The English Cities Fund (ECF), the joint venture between nationwide placemaker, Muse, Legal & General, one of the UK’s leading financial services groups and major global investor, and Homes England, has signed a memorandum of understanding with City of Wolverhampton Council.

After joining forces on a Wolverhampton panel session at leading property forum MIPIM last week, ECF will work closely with the local authority to identify future regeneration opportunities.

UK government leaders have continued to appeal for relatives of one of the country's last Black veterans of World War II to come forward after he died alone and apparently childless.

Born in 1926 in Jamaica, Flight Sergeant Peter Brown was one of many who signed up for the British armed forces from the country's imperial territories. Aged only around 17, he trained in Canada and joined the Royal Air Force in September 1943, serving as a wireless operator and air gunner in Lancaster bombers, according to The Sun newspaper.

Because many American Muslims trace their ancestry to other corners of the globe, Ramadan traditions in the United States are diverse. Immigrants often recall their first Ramadan in the United States as a time they learned new customs. 

Rizwan Jaka, born in Chicago and a member of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) in the Washington area, notes that many fellow congregants are immigrants or have an international heritage like his — he has roots in India, Pakistan and Mexico.

A major new TV and film studios in Birmingham is expected to create more than 700 jobs. Construction has started on Digbeth Loc. Studios, set up by Peaky Blinder's creator Steven Knight.

The site has been confirmed as the location for a new Peaky Blinder's movie, and is hoped to grow the local production industry. "It's going to change the nature of the opportunities for people in this city," Steven said.

Speaking at the Fazeley Street site's launch, the screenwriter said filming for the Peaky Blinders movie would start there soon, with a call for extras to be issued shortly. "All you need is a haircut - and a cap," he added.

New research suggesting policies to address racism and improve diversity in UK newsrooms are failing, is to be launched at an event hosted by the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity at Birmingham City University and the Film & TV Charity.

The report, “Structural racism in UK newsrooms: Experiences of Black journalists”, researched and written by Dr Aida Al-Kaisy on behalf of the Ethical Journalism Network and funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, will be launched at the Film & TV Charity’s London office on Monday 27 March 2023. 

The region’s economy will be powered up by the levelling up zones to be established by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) as part of the ground-breaking Deeper Devolution Deal. Six zones have already been identified as having the potential to accelerate growth, development and regeneration.

Key investment sites within each will be unlocked by a new agreement with the Government that enables the region to retain Business Rates growth over the next 25 years, worth around £500 million.