Matt Sandoz
Stoke City commentator, BBC Radio Stoke

Stoke City captain Ryan Shawcross says lots of things have gone wrong for the side this season which has contributed to their relegation battle.

Image source, Getty Images

The Potters travel to Liverpool tomorrow lunchtime, needing a win to keep themselves in with a slim chance of beating the drop in the Premier League.

Stoke are currently four points from safety with just three games to go in the season.

BBC Entertainment and Arts

The BBC Civilisations programme has been looking at the impact of war on art and, in this case, at how World War One influenced a promising young Herefordshire artist. , external

Brian Hatton was born in 1887 and, by the time he became an adult, had established himself as a professional artist.

Image source, Hereford Museum and Art Gallery

Before the war started in 1914, he enjoyed exploring themes inspired by the Herefordshire countryside.

But, after he enlisted in the first year of the war with the Worcestershire Yeomanry, he continued painting, graphically capturing the heaps of bodies intermingled in death.

Image source, Hereford Museum and Art Gallery

He was killed while on active service in Egypt on Easter Sunday, 23 April 1916, aged 28-years-old.

Coventry Live
Coventry Live

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

• Disqualified driver who killed young brothers faces long jail sentence, external
• Planning permission granted for 378 bespoke student flats, external
• This is why the Lady Godiva statue was lit orange last night, external

Detectives said they have not ruled out the possibility the crash could be terror-related.

An appeal asking Wolves fans if they may have seen a teenager found dead in a park earlier this month, will appear in this weekend's match-day programme.

Image source, Family Handout

An inquest has opened into the death of Viktorija Sokolova, 14, who was discovered in West Park, Wolverhampton on 12 April.

A second post-mortem examination will take place to establish the cause of death after an initial test concluded she died from blunt force trauma to the head.

A 16-year-old boy from Wolverhampton has been charged with her rape and murder and is in custody.

Rail passengers return to find nine cars vandalised with wheels stolen and windows smashed.

Motorists and residents affected by the Wednesbury flood yesterday are being directed to their own insurers in the first instance, said the water company.

South Staffordshire Water is advising those who have incurred travel costs or any vehicle and property damage to keep records and receipts for any future claims.

Photos on Thursday showed dozens of vehicles submerged - some had their windows smashed by emergency service workers, carrying out safety checks.

Rebecca Wood
BBC Midlands Today

Another cold and wet day expected tomorrow with highs of 10C.

Allen Cook
BBC News

A sports coach has been found guilty of sex offences against girls under the age of 15.

Image source, Google

During the trial, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard Joe Daniel Hall had worked at several schools in the Telford area, which allowed him to meet and befriend several of his victims.

This afternoon, the 26-year-old, from Randlay, was found guilty of seven sex offences against underage children and not guilty of one count of possessing an extreme pornographic image.

He'll be sentenced at the court next month.

Allen Cook
BBC News

Two men have been hit by a car outside a mosque in Birmingham this afternoon and police say they're not ruling out it could be terror-related., external

Image source, Google

The collision happened on Ettington Road this afternoon at around 14:15.

Police say the pair, in their 20s, were described as one having a head injury, the other walking wounded.

The car didn't stop at the scene.

Emma Thomas
Reporter, BBC Midlands Today

A Birmingham food bank that helped more than 4,000 people last year is opening a new distribution centre today.

Syd Willis, 89, began working at Sparkhill food bank to fulfil the dying wish of his wife Audrey.

The original building was too cold with temperatures down to -7C in winter.

With the help of donations from the public and local businesses they've renovated the site in Audrey's memory.

You can see my full report on Midlands Today at 18:30 on BBC One.

A professor quoted in a Sunday Mirror story about child abuse in Telford casts doubt on its figures.

The opening day of the latest round of the County Championship is severely affected by rain, with five matches washed out.

Dan Pallett
BBC Midlands Today Sport

A new £3m cycling performance centre has been opened in Evesham today by former Olympic champion Chris Boardman.

The centre includes a wind tunnel, biomechanics and physiology departments and Boardman says it's available, at a price, to budding amateurs and elite athletes.

I'll have more on Midlands Today on BBC One from 18:30.

Vicky Norton
BBC Radio Stoke

All they needed was a name...

All week, ceramic makers in Stoke-on-Trent have been poised with their royal merchandise after the arrival of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's third child on Monday.

Well, they got the news today they'd been after as the couple revealed his name as Louis Arthur Charles and, among others, the Emma Bridgewater factory swung into action this afternoon:

The mother of two boys killed in a hit-and-run crash told a court she remains haunted by the "monstrous act" and that her "heart is broken".

In a personal statement which was read out during the Warwick Crown Court hearing, Louise Platt-May, said: "I felt like my heart breaks over and over again, the emptiness will never leave me".

Image source, Family Handout

Corey, six, and Casper Platt-May, two, were on their way to a park in Coventry when they were hit by a car. Their mother said their lives were "stolen".

"I felt completely numb, like life is pointless.

"My remaining sons are the only reason to get up. I feel so guilty like it’s wrong to live on without them."

BBC News Travel

The southbound side of the M6 has been shut in Cheshire due to a car fire between J17 and J16:, external

Image source, Highways England

A court has heard how Robert Brown - who has never passed a driving test or held a valid licence - drove "like a madman" into two Coventry brothers.

The 53-year-old has 30 previous convictions for driving without a licence or insurance, the court was told, and has been sentenced to a total of nine years after admitting death by dangerous driving.

Passing sentence Judge Lockhart said it was a day "that decimated the lives of those who loved them".

What their mother Louise experienced must be "close to being impossible to bear".

"Their dignity will shine out like like a beacon", he said.

A passenger in a car that killed two young brothers in a hit-and-run crash has been jailed for six months.

Image source, West Midlands Police

Gwendoline Harrison, 42, of Triumph Close, Wyken tried to flee the scene on foot but members of the public attempted to stop her and driver Robert Brown, Warwick Crown Court heard.

Harrison hit someone who intervened and admitted a charge of assault intending to resist arrest.

Corey, six, and Casper Platt-May, two, were on their way to a park in Coventry when they were hit.

Brown, 53, of Attwood Crescent, Wyken, was jailed for a total of nine years after admitted causing the deaths by dangerous driving.

A man who caused the deaths of two young brothers in a hit-and-run crash has been jailed for a total of nine years.

Image source, Family handout

Corey, six, and Casper Platt-May, two, were on their way to a park in Coventry when they were hit by a car.

Robert Brown, 53, of Attwood Crescent, Wyken, admitted causing the deaths by dangerous driving in February.

The court heard he had previously been jailed for possessing a machete and had been let out on licence just six days before the crash.