this is bbc news. the headlines at 12:00pm. britain's fracking tsar quits after six months in thejob, blaming ministers for paying too much attention to the environmental lobby. from within, you can't do very much, and it means at the moment, when you have government in such terrible paralysis, you do have to do something as dramatic as this in order to have your voice heard. a woman is shot dead and three people are injured at a synagogue in california. police are questioning a 19—year—old man. still hoping britain won't take part in next month's european elections, the conservative party chairman, brandon lewis. security fears in sri lanka sees church services cancelled a week after more than 250 people were killed in the easter sunday bombings.

thousands of runners are pounding the streets of the capital with the london marathon well underway. sir mo farah says it would be an "amazing achievment" to win it for the first time. kenya's brigid kosgei wins the women's race with a new personal best. america's daniel romanchuk wins the men's elite wheelchair event and swiss paralympian manuela schar wins the women's. this is the scene live. 40,000 runners are thought to be taking part. it's hoped £1 billion will be raised for charities. good afternoon and

welcome to bbc news. the uk's shale gas commissioner has resigned after only six months in thejob, saying the government is paying too much attention to a small but noisy environmental lobby, and consequently there is a "de facto" ban on fracking. natascha engel was tasked with uniting communities over the controversial process, but says stringent rules are stopping the industry from being successful, as john mcmanus reports. is this a vision of the uk's future energy market? hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in this case at a site in lancashire. well, maybe not, because despite government support for shale gas exploration, the woman in charge of inspiring confidence in the project has just quit. certainly since i first started six months ago, there was always an understanding that fracking was going to really struggle to develop if these really ridiculously low limits on earth tremors were going to be kept in place. the understanding was always

that they would be reviewed and be raised when it was safe to do so, and that's not happening. it means there is a sort of restriction placed on fracking that's not placed on any other extractive industry in the country. retrieving gas through fracking involves pumping water, sand and chemicals at high pressure into shale rock. when that rock fractures the gas is released and brought to the surface. the industry says it is safe, but it can cause earth tremors. to reassure local communities, fracking must pause if those tremors reach a magnitude of 0.5. this site has had to stop work several times. natascha engel says that rule amounts to a de facto ban. those campaigners aren't just worried about tremors, they say climate changing fossil fuels should stay underground. in scotland, fracking remains under a moratorium. holyrood still has not decided how to proceed. supporters in the usa say fracking there has lowered gas bills,

but some states have still banned it. the government here maintains that shale gas is both environmentally and consumer friendly. now it needs to find somebody new to make that case. john mcmanus, bbc news. the department for business, energy and industrial strategy have responded to natascha engel‘s resignation. a spokesperson said the government supported the development of the shale industry in the uk because "it could have the potential to be a new domestic energy source, and create thousands of well paid, qualityjobs". they also said the government was confident that current regulations "strike the right balance in ensuring the industry can develop, while ensuring any operations are carried out safely and responsibly". joining me now is craig bennett, the chief executive of friends of the earth. very good of you to join us this

sunday. natascha engel says she resigned because government policy is driven by an environmental lobbying agenda rather than science. is she right? if only. if only we could say the government agenda was driven by the environmental lobby then i think the world would be in a much better place. but we at friends of the earth, working with communities fighting fracking have had a big success in stopping this industry over the last seven or eight years despite all this pressure from his huge industry lobby to try to get it going, then that's a badge i and others will wear with pride. don't we have the most stringent regulations in the world on fracking? no, we don't. what you see in many parts of the world is fracking being banned entirely. many states in the us, in wales, scotland, ireland, france and many other european countries, fracking is banned, so why do we wa nt to fracking is banned, so why do we

want to force it on english communities that do not want it. i think banning fracking altogether is much more stringent regulation than allowing it to happen under certain circumstances a. if fracking is spam, how do we meet energy needs in the future? at the moment we spent £7 billion importing gas every year. we will obviously have to pay for energy unless of course it is home—grown, coming from the sun, the wind, the sea, and the tides. renewable energy is by far the cheapest energy in the long term. 0bviously cheapest energy in the long term. obviously there is the upfront cost of putting renewable energy in place, but then actually the energy that's delivered daily comes for free from nature as opposed to paying big corporations for the oil and gas. but this is all a distraction from the real issue, which is the climate emergency that millions of people now recognise we are under. in the context of climate change, when scientists are being

very clear, 80 or 90% of fossil fuels already found and identified, we need to leave on the ground and we need to leave on the ground and we can't burn, so why do we go looking for more of the stuff? we have a big enough problem in trying to wind down the fossil fuels we are already using and to do that as fast as possible. it's absurd to suggest we go looking for yet more of the stuff. the suggestion by natascha engel that somehow shale gas is low—carbon just proves how unfit she was to do the job. the very best you could ever say, in the best circumstances, is that shale gas is the equivalent of perhaps moving from a high tar cigarette to a medium tar cigarette when your doctor says you need to give up completely. in some circumstances, if you include methane leakage from shale gas operations, it's just as bad as burning coal or oil. the idea that shale gas was ever going to be an energy supply for britain that was fit for the future is ludicrous.

