BBC Sport

Image source, BBC Sport

Both Aston Villa and Wolves are back in Premier League action later.

Villa travel up to Newcastle for a 18:00 kick-off.

BBC Sport's Mark Lawrenson is predicting a share of the spoils in a 1-1 draw. He said: "Villa are still in deep trouble.

"They have had a bit of a nightmare in their first two games back, and I think they will have to wait a little bit longer for their first win since January."

Image source, BBC Sport

Meanwhile for Wolves, they are at home to Bournemouth. Fans will be pleased with Lawro's prediction, a 2-0 win for the home side.

"Wolves looked impressive again as they saw off West Ham. They are right in the mix for a top-five spot."

Read more of Lawro's predictions here.

BBC Weather

We're in for a very warm day, dry and sunny. With highs of 30C/86F, it'll be warm tonight too with lows of 15C/59F.

There's more on BBC Weather.

It's already hotting up in Church Stretton, Shropshire. This snap from Peter Steggles was taken earlier this morning.

Image source, Peter Steggles

Part of a Telford housing estate was cordoned off last night after the discovery of an unexploded World War Two device.

A 100m cordon was put in place around the scene in Weybridge, Woodside, shortly before 23:00.

Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) later attended the scene where they secured and removed the device safely.

Plans to create a single fire control centre to serve Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire will be discussed today.

If approved by their fire authorities, it would form part of the current alliance between the two fire services, which has seen them sharing some key services since 2018.

So far four options have been identified and a report going before the Shropshire and Wrekin Fire Authority said a joint control centre would result in cost savings.

The fire authorities said £186,000 has also been saved through the joint purchase of three new incident command units.

Allen Cook
BBC News

Welcome to our live service for Wednesday.

We'll be bringing you all the news 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

Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo says 'this is not a moment to stop' fighting for equal rights for all races.

Iain Cunningham always knew his birth had something to do with his mum's death when he was three.

Andy Giddings
BBC News

We'll be back with the news, sport, travel and weather from 08:00 tomorrow.

BBC Midlands Today

Police have spent another day digging up land at the back of this bungalow in North Warwickshire as part of an investigation into the death of a father-of-three over a decade ago.

Jesse Richards, 40, died in Evesham, Worcestershire, in July 2009, but his remains have never been found. Five men were jailed for his killing in 2012.

The search on Smorral Lane, near Bedworth, is being carried out by officers from West Mercia Police.

This drone footage is from South West News Agency.

BBC Weather Watchers

It's been a good day to be outdoors and the BBC Weather Watchers have been sharing their photos from around the West Midlands.

These ones were taken in Great Barr, the canals in Birmingham and Kingswood.

Image source, SuttonWalker

Image source, Timbo

Image source, SteveC

Express and Star

Some of the Express and Star headlines today include:

• Merry Hill owner warns shopping centres may have to close, external
• £500k Black Country home up for grabs with £2 raffle ticket, external
• Covid-19 cases confirmed at Black Country meat factory that is set for closure, external

Jockey Liam Treadwell, who rode 100-1 shot Mon Mome to victory in the 2009 Grand National, dies aged 34.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Tom Davis

An invitation for Coventry to host the 2022 International Children’s Games has been approved, with city leaders hoping it will pump millions of pounds into the economy.

Some 1,800 children aged between 12-15 are expected to descend on the city for the games between 10 and 15 August.

It will be the second time the city has hosted the International Olympic Committee-recognised event, having done so in 2005.

The council said that last event provided an economic boost of around £3.6m to the city and it is hoped it will have a similar impact in 2022.

Three people have been taken to hospital after a car crashed with a van and overturned in Nuneaton earlier.

Image source, Jez Sutton

Image source, Jez Sutton

Paramedics were sent to Weddington Road in the town shortly after 15:00.

A woman and two men were treated at the scene for minor injuries before being taken to George Eliot Hospital.

BBC Midlands Today

An emergency meeting between unions and representatives of Dunlop Aircraft Tyres has been arranged to talk about potential job losses.

The company has its international headquarters in Erdington, Birmingham.

It's understood there are also plans to create 21 new roles which it's hoped will offset some of the redundancies.

Many homeless people are still in hotels or B&Bs but some have already returned to the streets.

West Bromwich Albion have said their thoughts are with the family of a man who worked behind the scenes at the Hawthorns, on the day of his funeral.

Gary Matthews worked in the control room on match days, but died in May at the age of 57 after testing positive for coronavirus.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Tom Davis

More than £30,000 has been spent on paupers’ funerals in Coventry since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, new figures show.

Image source, Coventry City Council

Paupers’ funerals – also known as public health or social funerals – are paid for by the local authority for people who have died alone, in poverty, without relatives, or when relatives cannot or will not pay.

Local authorities can recover the costs of such funerals from the estate of the deceased.

A Freedom of Information request to Coventry City Council found the authority put on 16 public health funerals between the period of 1 March to 17 June, costing £30,993.

"Innovative" green schemes designed to keep tens of thousands of people in work are at the heart of economic plans announced by the West Midlands mayor today.

He is asking for a £3.2bn stimulus package over three years from the government - becoming the first region to do so.

The expectation is that at at least 61,000 jobs will be lost as a result of the first three months of lockdown once the government's furlough scheme ends.

"No-one’s kidding themselves that [the government] will hand over a cheque for three billion next Tuesday," said West Midlands Mayor Andy Street.

But he added there was an "urgent need" to submit the plan which would be a "perfect opportunity for government to show its plan for leveling up".

"We’re confident our numbers stand up and we’ll be able to win this money," he added.

Worcester Warriors centre Ollie Lawrence signs an undisclosed-length contract extension with the Premiership club.