BBC Radio WM

Drive-through Covid testing is being set up for people flying in and out of Birmingham Airport.

It will cost £59 for the PCR test which is currently one of the requirements for travelling to and from an amber list country.

BBC Radio WM

Birmingham actor David Harewood is among the early favourites to be the next Doctor Who.

Bookmakers gave the 55--year-old odds of 14/1 to be the next Time Lord.

Image source, Getty Images

Favourites for the role are Michaela Coel and Olly Alexander.

Tom Rosenthal, Anne Maxwell Martin and Kelly Macdonald are also seen as being contenders by the bookmakers.

Jodie Whittaker is leaving the role in 2022.

Police are continuing to investigate the death of a women whose body was found at a house in Nuneaton.

The woman in her 40s was found at property on Moorwood Crescent, Hartshill, on Monday evening.

The death is being treated as unexplained and is an isolated incident, the Warwickshire force says.

Three people arrested on suspicion of murder have been released on police bail.

Great Britain's Ben Whittaker is guaranteed an Olympic medal after winning his quarter-final fights on Friday.

Whittaker, from West Bromwich, will return to the ring on Sunday to fight for a place in the gold medal round.

"It was difficult, you never want to look too far ahead but I can't help myself," he told BBC Sport.

He now has his sights set on returning home with an Olympic title, adding: "I want to come back with the gold medal and become the mayor of Wolverhampton and call all the shots."

Work has begun on a scheme to reduce the risk of flooding to 300 Staffordshire homes.

The project is further to a £30m scheme to protect homes in Burton-upon-Trent, and is designed to contain water within Tatenhill Brook.

A boy has suffered "significant injuries" in a dog attack in Stoke-on-Trent.

Image source, Google

The 12-year-old was found with injuries to his face, back, chest and legs, on Dawlish Drive, Bentilee, on Thursday, Staffordshire Police said.

A man in his 20s also suffered injuries to his legs.

The force said the boy was taken to Royal Stoke University Hospital.

BBC Radio CWR

A midwife who had eggs, flour and water thrown at her by a group of 30 people said she has had "lovely support" from her patients since the attack.

Image source, Laney Holland

Laney Holland, 47, from Northampton, was driving through Coventry when she was attacked.

She said afterwards it was "scary" and has since told BBC Radio CWR she believes it was "a bit of fun that went a bit out of hand".

She added the community in Coventry has given her support: "I have had flowers, I have had cards, I had some runner beans given to me to make me feel better."

West Midlands Police said it was investigating and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust said abuse of staff was "completely unacceptable".

Image source, Laney Holland

BBC Weather

There will be scattered heavy showers with some bright sunny spells later and highs of 18°C (64°F).

This was the scene in Knowe earlier as taken by BBC Weather Watcher Dammo.

Image source, Dammo

Welcome to our live coverage for Friday.

We'll be bringing you the latest news, sport, weather and travel until 18:00.

If you want to get in touch, find us on Facebook , externaland Twitter, external.

The five friends have faced blood and brain cancers together and now feature in a new campaign film.

Worcestershire trounce Essex by a record 182 runs, Leicestershire lose to Warwickshire and Gloucestershire beat Durham with two balls to spare in the One-Day Cup.

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

Jessica Gadirova has achieved 10th place in the women's all-around gymnastics at the Tokyo Olympics, the best result ever by a British woman in the event.

Image source, Reuters

"It's my first world ranking, so I know where I am and where I stand," said 16-year-old Gadirova from Coventry, whose twin sister Jennifer finished 13th.

"Over the years hopefully I will just grow. I've got a few days to rest the legs up ready for the floor final [on Monday]."

The twins helped Great Britain win a historic team bronze on Tuesday and Jennifer may yet join Jessica in Monday's floor final if Biles withdraws.

BBC Radio Shropshire

Three shopping centres which were bought by Shropshire Council for £51m in 2018 are now valued at just £12,350,000.

The authority bought the Charles Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside centres while under its previous leader, Peter Nutting, with the aim of improving shopping in Shrewsbury.

It said the fall in value was due to a change in retail habits across the UK, and added the pandemic was also partly responsible.

The council said it would continue to spend money on improving the centres and that footfall was starting to approach 2019 levels again at the Darwin Centre.

At the same time, it intends to go ahead with the demolition of the Riverside centre and to put the Pride Hill centre to new use.

The whole county, the authority said, would benefit from the change and from the extra visitors it would bring.

Street cafes introduced during the pandemic could be made permanent in a Shropshire town.

Image source, Shropshire Council

Areas of Oswestry could be pedestrianised, with a focus on reopening closed shops, says Shropshire Council.

It is holding a review of ideas for the town, which could see it transformed under a new masterplan.

Image source, Shropshire Council

Members of the Future Oswestry Group will be holding a series of events to gather the views of the public.

Affordable housing could be built via the sale of the site of a former village school.

Image source, Google

Herefordshire Council wants to provide 1,000 homes in the county by 2025 which people on low incomes can buy or rent.

The council said, external it would survey the Holme Lacy Primary land, near Hereford, and a site next to Aylestone School, before potentially putting up the land for sale.

The money from the sales would be put towards affordable housing schemes elsewhere in the county.

The village primary school closed in September 2012.

Connie McGrath has gone from staying on the sofa to a "ball of energy" in months.

Emergency departments in Shrewsbury and Telford are seeing record numbers of patients, according to an A&E consultant.

Ed Rysdale said "well over" 500 patients a day were seeking help at the hospitals, which is "winter pressure-type numbers".

The hospitals had seen "more patients in a single day in June and July than we've ever done before," he said.

Image source, Getty Images

Patients at the hospitals, run by Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) could be waiting several hours to be seen in A&E, and ambulances kept waiting for more than an hour.

The consultant urged patients with more minor injuries to phone 111 first or seek help at the minor injuries departments in Oswestry or Bridgnorth.

"Teams are working flat out," he added.

"It may take a time but anybody that comes through we will see."

He didn't suggest what could be behind the surge, but said: "I know that 111 and GPs are very busy as well, the whole of the NHS system is working incredibly hard and there are delays".

Under controversial reorganisation plans for SaTH, Shrewsbury is set to become the main emergency unit with Telford becoming a so-called A&E Local instead.

Ryan Harris' tried to appeal so he could help search for his father-in-law but was refused.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

A proposed university building that has been compared to "a wonky wedding cake" is going before planning chiefs next week.

A report by officers at Birmingham City Council described the designs for Aston University as "a fantastic proposal, a well-designed piece of architecture with excellent-looking landscaping".

The design has also been compared to hula hoops.

Members are recommended to approve the plan.

Image source, Hawkins//Brown

The report suggested the new building could become a home to some of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery’s collections that are not currently on display.

The building would be built on Gosta Green and it would mainly be used for teaching, with a cafe on the ground floor.

The council's planning committee will meet on 5 August.

Image source, Hawkins//Brown