A former government minister says he found visits to the south-London based charity Kids Company "odd" - with a "mysterious" lack of children, whenever he visited its headquarters. 

Image source, PA

Tim Loughton who served as Children's Minister, has been giving evidence to a group of MPs investigating why millions of pounds of public money was given to the organisation before it collapsed earlier this year.   

A woman allegedly held prisoner by her communist cult leader father for 30 years was allowed to read the Harry Potter books because he thought he was like the boy wizard hero, a court has heard. 

Image source, Getty Images

 Maoist Aravindan Balakrishnan, 75, allowed his daughter to read JK Rowling's novels and JRR Tolkein's epic Lord Of The Rings books because he identified with Potter and Middle Earth hero Aragorn, she told his trial. 

But as she read the books as a teenager, she came to realise that he and his followers were like Voldemort and the Death Eaters from the Harry Potter stories, or Sauron and his Black Riders from Tolkein's epic fantasy trilogy, the jury at London's Southwark Crown Court heard. 

This, she said, inspired her to fight back against his control.

Balakrishnan, of Enfield, north London, denies seven counts of indecent assault and four counts of rape against two women during the 1970s and 1980s. He also denies three counts of actual bodily harm, cruelty to a child under 16 and false imprisonment. 

Compared with other parts of the country, very few Londoners consider a career in the armed forces, it appears. 

Although the capital makes up 13% of the UK population, it accounts for only 6% of those enrolled in the army. 

Today the British Army is launching a major recruitment drive - among London students at University College London. 

BBC London News

London Fire Brigade warns it has dealt with 73 Vauxhall Zafira B car fires since 2013.

It comes after the manufacturer recalled 220,000 of the model because of faults in the heating and ventilation system.

And staying with transport, Boris Johnson has officially opened the cycle superhighway, but not everyone is impressed with it.

That's all coming up on BBC London News from 13:30 on BBC One or you can catch it again on iPlayer shortly after the programme.

London Fire Brigade is tackling a gas leak in a high pressure main on Church Manorway in Erith, south-east London.

Image source, London Fire Brigade

A 200m exclusion zone has been erected for safety and hundreds of people have been evacuated from neighbouring homes and businesses. 

The safety cordon is causing significant traffic problems, for the latest travel updates visit the BBC London travel page or follow @BBCTravelAlert, external

About 200 books have been fished out of the Limehouse Cut in London's East End.

Image source, Met Police on the water

If anyone knows how or why they came be dumped in the canal, please contact the Met Police, external.

Boris Johnson has shrugged off abuse from passing commuters and fellow cyclists at the official opening of London's first segregated cycle superhighway.

A passing cyclist made an offensive hand gesture as the mayor rode past earlier.

Image source, Getty Images

The cycle superhighway opened three weeks ago and runs from Vauxhall Bridge at Oval to Pimlico. 

"This is probably, in a hotly contested field, one of the most difficult things we have had to do. It has caused an awful lot of aggro, particularly with senior colleagues in parliament who like to travel around in cars," Mr Johnson said.   

A gas cylinder has exploded at a building site in Grahame Park Way in north-west London. 

No-one has been injured and it was an industrial accident and not related to terrorism, the Met adds, external.

It comes after police shut Aldgate Tube to investigate reports of a suspicious person earlier this morning. No suspect was found and the Tube reopened shortly after 09:00.

BBC Weather

Rain will be heavy at times and should move eastwards through the afternoon and clear later to leave brighter skies with some sunny spells.

Max temp: 12C (54F) 

Sitala Peek
BBC News, London

• A Libyan man in his 50s is held over conspiracy to murder PC Yvonne Fletcher three decades ago
• Steve Clarke is widely expected to be appointed as Fulham's new manager, although we are still awaiting official confirmation 
• A 200m exclusion zone has been set up for a gas leak in Erith in southeast London 

BBC Sport

"For me they made the right decision [to play at Wembley] and the event on Tuesday night has shown it was the right decision," the Arsenal manager said.  

Arsene Wenger thanked "the English community" for their show of solidarity and urged for matches to continue and the Gunners play West Brom away on Saturday.

Image source, Reuters

"You could see [Koscielny] was not himself on Tuesday. It has affected him deeply. He wasn't the same player.

"I will talk with him to see if he is completely recovered and focused. It is a big game for us. If he is not completely committed or feels ready I will not play him," he continued. 

Nick Godwin
BBC Radio London sport reporter

Harlequins head to South Wales to take on the Cardiff Blues this evening in the second match of their European Challenge Cup campaign. 

Quins opened the tournament with an excellent 41 points to 18 win over Montpellier and another victory would put them in control of the group. 

The mayor's cycling commissioner has described as "a stupid idea" calls to ban lorries from London's roads during the morning rush hour. 

The London Cycling Campaign, external handed a 12,000 signature petition into City Hall yesterday but Andrew Gilligan told BBC Radio London it just wouldn't work.

"It's a distraction. In the last three to four years, in other words, to the end of last year, there were 42 deaths of cyclists last year of which only three involved lorries in the morning rush-hour." 

Nick Beake
Home affairs correspondent, BBC London

Commander Walton says: "This remains one of the darkest days in the history of policing."

The collapse of Gaddafi's regime in 2011 provided fresh lines of enquiry and displaced people from Libya.

A £50,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to a successful prosecution in the murder of Yvonne Fletcher.  

Nick Beake
Home affairs correspondent, BBC London

Although shots were fired from inside the Libyan embassy the police are appealing for information about the pro-Gaddafi supporters outside the embassy.

In other words, this investigation is currently focusing on the conspiracy to murder and not those who pulled the trigger.

Nick Beake
Home affairs correspondent, BBC London

Met commander Richard Walton says he believes two weapons were fired at Yvonne Fletcher from inside the Libyan embassy, one was a pistol, the other an automatic weapon.

She was shot twice in the back and died from her injuries. The 25-year-old had served in the force for six years.

Nick Beake
Home affairs correspondent, BBC London

The Met is releasing footage of 14 pro-Gaddafi supporters at a demonstration outside the Libyan embassy where police officer Yvonne Fletcher was killed on 17 April 1984.

It wants to hear from anyone with information about the people filmed at the protest and says it will be the force's biggest Facebook appeal to date. 

Nick Beake
Home affairs correspondent, BBC London

As part of the Yvonne Fletcher murder case, a man in his 30s and a woman in her 40s have also been arrested on suspicion of money laundering. 

Nick Beake
Home affairs correspondent, BBC London

The arrested Libyan is believed to be a man in his 50s.

The Met says the arrest is a "significant development" and came after fresh evidence emerged about the murder of the police officer in 1984.

Counter terrorism police have arrested a Libyan man on suspicion of conspiracy to murder police officer Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan People's bureau in London 31 years ago.