BBC Midlands Today

The funeral of a pregnant woman from Birmingham who died from Covid, takes place later.

Unvaccinated 37-year-old Saiqa Parveen died in intensive care after catching coronavirus while eight months pregnant with her fifth child.

She underwent an emergency caesarean and was on a ventilator until her death last Monday and never got to meet her newborn daughter.

Image source, Family handout

Her family are now urging to all pregnant women to get the Covid-19 vaccine.

Her brother Qayoum Mughal said: "If she had the vaccine, she might have had a chance of surviving."

A convoy of more than 100 illuminated bicycles makes the city shine in celebration of Diwali.

A CCTV image of a man police would like to speak to in connection with a robbery has been released.

Image source, West Midlands Police

A delivery driver was chased from his van, assaulted and had a parcel stolen.

He was targeted on Pedmore Road, in Lye, Dudley, at about 10:00 on 15 October, said West Midlands Police.

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer

Dean Smith can leave Aston Villa with his head held high after taking his boyhood club back into the Premier League and establishing them there but growing expectations, big ambitions and five straight defeats brought his reign to an end.

Image source, Alex Broadway/Getty Images

Villa sold talisman Jack Grealish to Manchester City for £100m but the money was reinvested in club record signing Emiliano Buendia from Norwich City, as well as Danny Ings and Leon Bailey from Southampton and Bayer Leverkusen respectively.

Grealish was always going to be missed but Villa's hierarchy were hoping the new faces would allow them to build on last season's 11th place.

It will be a desperate personal blow to Smith, with the 50-year-old fulfilling a dream when he left Brentford for Villa Park in 2018.

The all-male Alcester Court Leet has agreed to elect jurors of all genders, from October 2022.

The new dermatology clinic will help people to be seen and treated more quickly, trust says.

A 29-year-old from Shropshire is arrested after the death of trainee accountant Joshua Spender.

Two women have been arrested at Birmingham Airport on suspicion of racially abusing a passenger, police said.

West Midlands Police said it had happened in the terminal earlier.

BBC Midlands Today

Tributes have been paid to former member of UB40 Terence Wilson, better known by his stage name Astro, who has died aged 64.

Astro, who performed in the Birmingham-based band for more than 30 years, died after a short illness, his current band confirmed.

He first joined UB40 in 1979, shortly after it had formed, and had performed with breakaway group UB40 featuring Ali Campbell and Astro.

Image source, Getty Images

Local music expert Jez Collins says his contribution to the music industry leaves a lasting legacy.

"I honestly don't think we truly understand how important they were to a whole generation of Brummies and successive generations," he said.

Staffordshire Olympian Adam Peaty has become the latest star to get the boot from Strictly Come Dancing.

The Uttoxeter swimmer and his partner Katya Jones faced Tilly Ramsay and her partner Nikita Kuzmin in the dance-off.

The pair's dance this week had been a jive to Little Bitty Pretty One by Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers.

Image source, Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire

Reflecting on his time on the show, Peaty said: "I have absolutely loved every single challenge. I've never had a challenge like this.

"As an Olympian for 16 years, I've pushed my body to places that I never thought it could be pushed."

MPs are holding an emergency debate later about parliamentary standards, as the row continues over how the government handled the case of former Conservative minister Owen Paterson.

Ministers have been criticised for trying to change the standards body after it found Tory North Shropshire MP guilty of breaking lobbying rules.

They later did a U-turn after an outcry from opposition parties and Mr Paterson resigned.

Image source, PA Media

The Liberal Democrat-led debate will look again at how the system needs to be reformed.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called on the prime minister to use the Commons debate to apologise to the country for his handling of the events.

A broken down lorry has closed two lanes of a main road coming into Birmingham.

West Midlands Roads says it is affecting the A38(M) Aston Expressway between Spaghetti Junction and Park Circus.

BBC Weather

We can expect some cloud cover this morning, with the odd spot of rain.

In the afternoon some patchy, light rain will move in from the west.

Tonight will remain mostly cloudy with the chance of rain, with more rain edging in towards dawn.

You can find out more about the weather where you are on the BBC Weather page.

The latest news, sport, travel and weather from across the West Midlands and south Cheshire.

Harlequins score four second-half tries as the Premiership champions come from 16-0 down for a bonus-point win over Wasps.

Saiqa Parveen put off getting the vaccine until after the birth of her child, her family says.

Aston Villa sack manager Dean Smith after five successive Premier League defeats.

A 16-year-old was bitten and a woman hit with a bottle in the "really nasty assaults".

Robert Smith, who has previously lived in Nottinghamshire, left HMP Sudbury in Derbyshire.

Marches Local Enterprise Partnership chair Mandy Thorn says staff are worried about their future.