News and sport from Monday 30 October to Friday 3 November
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A crash involving a motorbike and van in the Staffordshire Moorlands has left the biker in a critical condition, police say.
It happened on the A53 at Quarnford yesterday afternoon.
The man was airlifted to Royal Stoke Hospital.
Nigel Dolman
Reporter, BBC Shropshire
An inquest into the deaths of two men from Market Drayton who were killed when their microlight crashed in Shifnal last year has heard the aircraft appeared to stall twice before spiralling out of control.
Two people are killed as a light aircraft crashes in Shropshire
Mike Sumner and Tony Crocombe left Longford airstrip near Market Drayton on Bank Holiday Monday on the 30 May last year when their microlight crashed into a barley field 700 metres away from Shifnal airstrip.
Witnesses say they believe the aircraft was attempting to land but had lost airspeed. The inquest in Shrewsbury continues.
Some of today's top stories are:
BBC News Travel
Work to repair a barrier on the M54 in Staffordshire is likely to continue until later this afternoon, says Highways England.
One lane is closed in both directions between J2 A449 for Wolverhampton and J3, A41, Albrighton.
Image source, Highways EnglandHere are some of the top stories to feature on the front page of the Kidderminster Shuttle website.
An appeal to find a motorist has been made on the third anniversary of a crash that killed two friends.
Phillip Madden, 19, from Northwood, near Wrexham, and Shane Vickers, 22, who ran a joinery business in Bettisfield, Whitchurch, died when their car hit a tree at Bronington on 30 October 2014.
Image source, North Wales PoliceNorth Wales Police wants to find the driver of the car which was behind the pair's silver Vauxhall Corsa shortly before it crashed.
Quote MessageOn the third anniversary of this tragic collision we are renewing our appeal to try and trace the driver, who was seen on CCTV to be travelling directly behind Mr Madden’s car down a rural road just moments before the collision.
PC Jo Roberts, North Wales Police
The cause of the crash is still unknown, and relatives of the two men are keen to discover how it happened.
The driver, who has never come forward, could have key information, police said.
Coventry City boss Mark Robins is sure more goals will follow after his side score for the first time in five games.
Read More
James Bond
Sports Producer, BBC Shropshire
Telford Tigers' former captain Scott Mackenzie is backwith the club, external, after leaving Deeside Dragons.
Fans' favourite, Mackenzie will go straight into the squad for the Tigers games this weekend.
Image source, Telford Tigers
Stephanie Barnard
BBC News
The search is on to find a 4ft (121cm) black and white royal python in Stoke-on-Trent which went missing while its owners were preparing for Halloween.
A spokesman for Staffordshire Police tells me the family, in Forrister Street in Meir Hay, were getting ready for the spooky festival when they left the snake's cage ajar and it slithered its way outside yesterday.
The royal python which is missing is black and white rather than brown (as pictured)
Police officers are asking anyone who spots the snake, similar to the one pictured above but black and white, to call 101 and not to approach it.
Image source, Google
BBC Sport
Wasps duo Matt Mullan and Elliot Daly will not travel with the England squad for their training camp in Portugal this week after picking up injuries on Saturday.
Image source, Getty ImagesProp Mullan injured his elbow in his side's 38-22 victory over Northampton Saints, while centre Daly was replaced after injuring his knee.
The players will remain with their club for treatment and will have scans over the next couple of days.
This is a picture of the damage caused when a claw hammer was hurled at officers travelling in a police vehicle following yesterday's match between Birmingham City and Aston Villa.
Missiles, including pieces of scaffolding, were thrown at the van as it turned a corner in Digbeth.
Officers are reviewing CCTV after the disorder, on Fazeley Street.
The coldest temperatures hit Scotland but sub-zero temperatures also stretched as far south as Bournemouth.
Read MoreMPs are expected to discuss the government's response to allegations of inappropriate behaviour at Westminster, following allegations made against the Wyre Forest MP Mark Garnier.
Image source, PAHis former secretary Caroline Edmondson told the Mail on Sunday newspaper that he called her "sugar tits" and had sent her to buy him sex toys when she was working for him.
Fellow Conservative Rachel Maclean, MP for Redditch, said there needs to be more focus on allowing Parliamentarians to raise concerns about the behaviour of others.
Mr Garnier has denied the claims constitute harassment and described the incident as "good humoured high jinks".
A man is due to appear at court in Birmingham today over alleged cyber-crime offences.
Alex Bessell, 21, of Liverpool, is charged with 11 offences including gaining unauthorised access to computers, impairing the operation of computers, making and supplying malware, money laundering and making false statements to Companies House.
Mr Bessell is also accused of infecting and controlling more than 9,000 "zombie" computers to attack firms like Skype, Pokemon and Google.
Venues across the Midlands and South Yorkshire are to host matches at the 2018 Under-17 European Championships.
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BBC Midlands Today
The number of pupils being permanently excluded across Birmingham and the Black Country has almost doubled over the last five years, according to new figures.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe BBC has found there were more than 400 of these exclusions in 2012 - rising to 720 last year.
Local councils say it's no different to the national picture - where numbers have also gone up - and is partly down to a much higher school population.
A python has escaped from a property in Stoke-on-Trent, with police warning people not to approach it.
The four foot black and white spotted non venomous snake is missing from Meir Hay.
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Premiership club Wasps sign South Africa back-row forward Nizaam Carr on a three-month deal.
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BBC Shropshire
A full inquest is due to start later today into how two men from Market Drayton died in an air crash in Shropshire.
The Rans S6 aircraft was on its way to Shifnal Airfield, having flown there from its base in Market Drayton.
Pilot Tony Crocombe and passenger Michael Sumner - both in their 60s - sustained fatal injuries in the crash in a field on the outskirts of Shifnal.
An investigation was held in July which couldn't rule out an engine stoppage.
