Three Birmingham MPs have condemned a string of violent attacks overnight and into this morning on five mosques in the city.

Tom Watson and Jess Phillips tweeted that they were "appalling" while Jack Dromey called for "solidarity" with the Muslim community.

Parents hold a fresh demonstration calling for a school in Birmingham to stop LGBT rights teaching.

In a statement, the Birmingham Council of Mosques (BCM) said it was "deeply horrified" to hear a number of mosques were vandalised in Birmingham overnight.

A man with a sledgehammer is thought to have targeted five mosques in the city.

Image source, PA

"The community of Birmingham are still grieving and coming to terms with the nonsensical loss of life in New Zealand," it said.

"Birmingham's Mosques are a place of worship, serenity and a source of peace and tranquility. We are appalled by such acts of hate/terror".

The group said it was working with the authorities to tackle anti-Muslim hate crime and welcomed the commitment from Birmingham City Council that Islamaphobia had no place in the city.

Drewe Broughton struggled with depression and addiction as a player - BBC Look East hears how he is now helping Premier League players.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Christian Barnett

A new hardship fund is to be set up to help vulnerable people in Worcester who are waiting for Universal Credit payments to be made.

City councillors have voted to extend an existing fund, meaning people who might otherwise be waiting for weeks might be able to receive a payment within three days.

Image source, Getty Images

The plan also includes a yearly £15,000 grant to Worcester Food Bank for the next three years.

Last month, work and pensions secretary Amber Rudd linked the increased use of food banks with problems in rolling out Universal Credit.

Lee Thomas
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke

Plans to build a new business park off the A500 in Stoke-on-Trent have been submitted by the city council., external

Image source, Google

It says it want to build 10 warehouses on disused land it owns near the current JCB World Logistics centre in Tunstall and a decision on the proposals is expected this summer.

Each warehouse would be split into three blocks with the council saying they could be rented to industrial and distribution companies.

The site used to be the base for the Goldendale Iron Works until 1968 and has been largely derelict since the buildings were demolished in the 1980s.

Jessica Labhart
BBC News

A security summit is to be held in Birmingham after five mosques were targeted and windows smashed.

Image source, Abubakr Zaman

Yousef Zaman, chairman of Masjid Faizul Islam mosque said three windows and a door had been smashed in the attack

"My initial reaction was shock that this had happened," he said.

“You hear what is happening around the rest of the world but you don’t expect it to happen on your own doorstep."

Image source, Abubakr Zaman

“If we hadn’t got security gates around the side they could have done much worse and got in and wreaked havoc," he said.

“They seem to have targeted the mosques without railings or gates.

“But we’re not going to stop worship, we’re going to carry on as normal, we won’t let them win, we will defy them."

Hereford Times

These stories are being covered today by the Hereford Times:

• Delivery call driver's sex assault on woman, external
• Police report increase in hate crime over last five years, external
• Police reveal dog theft figures, external

The leader of Birmingham City Council has condemned attacks on mosques and Islamic centres in the city saying there is "no place in this city for intolerance and discrimination".

"Intimidating" protests regarding the teaching of sex education and reports of the attacks have led to the city being portrayed in the media as "not the Birmingham I know," he said.

"This is a city built on tolerance and I’m proud of the fact that everyone is accepted in Birmingham regardless of race, religion, gender or sexuality.

"As a city it is important that we call out discrimination and intolerance in any form and we will continue to do so."

Even before the news this morning that at least five mosques in Birmingham have been vandalised, local MP Preet Kaur Gill had called on the government to increase funds to step-up security at places of worship.

It follows shootings at two mosques in New Zealand that left 50 people dead.

Ms Gill, Labour MP for Edgbaston, said these "acts of exterme and unrelenting violence" were a "stark reminder of the dire and fatal consequences of Islamaphobia that can be faced by innocent individuals whilst they go about their daily activities".

In her letter to the Home Secretary, she said if communities were to be "adequately protected from far-right extremist violence, then greater funding must be provided to them".

Image source, PA

The Home Secretary this morning called the vandalism , external"deeply concerning and distressing".

Image source, Preet Kaur Gill MP

A new £50m centre is set to open in Coventry to provide a space for testing electric, hybrid and next-generation internal combustion engines.

Image source, C-APLS

The Centre for Low-Carbon propulsion Systems, external (C-ALPS) is a joint collaboration between Coventry University and German-owned engineering group FEV.

Image source, C-ALPS

The purpose-built facility, set to create 36 new jobs in the city initially, will house some of the most advanced test bed facilities in the UK, the company says.

Councillors in Birmingham have condemned attacks on Birmingham mosques as "shocking" and "disturbing".

Cabinet member Waseem Zaffar tweeted: "We will not let a very small minority divide our neighbourhood, the city and society and will fight back against any hate and division with love, peace and harmony."

Councillor John Cotton, cabinet member for social inclusion, community safety and equalities with Birmingham City Council, said he was "appalled" by the violence and was working with police to find those responsible.

He tweeted, external: "These thugs do not speak for Birmingham and will not divide us."

Police searching for a man over sex attacks on two women in Birmingham and Merseyside make an arrest.

Flood barriers are being taken down in Worcestershire after fears of more flooding are fading.

Image source, Environment Agency

The heavy rain at the weekend had led to flood warnings and alerts being issued across Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, particularly along the River Severn.

But, with not much more rain forecast this week, river levels are falling, external and the Environment Agency says it's taken down temporary flood barriers in Bewdley today., external

Allen Cook
BBC News

A man's been found guilty of murdering an 87-year-old man who died after burglars attacked him in his own home.

Image source, Family handout

Arthur Gumbley died about three weeks after the break-in at his Sutton Coldfield house in November 2017 as a result of his injuries, which included four rib fractures.

Jason Wilsher, 20, from Leicestershire, had denied murder and conspiracy to rob.

But he was found guilty of both charges today at Stafford Crown Court and will be sentenced tomorrow.

Shropshire Star

The Shropshire Star's covering these stories today:

• £54 million funding for Shrewsbury's North West Relief Road officially announced, external
• House fire is being treated as arson, external
• A5 driver killed and pedestrians seriously injured in two Shropshire crashes, external

The Home Secretary Sajid Javid said attacks on Birmingham mosques were "deeply concerning and distressing".

The Conservative MP for Bromsgrove tweeted that "hateful behaviour has absolutely no place in our society and will never be accepted".

The M5 northbound has been reopened after an earlier fatal crash.

Congestion is easing, but there are still some delays in the area.

A fifth mosque had its windows smashed in an attack that's being linked to four others in Birmingham, police say.

The Albert Road is among places of worship targeted by a man with a sledgehammer.

Allen Cook
BBC News

The government's today approved £54m of funding towards a new by-pass around the north-west of Shrewsbury.

Shropshire Council has previously said that the £75m north west relief road, due to be built by 2022, would ease congestion in the town centre.

Image source, Shropshire Council

Some residents and campaigners have said they are concerned about the plans, citing fears about noise pollution and that future housing development in the area would encourage congestion.

The local authority said , externalthe new road would link northern and western parts of Shrewsbury and would need two bridges - one over the River Severn, and another over the Shrewsbury-Chester railway line.

The route was first discussed in the mid 1980s.

This morning, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said he'd approved the funding for the relief road, adding that he believed it would also improve air quality in Shrewsbury.