Birmingham & Black Country

Local Live has finished for the day. We will be back from 08:00 on Thursday with more news, sport, travel and weather.

Rain will turn heavy in places for a time before it clears northwards by midnight.

It will be much drier through the early hours but remain cloudy, with some mist and fog patches. It will become milder too. Minimum temperature 9C (48F).

Check out the five-day forecast.

The widow of a police officer says the government has forced her to choose between love and money.

Cathryn Hall's husband Colin, who was a police dog handler, collapsed and died while dealing with a disturbance in the Black Country. Today Cathryn led a pensions protest to Westminster.

Under current rules, a widow or widower must give up their police pension if they remarry or cohabit. Campaigners want the system to be reformed. Midlands Today is on BBC One at 18:30.

The inclusion of Jonathan Trott in the England Lions squad for the January tour of South Africa is great news.

It is a great credit to him and to Warwickshire. This return to the England fold is the result of an approach that has seen Trott left alone to find his own way. Read the full column.

More than £200,000 is set to be wiped from Wolverhampton's galleries, museums and archives budget.

At least six jobs are also at risk.

What do you think of BBC Local Live? We'd like to hear your feedback about this service, which we write here in Birmingham.

Burton Albion chairman Ben Robinson has been paying tribute to Gary Rowett, who left the club on Monday to become Birmingham City manager.

He said: "Of course I am sad he is going, but Gary has done remarkably well and has created lots of excitement for the fans and a buzz in the town."

There is very slow traffic on the M5 northbound between J3, A456 (Halesowen) and J2, A4123 (Oldbury), because of an accident earlier on. All lanes have been reopened.

Keep an eye on how this develops by visiting BBC Travel.

"Cat-lick", meaning "quick wash", and "tara a bit", a common substitute for goodbye, are among the phrases being taught to overseas nurses recruited to work at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital.

Afrodite Karga (pictured), from Greece, says she struggled with the local accent at first.

"I went to my ward for the first day in my job and I couldn't understand many things because the accent was very weird for me," she said.

Wolves v Birmingham will be new Blues boss Gary Rowett's first game in charge, with his side desperate to bounce back from last weekend's club record 8-0 home defeat by Bournemouth.

Kenny Jackett's side will go top of the Championship if they avoid defeat.

Follow all the action with our special live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and at bbc.co.uk/birmingham.

A derelict Rowley Regis factory was partly destroyed in an arson attack on Tuesday night.

Our top local story at 17:00 is that Birmingham City Council has hired a new head of children's services.

Political reporter Susanna Mendonca says Alastair Gibbons has a big job to do. Listen live to BBC WM.

Officers want to identify this man after a bank card was stolen in a burglary at a house in Ethel Street, Smethwick, between 26 and 27 July.

The card was later used at Santander bank in High Street, West Bromwich.

Anyone with information is asked to contact PC Vijay Nagra on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

The troubled children's services department at Birmingham City Council has a new executive director - just weeks after the previous incumbent left the post shortly following her appointment.

A Birmingham man has been charged with causing the death of a man on the M6 during a crash in July.

James Barrett, of Triumph Walk, Castle Bromwich is accused of causing the death of 33-year-old Haroon Raja by dangerous driving.

The 33-year-old is also charged with causing serious injury to lorry driver Mark Berry by driving dangerously.

A Birmingham man has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving after a crash on the M6 near Coleshill in July.

For more on this and other stories, listen to our 16:00 bulletin.

A primary school teacher who fiddled almost £14,000 in disability living allowance was caught out after boasting about her amazing recovery in a video posted on YouTube, magistrates heard.

Six members of staff from West Midlands Ambulance Service are about to see their jobs "take off".

They have just qualified as aircrew paramedics who will fly on the Midlands Air Ambulance aircraft based in Staffordshire and Worcestershire.

Although flying from Tattenhill and Strensham, their role could, and almost certainly will take them almost anywhere in the West Midlands or even further afield.

A whistleblowing complaint about an elderly male patient found dead at a bus stop after being left there in the early hours following his discharge from a Dudley hospital allegedly led to a security manager losing his job, a tribunal heard.

In the 15:00 bulletin we hear from Afrodite Karga, a Greek nurse recruited among dozens of colleagues from overseas to work at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital.

Listen live to BBC WM.

A frail 92-year-old woman has been battered with a walking stick by a resident at a care home.

Nurses recruited from overseas to work at a Wolverhampton hospital are being given Black Country dialect lessons.

The recruits, from Europe, are being taught phrases like "cake-hole" - meaning mouth - to help them understand the distinctive West Midlands brogue.

Service is suspended on the Midland Metro between Wolverhampton St Georges and Priestfield due to engineering works.

Tickets are being accepted on National Express West Midlands services, says BBC Travel.

In the 14:00 news bulletin: More than 50 foreign nurses have started work at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital after it was criticised by inspectors for putting patient safety at risk by understaffing wards.

It may be hard to believe that this ivy-covered cottage on an unpaved dirt track could be anywhere near the Black Country but this Edwardian postcard shows what is today one of the busiest stretches of road in our region.

A new boss to lead Birmingham's troubled children's services has been appointed, two weeks after the previous candidate quit before starting.

Alastair Gibbons will replace Bernie McNally, who was due to fill the job next month.

Interim director Eleni Ioannides will head the department until Mr Gibbons takes up the new role on 2 February. Read the full story.

I've been editing a package for Midlands Today on the World premiere of the eagerly-anticipated Punjabi movie Yoddha The Warrior in Wolverhampton.

