Birmingham Live

These are some of the main stories on the Birmingham Live website today:

• Rail services from Worcester to Birmingham delayed after train breaks down, external
• Woman wielding rolling pin arrested after 30 thugs brawl in city centre, external
• Inadequate schools in Birmingham are waiting years to become academies, external

Matt Sandoz
Stoke City commentator, BBC Radio Stoke

Stoke City midfielder Charlie Adam thinks Southampton made a "sensible appointment" in choosing Mark Hughes as their new manager.

Hughes takes over on a deal until the end of the season, following the sacking of Mauricio Pellegrino on Monday.

Image source, Getty Images

Hughes was sacked by Stoke in January after a run of five losses in seven games and a third round FA Cup defeat to Coventry City of League One.

About 90 drops of drugs, including psychoactive substances, mobile phones and sim cards at up to seven prisons are being investigated by police.

Image source, West Midlands Police

Ten people have been charged over a plot to use drones to smuggle drugs and phones into jails across England including prisons in Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Worcestershire.

West Midlands Police said it carried out raids at addresses in Birmingham and the Black Country on Wednesday.

They are set to appear at Birmingham Magistrates' Court today.

There are big variations across the West Midlands when it comes to whether councils fine parents for taking their children out of school during term time, according to figures obtained by the BBC.

A BBC investigation also shows some councils are issuing penalties at rates five times higher than the average.

Birmingham City Council gave out nearly 600 fines during the last academic year, but Dudley didn’t hand out a single penalty.

You can find out the number of penalties awarded to parents for failing to send their children to school, using our interactive map.

Hull's tenure as the UK City of Culture attracted an audience of more than five million people, £220m of investment and 800 new jobs, according to a report.

The 2017 events brought "the national spotlight", more visitors and "unprecedented media coverage", the University of Hull said.

Coventry is set to take on the title in 2021 and will be hoping to match the attention and investment attracted by Hull.

Image source, OLI SCARFF/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

More than 40 charities formerly based at a Coventry tower block, could now be rehomed in the city council's empty offices.

Image source, Google

The organisations had to leave Coventry Point, because it's being demolished as part of a £300m regeneration scheme.

The council has agreed to help the charities find new homes, including in some of the unused property it owns in the city.

BBC News Travel

Bus replacement services will run between Shirley and Stratford-upon Avon, and between Solihull and Dorridge due to the broken-down train at Droitwich, said National Rail.

Customers can use their tickets on Cross Country train services between Cheltenham Spa and Birmingham New Street as well as National Express bus services.

Disruption is expected to last until at least 09:00.

An advert for the role of a master model builder for Lego has attracted thousands of applications from across the world.

More than 5,000 people have applied for the £27,000-a-year role at studios next to the new Legoland Discovery Centre in Birmingham.

Image source, Getty Images

Amy Langham, general manager at the centre, said it had seen interest from Australia, Dubai, Saudi Arabia as well as all over Europe.

"It's such a coveted position", she said.

"There's only 22 of these jobs worldwide, so you can imagine how much interest there is."

BBC Midlands Today

A volunteer group is helping hundreds of toads to cross a Herefordshire road, after research showed the species has suffered a 68% decline in 30 years.

The toads have to negotiate the road near to Bodenham Lake where they migrate to breed every year, despite the danger of being squashed by cars.

It's one of the largest breeding areas for toads in the Midlands.

Special patrols have been set up to keep them safe.

Express and Star

Here are a few of the stories appearing on the Express & Star website this morning:

• Broadway West crash: Community grieving after loss of teenagers in Walsall collision, external
• Dirty equipment delays operations at Dudley's Russells Hall Hospital, external
• Walsall 'does not have problems with ethnic segregation' amid integration pilot, external

BBC Business News

The Financial Times reports that Airbus would find it "practically impossible" to give new work to Redditch-based GKN if it is taken over by Melrose Industries.

Image source, GKN

"The industry does not lend itself to shorter-term financial investment," Tom Williams, chief operating officer of commercial jets at Airbus, told the Financial Times.

Melrose denies accusations that it is a short-term investor, saying it acts as if it were owning the business for ever.

Earlier this week GKN rejected an imroved offer from Melrose.

You can find all the latest on our Business Live news stream.

More than 200 technical jobs are to be created across the West Midlands in Openreach's largest ever recruitment drive.

The company, responsible for most of the UK's telephone connections, is hiring trainee engineers, as it continues a project to install high-speed broadband across the country.

Some of those engineers will also help provide a better service, says Kim Mears, managing director for Infrastructure Delivery. She says services are already improving.

BBC News Travel

A broken-down train is affecting rail services between Worcester and Birmingham.

West Midlands Railway said services have been suspended between Worcester Foregate Street and Bromsgrove, and Shrub Hill and Kidderminster.

Replacement bus services are being arranged.

BBC News Travel

One lane has been closed on the A45 around Ryton-on-Dunsmore in Warwickshire due to a broken-down lorry, emergency repairs and a fuel spillage.

The closure is on the eastbound carriageway between A445 Leamington Road and B4455, Stretton-on-Dunsmore.

A lorry hit a collapsed manhole, causing a fuel spill, which is affecting around seven miles of the carriageway.

A project to begin running electric trains between Birmingham and Bromsgrove has been delayed for a second time.

The plan to extend Birmingham's Cross City line to the town was due to be completed in January, but it now won't happen until July.

Telford and Wrekin Council said it had invested huge resources into tacking child sexual exploitation in the town.

At the weekend, the Sunday Mirror said it had uncovered Britain's worst-ever child grooming scandal, with up to 1,000 girls abused by gangs since the 1980s.

Telford's director of children's services Clive Jones admitted there are still victims of grooming but says claims there are hundreds of victims aren't true.

He said the Labour-run authority has spent an extra £200,000 on protecting people.

Charlie Slater
BBC Weather presenter

This morning's rain should clear, leaving sunshine and showers this afternoon with highs of 12C (54F).

Vanessa Pearce
BBC News

Welcome to our live service for Thursday.

We'll be bringing you all the news, sport, travel and weather for the West Midlands.

We love to hear from you, so share your news, thoughts and photos of the area with us via email, Twitter, external and Facebook., external

The city was brought into "the national spotlight" and given "unprecedented" coverage during 2017.

A man has been arrested on suspicion of drink-driving and causing death by dangerous driving.