The world's largest HMV store is opening its doors to shoppers just months after the chain announced dozens of branch closures.

Image source, Getty Images

Spanning 25,000 sq ft across one floor - almost the size of 12 tennis courts - HMV Vault in Birmingham promises to become a "Nirvana for music and film fans".

New owner Doug Putman told Radio 5 Live's Wake Up to Money he needed to be "fiscally responsible, you have to be very lean" to keep the business operating.

Even so, he said, "we expect to grow the store count" and has also has been renegotiating rents, as some of the deals he inherited were five to ten years old.

Soldiers from 34 countries compete in an exercise to test their military skills in the Welsh countryside.

Rich Davis
BBC Weather presenter

It will be a windy day with showery rain and highs of 13C (55F).

Vanessa Pearce
BBC News

Welcome to our live service for Friday.

We'll be bringing you all the news, sport, travel and weather for the West Midlands.

We love to hear from you so share your news, thoughts and photos of the area with us via email, Twitter, external and Facebook., external

What do businesses and motorists make of Birmingham's plans to impose a levy on employee parking?

It is thought to have been a gift in memory of the queen's Welsh confidante and was found in a church.

Suvekshya Burathoki, known as Fatima, suffered multiple stab wounds, police say.

Andy Giddings
BBC News

We'll be back with the news, sport, travel and weather from 07:00 tomorrow.

The Birmingham Yardley MP Jess Phillips has revealed she asked for leniency for the man who attacked her constituency office.

She said: "I want to meet him, I want to hear what he has to say, so I requested leniency so we could sit down and talk.

"This man is the same age as me, grew up streets away from me, I know people who know him. I do not believe we cannot find common ground."

Michael Roby, 36, of Billesley, Birmingham, admitted using threatening or abusive words or behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress and was fined £40 at Birmingham Magistrates' Court.

Ms Phillips also tweeted: "If you believe in speaking up and challenging views that also means you have to believe it when others want to do it to you. Aggression and alarm are not the way to do that but I'd be a hypocrite if I wasn't willing to try to listen."

A new leisure centre set to open in Coventry claims to be one of the best water parks in Europe.

The city council has spent £36.7m on The Wave, creating 80 jobs, it said.

It's due to open to the public on 21 October and is expecting more than a million visitors a year.

Rich Davis
BBC Weather presenter

It will be a breezy night with some showers and lows of 12C (54F).

Gymnast Alice Kinsella has finished 12th in the all-round final of the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships.

British Gymnastics called it a "fantastic" brilliant achievement for the 18-year-old, who is a member of Park Wrekin Gymnastics in Wellington.

Image source, Getty Images

The event in Stuttgart was won by Simone Biles.

Kinsella, from Sutton Coldfield, said afterwards: "I couldn’t really ask for much more. I went out there to enjoy it and gain experience and I’m really happy with 12th."

Michael Roby, 36, was fined £40 after admitting using threatening or abusive words.

BBC WM

The seventh season of the Peaky Blinders will be completely filmed in Birmingham, the show's creator Steven Knight has said.

Until now the BBC series has largely been shot in Liverpool, with the exception of a few scenes filmed in the Black Country.

Image source, Caryn Mandabach Productions Ltd

Mr Knight also revealed he is working on two "international ventures" which will also be coming to Birmingham and he hoped to bring more productions to the city in the future.

Hereford Times

Here are three of the headlines from the Hereford Times today:

• Hospital turned pink and blue for Baby Loss Awareness Week, external
• Queen's lost dress to go on show, external
• Council may be forced to pay back millions, external

Police investigating an axe attack at an Indian takeaway release mobile phone footage showing some of the assault.

The managing director of Transport for West Midlands has said the region could be set back by more than a decade if HS2 is scrapped.

The multibillion-pound project, which would create a high-speed line between Birmingham and London is being reviewed due to rising costs and delays of up to five years if it goes ahead.

Image source, Siemens/PA

Laura Shoaf said HS2 was important because it would add to the capacity of the existing rail lines and if it doesn't go ahead "we would need to look then at what infrastructure we could put in place to get that capacity".

She said that could involve "radical solutions" such as tunneling under New Street station. Ms Shoaf said even planning it would "put us back by at least 15 years, because those plans aren't drawn up".

Local Democracy Reporting Service

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

• Brandishing weapons and violent behaviour have become prevalent reasons for school exclusions in Birmingham, a city education boss has revealed.
• Popular Birmingham music venue The Flapper will be closed in January after 50 years, despite the fact plans to bulldoze it and build apartments remain in limbo.
• Many valuable habitats in rural Solihull are soon set to disappear as a result of the high-speed HS2 rail project, conservationists have warned.

The Environment Agency says it's expecting river levels to rise again over the next few days, with more heavy rain forecast, so it's been taking the opportunity to do some cleaning up.

In Worcester teams have been clearing debris from under a bridge over the Severn, including what spokesman Dave Throup described as "a big submerged tree".

Image source, Dave Throup

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Coventry faces a battle to be named the site of a new gigafactory, to power the nation's electric vehicles, but one the "Motor City" can win, West Midlands Mayor Andy Street says.

The city is already to host the UK's national battery research centre and is key to the country's development of driverless cars.

The region is also home to Jaguar Land Rover, the UK's biggest carmaker, luxury brand Aston Martin and a huge number of firms specialising in automotive components.

Image source, West Midlands Combined Authority

All of that, Conservative mayor Mr Street says, puts Coventry in the best position to host the new gigafactory - bringing with it thousands of jobs.

However, in recent weeks Labour has called for sites in South Wales, Stoke-on-Trent and Swindon instead.

Writing for the Conservative Home website, external, Mr Street says that the business case for a factory in the West Midlands can not be ignored in favour of politics.