:00:00. > 3:59:59me now on BBC Two. That's Newsnight with Emily in
:00:00. > :00:12.Washington. A suspected unexploded World War
:00:13. > :00:17.II bomb has been found in the River Thames tonight -
:00:18. > :00:21.by the Victoria Embankment. It led to the temporary
:00:22. > :00:23.closure of Westminster and Waterloo Bridges,
:00:24. > :00:25.but road closures Louisa Preston is there for us
:00:26. > :00:42.tonight, and she can tell us That's right, as you can see behind
:00:43. > :00:46.me, the whole of Victoria and Embankment is still closed, all the
:00:47. > :00:50.way down to Waterloo Bridge. During the rush hour, Westminster Bridge,
:00:51. > :00:56.Waterloo Bridge and I'm being told part of Westminster Tube station,
:00:57. > :00:58.were also closed. We are being told bomb disposal experts, specialist
:00:59. > :01:01.officers from the Met Police, are working on the river at the moment,
:01:02. > :01:07.working on the device, which is believed to be a World War II bomb.
:01:08. > :01:10.The Port of London authority also told us earlier this evening that
:01:11. > :01:14.this device is about two foot long and one foot wide. So quite a big
:01:15. > :01:18.device. We don't know when these roads are going to reopen. We don't
:01:19. > :01:21.know how long this is going to take for this device to be made safe. But
:01:22. > :01:26.there have been many devices found across London like this. We had won
:01:27. > :01:28.only last year. The whole area around Victoria was evacuated back
:01:29. > :01:33.in February last year. After well over a decade,
:01:34. > :01:36.London's congestion charge could be heading for reform -
:01:37. > :01:38.with suggestions of making drivers pay by the mile,
:01:39. > :01:42.or having the congestion charge It may not prove popular
:01:43. > :01:47.with motorists, but as traffic problems and air pollution worsen,
:01:48. > :01:51.it could be the only solution. Here's our transport
:01:52. > :01:55.correspondent, Tom Edwards. Welcome to Charing Cross Road,
:01:56. > :01:58.the third-most congested in London, where traffic creeps along
:01:59. > :02:02.at a walking pace, It feels like TfL are doing it
:02:03. > :02:09.on purpose to put drivers off, A lot of the cut-through roads
:02:10. > :02:14.are no longer there, they're cycle lanes only the way
:02:15. > :02:17.you want to go. I have done 12 miles in the last
:02:18. > :02:20.two and a half hours. A growing population, more vehicles,
:02:21. > :02:31.more minicabs and delivery vans and construction,
:02:32. > :02:33.and public roadworks for pedestrians Now a report calls for a reform
:02:34. > :02:39.of the congestion charge. We need to be charging vehicles more
:02:40. > :02:43.if they're travelling at peak times and they drive around
:02:44. > :02:44.the zone a lot. In the longer term we have got
:02:45. > :02:48.to look at road pricing in London to tackle the congestion hotspots
:02:49. > :02:51.to mean that if you do choose to use your car,
:02:52. > :02:54.you will pay a bit more for that, rather than those who opt
:02:55. > :02:56.for public transport. But also we are looking at other
:02:57. > :02:59.things such as tackling deliveries, moving some of those to night-time,
:03:00. > :03:01.and also encouraging people not to have their delivery
:03:02. > :03:05.sent to their work. Road pricing, though,
:03:06. > :03:07.could be contentious. Singapore is one of the few places
:03:08. > :03:11.where you pay per mile. Our concern is road pricing could be
:03:12. > :03:19.used as a cash cow and could make We think it's important that
:03:20. > :03:23.any new system reflects the economic value of a journey,
:03:24. > :03:26.so deliveries to London's museums and restaurants,
:03:27. > :03:29.that is a valuable contribution, perhaps more so than a private
:03:30. > :03:32.individual taking a journey. Maybe the system
:03:33. > :03:34.should reflect that. City Hall does concede
:03:35. > :03:37.the 14-year-old congestion Currently 30,000 private hire
:03:38. > :03:44.vehicles enter the zone Or drivers could pay
:03:45. > :03:49.different amounts at Although a ban on personal
:03:50. > :03:53.deliveries to offices We do need to be making
