A "full and frank" discussion has been held in Westminster over the future of Coventry City Football Club.

Culture Media and Sport Secretary Jeremy Wright, who chaired a meeting with all parties, says he has asked them to "go away and work together urgently to resolve the issue before next season".

Image source, Getty Images

The club's owners have publicly promised an end to their legal action against the local council over the sale of the Ricoh Arena if they get support to build a new home in the city.

City have until the beginning of April to agree where to play home matchs next season, or possibly face being thrown out of the Football League.

The legal case hinges on their claim that Coventry City Council undervalued the Ricoh by £28m when the ground was sold to Wasps in 2014.

BBC Radio Stoke

The cost of policing the badger cull in Cheshire reached £485,000 last year.

It is one of a number of counties where the culls have been allowed by the government since 2017, as a way of limiting the spread of tuberculosis in cattle.

Image source, Getty Images

The cost is met by the government and supporters of the cull say the cost to taxpayers would more if they don't fight it.

The inquest into the death of a Burslem teenager in October last year, which police have treated as murder, is being heard in Staffordshire today.

The body of 19-year-old Nathan Bates was found at his home on Barnfield Road on 11 October.

The cause of his death is yet to be established - Staffordshire Police has linked it to the death of another man, 57-year-old Robert Goodwin.

His body was found at allotments nearby and detectives said they weren't looking for anyone in connection with the deaths.

River levels in some parts of the West Midlands are still rising, after heavy rain over the last couple of days, the Environment Agency has said.

It still has a number of flood alerts, external in place in Shropshire, Herefordshire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire, warning people to be careful in low-lying areas near rivers.

In some areas river levels have already peaked and are now falling, the Environment Agency added.

Worcester News

Here are three headlines from the Worcester News today:

• Job losses at disability day centres, external
• Special constable lost leg after careless driver crashed into him, external
• County swimming competition being held in Wolverhampton, external

MP and prominent Brexiteer Owen Paterson says he doesn't want to see a long extension to the Brexit process that he says could prolong the "whole ghastly saga".

The House of Commons votes today on whether to seek permission to delay Brexit beyond 29 March.

Mr Paterson, who represents North Shropshire, voted in favour of the defeated Malthouse compromise amendment last night, which suggested, among other things, a very short delay in Britain's leave-date until 22 May to prepare for a no-deal exit.

He also he feared Brexit would go on for "months and months" and that the resulting uncertainty would cause "real damage" to businesses.

BBC News Travel

The M6 has now reopened fully southbound at junction 10, Highways England says, after a man was earlier hit by a lorry.

A new University of Wolverhampton building could be built next to the lake in the Southwater area of Telford.

Telford and Wrekin Council said It would offer students a range of courses and would have "a strong focus on digital and ICT, including cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence, gaming and cyber-security training".

Image source, University of Wolverhampton

The university, which already has a campus in the Priorslee area of the town, said it was looking to meet "the demand and skills gap and working with employers from key growth sectors in the borough".

A charity shop in Newcastle-under-Lyme has been broken into during the night.

Staffordshire Police says a number of items, including a charity box, were taken from Animal Lifeline on Church Street.

Image source, Google

The force said a 38-year-old man is being held after being arrested on suspicion of burglary.

The 28-bed ward was officially opened earlier this year but is being used as a discharge lounge.

New Warwickshire sport director Paul Farbrace is looking forward to stepping out of the England 'comfort zone'.

The school in Birmingham wants to work with parents who have been protesting to "find a solution".

Shropshire Star

Here are three headlines from the Shropshire Star today:

• New 1,000-student university institute to be built in Telford, external
• Hundreds of tractors going in giant sale, external
• Recycling banks could close, external

Officers investigating the death of a 16-year-old boy, stabbed in the back and chest in a Birmingham park, have charged a 19-year-old with his murder.

Image source, West Midlands Police

Abdullah Muhammad was found in Sara Park, Small Heath, Birmingham on 20 February and died at the scene.

A post-mortem examination found that the student, of Lindale Avenue, Hodgehill, died as a result of an assault.

Demille Innis, of Pugh Crescent, Walsall, is also charged with two counts of robbery and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.

He's due before magistrates in Birmingham today.

Michelin-starred chef Glynn Purnell has agreed to open a new restaurant at the site of a former monastery in Coventry.

Under the plans, the Grade I-listed Charterhouse will see its coach house converted into a two-storey restaurant.

Image source, Advent

However, funding could still prove a stumbling block, with the building's owners Historic Coventry Trust (HCT) saying it still needs to raise cash to fund its plans, despite having planning consent in place.

HCT is starting an £8m restoration project in June this year.

A new conference room and wedding venue will also be built as a reconstruction of the original monks' cloister.

Lessons about diversity and LGBT issues which triggered weekly parents' protests outside a Birmingham primary school have been suspended until an agreement is reached.

Parkfield Community School said on its website , externalthat its No Outsiders project - which teaches tolerance of diverse groups, including those of different races, genders and sexual orientation - would not be taught "until a resolution has been reached".

The project only ran in the first half of term, but was due to return after the Easter holidays.

By announcing the suspension, the school said it hoped children would "not be removed from school to take part in protests".

In a report this week, Ofsted said there was no evidence the curriculum overly focused on LGBT issues or was not taught in an age-appropriate manner.

Caretaker manager James Shan is expected to remain in charge at West Bromwich Albion for Saturday's trip to Brentford.

Recent industrial action by bin workers in Birmingham is set to cost the council a total of £5.8m, a report shows., external

Unite and Unison workers started a series of walkouts over claims of secret payments made to non-striking GMB staff after a dispute in 2017.

Image source, Getty Images

Strike action has now been called off after an offer, worth about £3,500 for some workers, was accepted by unions.

The offer is set to be discussed by councillors at a cabinet meeting on Friday.

The council report says the cost of contingency arrangements to cover periods of industrial action had cost it £2.6m, along with £1.7m in the proposed settlement with Unison and Unite workers and legal costs of £1.4m.

The original row in 2017 was triggered by council attempts to save £5m a year through "modernising" the refuse service.

BBC Hereford and Worcester

Worcester Valkyries' hooker Lark Davies has been named among the replacements for England when they'll go in search of a Grand Slam against Scotland on Saturday.

She scored a try in last weekend's win over Italy, but steps down to the bench as Amy Cokayne of Wasps will start the game after recovering from injury.

Image source, Getty Images

The knife angel sculpture - made up of 100,000 knives, many seized by police - is being hoisted into position outside Coventry Cathedral, where it will displayed for the next six weeks.

City councillor, Ed Ruane, who was instrumental in bringing it to the city said he wanted the sculpture to have a "positive impact" on Coventry.

"We need to change this nationwide trend of knife violence," he said.