28/03/2017 Midlands Today

There are concerns the actions of the man responsible

has severely damaged Birmingham's community relations.

The world's media descended on the city

following the killings last Wednesday

committed by Khalid Masood, who'd lived in the city.

Our Special Correspondent, Peter Wilson,

who in recent months have done much to change perceptions

about Birmingham and its Muslim community.

These two men walking through Birmingham. They have recently

become television and Internet sensations.

Two ordinary Brummies talking about being proud

Last week's attack in London and the link with Khalid Masood

to the west Midlands has focused not just Britain's but the world's

For me, it is not about a Moslem or a non-Muslim thing, it is about a

Birmingham thing. It is about ours and ours as a community. We need to

deal with this and I am very eager to show the world that just the

positive things that we are doing. Like I have said before, you cannot

actions of one individual. It is actions of one individual. It is

just unfair. Were you surprised that this man came from Birmingham? Or

was living in Birmingham? Yes. Like I said, I had never heard of them.

Even now, I've been asking around, I do not know anybody who has ever

heard of him known him. It does not heard of him known him. It does not

seem like he was a very, you know, social person, or part of the

community. Or maybe even had many friends.

Rohey Hydara, Masood's wife, now living in London,

there's a sense of anger that they are all expected

to apologise for this man's criminal actions.

