South Today

Coming up on South Today this lunchtime at 13:30 on BBC One, the widow of a man stabbed to death while shopping in Abingdon last year has praised tougher restrictions on selling knives.

Justin Skrebowski was buying balloons in Poundland in December when he was attacked by a man who grabbed a knife from a shelf. His widow Gulsen Alkan told us more needs be done.

Bee Tucker
BBC Weather

There could be heavy showers in among some brightness this afternoon.

Heavy, slow-moving showers are likely to develop in the north with thunder possible, but the south should become mainly dry and sunny. Highs of 14C (57F).

You can get more details on the BBC weather site.

Joe Nimmo
BBC News Online

The top stories this lunchtime in Oxfordshire:

• A prisoner from Oxford killed a female Serco guard by kicking her head like a "football", a jury has taken just 20 minutes to decide  
• The £6.5m renovations at a five-star hotel in Oxford damaged in a major blaze have been completed  
• The Met Office has warned that heavy showers and thunderstorms are expected this afternoon, external

John Whittingdale will not now attend a rally in Oxford for the campaign to leave the EU following news of his relationship with a sex worker.

Image source, AFP/Getty

The Vote Leave event on Saturday in Maplethorpe Hall, St Hugh’s College, will instead be attended by justice secretary Chris Grayling.

Mr Whittingdale, who says he had not known the woman was a sex worker, said it had not affected his decisions.

Dave Gilyeat
BBC News

The £6.5m renovations at a five-star hotel in Oxford damaged in a major blaze have been completed.

Image source, Jenni Shaw

The fire at the Randolph Hotel in April 2015, sparked by a flambéed beef stroganoff in its kitchen, ripped through three floors.

A prisoner killed a female Serco guard by kicking her head like a "football", a jury has taken just 20 minutes to decide.

Image source, PA

Law degree drop-out Humphrey Burke, 23, carried out the fatal attack on 54-year-old grandmother Lorraine Barwell at Blackfriars Crown Court on 29 June last year.  

Burke, formerly from Friars Wharf, Oxford, was ruled unfit to stand trial for Mrs Barwell's murder as he has since been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

Following a trial of the facts at the Old Bailey, the jury decided this morning that he did commit the act.

The Met Office has warned that heavy showers and thunderstorms are expected this afternoon, external.

Image source, Met Office

A spokesperson said: "Not everywhere will see these, but where they do occur be aware of localised impacts, from hail and lightning, as well as heavy rain producing standing water on roads and reduced visibility."

Dave Gilyeat
BBC News

Nearly a year after a fire ripped through Oxford's iconic hotel The Randolph, the final scaffolding is being taken down and business is getting back to normal.

Image source, Steve Lambourne

General manager Michael Grange said the fire was started when the chefs were "preparing a beef stroganoff and they put too much cognac in, and the rest is history".

Beef stroganoff is no longer on the menu, he added.

Banbury Cake

The only specialised support and preventative service for people with HIV in Oxfordshire has been thrown a lifeline, external, securing its immediate future.

Joe Nimmo
BBC News Online

• Almost a year after a serious fire damaged Oxford's Randoph Hotel, its refurbishment has been completed today  
• Polling takes place in Woodstock today, with people being asked to vote on whether land east of Woodstock should be protected from development
• A junior doctor from Oxfordshire has taken the protest over NHS contracts straight to the Government's door  

Dave Gilyeat
BBC News

Polling takes place in Woodstock today, with people being asked to vote on whether land east of Woodstock should be protected from development.

Image source, Neil Kennedy

A reduced proposal for new housing on part of the Blenheim Palace estate is being worked on by developers following criticism.

Polling hours are between 4pm and 9pm, with details of where you can vote listed here, external.  

Oxford University ecologists in Wytham Woods are mapping the social networks of small mammals.

BBC Travel

There are still queues on the A34 northbound at the Milton interchange because of overrunning overnight roadworks. Traffic stretches back to the West Illsley turn off.

Oxford Mail

Plans to sort out crippling congestion on the A34 could be fast-tracked after George Osborne called in his top infrastructure tsar, external.

A junior doctor from Oxfordshire has taken the protest over NHS contracts straight to the Government's door.

Image source, Rachel Clarke

Rachel Clarke yesterday began what's being called a "permanent protest" outside the Department of Health, inviting Jeremy Hunt to re-open talks over new contracts.

She said the doctors were "absolutely ready to talk" at any time of the day or night.

The first ever all-out junior doctor strike is planned for for later this month.

Ross Heaton
BBC Oxford Sport

Oxford United boss Michael Appleton says if the club secures promotion it will make it easier to hang on to star players like Kemar Roofe.

Image source, Empics

A host of Championship clubs have been linked recently with the U's top scorer, who is one of the three nominees for the Football League's League Two player of the year award. 

Appleton wants the 23-year-old to stay, but concedes keeping Roofe will be less difficult if the U's are playing in League One next season.

Lilley Mitchell
Radio car reporter

Almost a year after a serious fire damaged Oxford's Randoph Hotel its refurbishment will be completed today.

The blaze started in the hotel's kitchen last April and spread to the area in the roof.