sima kotecha, bbc news. time for a look at the weather.hing is up, not bad weather on the way. the way. and its lead to interesting contrasts from day to die this week. contrasts from day to die this week. —— from day to night this week. could get up to 18 celsius through this afternoon in nantwich. this afternoon in nantwich. off where we should be at this time of year. of year. drift from the wind off the sea, it's 12-13. drift from the wind off the sea, it's12—13.

sima kotecha, bbc news, birmingham.eard there about the man in his 80s who died in the floods in walsall. well, on the same street, another driver was pulled to safety from his submerged car, hours earlier. his rescuer, ben lees, explained how he dived into six—foot—deep waters to reach the stranded man. i was on my way home and then i avoided the road closure, like everyone else does, and i went down side streets and i came across the floods. and people coming up to the car asking if you can swim. i said, yes. they said, "there's children in the car". because i've got a son, ijust got out straight away and went in. but there was no children in there, there was just an old guy, like. the man in the car, how high was the water in the car? i'd say there was probably about two inches of breathing space in the car, to the roof of the car. so, what did you do? i opened the back doors, because i thought there were kids in there and had a feel round both sides and i couldn't feel anything. he said, "it'sjust me, i'm in the fro

our correspondent sima kotecha is in wolverhampton. sima. comes at a time when knife crime has increase significantly, across the region, just days ago a 16—year—old boy was killed in an affluent part of birmingham in broad daylight. but what the police said here, today, carries national resonance. just 15. keelan wilson stabbed to death last night. it happened at 11.00 in a cul—de—sac on a residential road, just metres away from his home. the police made this desperate plea. all i will say now is to members of the public who have got young people, to sit down and have a conversation with them and tell them that this is the consequence of carrying knives. we are seeing too many of these incidents, not only in the west midlands, but across the country, and it needs to stop, and we need your help to stop it, please. officers say they arrived here after getting reports of some sort of disturbance involving young people. they say once they arrived, they found the teenager with serious stab wounds. he was rushed to hospital, but unfortunately, th

here's sima kotecha. of a storm over pricing after marking up some of its larger sized clothing. it's not fair. i don't see why you should be penalised just because most of my friends: so i think it's out of order that they have to pay more for the same clothes. on its website, different sized items at different prices. for example, a size 16 pair of trousers is priced at £19.99. however, a size 2a pair is £22.99. the argument is a simple one. should using more materialfor larger clothing mean higher prices? if you've got to use more material, you've got to use it, haven't you? it's going to cost, either way. it's the same with paint. you buy a big tin of paint it costs you 50 quid. you buy a small tin, it's only going to cost you 30 quid. this isn't the first time a clothing retailer has been accused of marking up plus sizes. but, with obesity rates rising, some believe this kind of strategy could lead to better health. we need to take a new approach, which is a bit of stick. a bit of stick will be payin

sima kotecha, bbc news, dudley.with the conservative performance overnight. they gained control of councils in peterborough, southend and basildon, but admitted more work had to be done. they lost their flagship council in the north—west, trafford. labour picked up most of their seats in the area, leaving the council with no party in overall control. that result means the tories no longer control any councils in the greater manchester area. our correspondentjudith moritz has been to trafford this morning. labour party, 2018 votes. cheering it's years since labour have had something to cheer about in trafford. the council's been in conservative hands since 200a. not any more. last night, red overtook blue here, leaving the authority in no overall control. we were a target for the labour party, it's the only conservative council surrounded by a number of labour councils in greater manchester and the north—west. and we've seen significant opposition activity. in the wards where we've seen them change this evening, ther

sima kotecha, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's matt taylor. something is up, not bad weather on the way. the way. and its lead to interesting contrasts from day to die this week. contrasts from day to die this week. —— from day to night this week. could get up to 18 celsius through this afternoon in nantwich. this afternoon in nantwich. off where we should be at this time of year. of year. drift from the wind off the sea, it's 12-13. drift from the wind off the sea, it's12—13. it's12—13. overall a fine spring afternoon for most. afternoon for most. melts away in the evening and overnight. overnight. enough for a touch of grassed frost in the countryside. in the countryside. towards orkney and shetland later on. on. temperatures up a degree on today's values. values. night and it takes to —— takes us into the weekend. into the weekend. heading to watch events there in windsor. windsor. saturday, almost uk wide it will be dry, good sunny spells. dry, good sunny spells. ireland but temperatures inland could get up to 20—22. co

our correspondent sima kotecha is in birmingham for us this evening. a difficult 2a hours for people living in the city, flash flooding has led to serious damage but it is the aftermath that is now causing a lot of concern and distress. their precious possessions destroyed and discarded. 2a hours after violent thunderstorms and heavy downpours swept across the country, the clean—up operation is under way. and some of those worst affected feel deflated. we did have about an hour as we watched the water come up and moved as much of our possessions as we could upstairs and then the water came into the house. and once it started coming in, it got higher and higher and it was above the level of the windows there. it was above the level of the doors at the back and then it started coming in as a torrent. like a river breaking its banks, basically. the houses on this street are particularly vulnerable. if you go to the end of the road, there is the bourne brook. many of the homes here have been flooded now three times over the last decade. on this street some