Kuljinder Singh Sidhu is in the title role of the film he also co-wrote and co-produced. What a coup for the city.

The premiere was supported by Wolverhampton Wanderers and we will also hear from defender Danny Batth, who has been on the club's books since he was aged 10. Tune into BBC One at 13:30.

In our 13:00 bulletin, we will have more on the appointment of Alastair Gibbons as the new executive director of Birmingham's children's services.

For more on this and other stories, listen live here.

The last time Bournemouth beat West Bromwich Albion, Cherries' manager Eddie Howe (pictured right) scored the winner in a 1-0 FA Cup win in January 1999.

I've been looking into a story coming up on Midlands Today, about how nurses recruited from abroad to a Wolverhampton Hospital have been receiving Black Country dialect lessons.

It led me to uncover this from the BBC Online archive, which is a A to Z of Black Country words and phrases.

There are some great ones in there. I particularly enjoyed "Werret", meaning "an irritating child, usually male". It seemed somehow appropriate for half term.

A pair of penguins are preparing for parenthood by sitting on an egg-shaped stone.

Keepers at Dudley Zoo have discovered the Humboldt pair are taking it in turns to incubate the rock, just as they would a real egg.

Protesters say proposed cuts to the borough's youth services are a "shattering blow to young people" and will lead to the "total destruction" of the service.

The first 50 nurses from Greece and Italy have started work at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital. In the 12:00 bulletin we hear from one working in the women's respiratory ward who says there's a lot to learn.

Listen live to BBC WM.

West Bromwich Albion boss Alan Irvine believes some of his players passed up an opportunity to impress in their League Cup defeat at Bournemouth.

Work is starting on phase two of Bentley Bridge Business Park in Wolverhampton. The units are being developed by Clowes Developments UK Ltd and are due to be finished by next February.

Phase one of the park is fully let to chain manufacturer Donghua (UK) Ltd, Principal Hygiene, Euro Car Parts, Toolstation and Wolverhampton City Primary Care Trust.

A Birmingham schools theatre group has been forced to postpone a touring production after a van filled with sets and costumes, including Great War outfits, was stolen in Balsall Heath.

CCTV footage has been released of a man in a red cap wanted for questioning after another man was stabbed eight times outside Medway Tower block on Cromwell Street, in Nechells, at 08:00 on 23 August.

The man went to the tower block with a friend, shown in the footage, whom officers would also like to speak to as a witness only.

In the 11:00 bulletin: Political reporter Susana Mendonca has more details on the new man in charge of Birmingham's children's services.

Listen live to BBC WM.

More than a dozen sets of roadworks are currently causing chaos for drivers in Wolverhampton - but people are unable to find out exactly how many because the council's official list is out of date.

A new executive director has been appointed to lead the troubled children's services department at Birmingham City Council.

Alastair Gibbons will take up the role on 2 February.

It comes after Bernie McNally decided she was "no longer interested in the role".

The crew from West Midlands Ambulance Service called the patient's mobile phone and talked him through his journey.

By using the lights and sirens of the vehicle, the man was finally discovered after an hour of searching. West Midlands Police was not involved.

Ambulance crews had to search for a man for more than an hour, after he became trapped and injured in a small passageway in Birmingham city centre.

West Midlands Ambulance Service got a call from the man at 03:46 saying he had fallen about 10m into a ditch and had no idea where he was.

He thought he had been on Holloway Circus, but did not know in which direction he had been walking.

Birmingham City Council has announced the appointment of a new executive director for children's services.

For more on this story and others listen live to BBC WM.

New Birmingham manager Gary Rowett says the struggling Championship club can "regenerate" from last Saturday's 8-0 record home defeat by Bournemouth.

He also says he has had reassurances he "has funds to strengthen straight away". Read about his introductory news conference.

Lanes are closed and there's slow traffic on the M6 southbound between J10a, at the M54, and J10, for the A454 (Wolverhampton), because of an accident, says BBC Travel.

There's also very slow traffic northbound between J8 and J9 because of an accident earlier.

We've introduced BBC Local Live to bring you news, sport, travel and weather updates in one place. We'd like to hear what you think.

Inward investment chiefs say next year's Ashes grudge match at Edgbaston stadium will boost Birmingham's economy by £26.4 million.

The widow of a police officer from Walsall will be in Westminster today to campaign for a change in the law on officers' pensions.

Under the current rules, police widows lose their partner's pension if they remarry or cohabit. We will have more on this and other stories in our 09:00 bulletin.

A former information point erected in the Jewellery Quarter in 1997 is to be relocated to Sutton Coldfield.

Some children suffer bullying and embarrassment as families struggle with school costs, according to an inquiry by the Children's Commission on Poverty.

It says parents spend an average of £800 a year per child on uniforms, school trips and meals and 170,000 families in Birmingham and the Black Country are struggling to meet the cost.

The government says it's already trying to help disadvantaged children.

West Bromwich Albion were bumped out of the League Cup last night by Callum Wilson's late strike for Bournemouth.

The Cherries were flying high on the back of their 8-0 thumping of Birmingham City on Saturday.

A rather cloudy day for most, although northernmost areas may have a little morning sunshine. Generally dry this morning but cloud will thicken enough to give a little rain in places this afternoon. A cooler feel to the day. Maximum temperature 11C (52F).

One lane is blocked and there is slow traffic on the M6 northbound at J9, A461 (Wednesbury) because of an accident. Congestion is back to J7, A34 (Great Barr).

Visit BBC Travel for the latest information.

I'm back in the BBC WM newsroom bringing you the latest news, sport, travel and weather. You can get in touch via Twitter, email and Facebook.