Mary Rhodes
Presenter, BBC Midlands Today

It's more of a problem than heroin - that's the view of a friend of a man thought to have been killed in Birmingham by the drug Black Mamba. 

Footage has emerged of the moment armed police raided a house on a residential street in Birmingham after reports a young man had been seen at the property with a gun.

And four months ago Khalid Yafai became Birmingham's first boxing world champion but in 2017 Tommy Langford could become the second. He's unbeaten in 18 professional fights and we caught up with him.

Join us for more on these stories and others on the Midlands Today on BBC One from 18:30.

A teacher has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a child in Sandwell.

Thomas Lawrence, aged 28, of Wolverhampton, was today convicted at the city's crown court of two charges of sexually assaulting a male child under 13.

Police said Lawrence touched the four-year-old child in the classroom at the school where he taught. The victim reported the assault to his mother, the West Midlands force said.

Officers said Lawrence was arrested in February 2016 and suspended from the school while police conducted inquiries. He will be sentenced on 9 May.

Charlie Slater
BBC Weather presenter

We're expecting some grey cloud tonight and tomorrow, with the chance of some showers tomorrow afternoon.

Temperatures will be similar to today, reaching about 13C (55F).

The dog who held up a Halesowen Town football match for six minutes is getting some much-needed behaviour training. 

Dusty the one-year-old Beagle ran on during Halesowen's match against Skelmerdale last weekend. The video of him being chased round the pitch went viral. 

Youngsters placed face down on road as armed officers are called to reports of a man carrying firearms.

BBC WM

A government minister has said it is vital people turn out to vote at next month's West Midlands mayoral elections.

On 4 May, voters across Birmingham, Walsall, Wolverhampton, Sandwell and Dudley will vote for the region's first elected mayor.

The Cabinet Office Minister for Constitutional issues, Chris Skidmore, encouraged voters to have their say on the day.

Paul Franks
Presenter, BBC WM

A brand new music festival is set to take place in Birmingham later this year - being billed as the biggest festival ever seen in the city centre.

John Fell, one of the organisers, said bands including Orbital, Leftfield, Ocean Colour Scene and Editors would play at the event at Eastside City Park from 15-17 September.

The Beyond The Tracks festival organisers are also behind the Moseley jazz and Lunar festivals and are expecting about 10,000 people a day to attend September's new event.

David Rhodes
BBC Yorkshire

Every day in the West Midlands 105 adult social care workers leave their job, according to BBC analysis of new research by social care charity Skills for Care.

Service providers warn that growing staff shortages mean vulnerable people are receiving poorer levels of care.

In a letter to the prime minister, the chairman of the UK Homecare Association said the adult social care system - which applies to those over the age of 18 - had begun to collapse.

The government said an extra £2bn was being invested in the system.

Great Barr Observer

A huge 15-acre site in Perry Barr which has been derelict for almost 10 years looks set to be transformed into housing, external.

A Worcestershire pensioner has been cheated out of " an extortionate sum of money, external " by a cowboy workman who later returned and stole even more, police say.

The woman, who's in her 80s and lives in the Mount Pleasant area of Redditch, was approached on Saturday 8 April by two men offering to clean her gutters.

Image source, West Midlands Police

Police say after being overpaid for five minutes' work, one of the men returned a day later with a third to carry out work on her loft. 

When the victim said she'd changed her mind, one of the men distracted her while another took money from her handbag. 

Repairs to a viaduct at a busy section of the M5 in the Black Country are set to begin after Easter, with 40mph speed limits and narrow lanes during works, according to Highways England.

The £100m concrete repair and waterproofing scheme affects the Oldbury viaduct, between junctions 1 and 2 of the motorway.

Highways England says the 1970s-built structure is safe but the work is needed " to protect it for the future".

Drivers are also warned that in the early summer, speeds will drop to 30mph "for safety reasons". Slip roads will be kept open throughout.  Find out more here, external .

Giuliano Casadei
BBC WM reporter

The number of incidents involving horses on roads in the West Midlands is up 29% - that includes 41 road incidents in the last year which killed a horse. 

The British Horse Society says more horses are becoming involved in accidents with cars because people don't know how to drive when near them. 

Listen to live BBC Coventry and Warwickshire commentary as Warwickshire take on Yorkshire in the County Championship Division One.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has been made the youngest ever UN Messenger of Peace .

Image source, AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The 19 year old, who is doing her A-levels and has an offer from a top UK university, will take the role with a special focus on girls' education.

In 2012, Ms Yousafzai was nearly killed by the Taliban for campaigning for girls' rights to education.

She was flown to Birmingham for treatment and has since said she was " proud to be called a Brummie " after making the city her home.

The car clipped a kerb on the approach road to the parking are and ended up on its side in a ditch

The family of a woman who died after being hit by a car in north Worcestershire have paid tribute to her, saying she will be missed by many people.

Image source, Google

Marion Barker, 76, died after being hit by a car in New Road, Rubery, on 22 March.

Her family say Mrs Barker, who lived in South Rednal, was well known for walking her dog around the shops in Rubery.

The police are continuing to investigate what happened.   

Tom Turrell
BBC Midlands Today

More than 100 carers are leaving the social care profession in the West Midlands every day, latest figures have revealed.

We will have more on the story on the Midlands Today on BBC One from 13:30.

Image source, Google

An elderly man has died a week after the car he was in flipped over at Michaelwood services on the M5.

Another man, also from Tividale in the West Midlands, was injured.

The incident happened on the approach to the car park, southbound between junctions 13 and 14 in South Gloucestershire, just before 4pm last Tuesday.

Collision investigators are seeking witnesses. 

Anyone with information is asked to call 101, quoting incident 323 of 4/4/17.

BBC WM Sport

In snooker, Dudley's Reanne Evans is optimistic that she will get to play at the World Championships at some point.

Image source, Monique Limbos

She remains positive despite her failed bid to become the first woman to reach the main draw with a 10-6 second qualifying round defeat to Lee Walker.  

BBC WM

A Birmingham teenager was refused service at a fast food chain because he was under 18.

Adam and his friends went into a branch of KFC at Kings Norton Business Park as an end-of-term treat on Friday but were refused a sit-in meal and a takeaway. 

The 14 year old's father Paul Robinson said he was "bemused" by the decision.

KFC said the Kings Norton branch had a policy of temporarily refusing service to unaccompanied under-18s because of the "misbehaviour of a few" and it was "sorry for the inconvenience".