BBC Sport

Image source, BBC Sport

Arsenal are keen on signing Wolves and Portugal midfielder Ruben Neves for £35m.(Sun), external

Arsenal have rejected bids of £25m and £30m from Aston Villa for 20-year-old England Under-21 midfielder Emile Smith Rowe.(Mail), external

Aston Villa and England midfielder Jack Grealish, 25, has been warned against making a move to Premier League champions Manchester City.(Daily Mirror), external

Brentford have joined West Brom in the race to sign Chelsea's Sierra Leone-born midfielder Trevoh Chalobah. French club Lorient also want the 22-year-old.(Express & Star), external

Saudi Arabiaside Al-Hilal have made a bid to sign West Brom's Brazilian midfielder Matheus Pereira, 25.(Birmingham Mail), external

More acts have been announced for a Coventry music festival which will form part of its City of Culture celebrations.

They include the rapper Whitey, DJ LAU.RA (pictured below) and Tim Burgess from The Charlatans.

Image source, LAU.RA

The four day festival, starting on 29 July, is being fronted by Terry Hall from the Specials and is being called Home Sessions.

It is putting an extra 10,000 tickets on sale this week, following the latest government announcement on lockdown restrictions.

But all venues will continue to operate at a reduced capacity, to allow social distancing.

Commonwealth Games gold medallist Ama Agbeze believes the eyes of the world will be on Birmingham next summer as it prepares to welcome capacity crowds to a multi-sport event.

Spectators are barred from watching live action at this summer's Olympic Games, meaning the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games promises to be the first such event held in 'normal' circumstances since the pandemic began.

The first ticket ballot opened to West Midlands residents on Wednesday.

Image source, BBC Sport

"All eyes will be on the Games because it will most likely be the first for capacity crowds across the world at a sporting event," the Birmingham resident and member of England's 2018 netball gold medal-winning team said.

"I think for Birmingham and the West Midlands region that is incredible...

"It will be a reason to celebrate and something to be able to say 'I was there'. It's almost wider than sport itself and wider than the Commonwealth Games because the globe has been so badly affected by the pandemic."

The suspension will last until the end of next week, Coventry City Council says.

A cyclist has died after being hit by a car on a pedestrian crossing.

The woman was struck by a VW Polo while using the crossing on Lower Rushall Street in Walsall just after 10:00 BST on Tuesday.

The car stopped a short distance away and the driver was detained by members of the public until officers arrived, West Midlands Police said.

The cyclist, who was in her 60s, was treated by paramedics but pronounced dead at the scene.

A man, aged 42, has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and driving while unfit through drink or drugs.

Officers have spoken with a number of witnesses at the scene and are analysing CCTV footage, in a bid to understand the circumstances of the crash, but appealed for anyone who has any information or has dashcam footage to get in contact.

BBC Radio Stoke Sport

Crewe manager David Artell has had his players running around Delamere Forest carrying bags of peat to make fitness training more interesting.

"There's no substitute for hard work, there's no substitute for actually running, but you don't want to do it in such a way that's boring."

Artell said his aim was to inspire his team and one senior player had called the training "tough but fair".

Crewe split their squad tonight to play simultaneous friendlies against Ashton United and Witton Albion.

Two men have been arrested after a police officer was assaulted whilst giving first aid to a London Underground passenger.

The officer was giving emergency first aid to a member of the public who had fallen down the stairs at Camden Town station in north London, when he was struck round the head, leaving him with fractures to his face and serious injuries to his shoulder and upper body.

British Transport Police said two 22-year-old men from Wolverhampton had been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm.

Image source, Google

Det Insp Gary Pinner said investigations into the incident are ongoing and urged anyone with information to come forward.

Birmingham City goalkeeper Neil Etheridge is in hospital having treatment after contracting coronavirus.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Tamworth Borough Council has written off debts totalling more than £460,000 that could not be recovered during the last financial year.

The write-offs for 2020/21 included more than £112,000 unpaid council tax and business rates worth more than £215,000. There was also over £130,000 written off relating to housing, including almost £30,000 in Housing Benefit overpayments.

Image source, Local Democracy Reporting Service

The figures were presented to a cabinet meeting on 8 July, which heard the level of debt written off during 2020/21 was comparable to the previous year and it was still too early to see the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on write-offs.

Council officer Andrew Barratt said: "In fact the revenues team have reported a remarkable income collection performance for the 2020/21 year, given the current circumstances, which is 97.4% for council tax, 97.7% for business rates and 95.8% for sundry debt."

Councillor Danny Cook said: "Some debts can simply not be recovered, whether a business has ceased to exist or someone has passed away there are always reasons."

A health minister has agreed to meet Shropshire's MPs to discuss concerns about the transformation of hospital services in the county.

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust was awarded more than £300 million of funding in 2018.

But appearing via videolink in the House of Commons on Tuesday, the Conservative MP for Ludlow, Phillip Dunne, said the costs of delivering the project have risen.

He asked Edward Agar to meet with MPs once the business case is complete "to ensure this project can still be delivered".

Image source, Parliament UK

Under the plans, Telford's Princess Royal Hospital will become a dedicated site for planned care and the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital will become a specialist emergency care site.

Mr Agar said his department has written to the trust reaffirming its support.

"It is an important scheme, we want to see it proceed and I am very happy to meet with him and fellow Shropshire colleagues," he said.

Council leaders have welcomed the opening of the UK's first testing "mega lab" aimed at increasing the UK's daily coronavirus testing capacity.

The Rosalind Franklin laboratory, in Leamington Spa is expected to be capable of processing hundreds of thousands of samples a day and the government says will ultimately create up to 1,500 jobs.

Image source, Department of Health and Social Care

Warwick District Council leader Andrew Day said it was a "massive boost" for the district.

Warwickshire County Council leader Izzi Seccombe saids the lab was named after chemist Roaslind Franklin.

"So, I hope her story will be an inspiration for a new generation of scientists and engineers recruited locally via apprenticeships and other routes into employment.”

Local Democracy Reporting Service

An order requiring dog owners to clean up after their pets has been extended for a further three years in Cannock Chase after a surge in fouling complaints during the pandemic.

Dogs are banned from fenced children's play areas and no more than six canines may be walked by one person at any time in a public place as part of the Dog Control Order covering the district.

Image source, Local Democracy Reporting Service

The report also revealed there were 104 dog fouling complaints in the district during 2020/21 - up from 79 the previous year.

Justin Johnson, portfolio leader for environment and climate change, said during lockdown "owners were exercising dogs in their own place, rather than sticking them in the car and travelling to a rural area" and there was "more chance of them being spotted and complaints being made".

Today is expected to be a dry and warm day with plenty of sunny spells and just some patches of cloud around the middle of the day. A gentle to moderate north-westerly breeze. Highs of 19C to 22C (66F to 72F).

This evening and tonight: Tonight will continue to be dry with mostly clear skies. At the end of the night, cloud is expected to build in from the west. A gentle north-westerly breeze. Lows of 13C to 16C (55F to 61F).

Welcome to our live service for Wednesday.

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.

Menopause can affect women's hair and a salon in Stratford-upon-Avon wants to support customers.

Artist Morag Myerscough created the colourful piece which has been placed over Hertford Street.

More than a million tickets are available for the Games, which start in Birmingham next summer.

James Vince says his first England century in victory over Pakistan in the third one-day international is the "best moment" of his career.

James Vince hits his first international century as England chase 332 against Pakistan in the third one-day international at Edgbaston.

The 50-year-old from Powick, near Worcester, is arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred.