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The South Staffordshire MP Gavin Williamson has been announced as the new Secretary of State for Defence, replacing Sir Michael Fallon who resigned on Wednesday.
He's been the MP for South Staffordshire since 2010.
Image source, Conservative Party
Matt Sandoz
Stoke City commentator, BBC Radio Stoke
Stoke City midfielder Charlie Adam says if they can keep Ryan Shawcross fit, then the club will have a good season.
Shawcross returned to the side for the last two matches after missing the previous six with a back problem.
Stoke are currently 14th in the Premier League table.
Image source, Getty ImagesAdam said the big defender was good at directing the younger players and "talking them through the game".
Quote MessageHe'll be a key player for us. He knows how to play the game and he knows his place in the team."
Charlie Adam, Stoke City midfielder
A string of knitted flowers has been removed from the war memorial in Crewe, after somebody complained they looked untidy.
They were created by members of the Crewe and Nantwich Senior Forum to mark the start of the Poppy Appeal, and have now been moved to a nearby pub.
Image source, Getty ImagesAdrian Lindop, the chair of the group, said it wasn't clear who had asked them to be removed, and that he thought the response had been very positive.
Quote MessageA lot of people were coming up to the memorial that day and they stood around and when they heard they had to take them down they were saying 'why?' because the poppies in the trees looked quite beautiful."
Adrian Lindop, Crewe and Nantwich Senior Forum
Richard Wilford
BBC WM
Birmingham City remain 21st and two points clear of the Championship relegation zone following a 2-0 home defeat to Brentford.
Image source, Getty ImagesBlues manager Steve Cotterill told BBC WM: "It was always going to be a tough game after the emotions of the Aston Villa game.
"Maikel Kieftenbeld had a fantastic shot, which if it had gone in, would've been a different game for us. I'm then not sure it's a penalty for them as I think Michael Morrison's got a foot on it.
"We need that little bit of quality in certain areas to enable other players to relax a little bit."
The Attorney General has been urged to review a sentence handed to a man who attacked two paramedics, as they tried to help him, leaving one with a broken wrist.
Image source, West Midlands Ambulance ServiceAdam George James, 24, from Wigan was given a 14 month sentence, suspended for two years, at Birmingham Crown Court last week after the attack in Birmingham city centre.
The head of West Midlands Ambulance Service said he was "almost lost for words" at the "extremely lenient" sentence, and has written to the Attorney General to ask for a review.
A second paramedic suffered cuts and bruising to his lower legs after being kicked by James - who was wearing steel toe-capped footwear - after finding him unconscious.
Amy Holtom, who suffered the broken wrist said: "Anyone else would have been looking at time in jail, but yet again ambulance staff have been let down by the legal system.”
A collection of cartoons that appeared in publications such as Playboy, Punch and the New Yorker has been sold for thousands of pounds at auction.
Image source, Getty ImagesAround 150 lots from a collection of Rugby cartoonist Francis Wilford-Smith - known as Smilby - were sold to bidders around the world.
The 60 Playboy cartoons sold for £8,080 and the top lot, an illustration of an equal rights rally, selling for £320.
The artist died in Herefordshire in 2009, and the collection was sold by a descendant.
BBC Midlands Today
One of England's reigning Commonwealth bowls champions says Leamington Spa would be a great venue for the event in five years time.
Victoria Park will stage the bowls competition if Birmingham is confirmed as the host nation for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, with a decision expected next month.
Ellen Falkner, who won gold in the spa town in 2004, said the site was set up to "showcase a fantastic feast of sport".
Leamington Spa currently stages the national championships every August.
Some of our main stories today are:
A man who disappeared with his two young sons is believed to have links with Ludlow and Shrewsbury, police say.
Image source, Thames Valley PoliceAn "urgent" search was launched after Michael John Cole, 43, and sons Michael Lee, eight, and Harry, seven, were reported missing from Arborfield in Berkshire on 2 October.