what about the government argument that the industry will create thousands of well—paid qualityjobs andindeed thousands of well—paid qualityjobs and indeed local communities where fracking was supposed to take place, some of them, particularly in areas where there used to be a thriving coal industry, have welcomed the idea of having those extra jobs. coal industry, have welcomed the idea of having those extra jobslj think idea of having those extra jobs.|j think the onlyjob creation we have seen from the fracking industry so far is the security guards that have been employed to stop local people campaigning and protesting outside fracking sites, which they hate and don't want anywhere near where they live. if you are talking aboutjobs that will be sustainable and last for a long time, that's why we need to invest in renewable energy. take somewhere like the north west of england, where you have seen the only fracking site at preston new roadin only fracking site at preston new road in the last few months, the north west of england has abundant sources of renewable energy. 0ffshore sources of renewable energy. offshore wind farms and tidal energy... they are not providing

enough. you are making impossible demands. they are not providing enough and that's the problem. what are not providing energy enough? renewable energy provided about a third of energy in the uk last year. in denmark, offshore wind alone provided 40% of their energy last year. if we got serious about renewable energy and coupled it with energy efficiency, it's very clear you could supply the uk with 100% renewable energy. and if the uk was a leader in this, think about how we could develop those technologies and skills and export them around the world. in the 21st—century, it's really clear that the future, not reimagining the smiths of the dinosaur industries of the 70s, oil and gas. exploiting oil and gas industries is a separate issue from tackling climate change? it's very simple. we will not solve climate change by looking for more fossil

fuels. ifind it strange change by looking for more fossil fuels. i find it strange the government finds that so hard to understand. craig bennett from friends of the earth, thank you for your time. let's catch up on the latest at the london marathon, the men's elite runners are nearing the finish line — let'sjoin coverage of the race. commentator: his average is 224.00 flat. hardly any men have run under 2.4. the world record isjust under 2.3. looking behind, looking a little tired. still the chance of breaking two hours and three minutes. mo farah is slipping in terms of his time. mo farah heading close to two hours and five minutes. we will keep an eye on callum hawkins as well. but for now, let's

enjoy the greatest ever. eliud kipchoge, he might not be a household name around the world, but eve ryo ne household name around the world, but everyone will know mo farah and usain bolt, but for those of us in the world of marathon running, he is the world of marathon running, he is the greatest ever, by a long way. the quickest, the man who knows how to win on every occasion he puts his foot on the line. he has only lost one of those marathons. this will be his tenth in a row where he has won, including three previous occasions winning in london. everybody loves him here. of course they wanted mo farah to win, but if mo farah couldn't win, i'm sure everybody wa nted couldn't win, i'm sure everybody wanted eliud kipchoge to be the champion again, and that's what's happening. he's into the last few

hundred metres. the clock is just going past his world record time of 2:1.30 seconds. that's how close he is. coming round the final bend. the finishing line ahead of him. look at the crowds in london. the spectacular site, heading up the mall with buckingham palace in the background. we've got a queen in london, but here is the king of all time. the king of all thrones, eliud kipchoge, he will be the champion for the fourth time. nobody has done that before. he has run quicker than anyone else before, including himself here in london. kipchoge is the champion again. the second fastest time ever run by him or by

any human being. eliud kipchoge, absolutely supreme. and they wonder performance from this man, geremew willjoin him as the second fastest marathon runner ever. going ahead of dennis kim et al., the previous world record holder. studio: a wonderful run from eliud kipchoge, winning the men's elite race at the london marathon for the fourth time and taking time to wave to the crowd as he approached the finishing line. 0ur reporter kate grey is at the finish line. a tremendous reception for him. yes, brilliant scenes at the finish line of the london marathon. behind me, all three of the medal winners have congratulated each other. eliud kipchoge in the middle, and absolutely superior performance from him. he almost cantered in the final

pa rt him. he almost cantered in the final part of the race, proving he is the best in the world, winning today in london means he becomes the most successful marathon runner ever. a brilliant time, the second fastest time he has ever run. he is the world record holder. all the camera send paparazzi want to see him. he's the star, the face of marathon running. geremew of ethiopia took the silver medal, and wasihun, also of ethiopia, taking the bronze. his arms swung out wide as he crossed the finishing line. a true figure and hero in the marathon running circuit. we are still waiting to see where mo farah will finish. we believe he was around fifth position, still a way off the front group, but eliud kipchoge led from the very beginning. he started to open up the gap at around half way,

