BBC News

Campaigners say the first deportation flight from the UK to Jamaica since the Windrush scandal has set off from Birmingham.

Activists say 35 people were on board the flight. A number were given a last minute reprieve.

The Home Office said last night that all those on the flight were serious criminals.

But campaigners insist some of the men are being unfairly targeted by the government's "hostile environment" immigration policy.

Industrial action in Birmingham could cost the city £28.2m by 2020, a council report warns.

BBC News England

Clothes and toiletries are being collected in Stafford to try and help the survivors of a fatal house fire in the town.

Image source, PA

Riley Holt, eight, Keegan Unitt, six, Tilly Rose Unitt, four, and Olly Unitt, three, were killed in the blaze in Stafford on Tuesday morning.

Their mother and her partner leapt from a first-floor window with the children's two-year-old brother.

Image source, PA

A Facebook page has been set up to gather necessities, launched by Jane Hardy, whose children attend Castle Church Primary School, where Riley, Tilly, and Olly were pupils.

She said: "There was a pretty dark atmosphere yesterday morning and we all felt it very deeply and I just felt like I needed to do something, instead of sitting at home being sad about it."

BBC Weather Watchers

It was a misty start to the day for many of us this morning and the BBC Weather Watchers have been sharing their photos.

These ones were taken at Bishops Itchington in Warwickshire, Little Malvern in Worcestershire and Solihull.

Image source, RosieMirandaPhoto

Image source, Ledbury Lass

Image source, Thornbird

There's a warning of potential power cuts and travel delays from strong winds tonight in the West Midlands.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning, external covering the whole region and running from 22:00 until 09:00 tomorrow.

Image source, Met Office

BBC Coventry & Warwickshire

Students at University of Warwick are set to protest today against a ban being lifted on two students involved in an online group chat that threatened rape.

Image source, Getty Images

The men were barred from the campus for 10 years, but this was reduced to 12 months after they appealed. They have since said they will not return.

A demonstration over the university's handling of the investigation is due to take place this lunchtime., external

The university said it was committed to ensuring student safety.

Work on the new Worcestershire Parkway Station has taken another step forward, with construction starting on the first three platforms.

Worcestershire County Council tweeted this photo earlier and said work was "progressing well" on the £22m station, near junction 7 of the M5.

Image source, Worcestershire Council

The local authority says the new station, external will make it easy for people in the county to travel to London.

BBC Radio Shropshire Sport

AFC Telford United are into the last eight of the FA Trophy after winning 2-1 at Spennymoor last night.

Shane Sutton and Andre Brown scored for the Bucks and they will play Solhull in the next round.

Image source, Getty Images

The game was originally scheduled for last weekend, but was postponed because of a frozen pitch.

A 29-year-old man went to hospital after being shot in the leg at an address in Wood End.

Risk factors for dementia include heavy drinking, smoking, genetics and high blood pressure.

Hereford Times

Here are three headlines from the Hereford Times today:

• Pedestrian hit by car on busy road, external
• Hereford doctor performs medical first, external
• Thief takes burial stone, external

Three children had to flee from their flat last night after a suspected arson attack on a supermarket beneath their home.

Image source, West Midlands Fire Service

West Midlands Fire Service said 15 firefighters battled the severe blaze in a storeroom at the shop on Yardley Road, Acocks Green, Birmingham, from just after midnight. , external

They had to rescue one woman from the flats above the supermarket, while the children, along with a man and a woman, had escaped before crews arrived.

All of them were checked over by paramedics at the scene.

The fire service says, while the exact cause isn't known, it is believed to be arson.

BBC Midlands Today

Council tenants in Birmingham owe nearly £13m in unpaid rent, according to a review of government figures by the BBC.

Image source, PA

It's a rise of 25% in the last four years and the statistics also show rent arrears increased by 237% in Wolverhampton over the same period.

The Local Government Association, external and debt charities claim the rises are being caused by the roll out of the new benefit system Universal Credit.

The government has previously insisted the new single benefit is "doing a good job".

John Bray
BBC News

An appeal to get a famous water mill back producing flour has passed its target in just over a week.

Birmingham’s Sarehole Mil, which dates back 250 years, was a childhood haunt of Lord of the Rings author J R R Tolkien and has been cited as the inspiration behind the Shire's mill, featured in the books.

The initial fundraising target was £6,500, but has now been extended to £8,000 after passing the first total.

The water wheel cannot turn because debris is trapped underneath after a devastating flood last May.

Organisers of the appeal says the extra cash from the new target will be used to improve the flour store at the site.

BBC Shropshire

A debate's going to be held this morning in Parliament, led by the Telford MP, into progress on the independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation in the town.

In April, Telford and Wrekin Council announced there would be an independent, council-commissioned inquiry, after a Sunday Mirror article claimed 1,000 children may have been abused in the town since the 1980s.

But last month, the town's Conservative MP Lucy Allan told the House of Commons that victims were being let down by delays in starting the inquiry.

The local authority said earlier this week that it had to balance getting the inquiry started with making sure survivors were, external "properly engaged".

This morning's debate is set be held from 11:00 at Westminster Hall., external

Sophie Madden
BBC News

Three people have been arrested after a man arrived at hospital with a shotgun injury last night.

Image source, Google

Police say they believed the shot happened at a house on Elkington Street, Wood End, Coventry and armed officers were sent to the scene.

The force says the 29-year-old victim's injury is not life-threatening.

The three arrested, a 21-year-old woman, a 26-year-old man and a 17-year-old man, are all known to the injured man and are still in custody, officers say.

Stoke-on-Trent Live

The Stoke-on-Trent Live website has these stories today:

• Pervert jailed for attacks on three schoolgirls, external
• 'Fun-loving and caring' mum found dead on bathroom floor, external
• Parents speak of heartache as children's classmates killed in house fire, external

BBC Newsbeat

Herefordshire, Redditch and Bromsgrove are towards the bottom of a list of places to live in the West Midlands if you're under 26, BBC analysis suggests.

Variables considered include access to mental health care, average rent prices and levels of unemployment.

The list ranks 378 local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland from highest to lowest.

Herefordshire ranked poorly for mental health care and sports facilities while Redditch and Bromsgrove were lowly marked for lack of places to go out.

Towards the top of the rankings for the region are Birmingham, Coventry and Worcester.

BBC News UK

A Briton has been arrested and detained in the United Arab Emirates after reportedly being assaulted when he wore a Qatar football team shirt to a match.

Image source, Getty Images

Ali Issa Ahmad, 26, from Wolverhampton, is said to have been unaware of a law against "showing sympathy" for Qatar - brought in amid a diplomatic dispute.

His friend says he was held after telling police he had been attacked.

The UAE embassy in London said Mr Ahmad has been charged with wasting police time and making false statements.

Responding to earlier media reports, a UAE official said he was "categorically not arrested for wearing a Qatar football shirt".

Jennie Aitken
Reporter, BBC Radio Stoke

Tributes are continuing to be left in Stafford this morning after the deaths of four children in a house fire.

Part of the roof collapsed, windows were shattered and rooms left blackened by the blaze after the fire broke out on Sycamore Lane yesterday morning.

Dozens of flowers and soft toys have been left at the scene.

A donation page set up to help the family "rebuild their lives" has amassed more than £17,000 since it was launched.