Pope Benedict has announced the appoinment of Bernard Longley, currently Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster, as the next Archbishop of Birmingham in succession to Vincent Nichols.

A hearing into allegations that a teacher promoted racist views in the classroom has been delayed after police cited fears of violence. Adam Walker is accused of promoting hostility to asylum-seekers, gay people and Muslims.

Students and staff from The Queen's Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education and St Francis Hall in Birmingham University will hold a lamentation ceremony on the sixth anniversary of the Iraq war.

Following police action in a high profile suspected UK terror case last week, one of Birmingham's senior Muslim leaders, Dr Mohammad Naseem, chair of the city's Central Mosque, has said that Muslims in Britain are being labelled as a threat in a way that has parallels with the treatment of Jews under Hitler.