Nick Godwin
BBC Radio London sport reporter

Alan Pardew says it's 'not a risk' to have Emmauel Adebayor in his squad for the rest of the season. He was keen to emphasise what a fantastic player he still is, and how his arrival has lifted a squad that needed a boost.

Image source, Getty Images

He was also still very positive about the FA Cup. He's taking the game against Stoke very seriously and still wants a long run in the competition. Adebayor won't start the game though.

Crystal Palace v Stoke (Saturday, 15:00)  

BBC Sport

Alexandre Pato arrives in London and calls Chelsea his "new home", as it is reported he will sign a loan deal at Stamford Bridge from Brazilian club Corinthians.

For a list of all the latest deals, check out thetransfers page.

Isle of Dogs Life

Charles Dickens was a great chronicler of London life and towards the end of his life wrote a series of sketches that were published in the book, The Uncommercial Traveller. 

One of the stories involves Dickens in a quite depressed mood visiting Ratcliff and Stepney, here are a few extracts from the story. , external

Image source, Bank of England Archive

From an extraordinary expansion, to the preparations for World War Two gas attacks, a new exhibition offers a fascinating look back at life at the Bank of England.  

Esther Webber
BBC News, London

Last night Havering Council held a symbolic vote in which they passed a motion in favour of leaving the EU. 

Records seen by the BBC show council projects have been awarded over £1.9m in EU funding since 2005.

But UKIP group leader Lawrence Webb argued all funds had been match-funded by the council and "if we cut ties we'd have more say over how to spend that money".  

The borough's sole Labour councillor, Keith Darvill, said it had been "wrong" to hold the vote since it "sidelined" more important issues.

A paedophile jumped off a bridge and died on the day he was due to be jailed for a string of sexual offences, a court has heard. 

Michael Fiek, 40, of Hoffman Square, Shoreditch, east London, was due to be sentenced at Leeds Crown Court alongside two others. 

But Judge Tom Bayliss QC was told Fiek had jumped to his death in London. 

He pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to 14 offences, having met a 15-year-old boy and, with another man, paid the teenager for sex in a West Yorkshire park.

BBC Weather

It will be a fine and dry afternoon, with some good spells of sunshine for many. 

However, it will turn increasingly cloudy from the west and it will become breezy by the end of the afternoon. 

Highs of 9C (48F).

BBC London News

Image source, Matthew Bell

Coming up on the lunchtime news at 13:30 on BBC One, political correspondent Karl Mercer will have more on London's second air ambulance, which begins its first day of service today. 

The helicopter, paid for by donations, can respond to patients eight times quicker than an ambulance going by road. 

The Met Police's investigation into allegations of abuse at UK charity Kids Company finds no evidence of criminality.  

It says after identifying 32 pieces of information from between 2008 and 2015 linked to the south London charity, "no one was arrested or interviewed under caution in connection with the investigation".

The majority were third party reports which were vague in detail, the force adds.   

A previous investigation led to one male adult service user of the charity receiving a three-month suspended sentence for assaulting a member of staff, it says. 

An investigation into reports of physical and sexual abuse linked to failed charity Kids Company has been dropped after police found no evidence to "justify a referral to the Crown Prosecution Service", Scotland Yard said.

Danny Shaw
BBC Home Affairs Correspondent

Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe's contract should be extended by one year, says London's Mayor Boris Johnson. 

Mr Hogan-Howe had wanted an extension of three years when his contract expires in September but Mr Johnson wrote to the Home Secretary, Theresa May, yesterday with the recommendation. 

The decision on whether to accept his advice or not is now up to her.

BBC News understands his decision not to offer more than one year was influenced by the Mayoral elections in May. 

It is thought that to give him longer than a year would bind Mr Johnson's successor, whereas 12 months would allow the new Mayor enough time to determine if they wanted someone else or not.

The spread of grey squirrels in the UK is largely down to the acts of an English duke, Imperial College London, external has claimed.

The research found greys were first imported in the 1890s and it was thought they advanced rapidly as they could adapt well to new habitats.

But it is now thought humans assisted the expansion, with the 11th Duke of Bedford, Herbrand Russell, blamed with dispersing greys from Woburn Park.

Image source, Hulton Archive / Getty Images

A fifth lion statue, sculpted from clock parts as a warning of possible extinction of the species within our lifetime, has been unveiled in Trafalgar Square.

Image source, Yui Mok/PA Wire

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Get West London

Exclusive figures have shown Hayes and Harlington to be the highest area in west London for deportations. , external

Susana Mendonca
BBC Radio London Political Reporter

A London council has become the first in the country to support leaving the European Union (EU). 

Councillors in Havering in north east London held a vote on the issue last night after UKIP put forward a motion which claimed that EU directives were having a negative impact on the council’s ability to fulfil its obligations. 

The motion was passed by 30 to 15 votes with the backing of Conservative and independent councillors.

It comes as the government continues in its attempts to renegotiate Britain's deal with the EU ahead of a referendum on British membership which could be held as early as June.

London now has a second air ambulance after £4m was raised by the London’s Air Ambulance , externalcharity.

Image source, Nigel Pacquette

The helicopter, based at the Royal London Hospital's helipad in Whitechapel, will deliver an advanced trauma team to critically injured patients, says the charity. 

It will cover the temporary absence of the charity’s current helicopter, which has gone for its annual maintenance this week. 

Tom Edwards
Transport Correspondent, BBC London

I admit I was one of the many who thought the Night Tube, external was hanging by a thread. I admit I compared it to a zombie walking around causing nothing but trouble.

Image source, PA

Well, now in a bit of a turnaround it seems it might actually happen. There is definitely a pulse.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union suspended a Tube strike and all four unions - RMT, external, TSSA, external, Aslef , externaland Unite , external- are looking at the pay and conditions deal on offer.

It may be be up and running in the summer at a set-up cost of £17m.

BBC Travel

The A1 Archway Road is still closed southbound from Southwood Lane to Archway roundabout. 

The road is open northbound but major congestion continues through the area. 

Image source, PA

In 1953 Derek Bentley, 19, was hanged at Wandsworth Prison, despite public protests.

Bentley, who his family say had learning difficulties, and Christopher Craig (pictured below), 16, had been found guilty of murdering a policeman, PC Sidney Miles, in Croydon, but Craig escaped the gallows because of his age.

In 1993 the then Home Secretary Michael Howard granted Bentley a partial pardon, saying it was clear he should never have been hanged but he remained guilty of taking part in the murder.  

Image source, PA

Damian Lewis has hit back at critics who claimed he was too privileged to take part in his local comprehensive school's 50th anniversary celebrations.

Image source, PA

The Eton-educated actor told the event people who had complained were "missing the point" as the evening was "a celebration of our community... and the role the school has played here".

Alumni from Acland Burghley School in north London had signed a petition against the Homeland star's appearance.