here's sima kotecha.g. it's not fair. i don't see why you should be penalised just because you're a bit bigger. most of my friends are bigger than me. so i think it's out of order that they have to pay more for the same clothes. on its website, different sized items at different prices. for example, a size 16 pair of trousers is priced at £19.99. however, a size 24 pair is £22.99. if you've got to use more material, you've got to use it, haven't you? it's going to cost, either way. it's the same with paint. you buy a big tin of paint it costs you 50 quid. you buy a small tin, it's only going to cost you 30 quid. this isn't the first time a clothing retailer has been accused of marking up plus sizes. but, with obesity rates rising, some believe this kind of strategy could lead to better health. we need to take a new approach, which is a bit of stick. a bit of stick will be paying more for what you are buying in the shops if you are very large, as a reminder that — if you go on this way — there are real dan

sima kotecha sent us this report.e national memorial arboretum, a memorial was unveiled to commemorate all those who died and ease the pain of those who live on. present, their friends and relatives, members of the royal family and members of the government, including defence minister tobias ellwood, whose brotherjonathan was killed in the 2002 bali bombings. this provides a beautiful image, in stark contrast to the horrendous circumstances in which loved ones were killed. i miss my brother dearly and we must make sure the terrorists don't win and don't take over our lives. the memorial is called still water. the artist wanted to create an impression of a hidden place surrounded by woodland and greenery. it has no specific meaning, allowing those who come here to make their own interpretation of what it means to them. sheila's son nick was the only british citizen killed in the bataclan attack in paris, three years ago. this memorial is for all those affected by terrorism overseas and that circle of people is huge. an

sima kotecha reports from birmingham. two days on, and they don't know what to say or do.s you can see. carpets have had to be thrown out, and i can't use anything in there because it's all gone. houses ruined and lives put on hold. we get no help from nobody. and one person came yesterday to clear every house, and the river burst its banks and then all this. it's bad. nobody cares. violent thunderstorms and torrential rain on sunday lead to flooding in parts of central birmingham. the damage is severe. some areas had a month's rain injust one hour. by looking at this van you can see just how far the water came up. now, walking along this street it's not just the visuals that strike you. the smell of sewage is inescapable. businesses have suffered, too. their goods wiped out in a matter of minutes. distress. dismay. upset. everything is gone. even the car is written off now. so, nothing left. residents say it is the third time this street has been flooded over the last decade. the complaint here is a lack of help from the council. you could see the sewage in the water. the

our correspondent sima kotecha is at the scene. — what do we know about what happened ?ng reports of some sort of disorder taking place behind me involving youths. when they got here they found a 15—year—old boy who had serious stab wounds. he was rushed to hospital but unfortunately they we re to hospital but unfortunately they were unable to save him. today forensic examiners say they are looking at the scene behind me trying to ascertain exactly what happened and why. police are carrying out house to house inquiries and sifting through cctv footage to try and ascertain what happened and why. this comes as figures showed the west midlands has seen the biggest increase in knife crime outside of london over the last three years. in recent weeks we have heard of fatal shootings and stabbings in the region including in sutton coldfield, a very affluent area of birmingham where a 16—year—old was killed. but as i said, as for this crime to date police are carrying on with their inquiries to try and find out exactly what happened here last night. simetu techeetah, thank you.

from birmingham, sima kotecha reports. men under the influence of black mamba. cannabis but users say it's stronger and can cause hallucinations, vomiting and trigger a zombie—like state. i've been addicted to drugs for the past 38, a0 years. i was a heroine and crack cocaine addict and then all of a sudden, black mamba's hit the streets. i've been addicted to mamba now for two and a half years. i have to wake up to £30 worth of it every day otherwise i'm violently, violently sick. its use is particularly widespread among the homeless because it's cheap and easy to get. how does it make you feel? just sedated. blocks all the pain out from my life. and that's why you take it? yeah. we have got a spliff come in with a patient... the surge in psychoactive drugs has led to scientists in birmingham creating a method of testing where they can quickly and cheaply establish what new chemicals somebody has taken. many labs around the country are still using what we call immunoassay techniques, test—tube techniques to look for classic drugs. they're just not looking for t

sima kotecha reports from birmingham. two days on, and they don't know what to say or do.s you can see. in there because it's all gone. houses ruined and lives put on hold. we get no help from nobody. and the river burst its banks and then all this. it's bad. nobody cares. in parts of central birmingham. the damage is severe. some areas had a month's rain injust one hour. by looking at this van you can see just how far the water came up. the visuals that strike you. the smell of sewage is inescapable. businesses have suffered, too. their goods wiped out in a matter of minutes. distress. dismay. upset. everything is gone. even the car is written off now. so, nothing left. over the last decade. the complaint here is a lack of help from the council. you could see the sewage in the water. the water was up to here. and it's been frustrating for us here. nobody has taken care of us. how are you feeling? i'm feeling really bad, you know. i'm feeling like a second—class citizen, to be honest with you. i've got so many health issues. i can't even manage it. it's too much for me. if