Funding cuts threaten "vital" residential care at special schools, teachers and parents say.

The first stretch of a £1m scheme to build a new heritage railway line in Staffordshire has been opened.

Kev used to sell his drawings on the streets of Birmingham until a customer offered him an alternative.

The government's five-year plan will invest in institutions like York's National Railway Museum.

The Royal National College for the Blind says special-needs funding cuts are threatening its future.

A crowd of around 5,000 is likely to attend Wolves' Europa League match away to Slovan Bratislava - even though it is officially being played behind closed doors.

There is evidence to suggest cider has been produced in Herefordshire since the 15th Century.

That's all for our live coverage on Friday.

We'll be back from 07:00 on Monday with the latest news, sport, travel and weather for the region.

Birmingham's Joe Fraser has come eighth in the men's all-round final at the World Gymnastics Championships.

Nikita Nagornyy became only the third Russian to win the title as he beat countryman Artur Dalaloyan to the gold medal.

Ukraine's Oleg Verniaiev pipped Xiao Ruoteng - the 2017 champion - to bronze in Germany.

Image source, Getty Images

Great Britain had two top-16 finishers.

Fraser said he was "over the moon" at reaching eighth with 85.098, which he called a personal best.

Teammate James Hall came 14th.

More than 1,100 runners have registered to take part in Oswestry's first 10km race, which takes place on Sunday.

The organiser Alan Lewis has said it'll put thousands of pounds into the local economy and gives runners somewhere new to explore.

Mr Lewis is hoping the race will become an annual event and that people will stay for a number of days in the area.

Rebecca Wood
BBC Midlands Today

It's set to be a wet night with bands of rain and lows of 9C (48F).

A 70-year-old woman is in a stable condition in hospital after a burglary, police said.

West Midlands Police said three men forced their way into a house on Cooke Street in Goldthorn Park, Wolverhampton at about 03:30 on Thursday.

Once inside, the force said, they forced a pensioner on a chair before searching the address and escaping with cash and jewellery.

Image source, Google

The woman managed to run to a neighbour’s home for help and was taken to hospital to be checked over, where she remains.

Officers are analysing CCTV footage.

BBC News Travel

The A49 is closed in both directions near to Dinmore Hill in Leominster in Herefordshire after a crash, West Mercia Police said.

It is advising drivers to avoid the area.

A taxi driver who saved a pregnant woman from a sex trafficker in Coventry was "instrumental" in securing a conviction, police say.

Officers intercepted the woman on 20 February following a call from Tahir Mehmood who had been booked by Robert Enescu to take her to a brothel in St Christians Road in the city.

Romanian national Enescu was convicted of trafficking her from his homeland to Coventry.

The taxi driver is now in line for a commendation from the force.

Det Con Clive Leftwich from West Midlands Police told the Victoria Derbyshire programme if Tahir hadn't acted "our victim would have been lost to us and we wouldn't have secured the conviction that we did."

Enescu, of no fixed address, was arrested on 22 February, and denied involvement. He skipped bail the day before his trial was due to begin.

The 26-year-old was jailed in his absence for nine years at Warwick Crown Court and is still being hunted by police.

Hereford Times

Here are some of the stories making the headlines on the Hereford Times website this afternoon:

• Air ambulance called after car crashes into house, external
• Death certificates for babies born before 24 weeks, external
• Replica gun, knife and drugs seized by police, external

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Some of today's stories from the Local Democracy Reporting Service include:

• Plans to build Birmingham’s tallest skyscraper have been criticised for having too much marble and not enough affordable homes.
• A Birmingham shop has been accused of "putting profit first" after police found a briefcase full of illegal cigarettes behind its counter.

• The Martineau Galleries project will transform a crime-hit part of Birmingham into the "front door" for HS2 – say developers who have now lodged their formal plans with the city council.

Funding of Rugby Free Secondary Academy may be axed as inspectors call for significant improvement.

A woman has suffered burns to both of her hands, after spilling nail polish remover near an oil burner, Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service said.

Station Manager Gary Fox said the woman had attempted to put out the fire herself and had suffered "life altering" injuries in the incident in Penkridge on Thursday.

Image source, Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service.

He said it served as a "stark reminder to be careful with any candles or oil burners".

A man arrested on suspicion of child neglect has ended up being questioned on suspicion of burglary.

Police in Telford said he was originally held after leaving his two-year-old and five-year-old at home alone for over an hour.

However, officers said it "then appeared he had left them in order to go out & commit acquisitive crime!, external #badparenting"

Will HMV Vault in Birmingham become the "nirvana for music and film fans" the firm hopes for?