HS2's Curzon Street station in Birmingham has been granted planning permission by the city council. , external

Image source, HS2 Ltd

Three applications for the station and surrounding landscape were approved by councillors on Thursday.

It is the first HS2 station to get the go-ahead, said developers.

It incorporates the existing Grade I listed Old Curzon Street building, linking it to the new station’s eastern concourse at New Canal Street.

The government has confirmed it will support England's light rail systems to "allow essential services to continue" during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Department for Transport (DfT) said it was working with networks in Greater Manchester, Sheffield, the West Midlands, Nottingham and Tyne and Wear.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham had warned his area's service could be "mothballed" due to financial losses.

The DfT said it was working "to identify what support is needed".

Among those being remembered are three members of the same family who died earlier this month.

Lorenzo Foley was found by officers hiding in his sister's wardrobe after the attack, police say.

These are some of the headlining stories from news sites across the West Midlands:

• Coventry Live is reporting: Prison time for Coventry man who attacked doctor and police officer, external
• The Express and Star has: Leading West Midlands neonatal doctor dies after catching Covid-19, external
• And the Shropshire Star has: Shropshire doctor reveals coronavirus battle, external

A charity says it's seeing the "best of the best people" as it works to put food on the table of struggling families during the pandemic.

Moat House Community Trust runs the Grub Hub for anyone living in the Wood End, Manor Farm and Henley areas of Coventry who doesn't qualify for food vouchers.

Before the outbreak, 80 families had signed up to the £4-a-week food service, but now it says volunteers have seen demand double.

A former chief prosecutor said his brother's body was kept in an industrial fridge for six days due to a "300 body backlog" after he died from coronavirus.

Image source, Family photo

Nazir Afzal, the former chief Crown prosecutor for the north-west of England, said his older brother and ex-Home Office interpreter Umar, 71, died at his Birmingham home on 8 April.

"He went to bed that night and then didn't wake up," he said.

"They didn't have any space in the morgue, so arrangements were made with a private undertaker."

Mr Afzal said the undertaker told them he had 14 bodies to pick up that day so was unable to get his brother until 18:00.

In Islamic tradition the aim is to bury the deceased within 24 hours of a death, he said.

Dr Vishna Rasiah was "passionate about the care of babies and their families" Birmingham Women and Children's Hospital said.

Birmingham's Pen Museum has launched an urgent appeal to raise funds during the lockdown.

Image source, Google

The tourist attraction in the Jewellery Quarter says it's at risk of closure - because it's not insured for business interruption and doesn't receive outside funding.

The museum is largely run by a group of volunteers.

Design and technology teachers at a Coventry school have now made 10,000 face shields to help protect NHS workers from coronavirus.

Image source, Stuart Sweetman

Stuart Sweetman, of King Henry VIII School, and two other DT staff have been making the masks inside the closed school and said they were working to keep facilities as sterile as possible.

The shields have gone to local hospitals and care homes.

The school tweeted it would be closing the "factory" later this week.

Bolton comedian Peter Kay made a rare TV appearance on the BBC One charity special The Big Night In last night.

Fifteen years after getting to number one with (Is This The Way To) Amarillo for Comic Relief, he unveiled a new version of the video featuring key workers and members of the public doing the famous march during the coronavirus pandemic.

The show saw Children in Need and Comic Relief join forces for the first time and stars from Doctor Who, The Vicar of Dibley and Miranda also sent messages of thanks and hope.

Almost £27.4m was donated during the three-hour event, with the government promising to double the total.

The money will go to causes that support vulnerable people around the UK whose lives have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Carole Flynn, 54, from Willenhall, Coventry, died after contracting Covid-19.

Hats off to the 150 volunteers doing a great job in Eccleshall, Staffordshire.

If you need their help, don't miss out.

A government appeal to find volunteers to support 2.5 million people across the UK saw 750,000 sign up - three times the original target.

If you're a volunteer or know someone who relies on one, let us know.

Millions of people around the world will be observing the "holy month" of Ramadan under lockdown this year.

Image source, Getty Images

Each year, many practising Muslims fast from dawn to dusk for the whole of the lunar month - either 29 or 30 days - as part of the ritual of dedicating oneself to contemplation and prayer.

Fasting is obligatory for all adult followers of the faith who are able to safely go without food and drink.

But there are some considerations when it comes to fasting during a pandemic.

Birmingham is one of only fifty-nine cities around the globe to be awarded the status of 'Tree City of the World'. This is an international framework for a healthy, sustainable urban forestry programme, an award that's all down to the passion of Birmingham's citizens for trees.

Helen Mark meets tree planters young and old from near and far; tree wardens, who are kind of like traffic wardens, but for trees (and just as fierce: really, don't mess with their trees); an academic who runs the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (he really loves trees) and an arboriculturalist who gets to work at 6.30 every morning in his mission to extend Birmingham's canopy cover. Helen finds out why the city's tree-focussed ambitions go well beyond just planting trees. All these people know you have to take care of trees for their whole life, not just plonk them in the ground. They also know that urban trees suffer more than those planted in the countryside, so they need extra tenderness.

Helen also finds herself in a once-famous garden that has re-wilded itself. Once the immaculate BBC show garden of TV gardener Percy Thrower, this patch of tree-laden wilderness-heaven is in a secret corner of Birmingham's Botanical Gardens. She thinks on the whole, he'd approve of the trees. Although maybe not the weeds.

Recorded in early March.

Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery

Up to 10 million key workers and their households can now book a coronavirus test online or through their employer.

Image source, AFP/Getty Images

The move allows all essential workers, external in England to register for tests on the government's website, external, if they or a family member have virus symptoms.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the expanded testing programme was "part of getting Britain back on her feet".

The government remains some way short of its target of 100,000 tests a day in England by the end of this month.

Thursday's figures showed 23,560 tests were carried out, though Mr Hancock said capacity had now increased to 51,000 per day.

The data also showed a further 616 people died with the virus in UK hospitals, bringing the total number of deaths to 18,738.

Councils in England say they have to plug funding gaps worth hundreds of millions of pounds within weeks to avoid "significant" cuts.

Image source, Getty Images

The coronavirus pandemic has increased councils' costs while income has been lost from services like parking.

Leaders say funding already allocated is "not even close" to covering costs or money that has already been spent.

Two government grants to councils worth a combined £3.2bn have already been announced.

Two sisters and their brother have painted more than 100 rainbows to brighten up their street during the coronavirus lockdown.

The Wallbank siblings - Maisy, 15, Isobel, 11, and four-year-old Olly - delivered the rainbows to neighbours living near their home in Rugeley, Staffordshire.

Follow the latest developments on the pandemic from across the region.

Nazir Afzal says there was a "300 body backlog" on the day of his brother Umar's death from Covid-19.