Everybody wants to hear what Muslims have got to think about it and, for

me that is all just depressing. The people that want to know whether

Muslims condemn it, that is just insulting. We are always expected to

condemn it, where I think people should be smart enough to understand

that whether we verbally make some sort of statement or we do not,

everybody is going to condemn it. We are human at the end of the day,

before we are Muslim we are human. Both men work for a charity and next

week risk their lives going to Iraq Up to ?5 billion of investment

in Birmingham Airport, the National Exhibition Centre

and local universities has been promised at the biggest

business forum staged by the British

and Qatari governments. The Prime Minister, Theresa May,

delivered the keynote speech just 24 hours before

she commits Britain Our reporter Nicola

Beckford joins me now. This was interesting timing,

is there any coincidence in that? Well, it certainly sends out

a message that the Midlands Engine

is revving up after Brexit. The most visible example of

a Qatari investment is the direct flight

between Birmingham and Doha. Birmingham Airport is set

to benefit further along with other

infrastructure projects. But the PM seems to be showing how

important the Midlands Engine And, remember, she's about to

trigger Article 50 tomorrow - the process to formally start

negotiations to take Now, some fear that there could be

a loss of European investment So we asked one of the PM's

colleagues whether this type of investment could make up for any

potential loss from the Europeans. This is an investment on top

of whatever else we negotiate. It is a vote of confidence

in Birmingham and that But how was it received by those

on the end of that charm offensive? ?5 billion is being invested

in sport, health care and education. But business hates uncertainty

and we don't know what is going Research-led universities have also

voiced their concerns in the past. The people of Birmingham

will benefit through the new life sciences

park, novel technologies And also the people

of Birmingham will benefit from the inward investment,

and indeed from the tourist opportunities

that this will bring. It's been a mixed picture

for business across Some firms have won

new contracts, while others have

seen orders decline. We'll be looking at how

businesses have been affected following the death of a 55-year-old

man in Kidderminster. Mark Beresford died

in hospital on Saturday, after being found with serious

head injuries at his home

in Offmore Road on Friday night. 22-year-old Henry Lewis Jones,

also from Kidderminster, appeared at Redditch

Magistrates' Court today. Roads in the West Midlands

are in such a state of disrepair to get them

into reasonable condition. According to a new report,

it will cost each local authority Last year, 208,000 potholes

were filled in across the region. Motoring organsations

are calling for action. I think the situation

is actually dire. but as a safety risk

to those on two wheels, particularly cyclists

and motorcyclists, who can actually

have serious accidents if they hit a pothole,

particularly at night. If you talk to motorists,

it is always one of their top concerns - the poor

state of the roads. Have you seen one of

the new ?1 coins yet? A teenager in the Black Country

was particularly keen David Pearce won a Royal Mint

competition two years ago and his initials feature

on the new coin, but today was the first

time he saw it. David Pearce has every

reason to be proud - he designed the back

of the new pound coin, There is the English

Tudor Rose, the Welsh leek, the Scottish thistle

and the Northern Irish shamrock. They're tiny, but David's initials

are beneath the coronet on the right of the coin,

but he's pretty modest. Quite humbled to have a part in

the creation of this kind of coin. He entered this drawing

in a Royal Mint competition with the encouragement

of his teacher at Queen Mary's Grammar School

in Walsall, and won ?10,000. The headmaster put this as his top

achievement in the last academic year, so the school

as a whole are very proud. Thousands of people entered

this, and it had to be one of my mates from my class

to design the coin, it was a great It is beautiful, I like

the design, and how he incorporates the togetherness

of the country. But some of the council had to spend

4.5 million pounds updating the new machine. So much I like it but I am

not sure about the 12 sides. It has to be changed now, you know, the pin

machines on things like that. What do you like about it? Just the

general design. It is going to be harder to counterfeit. David will be

in his 40s by the time it ceases to be in circulation, but before then

he has A-levels this summer and an offer from Cambridge to study

architecture. Talented lad.

Now if you have a good head for heights,

This is the spectacular view from the top of one

which span the river Severn in Gloucestershire.

At 500 feet, they're among the tallest in Britain

and today engineers have been right to the top to replace vital parts,

which haven't been touched for almost 50 years.

The pylons hold around 30 tonnes of wires

which span the mile-wide crossing.

Onto rugby union - Wasps face Leinster this weekend

in front of an expected crowd of around 50,000

as they bid for a place in the European Champions Cup

For the English players in the Wasps team,

the scene of their Grand Slam disappointment in the six Nations.

It's a chance for the club to pit themselves

against one of the best club sides in Europe.

I've got tremendous respect for Leinster

They've done really well in the group stages and they are top

so I think it is going to present itself as a really hard challenge.

There's one football result tonight from the National League.

Solihull Moors lost 1-0 at home to Torquay United.

I'll leave you with the weather forecast from Rebecca.

Thank you very much. It wasn't a particularly pleasant day today. I

am afraid it is not going to get much better at the weekend, and the

weak! We have got a little bit of closed out there at the moment, and

quite a lot of rain. Quite a few breaks and temperatures up to around

about 15 Celsius, but not a bad end to the Debrett's spots. Not so

pleasant now because we have a lot of rain out there. Really making

slow progression adverts. -- a smattering of cloud and showers

behind that. Temperatures overnight holding up between nine and 11

Celsius. It is a mild night. Into tomorrow, with those south-westerly

winds, we start to open the floodgates. More weather systems.

The high pressure that kicked off settled last weekend has cleared out

of the way and this low pressure is going to dry our weather through the

remainder of this week. It will be all right start again tomorrow for

western parts. Further east, a little bit of brightness, in the

afternoon in particular. -- it will be a way to start tomorrow. Those

showers rain to work their way in from the West for much of the day.

It will be breezy tomorrow, but it will still feel quite mild. More

information in the national forecast.

times, but fairly mild for the time of year. This stay tuned for the

national weather forecasts with John Hammond.

Good evening. Your parents might have told you once that life 's not

fair and they were right. He is the proof. Over the next few days some

of us will enjoy some lovely sunshine, temperatures in the low

20s. It will feel like early summer. For others, quite a lot of rain

around and it will feel like late March. This is showers earlier on

today and dampness this evening in the West Country and Wales. That is

heading north eastwards. A different sort of night. A lot of cloud

around, quite damp and misty in places. Cloud cover will prevent

temperatures falling much at all. A much milder my than we have seen

recently. Except for the North of Scotland, but elsewhere in double

figures. It will be a Graeme Murty start of the day for most of us, not

much in the way of sunshine. As we head through the morning some heavy