Gymnast Alice Kinsella was one of the first to carry the baton at the start of its journey.

A teenage boy is convicted over his social media abuse of Aston Villa player Tyreik Wright.

More than 100 friends and family hold an early Christmas for Matthew Sandbrook.

Players' livelihoods are being affected by an ongoing row between Premiership clubs and agents, says Wasps boss Lee Blackett.

Police are asking nearby residents to check CCTV footage from the days leading up to the rape.

The Commonwealth baton is currently being carried around the palace by athletes from the home nations.

But earlier it arrived with a group of "hometown heroes" from Birmingham.

They represented volunteers, coaches and managers who have been working behind the scenes to support grassroots sports in the West Midlands.

Image source, Reuters

Among them was blind marathon runner Dave Heeley, who was appointed an OBE in the 2020 Birthday Honours after raising millions of pounds for charity.

His endurance feats have included running marathons on seven continents in seven days and plunging into the sea at Alcatraz three months after learning to swim.

So a saunter down The Mall should have been easy.

Image source, Reuters

Dame Louise Martin, the President of the Commonwealth Games Federation, said her knees were shaking ahead of the baton relay launch this morning.

It's her job to hold the baton while the Queen inserts her message and she said: "As far as I'm concerned this is the start of Birmingham 2022."

Image source, Getty Images

She was also very keen to see the baton launch go without a hitch and she joked: "We made sure this one will be smooth and easy and if it isn't I'll have their necks."

Rob Mayor
BBC Radio WM

The first person to carry the Commonwealth torch will be Paralympic champion Kadeena Cox.

She told us she is looking forward to the Games.

Homes and businesses lost power for about six hours after the blaze in Wem.

Warwickshire director of cricket Paul Farbrace will coach Team Abu Dhabi in the T10 league in the United Arab Emirates.

The baton relay is due to last 269 days and it will travel through 72 Commonwealth nations and territories.

It will cover about 90,000 miles (140,000 km) around the world, before it is handed back to the Queen at the opening ceremony in July.

Image source, Birmingham 2022/PA Wire

After leaving Buckingham Palace it will be off to Cyprus, spending Christmas Eve in the Seychelles, new year in the Maldives and Easter weekend in Jamaica.

More than 100 people turn out to sing carols as neighbours arrange decorations and a snow machine.

Covid-19 rates have fallen in Rugby and Herefordshire, according to the latest figures from the UK Health Security Agency.

Figures released in the last week have shown both areas dealing with their highest number of cases since the pandemic began - in large part due to outbreaks in schools.

However, both saw small drops in their rates in the seven days up to and including 2 October.

Rugby's rate fell 17% from 759 per 100,000 people to 632, while Herefordshire's fell 13% from 625 to 545.

By contrast, Nuneaton and Bedworth has seen a small rise in new infections as it again recorded one of the highest rates in England - 642 new infections per 100,000 people over the period.

Rugby, Stafford, Cannock Chase and Lichfield similarly remain among England's hotspots.

In all, 19 out of the 30 local authorities in the West Midlands recorded falls in their rates in the week up to 2 October, following, in most cases, rises over the last month.

And crucially, despite a rise in new cases since schools returned, hospital admissions have remained fairly stable.

BBC Weather

It's forecast to be mild and overcast today, with temperatures due to reach around 20C (68F).

We're expecting that weather to remain into the weekend, with perhaps a little bit more sunshine tomorrow.

You can get a full weather forecast for the area where you live from the BBC Weather page.

Image source, Jilla

A team of artists are showing how painting and drawing has helped fight addiction.

Planners say the impact on the landscape is outweighed by the proposal's "significant benefits".

All lanes reopen at about 20:15 BST after two HGVs and a car collided on the M42.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Sparkbrook and Balsall Heath East, Lozells and Aston were the hardest hit in terms of excess deaths during the pandemic, Birmingham City Council says.

Although not all deaths were from Covid-19, 40% of those registered in Sparkbrook and Balsall Heath East, the worst affected ward, were due to the virus between April 2020 and March 2021.

The findings, which also state wards with higher Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) populations had higher rates of Covid deaths, have been presented to the local Covid outbreak engagement board and published by the council.

Image source, Getty Images

A total of 2,533 Covid deaths in the city over those 12 months were taken into account as part of the research, although the council has said this figure is “unlikely to have captured all Covid deaths” and may rise.

People working as “skilled trades and technical occupations” – such as warehouse workers and electricians – saw the highest number of Covid deaths at 509, or 20% of the total.

"Caring personal service occupations” – including housewives, care assistants and cleaners – saw the next highest at 503.

People working in “culture, media and sports occupations” had the lowest number of deaths, the paper says.

Making recommendations, the research says there is a need to continue to improve the uptake of Covid-19 vaccines and "compliance with other non-pharmaceutical interventions".

“Continued engagement with at-risk groups in the uptake of health interventions [is recommended]," the report says.

"These include the BME group, people with underlying health conditions and those in the skilled trades and caring personal service occupations.”

BBC Midlands Today

There are "absolutely no plans" to close the A38 Expressway tunnels in Birmingham, the councillor in charge of transport has said, after it was revealed plans are being looked at to encourage drivers to switch to public transport.

The Clean Air Zone (CAZ) already sees some motorists charged to use certain routes in a bid to cut pollution.

But further ideas revealed by the council to combat emissions include stopping traffic from using the A38 Queensway tunnel.

Cabinet member for transport Waseem Zaffar told BBC Midlands Today the plans were not about penalising motorists, but it would be wrong not to consider other options for the tunnels, although any changes would be subject to a lengthy consultation process.

He said: "The sort of things we can look at is do we need a public transport corridor through there? Do we need some green infrastructure through there? Do we need some safer cycling through there?

"There's a long way to go before we get there so there are absolutely no plans, I just want to make this very very clear, to close the A38 tunnels."

People living near Wem Business Park are advised to keep doors and windows shut.