tower bridge, and started to put the pressure on the other runners. he was surrounded by ethiopians during the final stages of the race. we can see pictures of mo farah coming around the back, appearing to be in fifth. another ethiopian finishing in fourth. meaning it's second, third and fourth for the ethiopians. the cheers should rise as mo farah comes down the final stretch. he looks tired, it's been a tough race for him. it's been a very fast race. eliud kipchoge has run one of the fastest marathon is here today. perfect conditions, not too hot, not too cold. mo farah looks to be grimacing as he approaches the finish line. the cheers signifying mo farah finishes in 2:05.37, so

close to his own european record, and british record. glasses are off, he is stumbling slightly. he looks tired, pretty much summing up the pace of the race. 0ne tired, pretty much summing up the pace of the race. one of the best raised marathons you will see. he came very close to his european record, just over two hours and five minutes. a brilliant performance from mo farah, making the most of this british crowd. a brilliant race overall in the elite men's race. eliud kipchoge takes the gold in the london marathon. we have also seen plenty of other racing here today. the women's race came to a close not long ago with kenya's bridget kos guy —— bridget because guy.

we have seen some brilliant racing from those guys. the wheelchair race is finished earlier this morning with america's daniel romanchuk taking the men's wheelchair race and manuela schar taking the women's. that's the elite racing coming to a close. britten's charlotte perdue came tenth in the women's race. —— the winner of the women's race was bridget a brilliant race for eliud kipchoge. a woman has died and three people are in hospital after a gunman opened fire at a synagogue in california. a 19—year—old man has been arrested after the shooting outside san diego. 0ur correspondent in los angeles, sophie long reports.

a community brought together in pain and multi—faith prayers for peace. they came to soothe each other‘s sadness and to pray for those suffering. for laurie gilbert kay, who went to worship on a sunny saturday morning and died hours later in hospital. for a child shot in the leg and for two men, one a rabbi. i have been going here my entire life and to see all these wonderful people come together from all these faiths, it's just absolutely amazing. we had one person today full of hate, one person, and look, there is 1000 people here tonight that are full of love. that is what it's about. this is not the first time a tight—knit community like this one have come together to try and help each other heal the wounds inflicted by a man with a gun. it's unlikely it will be the last.

i am hoping this does not become the new normal, places of worship are sacred. human life is sacred and just the idea of every time we have to keep responding to acts of hate and acts of terror is really traumatising for the community. police have arrested a 19—year—old, john earnest. they are now investigating what made a young man take an assault rifle, shoot a child, kill a woman and destroy lives in a place of peace and worship. sophie long, bbc news, poway, california. sport, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here'sjohn watson. good afternoon. it could be a bid day in the premier league with the race for the title and a top four finish intensifying. leicester against arsenal is first up with the visitors looking to move up to fourth. it's goalless.

later on their main rivals for a top fourfinish, manchester united and chelsea, face each other at old trafford. between those two matches manchester city will attempt to move back on top with victory over burnley later — they'd be a point clear with two games to play. pep guardiola has been quick to pay credit to the improvement their title rivals liverpool have made. the difference between this season and the previous season is one reason. it's liverpool. we did the same as last season, the same. the only difference, liverpool is much, much better. the other clubs are the same level as last season. the reason why this is different is because of liverpool. they improve a lot. they bought incredible players, and they are incredibly consistent, like us last season and this season. the edinburgh derby

is just getting underway in the scottish premiership. it remains goalless in that one. and we could see celtic crowned champions later — that will happen if their old firm rivals rangers fail to beat aberdeen at ibrox. mercedes capitalised on more mistakes from ferrari to lock out the front row for today's azerbaijan grand prix which gets underway in around an hour's time. ferrari's charles leclerc was the fastest driver until this crash in qualifying left him in tenth place. valtteri bottas then pipped teammate lewis hamilton to pole position. sebastian vettel, in the other ferrari, will start third. in the london marathon, where as you've just been seeing the men's race has been won by eliud kipchoge, mo farah missing out in his attempt for the first time. eliud kipchoge pulled away in a group of four runners. farah unable to stay with them. kipchoge, the world record holder. farah finishing in fifth.

his best time, but some four minutes short of kipchoge's best. always a tough ask for mo farah in his attempt to win the race for the first time. the women's elite race has been won by kenya's brigid kosgei, improving on her second placed finish last year. she put in a blistering run running the fastest time ever over the second half of the race, beating the likes of mary keitany a three time winner, and vivian cheryuiot, last year's winner who finished second. the men's wheelchair race was won by 20 year old dan romanchuk. nickmnamed the rocket man, the american adds the london title to the chicago, new york and boston crowns he's won over the past six months. eight time winner david weir could only finish in fifth place. his training was disrupted by a car crash in december. manuela schar of switzerland won the women's wheelchair race.

