An alleged serial killer accused of poisoning four young men is a "compulsive liar", a court hears.

Tim Donovan
BBC London, Political Editor

Image source, EPA

The battle for Richmond Park has become more curious for those who are not standing, rather than those who are.

With nominations closing on tomorrow, this is a by-election set to be contested by a small field because of a large dose of electoral tactics.

So far Zac Goldsmith, now flying under the colours of an Independent, has been joined by Sarah Olney for the Liberal Democrats and Christian Wolmar for Labour.

But there will be notable absentees, as parties give the contest a miss for strategic reasons.

A Met police officer ended up in hospital after being attacked while uncovering a suspected cannabis factory in east London.

Officers were called to Dorrington Point in Bow late on Saturday night after reports of drugs at the premises.

They found a suspected cannabis factory inside a house and while there, a 42-year-old man turned up but then tried to flee.

One of the officers tried to apprehend the man and he received injuries to his head, Scotland Yard says.

The man was arrested on suspicion of drugs offences and GBH. The injured officer was taken to hospital and treated for multiple injuries.

Watch the moment dozens of young cyclists went through a red light in central London, narrowly missing pedestrians and into busy traffic.  

It was filmed by a black taxi driver on 22 October.

Credit: @LDNTaxiDashcam

Six teams are shortlisted for a design competition to permanently light up 17 of London's bridges along the River Thames.

Danny Shaw
BBC Home Affairs Correspondent

Scotland Yard says police were called at 11:44 after reports of two escaped prisoners.

The two male prisoners are aged 28 and 31. Police are not naming them at the moment.

Inside Croydon

The Greens in south London have got themselves into a bit of a lather, after the environmentally concerned party decided not to contest the Richmond Park parliamentary by-election, and instead support the LibDems in an effort to beat Zac Goldsmith., external

Jurors in the trial of a drug addict accused of strangling a police officer and dissolving his body in an acid bath retire to consider their verdict.

Danny Shaw
BBC Home Affairs Correspondent

A source with knowledge of the Pentonville escape says the two prisoners who escaped were convicted prisoners, one of whom was serving a very long sentence. 

The escape was discovered this morning when prison officers checked on them and found two mannequins in their beds. 

It appears that the inmates escaped by using diamond-tipped cutting equipment to cut through the cell bars; they then scaled the perimeter wall. 

The prisoners were on G wing - the same wing where a prisoner was fatally stabbed last month. 

The Ministry of Justice is due to release a statement shortly.

Prisoner escapes are very rare - but in 2012 convicted murderer John Massey escaped from Pentonville. 

He sneaked onto a roof after a gym session and then climbed over the 25-foot outer perimeter wall of the jail using a rope made from netting. 

It's thought the material had been discarded after being used for a sports activity. He was later found. 

Danny Shaw
BBC Home Affairs Correspondent

Two prisoners have escaped from Pentonville Prison. 

BBC Weather

Some bright or sunny spells are expected this afternoon, and after a windy start it will become less breezy later. Feeling chilly though. 

Maximum temperature: 9C (48F).

Relatives of a man stabbed to death on Halloween described him as a "hard-working man who wanted to make his family proud".

The club that took its nickname from a 52st man features among BBC Sport's FA Cup first-round stories to watch.

Rail services between Berkshire and London are disrupted by leaves, a power cut and a swan on the line.

 A gun-runner who tried to bring a firearm into the UK disguised in a jigsaw puzzle has been jailed for 10 years.

Andy Rosaria, 33, from the Netherlands, was caught after arriving at London's Victoria coach station with a bag full of gift-wrapped contraband. 

He had tried to avoid the X-ray scanner at the station by attempting to place his hand luggage - containing the gun, ammunition and cocaine - into his larger bag which had already been checked. 

Officers noticed Rosaria trying to evade the machines, and requested him to place his smaller bag in the scanner. 

He had just got off a coach from the Netherlands. Prosecutor Michelle Fawcett told Southwark Crown Court the X-ray revealed three parcels, each containing suspicious items.

Following the disturbance at HMP Bedford, BBC News looks at the rise in violence in prisons

The first chief executive of London Transport has been commemorated at Piccadilly Circus tube station.

Kevin Peachey
Personal finance reporter

Image source, Getty Images

A cut in the benefits cap - a limit on the income working age households can receive in certain benefits - has now come into force.

The cap has been reduced from £26,000 a year to £20,000 a year in the UK - except in Greater London where the limit is £23,000 a year.

The limits are higher for those living in Greater London boroughs. The new cap is:

• £442.31 per week (£23,000 a year) for a couple
• £442.31 per week (£23,000 a year) for single people whose children live with them
• £296.35 per week (£15,410 a year) for single people who do not have children or whose children do not live with them