A midwife from Warwick Hospital has been announced as the winner of the Great Midwifery Cake Off for 2018

We'll be back with our usual mix of news, sport, travel and weather from 07:00 on Friday, but keep an eye out here for more updates before then.

Trevor Owens
Sports Editor, BBC Hereford & Worcester

Worcestershire's Moeen Ali has been recalled to England's squad for the first Test against India.

Image source, ALLSPORT/Getty Images

The all-rounder is among the 13 players named ahead of next Wednesday's game at Edgbaston.

Moeen took eight wickets in Worcestershire's recent County Championship match against Somerset.

He has also taken 133 wickets and scored five centuries in 50 Test appearances for England, but was dropped in March after a disappointing tour of Australia and New Zealand.

Hereford Times

The Hereford Times is covering these stories today:

• Villagers gear up to save pub, external
• Paying tribute to the naval officer who transformed Burton Court, external
• Man treated at scene of crash, external

Charlotte A Broadbent
BBC Hereford and Worcester

Plans to build a third footbridge costing £4.2m over the River Severn in Worcester could take a step forward next week.

The authority says putting a second crossing in the south of the city at Diglis (pictured) has been a "success" in opening up that area for walking and cycling.

It wants to put another one at the north end of the city and has come up with a preferred option of building it between Gheluvelt Park and Kepax.

If councillors on Monday agree with the choices,, external there'll then be surveys of the area to check the suitability.

Mark Elliott
BBC News

People are being given more time to have their say on plans for a multi-million pound reorganisation of hospital services in Shropshire.

The proposals look at centralising services at one of two hospitals - either Royal Shrewsbury or Telford's Princess Royal.

Image source, SATH

A 14-week consultation exercise began in May, with public exhibitions taking place across the county.

Today, health bosses say they're extending the deadline for opinions by one week - to 11 September., external

Ludlow & Tenbury Wells Advertiser

The Ludlow Advertiser has these stories today:

• Traders protest at parking decision, external
• Printmaker invited to exhibit in Portugal, external
• Classic cars gear up for garden day, external

James Bond
Sports Producer, BBC Shropshire

The New Saints manager Scott Ruscoe says he won't underestimate Lincoln Red Imps in their Europa League qualifier at Park Hall tonight.

Image source, PA

TNS take on the champions of Gibraltar in the first leg of the second qualifying round of the competition.

If they win the tie, Saints will play the third qualifying round tie at Cardiff City Stadium due to Uefa regulations.

Sophie Calvert
Political Reporter, BBC Radio Stoke

The future of a planned student and retail development in Newcastle-under-Lyme has been thrown into doubt.

The flats, shops and car park were set for the Ryecroft area in the town centre after being approved in November., external

Image source, Google

Developer U+I had got planning permission for the old Sainsbury's site and the former civic offices (pictured), with staff moving to the new Castle House building.

Now, in a joint statement with Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council and Staffordshire County Council, it says it's in discussions to see whether the project will still happen in light of difficulties in the retail sector.

It means the civic offices on Merrial Street will be boarded up from next month while the future of the development is decided.

BBC Weather Watchers

As the hot temperatures hold, our BBC Weather Watchers have been sharing plenty of pictures of flowers in bloom across the West Midlands.

These three are from Artofillusion in Birmingham, GrannieP in Burton upon Trent and Vera in Brinklow:

Image source, Artofillusion

Image source, GrannieP

Image source, Vera

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Herbert Soden

Plans to create a 25-space car park near a Stoke-on-Trent mosque have been approved.

Image source, Stoke-on-Trent City Council

The new car park - to ease parking pressure at the place of worship - will be created off Lower Spring Road in Normacot, with six mature trees set to be lost under the development.

The plan will be part-funded with a £20,000 contribution from Noor Giliani Masjid Mosque as part of an agreement linked to its construction six years ago.

Stoke-on-Trent City councillors backed the car park plan, external along with more than 400 people who signed a petition.

A singer-songwriter from Walsall is among artists nominated for this year's Mercury Prize.

Image source, PA

Jorja Smith's debut, Lost & Found, was largely written while she was working in Starbucks as a teenager.

The 21-year-old joins previous winners Arctic Monkeys and a handful of other acts who have been nominated before.

You can find the full list of nominees here, and find out more about them here.

Gavin Kermack
Reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester

A village community is launching a new scheme, external as it tries to buy its local pub following the venue's closure.

Image source, Google

The Bell Inn at Yarpole, near Leominster, shut in May and locals have told BBC Hereford and Worcester they fear the building could be sold for housing, leaving them with no pub in the community.

An action group's been formed with a view to raising funds.

They're launching the scheme on Friday and say if the pub ends up proving unprofitable, they could always sell it to return money to investors.

Claire Harris was found dead at an address in Dudley after suffering severe head and neck injuries.

The fire service is warning that littering at the side of the road "significantly increases" the risk of fire, tying up resources.

Seven incidents of grass verge fires, close to motorways, were dealt with by West Midlands Fire Service between July 16 and 25, including a serious fire involving a lorry carrying hay on the M5 in Worcestershire.

Station commander Marc Hudson said: "Littering at the side of the road significantly increases the risk of fire and has the potential to tie up valuable resources that could be used elsewhere, which in turn could put people's lives at risk."

There were 56 fires on grass verges next to England's motorways and major A-roads in the 10 days to Wednesday, Highways England reported.

Wasps’ South African forward Ashley Johnson has been suspended for six months following the decision of an independent national anti-doping panel. , external

Image source, Wasps Rugby

The panel accepted the prohibited substance was not ingested intentionally, with the player saying he'd mistakenly took his wife's fat burner tablets, rather than his own legitimate supplement.

Coventry Observer

Among the headlining stories on the Coventry Observer website today:

• Major junction improvements for Coventry and Warwickshire get go-ahead, external
• Corey and Casper killer Robert Brown has jail sentence increased, external
• Men wielding hammers and crowbars assault post office worker, external

England's green and pleasant lands are turning brown.

Rebecca Wood
BBC Midlands Today

It's been a day of high temperatures and sunny skies for the West Midlands but all that's about to change in the next few days - here's your forecast:

To stay up-to-date with the latest weather forecast for your part of the region, head to the BBC Weather website.

Birmingham Live

Stories on the Birmingham Live website today include:

• Man slashed after intervening in street row, external
• Two lorries involved in M6 crash, external
• Urgent appeal to trace missing mother and her two daughters, external