Officers believe Mr Cole planned to take a train the following day from nearby Mortimer station, towards Shropshire or Wales.
Police called on yard owners to be "vigilant", and be on the lookout for the scrap metal dealer.
A Worcestershire MP has led a parliamentary debate on the issue of puppy smuggling.
Image source, Nigel HuddlestonNigel Huddleston, the Conservative MP for Mid Worcestershire, says he wants the government to examine whether they are doing enough to tackle the trade, which can earn puppy smuggling gangs up to £35,000 a week.
Environment minister George Eustice says government agencies and dog charities have been working together at borders to improve checks.
BBC Sport
Aston Villa are back in the Championship play-off places after a 2-0 victory at Preston North End.
James Chester headed Villa into an early lead as he met a Robert Snodgrass corner at the near post, and then Snodgrass scored Villa's second goal.
Image source, Getty ImagesAston Villa manager Steve Bruce said the match "could have been more comfortable, but overall it was a really decent performance".
West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street, has joined other elected mayors in calling for more control over taxes instead of relying on government grants.
Image source, Greater London AuthorityAt their first summit, they said the UK was "one of the most centralised states in the western world".
The meeting, hosted at City Hall in London, was the first of a series of planned summits attended by all the regional and city-wide mayors.
In a joint statement, they called for a "significant increase in fiscal devolution, with regions given greater control over existing taxes and the revenues they create, rather than having to rely on government grants".
A woman was left trapped in her car for around an hour after a two-car crash in Kingswinford yesterday.
Image source, West Midlands Ambulance ServiceThe ambulance service says they were called to the scene, near the Aldi supermarket in Dudley Road at around 13:30.
The 59-year-old was taken to hospital suffering serious leg injuries.
The driver of the other car, a 48-year-old woman, was also taken to hospital.
A shortlist of companies bidding to build trains for the high speed rail line will be unveiled today.
Image source, HS2/GrimshawFive firms are in the running to win the £2.75bn contract.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has said he`s determined the deal will "create huge opportunities for British workers".
The winners of £6.6bn worth of contracts to build the first phase of HS2 between London and Birmingham were announced in July.
The contract is expected to be awarded in late 2019.
A 31-year-old has been arrested after a teenager was stabbed in Shropshire, police say. , external
The 17 year-old boy was found with a stab wound in High Street, Wem, in the early hours of Sunday morning, and treated in hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
The man arrested has been released on bail, and officers are appealing for any witnesses to come forward.
An investigation has revealed that a third of all street lights in Worcestershire are switched off overnight.
Around 16,000 lights remain off between midnight and 06:00, figures show.
The county council says it’s good for the environment and saves almost £300,000 a year.
But some local residents have complained saying the changes have led to an increase in crime when it's dark.
Thirty sculptures of wolves, which helped to bring visitors to Wolverhampton for ten weeks in the summer, are to be auctioned off for charity.
The Wolves in Wolves project saw the statues go on display at prominent locations around the city.
The money raised by this evening’s auction will go towards funding eight local charities.
A memorial service will take place today to mark the 10th anniversary of the tragedy which claimed the lives of four Warwickshire fire fighters in Atherstone-on-Stour.
Image source, OtherIan Reid, John Averis, Ashley Stephens and Darren Yates-Badley died after entering a burning vegetable packing plant in 2017.
The Fire Brigades Union is warning that cutbacks to fire services across the country could mean that another tragedy is possible.
Quote MessageI believe it could happen again.. Somewhere in the country there could easily be a tragedy like Atherstone purely due to the reductions in number of firefighters and fire safety inspectors which will leave buildings not inspected.
Barry Downey, Fire Brigades Union
Alex Hamilton
BBC Weather
A mostly dry day with the odd spot of rain possible but also some bright spells with highs of around 12C (54F).
Latest weather for the West Midlands
Vanessa Pearce
BBC News
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