:03:54. > :03:59.the delivery industry much more It's not at the moment and is using
:04:00. > :04:04.way too much road space. Something like 20% of the traffic
:04:05. > :04:08.on the roads in London at the moment We think there's a lot of really
:04:09. > :04:15.good models we can use to actually try and organise these deliveries
:04:16. > :04:19.in a much more efficient way. Today, the mayor also issued
:04:20. > :04:21.a pollution warning, as traffic fumes worsened
:04:22. > :04:24.London's air. Congestion is one of the big
:04:25. > :04:27.challenges cities face. How he will tackle the jams will be
:04:28. > :04:37.revealed in the next few months. After going head-to-head
:04:38. > :04:40.with Prime Minister Theresa May over Brexit yesterday,
:04:41. > :04:44.today, the Mayor of London found himself in the same town as her,
:04:45. > :04:47.doing the same thing as her ? selling the benefits
:04:48. > :04:50.of investing in London. And crucial to any deal
:04:51. > :04:53.is keeping the City of London It's the place where the world comes
:04:54. > :05:02.every year to talk and do business. They do it under the watchful eyes
:05:03. > :05:06.of marksmen, and the more And in Davos today,
:05:07. > :05:10.the British Prime Minister and London's Mayor, both talking
:05:11. > :05:13.Brexit and the effect it could have The mayor taking his message
:05:14. > :05:19.to an international audience. You're going to get a hard Brexit,
:05:20. > :05:26.whether you like it or not. No, what's really important
:05:27. > :05:30.is sensible minds try and put So far, is there already
:05:31. > :05:34.signs companies leaving, You say you want people to access
:05:35. > :05:38.the EU single market, London has been a city
:05:39. > :05:44.which has attracted trade, talent and ideas for more
:05:45. > :05:47.than 1000 years. In recent days two major banks,
:05:48. > :05:52.HSBC and UBS, have warned We have roughly 5000
:05:53. > :05:57.people in London. Real passporting business
:05:58. > :06:02.is probably down to about 1000 of those employees in London,
:06:03. > :06:04.and for them we need to look at what the ultimate deal
:06:05. > :06:07.will be mapped out with. I am glad to hear from the European
:06:08. > :06:10.side they want a symmetrical So we are still waiting
:06:11. > :06:15.for what is happening. Today, another of the banking
:06:16. > :06:17.world's big guns had some words of comfort for the City,
:06:18. > :06:20.though he too warned I do not believe the European
:06:21. > :06:25.financial centre will leave I think the UK will continue to be
:06:26. > :06:35.the financial lungs for Europe. We may have to move certain
:06:36. > :06:38.activities, we may have to change the legal structure that we use
:06:39. > :06:42.to operate in Europe. The banks, financial services
:06:43. > :06:46.institutions, the tech companies, the pharmaceuticals,
:06:47. > :06:51.companies and businesses that create jobs, wealth and prosperity,
:06:52. > :06:55.want to stay in London. We've got to make it
:06:56. > :06:59.easy for them to do so. The Prime Minister met senior
:07:00. > :07:02.bankers this afternoon, where we're told she stressed
:07:03. > :07:04.the positive aspects The founder of the WikiLeaks
:07:05. > :07:11.website, Julian Assange, says he stands by his offer to go
:07:12. > :07:15.to the United States, now that the American whistle-blower
:07:16. > :07:19.Chelsea Manning is to be released. Assange has spent the past
:07:20. > :07:22.four and a half years in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London
:07:23. > :07:26.avoiding extradition to Sweden. He claims that would lead to
:07:27. > :07:30.attempts to extradite him to the US A 'Blue Cockerel', a 'Ship
:07:31. > :07:38.in a Bottle' and the current one. They're all appeared
:07:39. > :07:40.on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square -
:07:41. > :07:43.some received more And now the short list of what could
:07:44. > :07:47.come next, has been unveiled. Our arts correspondent
:07:48. > :07:52.Brenda Emmanus can show us. It's the 11th artwork to sit
:07:53. > :07:56.on Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth. And David Shrigley's seven-metre
:07:57. > :07:59.high sculpture, Really Good, will attempt to inspire optimism
