Police in Staffordshire are urging people not to speculate on what may have happened in the fire that claimed the lives of four children in Stafford.

Riley Holt, eight, Keegan Unitt, six, Tilly Rose Unitt, four, and Olly Unitt, three, died in the blaze on Tuesday.

Two people have been arrested this afternoon on suspicion of manslaughter by gross negligence.

Staffordshire Police said: "This incident has had a huge impact on the community and we understand there will be confusion and a demand for information."

The cause of the fire is unknown and investigations are continuing.

Allen Cook
BBC News

A handwritten draft of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species has been placed under an export ban as attempts are made to find £490,000 to keep it from leaving the UK., external

The page from Darwin's landmark work includes corrections and shows his reworking.

Image source, PA

The ban also includes two pages from another of his works and the three's combined value is more than £800,000.

Darwin, who was born in Shrewsbury in 1809, came up with the theory of evolution by natural selection which explained how new species evolved.

Minister for Heritage Michael Ellis said he placed the temporary ban on the pages as they "create an incredibly powerful impression".

The application licence has been deferred until 7 May and could be extended to 7 September if "serious intention" is shown to raise the money.

Worcester News

The Worcester News has these headlines today:

• Magistrate calls drunk man who punched victim in McDonald's 'an idiot', external
• Council tax could be doubled for empty homes in Worcester, external
• Plans to leave one crew at Worcester Fire Station overnight, external

Local Democracy Reporting Service
George Makin

A proposal to build a new Islamic centre, external in Cradley Heath has won the backing of planning officers who are recommending councillors approve the scheme.

Image source, Sandwell Borough Council

The Cradley Heath Mosque is seeking planning permission to construct a new two-storey building on Plant Street.

The plans would replace a building destroyed by a fire on Boxing Day 2009.

Councillors will decide to back or reject the application at their meeting on 13 February.

Allen Cook
BBC News

Two people have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter by gross negligence following a house fire in which four children died.

Image source, Handout

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

This afternoon, Staffordshire Police says it's arrested a 24-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man., external

The force says the pair are in custody.

BBC Hereford and Worcester

Reaching the final of the Premiership Rugby Cup would be an achievement for the whole of Worcester as well as the city's rugby union team, according to one of their players.

Image source, Getty Images

Worcester Warriors are hosting Saracens tonight in the semi-final which starts from 19:45 - the club's first appearance at this stage in a major domestic competition.

Allen Cook
BBC News

The police watchdog says "opportunities were missed" by a police force to protect a teenage girl in the months before she was stabbed in the grounds of a church.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

The girl, 16, suffered "significant" injuries in the assault at All Saints Church on Branston Road, Burton-upon-Trent, in January.

Last year, Claudiu Vacaru, 20, of no fixed address, was detained in a young offenders institution after admitting unlawful wounding and possession of a bladed article in a public place.

Today, the Independent Office for Police Conduct said the force failed to properly handle complaints from the girl before the attack although it adds that they couldn't have seen how violent the case would turn., external

It adds that four officers have been given management action and the force is now using the case as an example in training officers.

Birmingham Live

Some of the Birmingham Live headlines today include:

• Ram raiders smash front of Sutton Coldfield post office, external
• The funeral of PCSO Holly Burke takes place at Stourport Crematorium, external
• The bullying video the victim's parents want you to see, external

BBC Shropshire

Campaigners are vowing to keep fighting plans by a council to allow a housing estate on part of a country park.

Image source, Google

Like many local authorities across England, Shropshire Council's drawing up its local plan, setting out areas for where to build new homes in the future.

Its consultation on the sites, which ends today, includes building 850 homes on land at Stanmore, near Bridgnorth, potentially on some of Stanmore Country Park. , external

A group called Save Bridgnorth Greenbelt's been set up and says the green space needs protecting for future generations.

The council says the focus on the Stanmore area is needed to "meet the demand for houses in the county".

Hannah Richardson
BBC News education and social affairs reporter

A million more young adults in the UK are living with their parents than were two decades ago, research suggests.

A quarter of 20- to 34-year-olds do so, the study, by think tank Civitas, external, says.

This rises to 41% in London, where housing is most expensive, but falls where it is cheapest.

According to data from residential property analysts Hometrack, external, first-time buyers in the West Midlands Euro region are around 30 years old and have a deposit of about £23,824,

Take a look at the BBC's housing calculator to see where you can and cannot afford to live.

BBC Hereford and Worcester

Three full-time fire crews who work overnight in Hereford, Worcester and Bromsgrove are set to be replaced with retained (on-call) firefighters.

Image source, Google

Currently, the fire engines are immediately available to be sent to blazes around-the-clock, but only because one crew at each station works a 24-hour day.

That equates to 12 hours on-shift and 12 on-call, but based at the fire station.

Now, the fire service says it can't continue doing that without the agreement of the Fire Brigades Union, external after a court case last year involving South Yorkshire firefighters.

It's instead proposing staffing the three engines overnight with retained fire crews, external - part-time staff not based at the fire stations - and plans to launch a consultation next week.

South Africa centre Juan de Jongh signs a new contract with Premiership club Wasps.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Councillors are being advised to grant permission to an 808-bed student accommodation block in Coventry, despite opposition from local residents.

Image source, ES Coventry Ltd

Developers ES Coventry Ltd are bidding to redevelop an existing car park off De Montfort Way, adjacent to the Cannon Park shopping centre.

The six-storey block and its multi-storey car park would provide “modern and high-quality accommodation to support both universities” developers say.

Planners have recommended it is granted approval when it goes to a planning committee at Coventry council on Thursday, 14 February.

More than 200 letters of objection have been lodged over the number of students it would bring alongside the impact on neighbouring properties.

Hereford Times

The Hereford Times is covering these stories today:

• Pair sentenced after woman attacked outside pizza shop, external
• Deadly snakes among dangerous animals kept in county, external
• Enterprise park 'will bring about the biggest boom in Ross since M50', external

James Bond
Sports Producer, BBC Shropshire

The New Saints start the second phase of matches in the Welsh Premier League tonight, at home to Newtown.

The top six clubs have split off to form their own mini-league to decide the title, which the Oswestry-based team have won for the last seven seasons.

TNS are two points off the top, but with a game in hand over the two sides above them, Barry Town and Connah's Quay Nomads.

Sir Lenny Henry has spoken about the racial abuse his mother faced when she arrived in the UK, at the launch of a BBC show about the Windrush generation.

"People followed her down the street and asked her where her tail was," the Dudley-born actor revealed at a screening of Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle this week.

"This is the stuff our grandparents and parents experienced," he continued.

Yet Henry said people like his Jamaican parents also received kindness and that that should be recognised as well.

The Ineos contract Ford Bridgend hopes to win is seen by some as a "vanity project", says car expert.

A community rallies in support following the deaths of four children aged between three and eight.

BBC News Travel

Two lorries have been involved in a crash on the M6 southbound, which has closed two lanes of the motorway in the West Midlands.

The closure is between J6 for the Aston Expressway and J4A, M42, with an oil spillage in the area, said Highways England.

Traffic is not being helped by the closure of the southbound entry slip road at J5 due to a broken-down vehicle.

The bus driver is helping with inquiries after the collision on Stoney Stanton Road, police said.