01/03/2014 Midlands Today

stories on the BBC News Channel. That's all from me, stay with us

Good afternoon. The former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg

has appeared in court chargdd with Syria`related terror offencds.

45`year`old Begg, from Hall Green in Birmingham, was arrested along with

three others on Tuesday. He's charged with providing terrorist

training and funding terrorhsm overseas. A 44`year`old wom`n,

Gerrie Tahari from Sparkbrook, is charged with facilitating tdrrorism

overseas. Two other men arrdsted remain in police custody. A

demonstration against the arrests is being held this lunchtime ottside

the West Midlands Police headquarters.

There's been a further protdst in the city this morning against the

propsed closure of a local swimming baths. Tiverton Pool in Selly Oak is

is one of several earmarked for closure by the City Council as a

cost`cutting measure. Locals say it is a vital resource and if ht goes

it will have a devastating hmpact on the community.

A stained glass window belidved to have miraculously escaped unscathed

from the ruins of Coventry Cathedral and delivered to a small Icdlandic

town has been proven to be ` fraud. For decades it was thought the glass

had been stolen during the war and sold to the church in Iceland. Joel

Mapp reports. Before its destruction, Covdntry

Cathedral had two types of stained glass ` Medieval and Victorhan. The

Medieval windows were removdd before the Blitz and saved but the

Victorian glass, well, many believe it was stolen and ended up hn

Iceland. Dr Jonathan Foyle hs chief executive of the World Monulents

Fund Britain and he's come to Iceland to investigate. We heard

that because they haven't explained the history of the windows from

Coventry to London and one of the explanations is that it had been

stolen. As Hitler scrambled his bombers, some of the Cathedral's

stained glass was removed for safekeeping. It's believed that some

went missing, sold by an antiques dealer in London to an Icel`ndic

trader. But Jonathan's not convinced. I don't think, however,

they were from Coventry Cathedral. They were probably removed from many

different church buildings `nd I think the antique dealer probably

used the words Coventry Cathedral to sell them quicker. Coventry's

Victorian glass, then, wasn't stolen and smuggled to Iceland but simply

left in place and destroyed by the Luftwaffe.

And you can see more on The Great Glass Mystery on BBC One tolorrow

afternoon at 4.10pm. The Bromsgrove cyclist Jess Varnish

will be hoping to win a second medal at the World Championships hn

Colombia today. Varnish will compete in the semi`finals of the individual

sprint in Cali after a quarterfinal victory over her GB team`mate and

defending champion Becky Jales last night. She'll then have a third

chance at a medal in the Kidrin tomorrow but admits that evdnt will

be a very different experience. Kierin is like sort of a longer

lengthier sprint so with me just training for one lap and thd

individual sprint, it doesn't really have you in favour unless you're

sort of headstrong and clevdr, really.

Time to check on the weather now with Mel Coles.

Good afternoon. It's been a fairly decent start to the day, perhaps

chilly for many places but some good spells of sunshine. As we hdad

through the afternoon, we'll see a little more cloud and have the risk

of one or two showers. The winds are light today. Temperatures rdaching

highs of around eight Celsits. This evening, most places will h`ng on to

a bit of cloud. One or two showers around. Northern areas may have some

rain from time to time. Temperatures overnight dropping to three or four

Celsius. Tomorrow it will bd wetter and windier.

That's all for now. I'll be back with all the day's football and

rugby results in our next btlletin at 6.05pm.

Hello there. The first day of March, and quite a wintry chill to

the first thing, but conditions have improved a lot, a lot of sunshine

have there, so the daffodils you can see behind me, a good sunny Saint

David's day across Wales. We will hold onto the sunshine for many

places. A fly in the ointment is showers across western areas,

developing through the afternoon. Across the south-east, particularly

East Anglia, a great start, that area of low pressure continuing to

push out into the North Sea. Quite a deal to be a generally, temperatures

slowly climbing, but the winds are light, pleasant in the sunshine A

few