BBC News Travel

Rail passengers travelling between Birmingham and Redditch are warned to expect delays on London Midland services.

The train company, external says "road transport has been ordered".

BBC Midlands Today

Birmingham Children's Hospital is hoping to raise £2m to help improve its ambulances, which transport more than 2,000 patients a year.

Since 2013, there has been a 23% rise in the number of babies and children requiring ambulances in the West Midlands.

The NHS trust says it needs the money to furnish four critical care ambulances with up-to-date equipment required to meet the growing demand.

Birmingham Mail

A furious woman viciously bashed a man on the head, external with her high-heeled shoe after he jokingly took the mickey out of her Birmingham accent.

BBC Midlands Today

A full-size Eurostar train arrives in Birmingham today to take up residence at the new National College for High Speed Rail.

The carriages, which previously transported passengers from London to Paris and Brussels at speeds of 180mph (290kmh), will be used to train students when the college opens in October. , external

It's hoped graduates will provide the workforce needed for major infrastructure projects, including HS2.

Up to 80 residents were moved from Metro Court after Sandwell Council issued a closure notice.

Here's how today should, in theory, go down:

• First session - 14:00 to 16:00
• Lunch - 16:00 to 16:40
• Second session - 16:40 to 18:40
• Tea (or dinner...) - 18:40 to 19:00
• Third session - 19:00 to 21:00

Play can go on until 22:00 but the most likely close of play is 21:30.

Walsall Advertiser

Barr Beacon School students are celebrating their A-level results, external this morning with a third of grades at A* or A and more than 99% A*-E grades.

Meet Ryan, a paramedic for West Midlands Ambulance Service... or is that really who he is?

A reassuring smile from Lenny Henry on BBC Breakfast this morning, reminding students that "even with weird results" you'll be OK.

He said: "If people want it, even with the weirdest of marks and results - clearing is for them. You're not alone if your marks are all over the place."

The Dudley comic confesses that he was late coming to learning - he started an Open University course in 2006 at the age of 40 and recently completed a PhD.

Lenny, who became chancellor of Birmingham City University earlier this year, says: "Me being chancellor has sent a message out there that people who are in a low-income household, and working class background - there are opportunities for them as well. Me as a symbol of what can be achieved is a great thing."

The Dudley actor said more than 50% of the students at Birmingham'c City University were BAME [Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic] and a further 40% were over the age of 40.

He said further education gave "opportunities to everyone".

Allen Cook
BBC Local Live

An owl's been nicknamed after a Harry Potter character after flying into a living room through a chimney., external

Image source, RSPCA

The RSPCA says the bird was found in the house on Manor Close, Tamworth on Monday with the people living there saying it could only have got in through the chimney.

The charity says the little owl was taken to their Stapeley Grange centre in Nantwich to be cleaned of soot and is now recovering there.

They've nicknamed him Hedwig after Harry Potter's owl as they say the scene he created in the house was worthy of the JK Rowling books.

There's not long to go until the first day-night Test in England gets underway at Warwickshire County Cricket Club's ground.

England have won the toss, and will bat first.

Edgbaston is hosting the Test against the West Indies.

Image source, Getty Images

BBC WM Sport

The top sport stories for Birmingham and the Black Country this lunchtime include:

• West Bromwich Albion insist defender Jonny Evans is not for sale after rejecting a bid of £18m from Manchester City
• Walsall will have Flo Cuvelier back for Saturday`s game at Portsmouth, after he missed the Saddlers' last two games with a virus
• The first day-night test to be staged in the UK gets underway at Edgbaston later as England take on the West Indies - play is due to start at 14:00

Express and Star

The saving of around £15m by council chiefs in Dudley have been welcomed by opposition leaders., external

Allen Cook
BBC Local Live

Train passengers in Staffordshire who looked set to lose a rail route to London are being told now there will be a direct service.

Last week it was revealed West Midlands Trains Ltd was taking over the routes currently operated by London Midland from December.

Image source, West Midlands Rail

At the time, the Department for Transport said passengers from Stoke-on-Trent would in future have to change at Stafford.

Today, West Midlands Trains says it has finalised details of its routes and there will be a direct service from December 2018.

The operator says it will call at Stone, Kidsgrove and Stoke-on-Trent and then go via Birmingham via Coventry on the way to Euston without people having to change trains.

Birmingham Post

Pub chain Wetherspoons is planning to open another of its bars in Birmingham city centre. , external

The 20-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner will study philosophy, politics and economics.

BBC Sport

England take on the West Indies at Edgbaston today in the first day-night Test in England.

The teams will be wearing traditional white clothing but using a pink Dukes ball. But that ball has split opinion.

After practicing under the Edgbaston lights on Monday, England all-rounder Moeen Ali acknowledged that the pink ball is "different".

Image source, Getty Images

He added: "It feels lighter off the bat. Sometimes you don't feel like you've hit it and it goes; other times you've nailed it and it doesn't. But you get used to it. I did by the end of the session."

Warwickshire coach Ashley Giles said that on day one of the day-night match against Lancashire in June there were "a couple of incidents where guys were not sure where the ball had gone".

However, Durham all-rounder Paul Collingwood, was less positive after making 25 off the pink ball in a rain-affected draw against Worcestershire in June.

He described it as "shocking" and "like plastic when you hit it".

The comedian and actor said he hoped to inspire students from similar working-class backgrounds.

Stephanie Barnard
BBC Local Live

A former A-level student who says she thought she'd "failed at everything" when she saw her results three years ago says she now she laughs at her younger self.

Rhiannon Fidler, who wanted to study english and creative writing at the University of Birmingham, didn't get the grades she needed.

Ms Fidler, from Northampton, said: "I was devastated. I woke up and hadn’t got my top choice. I just cried and cried. I was absolutely devastated. I thought I'd failed everything."

Image source, Rhiannon Fidler

She says she rang Birmingham City University's clearing team and got on their course, which she'd previously dismissed as a choice.

Three years on and she's just graduated with a First.

Malala Yousafzai will study philosophy, politics and economics.at Oxford University after getting her A-level results.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner, who lives in Birmingham, tweeted the news this morning., external

Image source, PA

The 19-year-old was nearly killed by the Taliban in Pakistan for campaigning for girls' rights to education in 2012.

She wants to see free compulsory education for every child. In 2013 she addressed the United Nations on the issue.