Three men who blew up a shop in a £300,000 insurance scam are due to be sentenced later after being found guilty of murdering five people.

A mother and her two sons were among those killed in the "bomb-like" blast which destroyed the supermarket in Hinckley Road, Leicester, in February.

Aram Kurd, Hawkar Hassan and Arkan Ali caused the explosion when they set alight "many, many litres of petrol" in the basement of the Polish store. Hassan is aged 33 and from Coventry.

They had denied five counts of murder and conspiracy to commit fraud.

BBC News Travel

The M6 northbound in Warwickshire has been closed between J2 and J3 due to a crash.

There's five miles of queuing traffic before J2, says Highways England.

Drivers are being advised to avoid the area.

A West Midlands Metro tram named after Cyrille Regis is being unveiled at a special ceremony later today.

Image source, Getty Images

The former footballer, who died of a heart attack last January aged 59, is most closely associated with West Bromwich Albion, and was one of the English game's breakthrough black players.

Former teammates, friends and family will be at the event at The Baggies' home, The Hawthorns.

Worcester is one of five areas in England that will benefit from a new £20m Cultural Development Fund.

Image source, Getty Images

It's been awarded £3m to regenerate railway arches into creative workspaces and support a festivals programme.

Regions could bid for up to £7m for local projects.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright said the fund would help people build careers in the arts and culture locally but "also boost wider investment and diversify the creative economy".

BBC Midlands Today

The director of one of Birmingham's biggest youth centres claims that cuts in youth services have led to a rise in knife crime.

The West Midlands has the second highest number of knife offences in England and Wales.

John Street runs the charity Free@Last in Nechells which provides support and activities for young people.

Rich Davis
BBC Weather presenter

After a frosty start it will be a cold day with some rain, sleet and hill snow with highs of 4C (39F).

BBC News Travel

One lane of the M6 northbound in Warwickshire is closed due to a crash involving a car and a van.

Delays are building in the area between J3 and J3A.

Vanessa Pearce
BBC News

Welcome to our live service for Friday.

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

Some councils aim to fill potholes within minutes but others take more than a day, new figures show.

The pub bombings in Birmingham city centre in 1974 left 21 people dead and another 220 injured.

Paul Hart leaves his position as technical director at Notts County to join Stoke City as assistant to Nathan Jones.

Munster edge titanic contest at Thomond Park to snatch a last-eight spot from the Irish province.

Toulouse v Bath & Wasps v Leinster in the Champions Cup - listen to BBC radio commentary.

The mutiny at HMP Hewell lasted for about seven hours and was brought to an end by security officers.

Andy Giddings
BBC News

We'll be back with the news, sport, travel and weather from 07:00 tomorrow.

A sculpture is going to be created in honour of all the police dogs that have served West Mercia Police.

It will be made out of knives, decommissioned guns and dog equipment such as leads, whistles and dog bowls, and is being put together by the British Ironworks Centre near Oswestry.

Image source, West Mercia Police

When it is finished, the sculpture will stand outside the force headquarters near Worcester.

The British Ironworks Centre became famous for creating the 27ft high "knife angel" sculpture out of knives and other bladed weapons that had been surrendered to police forces around the country.

Shefali Oza
BBC Midlands Today

There could be some more snow on the way tomorrow and it's going to remain cold, but sunny.

Here's your forecast.

Hannah Quinn
BBC Radio Shropshire

Shropshire's first cat cafe has opened in Shrewsbury today.

Paws Cafe on Mardol allows people to enjoy a hot drink and a cuddle with one of its 11 cats.

A park pool has been stocked with more than 2,500 fish in a bid to encourage angling.

Image source, Environment Agency

The Environment Agency has put in roach, tench, rudd and bream to rejuvenate the pool in Dartmouth Park, West Bromwich.

The Friends of Dartmouth Park Angling Club has bought fishing tackle and hope to launch free weekly angling sessions in the spring.

West Midlands Police said Davies left the force in June, having been arrested in May.