        Image source, Michael Steele - Getty Images

    Captain Ian Bell is without opening batsman Ian Westwood (fractured foot) and fast bowler Boyd Rankin (back), while Olly Stone, the new recruit from Northants, is not expected to be fit until July after his  anterior cruciate ligament injury.

    Bears (from):  Bell (capt), Porterfield, Trott, Hain, Ambrose (wk), Clarke, Barker, Patel, Wright, Hannon-Dalby, Wright, Banks, Mellor, Singh, Thornton.

  10. West Midlands metro mayor: Meet the candidates who want your vote published at 17:51 British Summer Time 6 April 2017

    Stephanie Barnard
    BBC Local Live

    The West Midlands metro mayor election takes place on Thursday, 4 May.

    BBC political editor, Patrick Burns, gives you a run down of who the six candidates are;

    Pete Durnell of UKIP, Sion Simon representing Labour and Conservative Andy Street are among the six candidates who have confirmed they are standing in the election.

    
          Pete Durnell of UKIP, Sion Simon representing Labour and Conservative Andy Street are among the six candidates who have confirmed that they are standing in the West Midlands Metro Mayor election.

    The deadline to register to vote is 13 April.  If you haven't registered yet - you can do it online., external

    The Green Party's James Burn, Liberal Democrat Beverley Nielsen, and Communist Graham Stevenson are the other three candidates.  

    
          Green party's James Burn, Lib dem candidate Beverley Nielsen, and communist Graham Stevenson

    So who is likely to win? 

    One of Britain's foremost polling analysts, Professor John Curtis of the University of Strathclyde, told BBC One's Sunday Politics on 2 April: "The West Midlands looks like a draw. And another Labour loss would pile yet more pressure on Jeremy Corbyn."

  11. Miguel Francis to switch to Team GBpublished at 17:40 British Summer Time 6 April 2017

    BBC Sport

    Miguel Francis says he is more likely to fulfil his potential after switching allegiance from Antigua and Barbuda to Great Britain.

    The 22-year-old, who ran the seventh fastest 200m of 2016, is eligible for Britain as he was born in Montserrat, an Overseas Territory without its own Olympic team.

    Miguel Francis (centre)Image source, ge

    Francis' family fled Montserrat for Antigua following a volcanic eruption when he was six months old.

    His parents have lived in Wolverhampton since 2014 and Francis has visited the area several times.

  12. Free festival for Shakespeare birthday celebrationspublished at 17:40 British Summer Time 6 April 2017

    Alec Blackman
    BBC Coventry & Warwickshire

    The circus is coming to Stratford-upon-Avon to mark Shakespeare's 453rd birthday. 

    JesterImage source, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

    The Birthplace Trust have hired PT Barnum to perform in Henley Street on the 22 April as part of a free day-long festival running in Henley Street.

  13. Weather: Is it time to get the BBQ out?published at 17:32 British Summer Time 6 April 2017

    Rebecca Wood
    BBC Weather

    That warm spell we're being promised is edging ever closer. It should stay dry overnight but temperatures could drop as low as 1C (34F).

    You can find a detailed forecast for your area  on the BBC Weather site.

    Media caption,

    Weather for the West Midlands

  14. Woman accused of sending WhatsApp 'beheading videos'published at 17:07 British Summer Time 6 April 2017

    Daniel Sandford
    Home Affairs Correspondent

    A brother and sister from Birmingham have appeared in court in London on terrorism charges.

    The hearing lasted only five minutes. 

    The brother and sister appeared together - both only spoke to give their names, dates of birth and addresses. 

    Ummariyat Mirza is accused of preparing an act of terrorism by buying a knife and other items to carry out a attack in the UK. 

    His sister, Zainub Mirza, is accused of using WhatsApp on her iPhone to send him links to beheading and execution videos. 

    They were arrested by armed officers as they drove down Alum Rock Road in Birmingham last Wednesday. 

  15. Watford to face Villa in Taylor memorialpublished at 16:45 British Summer Time 6 April 2017

    Watford will host Aston Villa in a memorial game this summer for former manager Graham Taylor, who died in January.

    Read More
  16. Paedophiles aged 101 and 96 lose appealspublished at 16:43 British Summer Time 6 April 2017

    The pair argued their extreme old age should be given special consideration.

    Read More
  17. Binman binned-off for mixing rubbish togetherpublished at 16:28 British Summer Time 6 April 2017

    A binman has been sacked for mixing up a West Bromwich businessman's rubbish outside his home, knowing it would go uncollected.

    Media caption,

    Binman caught mixing up rubbish instead of collecting it

    Brij Dhande found his recycling was sometimes being collected and other times labelled as contaminated. 

    After installing CCTV outside his home, he caught the man transferring rubbish from one bin into his recycling. 

    BRIJ DHANDEImage source, BRIJ DHANDE

    The contractor Serco have apologised.