Birmingham Mail

The Home Secretary has praised Birmingham communities, external leading a “strong fight back” against extremism, radicalisation and terrorism. 

Steve Hermon
Journalist, BBC WM Sport

Top stories we're covering this morning include:

• Cricket's County Championship gets underway later - with Warwickshire travelling to Surrey
• Wolves boss Paul Lambert's been named Championship manager of the month, external for March

Image source, Getty Images

• Albion face Southampton in the Premier League and Walsall against Oxford in League One  

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.

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.

Express and Star

A man who beat and bit a three-year-old child while high on drink and drugs is starting a five year and four month jail sentence today., external

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

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.

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

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 .

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   .

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

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

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.   

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.

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.

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.

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.  

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."

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.

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.

Alec Blackman
BBC Coventry & Warwickshire

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

Image 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.

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.

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. 

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

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

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

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. 

Image source, BRIJ DHANDE

The contractor Serco have apologised.    

Birmingham Mail

Fire crews rescued eight office workers trapped, external in a lift at a landmark Birmingham business development.