Summary

  • Updates from Monday 17 May to Sunday 23 May

  1. Could Fishmongers' Hall attacker have been stopped?published at 13:33 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    Saskia Jones and Jack Merritt were both killed by Usman Khan in London in November 2019.

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  2. Coventry City of Culture: Surprise events help mark yearpublished at 13:32 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    A fire garden experience is set to take place as part of Coventry's year as City of Culture.

    Fire gardenImage source, Coventry City Council

    The family-friendly event will be held in Caludon Castle park on 25 and 26 June.

    The Mid-Summer Fire Garden event is free, but places will need to be booked via coventry2021.co.uk, external.

    During the bank holiday weekend dozens of musicians have been commissioned to perform at 20 pubs across the city from 28 May to 31 May.

  3. Government HQ set to move out of Londonpublished at 13:17 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    The new housing department in Wolverhampton should be ready by the summer, the government says.

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  4. Arsenal to face Spurs in Women's FA Cuppublished at 13:07 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham will face each other in the quarter-finals of the Women's FA Cup.

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  5. One shot and two stabbed in Birminghampublished at 12:52 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    A man has been shot and two others stabbed in Birmingham.

    Police tape on the roadImage source, @1BordesleyGreen

    Paramedics were called to Hob Moor Road, Bordesley Green, at 10:02 on Friday, the ambulance service said.

    One of the stabbed men had suffered serious injuries while the other two's injuries were not thought to be serious.

    All three have been taken to hospital.

  6. Super-rare orange lobsters saved from shop displaypublished at 12:40 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    A shopper spotted the bright pair, thought to be as rare as one in 30 million, at Makro in Leicester.

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  7. Poems composed for Shakespeare train passengerspublished at 11:43 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    New poems have been composed for train passengers using a railway line in the West Midlands.

    William ShakespeareImage source, Getty Images

    Eighteen pieces have been produced for each station on the Shakespeare Line, which runs from Birmingham Moor Street to Stratford-upon-Avon, West Midlands Railway (WMR) said., external

    The project has been organised by Black Country performance poetry group Poets, Prattlers and Pandemonialists and can be downloaded via an app from Friday.

    Steve Pottinger, from the group, said he hoped "whatever your taste there will be something for you".

    The community scheme has been funded by the Department for Transport and WMR said it planned dozens more over the next few months.

  8. Days until start of Birmingham Clean Air Zonepublished at 11:11 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    Phil Mackie
    Midlands correspondent, BBC News

    Today is the last working day that commuters can drive into the centre of Birmingham before the city's Clean Air Zone comes into force.

    Media caption,

    Birmingham Clean Air Zone: The view from people in the city

    From 1 June, drivers of high-polluting cars will have to pay £8 to travel into the centre, while the cost will be £50 for coaches and lorries.

    The network of vehicle monitoring cameras will begin operating more than two years after it was approved by government, due to delays in technology and the impact of the pandemic.

  9. Driver stopped in Lamborghini with no number platepublished at 10:43 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    A driver has been spotted driving a Lamborghini sports car without a number plate in Coventry just days after another similar case.

    The LamborghiniImage source, West Midlands Police

    The blue convertible was seen by officers in the city centre who said they found the driver had no insurance.

    The car has been seized and the driver reported.

    On 20 May, officers stopped a red Lamborghini, external on the ring road which also had no number plate and the force said the driver turned out not to have passed their driving test.

  10. Bitcoin mine found stealing electricitypublished at 10:02 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    Police say they raided the building thinking they were going to find a cannabis farm.

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  11. Indian variant 'increasingly significant' in Birmingham, say health bossespublished at 09:09 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    Local Democracy Reporting Service

    The Indian variant of Covid-19 is fast becoming the most prevalent in Birmingham, with health bosses warning that it is up to 1.6 times as transmissible as other strains.

    The city has seen a 45% spike in cases over the past week, driven by the variant, Daragh Fahey told the council’s Local Covid Outbreak Engagement Board on Thursday.

    "The actual rate of change in terms of the increased numbers of the Indian variant is increasing quite significantly in Birmingham," he said.

    Covid-19 warning signImage source, Reuters

    "And a particular reason why that’s a concern is, from talking to people in the North West where they have very high numbers of the Indian variant, what they found was it was a gradual increase initially, and then it rose exponentially.

    "So clearly that’s something we want to avoid in Birmingham, and effectively our response is a combination of adhering to the national directives as well as our own local response."

    He said the city has been placed on a government "watchlist" and although it isn't about to face tier two restrictions like Bolton which has a high case rate of the variant, the government is observing what happens in Birmingham.

    Dr Justin Varney, the director of public health with Birmingham City Council, told BBC News that the rise in cases was worrying and urged people to be "really sensible" as restrictions continue to ease.

    "We're certainly at a point where you look at the numbers and you go 'hmmm, little bit worried'," he said.

    "We should all just be really sensible coming into the Bank Holiday weekend and be using those lateral flow tests to help make things that little bit safer by testing regularly every week."

  12. Vaccine milestone reached in West Midlandspublished at 08:41 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    BBC Midlands Today

    More than 5.3m vaccine doses have been delivered in the West Midlands, with 10m people now vaccinated across the wider Midlands area, figures show.

    It's a major milestone and comes as anyone over 30 can now book an appointment for their jab.

    Over the next few days, one million people across the country aged 30 and 31 will be invited via text message.

    Birmingham's director of public health said reaching a younger age group was important to protect them against variants of the virus.

    Justin Varney

    "What we are seeing from across the world where we have these new variants, is that it's a younger audience ending up in hospital - the people who are vaccinated are protected and the younger age groups are starting to end up in A&E.

    "The faster we can vaccinate everyone the more protected we are against these new variants," he said.

    He said the success story of reaching millions of people in the region was down to giving people access to get vaccinated.

    "It's the entire system working together to put forward the vaccine in a way that gets to people and gives them the chance to protect themselves from a third wave," he added.

  13. Weather: A dry and dull Fridaypublished at 08:19 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    BBC Weather

    A mainly dry, dull day with overcast skies. Light winds and a high of 19C/66F.

    GnosallImage source, BBC Weather Watcher Shaun
    Image caption,

    This morning in Gnosall, Staffordshire

    Staying mostly dry tonight with lingering cloud and light winds again. Low: 11C/52F.

    You can get a latest forecast for your area at any time by going to the BBC Weather website.

  14. City's clean air zone divides opinionpublished at 06:44 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    Birmingham residents and business owners react to the launch of the zone on 1 June.

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  15. Pandemic-hit travel agent 'had nothing to live off'published at 06:37 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    Jason Young, who got a second job when the industry was decimated by Covid-19, urges MPs to help.

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  16. Rare triplets finally reunited at homepublished at 06:35 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    River joins brothers Beau and Leo at home after they were born in January at 29 weeks.

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  17. The NHS Covid legacy - long waits and lives at riskpublished at 03:40 British Summer Time 28 May 2021

    Nearly a third of hospitals sees long waits balloon, as NHS warned backlog will take years to tackle.

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  18. Haynes hit 97 as Pears dominate Derbyspublished at 19:32 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    Jack Haynes hits a career-best 97, backed by Brett D'Oliveira's 71, to help Worcestershire close on 336-7 against Derbyshire.

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  19. Hain & Rhodes lead way for Bearspublished at 18:59 British Summer Time 27 May 2021

    Group One leaders Nottinghamshire claim some late wickets to keep Warwickshire under control at Edgbaston.

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