Only Endris Mohammed himself knows why he killed his children and attempted to murder his wife, police say.

"As part of our investigation we spoke to people who were in his taxi on that day and they say he was happy, chatting and he seemed very normal," Det Insp Justin Spanner said.

Neither had his wife noticed a change in his behaviour, Mr Spanner added.

An investigation showed he had no history of mental illness and contrary to his claims of money worries his bank account was not overdrawn, police said.

Shropshire Star

In the Shropshire Star today:

• Telford woman, 31, stabbed her partner for eating a chip, external
• 600-home Shrewsbury development set to get green light, external
• Canal locks get winter overhaul, external

Veteran football commentator meets a pretender to his throne.

Two people have been taken to hospital after a crash involving several vehicles on the A45, Dunchurch Highway in Coventry.

Image source, West Midlands Fire Service

Fire crews also attended the incident which happened shortly before 11:00.

The driver of one vehicle, a man in his 40s, suffered a head injury, and the driver of a second car, in his 20s, had abdominal injuries, the ambulance service said.

The road remains closed southbound around Pickford Way, Parkhill Drive and Broad Lane.

Police described the deaths of Endris Mohammed's children as "absolutely horrific".

Saros, eight, and six-year-old Leanor were smothered to death with a petrol-soaked rag in the living room, before Mohammed then attempted to cause a gas explosion at the house on Holland Road, Birmingham.

His wife Penil Teklehaimanot told the court she was woken up by a smoke alarm.

She had no idea the children were dead, police said, when she and a neighbour rescued them from the fire.

Image source, WEST MIDLANDS POLICE/PA WIRE

It was not until the children were laid on the front lawn that the "horrific circumstances" became clear.

Det Insp Justin Spanner, of West Midlands Police, said it had been "one of the worst cases" he had dealt with.

Endris Mohammed bought fuel at Birmingham petrol station.

BBC WM Sport

Aston Villa's Jonathan Kodjia is facing another lengthy spell out injured after hurting his ankle on international duty with Ivory Coast.

Image source, Getty Images

Fellow striker Scott Hogan has had an operation on a stomach problem and will be out for the foreseeable future.

When a West Midlands paramedic found himself reading too many stories about the abuse encountered by his colleagues, he decided it was "time for a morale boost" so he started a social media campaign to get people sharing happier experiences.

Rob Moore asked people to share stories using #bluelighthappy on social media, and now Radio 5 Live are spending the day paying tribute to the work done by emergency services across the country.

You can join them by sharing your stories using #bluelightday on social media.

Express and Star

Here are some of the headlining stories on the Express and Star website today:

• Teacher used school computer to send sexually explicit emails, external
• Shares plunge as Wolverhampton-based Carillion warns on profits again, external
• Grave of Victoria Cross war hero to be restored, external

Rebecca Wood
BBC Midlands Today

Are you raising money for Children in Need? We've been asking you what you're up to today.

It's certainly a busy day for Pudsey who is travelling nationwide. Here he is in the boardroom at Enterprise business support centre showing them how it's done.

Image source, @MGeracu2talent

And it's probably true to say that bake sales are always popular, who doesn't love cake?

Baltic Training are having a bake sale, as well as the residential ambassadors at the University of Worcester (pictured below).

Image source, @RAuniworc

Joshua Cook
BBC Coventry & Warwickshire

Dogs who undergo operations often need blood transfusions, just like humans. But finding enough donors can be difficult.

Last year, national canine blood bank service Pet Blood Bank UK sent out more than 5,000 units of blood, but the charity said demand for blood continues to grow.

We meet some of the doggie donors giving blood in Coventry.

Aston Villa striker Jonathan Kodjia aggravates an ankle injury, and Scott Hogan is sidelined after a stomach operation.

Shropshire Council is lobbying the government for more money to help look after asylum-seeking children who've arrived in the county without their families.

The government pays £114 a night for under 16s and £91 a night for those above 16, but the authority says that doesn't cover its costs.

Shrewsbury's MP Daniel Kawczynski has also written to the Secretary of State for International Development to ask for her help and is taking Council leader Peter Nutting to meet the local government minister Sajid Javid later this month.

A Birmingham taxi driver who killed his two young children with a petrol-soaked cloth and then tried to kill his wife in a gas explosion has been found guilty of murder.

Birmingham Crown Court heard Endris Mohammed also attempted to murder his partner, Penil Teklehaimanot, by tampering with a gas pipe and setting fire to their home in the Hamstead area.

Mohammed had denied the murders of eight-year-old Saros Endris and his six-year-old sister Leanor, claiming diminished responsibility.

He will be sentenced on Monday.

A conference on saving an endangered ground-nesting bird is taking place in Shropshire today.

It follows a project in the county to protect curlews from predators by putting electric fences around their nests.

It's been deemed a partial success with eight chicks saved.

But conservationists say more needs to be done to stabilise the curlew population.

Worcester News

These are three of the top stories in the Worcester News today:

• Arrest after man stabbed in street, external
• Gambler's rampage in betting shop costs thousands, external
• Pressure group 'cannot condone' traffic light protestor, external

West Bromwich Albion boss Tony Pulis believes he is a victim of his own success amid speculation about his job.

A man has been charged with a number of offences after the centre of Ellesmere was evacuated on Tuesday night.

The 35-year-old appeared before Telford magistrates yesterday, accused of assaulting a person and causing actual bodily harm.

He's also been charged with criminal damage to property, affray, and threatening a person with a blade or sharp object in a public place and is due to stand trial at Shrewsbury Crown Court on 18 December.

Maryam Qaiser
BBC Local Live

A man who claimed he was being paid to look after illegal tobacco worth £10,000 has been ordered to carry out unpaid work.

Osman Abdullah Hamarashid said he was paid £50 a day to mind tobacco in his car that was being sold in Radford Road in Nottingham.

Nottingham City Council said the 33-year-old from Birmingham was arrested after an investigation by Trading Standards in December last year.

Image source, PA

The products, which had a street value of £4,755, were a mixture of counterfeit items, foreign labelled and non-duty paid products, the court heard.

Hamarashid pleaded guilty to possession of tobacco at a previous hearing but was found guilty of two counts to supplying tobacco at a trial yesterday.

He received 120 hours of unpaid work and was ordered to pay £200 court costs and £85 victim surcharge at Nottingham Magistrates' Court.

BBC Sport

Worcestershire's Moeen Ali has taken his first two wickets on England's Ashes tour, in their warm-up match against a Cricket Australia XI.

He removed Jake Carder and Ryan Gibson as their hosts started their second innings, but he was only able to score five runs when England batted earlier in the day.

Image source, Getty Images

At the end of day three of the four-day match, Australia XI trailed England by 144 runs with seven second-innings wickets remaining.