the day's action is underway at the world snooker championship in sheffield. barry hawkins is taking on kyren wilson. while gary wilson — the man who knocked out mark selby — will have a keen eye on the clash between ali carter and zhou yuelong. he will face the winner of that match, which is taking place right now. ali carter in the chair. zhou yuelong clinches that frame. live pictures from the crucible. you can follow the action over on bbc 2 right now along with the bbc sport website and app. zhou yuelong with a 3—1 lead in the best of 25 last 16 match. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. a 26—year—old man is in a critical condition after a suspected shooting

in sheffield last night. south yorkshire police say they were called to sandstone road at iam following reports of an altercation outside a pub. the chairman of the conservative party, brandon lewis, says he still hopes the uk won't have to take part in the european elections next month. mr lewis said he wanted to see the brexit withdrawal agreement approved by parliament in the next few weeks. 0ur political correspondentjessica parkerjoins me now. i'm tempted to say, really. how realistic are the conservatives when they say they hope they will not ta ke they say they hope they will not take part in european parliamentary elections. their plan, as you explained there, trying to get a deal ratified before may 22 to avoid taking part in european parliamentary elections, it's something they know might be quite unpopular among some members and voters, three years after the uk voted to leave the european union.

that's the plan, but is it realistic? there is a lot of scepticism in westminster as to whether it's possible. cross—party talks between the labour party and conservatives have been going on for some time without a real breakthrough. not much evidence to suggest theresa may's original set of proposals, her withdrawal agreement and plans for the future, could suddenly garner a majority in parliament. we can listen to what brandon lewis said earlier on the andrew marr show. i'm absolutely focused at the moment on the local elections on the 2nd may. they'll be over on thursday. there are a few important days between now and thursday for 8500 councillors. we have 96.5% of the country having conservative representation. labour have only managed 77... they will be over within days. other parties have launched their european election manifestos already. as the government, our first priority is to not to have to fight the european elections. i think we should be looking to do everything we can to respect that 2016 referendum. if and when we are at the point where we know we are definitely

fighting those european elections then we will take some decisions. conservative party chairman brandon lewis talking on the andrew marr show. he mentioned those local elections in england and northern ireland in four days' time, on thursday for sub how is that shaping up thursday for sub how is that shaping up with brexit in the background? more than 8000 seats up for grabs. these are local elections, local issues play out. issues that councils run, bin collections, local roads and social care. i think there's also some speculation that national issues will play their part. whether the brexit story will have some effect on how people vote on thursday. we have heard from a number of parties. 0ne pitch to the electorate in the coming weeks is deputy leader of the liberal democrats jo swinson. we have been very clear about the

increase in taxation we would be prepared to make, which clearly our coalition partners the conservatives we re coalition partners the conservatives were not. we have a government cutting corporation tax despite it being the lowest in the gzo's. you have to look at what the priority is when that's what you're saying, and then you have the lack of money in universal credit to support the most vulnerable people. liberal democrats up vulnerable people. liberal democrats up and down the country, even in these difficult and constrained times have been delivering for local people and our counsellors have that reputation for community politics. i have seen that as i go round the country from york to yeovil, from watford, st albans, right across the country. liberal democrats making a different to local community is. which is why i am confident we will see more liberal democrat councillors elected on thursday. local elections often fought on local issues but brexit narratives could play a part in those elections on thursday as well as the european

elections. the trouble for liberal democrats is that there are other remain supporting parties in the field like change uk and the green party. 0n the leave side there is the brexit party and ukip. we have heard from a number of parties throughout the day on the bbc news channel and you can find out more by going online as well. jessica parker, our political correspondent, thank you. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. hello. overall, a much calmer day to day compared with yesterday, but still a bit of a keen breeze across some parts of england, especially eastern counties through this afternoon. that will keep things a little on the chilly side, a few showers for east anglia

and the south—east. lighter winds north and west, but cloud continuing to bring some outbreaks of rain across northern ireland, working its way eastwards. turning damper through parts of pembrokeshire, ceredigion and into devon, too, as well as the channel islands later. 11—13 degrees here. but elsewhere, with some sunny spells, into the mid—teens, perhaps 16, i7 celsius across some parts of scotland where the sunshine will be at its best. through tonight, with clearer skies, lighter winds in the east, some mist and fog patches forming. still lots of cloud in the west. patchy rain or drizzle which becomes lighter as we go through the night. keeping temperatures up, but in between north and eastern scotland and north and eastern england, there could be a bit of frost around for one or two first thing. a bit of a chilly start. some mist and fog in eastern england taking a while to shift in the morning rush hour, but once it goes, lots of dry and reasonably sunny weather. hazy sunshine for parts of scotland, england and eastern wales. still fairly cloudy in the west, however, with some patchy rain.

hello, this is bbc news with me, rebecca jones. the headlines. he has run quicker than anyone else here, including himself, in london.