:08:00. > :08:04.until replaced in 2018. We're looking for artworks that
:08:05. > :08:06.connect to the square, have a story to tell,
:08:07. > :08:09.that are beautifully executed and that will get a conversation
:08:10. > :08:11.going with the public. So what will be given
:08:12. > :08:13.the thumbs up next? Today, the five shortlisted
:08:14. > :08:16.proposals were presented at the National Gallery,
:08:17. > :08:19.offering the public a chance to share their opinion
:08:20. > :08:22.on what should dominate the north-west corner of this
:08:23. > :08:25.historic London site. Choices include a truck loaded
:08:26. > :08:29.with oil cans and ladders, an empty robe, and a recreation
:08:30. > :08:32.of a protective deity that was destroyed by so-called
:08:33. > :08:37.Islamic State in 2015. It's the most international
:08:38. > :08:41.shortlist so far, with the sole Londoner being Hackney resident
:08:42. > :08:44.Heather Philipson, who presents a swirl of cream with a cherry,
:08:45. > :08:49.fly and drone on top. The cream is something,
:08:50. > :08:51.obviously cream is a very unstable material and something always
:08:52. > :08:54.on the verge of collapse, so the sculpture holds within it
:08:55. > :08:59.this possibility of something that may be, kind of, imminent
:09:00. > :09:03.catastrophe, perhaps. All five proposals can be seen
:09:04. > :09:06.at the National Gallery for the next two months,
:09:07. > :09:08.where the public can Do you like the idea of commissions
:09:09. > :09:12.on the fourth plinth? I do like it, because it's
:09:13. > :09:15.an opportunity to see something The Heather Philipson one,
:09:16. > :09:22.when it's constructed, I think it would work well
:09:23. > :09:28.within the context of the other I think it is kind
:09:29. > :09:33.of topical as well. We're looking for works
:09:34. > :09:34.that we think can be popular, but we also have to consider
:09:35. > :09:37.all sorts of other criteria to do with their construction,
:09:38. > :09:40.their feasibility, all things that The two chosen winners will be
:09:41. > :09:45.announced in March and take pride of place on the plinth in 2018
:09:46. > :09:53.and 2020, respectively. That's it for now from me, but let's
:09:54. > :10:07.find out what the weather's It is cold out there, but whether we
:10:08. > :10:11.will lurking near the fourth plinth or elsewhere in the city, or perhaps
:10:12. > :10:15.you got in the countryside, we've been spoiled of late with those
:10:16. > :10:17.gorgeous clear skies. It's a completely different story through
:10:18. > :10:21.parts of Wales and the Midlands. It's that close to Earth. Many of
:10:22. > :10:26.the Southern counties enjoyed the sort of clear skies that we saw
:10:27. > :10:29.today, but as you already commented we've paid the price with frosty
:10:30. > :10:34.starts and here we go again, right on into the first part of Friday.
:10:35. > :10:39.Somewhere roundabout certainly a frost, maybe -4-macro or minus five.
:10:40. > :10:45.The sun comes up at about 750 Faure and then we are into another
:10:46. > :10:48.gorgeous day. -- 7:54am. The odd patch of cloud but it won't spoil
:10:49. > :10:51.the day. Thankfully there is much wind at the moment. It is coming
:10:52. > :10:56.from the east, what little wind there is. With the sunshine and
:10:57. > :11:00.five, 6 degrees won't feel too bad at all. The big question is can we
:11:01. > :11:03.keep it going into the weekend? It looks as though we can, a bit more
:11:04. > :11:05.cloud looks as though we can, a bit more
:11:06. > :11:11.cloud on Sunday. Now the national picture.
:11:12. > :11:16.Good evening, it will gradually get colder in the UK in the next few
:11:17. > :11:19.days, something we don't have to worry about in Australia at this
:11:20. > :11:23.time of year. Of course it's the Australian tennis open at the moment
:11:24. > :11:28.and there's a big storm moving through Melbourne at the moment.
:11:29. > :11:33.Hopefully it will have cleared through by the time of Andy Murray's
:11:34. > :11:38.match. We have high withers and light winds and some interesting
:11:39. > :11:39.contrasts despite things being very slow moving, with the sunshine to