this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines: prayers in the street in sri lanka as church services are cancelled a week after more than 250 people were killed in the easter sunday bombings. more prominent health warnings on packets of opioid painkillers due to growing concern over levels of addiction. exit polls in spain suggest the governing socialist part have won most seats — but with no overall majority. they also suggest a far right party will win seats for the first time there since the 1970s. the uk's shale gas commissioner resigns after only 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,

where you've got government in such terrible paralysis, you do have to do something as dramatic as this in order to have your voice heard. nicola sturgeon says no westminster government can ever stand in the way of scotland choosing indpendence. iam i am setting up today our strategy to win our country's independence. and manchester city stand just two wins away from retaining their premier league title after they beat burnley 1—0. kipchoge is the champion again. kenya's eliud kipchoge wins the london marathon with the second fastest time in history, as britain's sir mo farah finishes fifth. and stop the clock — as the tens of thousands raise millions for charities, big ben gets stuck and needs a helping hand as he attempts to cross the finishing line.

good evening. the people of sri lanka have been marking a week since the bomb attacks which claimed the lives of at least 250 people on easter sunday. the attackers were islamist extremists who targeted christian worshippers in church services, as well as people in some of colombo‘s biggest hotels. there were very few church services held today, as a precaution, but a nationwide service was televised. clive myrie is in colombo. there's been a very interesting development in the last couple of hours or so from the president's office, with the announcement that the covering of the face to avoid identification of a person will be banned from tomorrow. so we're all taking that to mean that the full face veil will be outlawed from monday. obviously, muslim women who wear that attire, they're going to feel that this is an attack

on them and their religion and their culture, but the president's office is saying that under emergency powers, it's important to do this for the security of the country. but today really has been about remembering the dead, remembering those victims of the easter sunday attacks seven days on. seven days ago, the devout gathered at st anthony's church to mark the resurrection of christ. today, they gathered again, but this time with the army and police, a security cordon and a sense of fear, because the sounds of screams filled the church at 8:45 last sunday morning. at 8:45am today, bells tolled for the dead. bells toll. the bombers may have killed and maimed, but they haven't diminished the devotion of worshippers to venerate their god, even out here on the streets.

here, they espouse a kind humanity — the very notion dismissed by the bombers. but some have had a crisis of faith. lighting a candle for his own family, this man had just left the church with two of his sons when the suicide bombers struck. his wife, another son and a baby daughter were still inside. "i believed in god," he told me, "but some in my family have no life. i pray to god he will heal them." meet four—month—old daughter lakshika, her tiny body badly burned.

her mother and older brother are in intensive care. three reasons, perhaps, to lose faith. in all, 19 children ended up at this hospital after the bombings. others died. diduni is five years old. her brother and grandmother are dead at the hands of one of the suicide bombers. her throat, badly scarred by the blast, will recover, but how scarred is her mind? today, we were allowed inside the still damaged st anthony's church, members of the sri lankan navy trying to clean away the stain of violence to restore this house of god. they reckon it will be about a month, maybe two, before this place is handed back to the people for worship, and what happened here is destined to be passed down the ages, along with all the other

acts of religious intolerance that blackened history. this country will move on, like others darkened by fanatics. and the fervent hope is that the trauma of one week ago will unite sri lanka, rather than divide it. remember, it's notjust churches that have been affected. on friday, friday prayers were disrupted because mosques were only open for a limited time during the day. the hope is that services for both religions will return to normal sometime in the coming week. indeed, the prime minister today said that he believes the country is back to normal, though actually, we're still under curfew here in colombo and all the other big cities, and the emergency powers that were put in place last week are clearly still in place because those were the laws that the president used in order to announce his decision to ban full face veils. meanwhile, the investigation into last sunday's attacks continues, seven days on. we now know, it has been confirmed that two of the people who died in police and security forces raids in the east of the country

yesterday were the father, or rather on friday, were the father and two brothers of the man who is deemed to have been the mastermind behind the plot to bring mayhem to this country exactly seven days ago. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. our guests joining me tonight are the political correspondent for the times, henry zeffman, and the columnist for the guardian, dawn foster. there will be much more prominent health warnings on packets of opioid painkillers such as morphine, codeine, and fentanyl because of growing concern over levels of addiction. official figures in england and wales reveal a 60% increase in prescriptions for opioid painkillers in the past decade, as our correspondent katherine da costa reports. doctors say opioids should be used for short—term pain relief following an operation or for end—of—life care, but not to manage long—term chronic pain,

because they can be highly addictive and even fatal. lisa peake from south london was hooked on a cocktail of prescription painkillers for nearly three years after a road accident left her with chronic neck pain. my sleep was affected, my internal systems were affected, my bowels were affected, my mood, my mental health. it was quite tough going. if i had known how addictive they were and the effects they would have on my body and ultimately my life, i would have sought from the doctor different ways to help that pain management. in the last decade, opioid prescriptions in england and wales have increased by more than 60% from over 1a million in 2008 to 23 million in 2018, while the number of codeine—related deaths has more than doubled. health secretary matt hancock says clearer labelling is needed to make sure people are fully aware of the risks. that could mean bold and graphic cigarette—style health warnings on packaging.

when patients come to see us and they are in pain, they want help and we want to help them. we need things that do not involve a prescription. we need early access to physiotherapy and early access to good quality pain clinics. lisa hopes the changes will help others avoid the misery she has experienced as a result of her addiction to painkillers. katharine da costa, bbc news. police say they're investigating how an image said to be of the body of the footballer emiliano sala was posted online. the picture is thought to have been taken at a mortuary in bournemouth after sala's body was recovered from a light aircraft, which had crashed in the english channel injanuary. scotland's first minister and leader of the snp, nicola sturgeon, is launching what she's called the biggest campaign on the economics of independence in her party's history. it will involve sending

a leaflet to every household in the country, making the case. ms sturgeon told the party's spring conference that the past three years had shown beyond any doubt, that the westminster system was broken, as our scotland editor sarah smith reports from edinburgh. she came to tell them what they've all been so eagerly waiting to hear — that she is ready for another scottish referendum. the party has now got a new economic policy they think could win them independence, so the campaign starts now. we must have the choice of a better future. scotland must have the choice of an independent future. she and her party are buoyed by polls suggesting voters are moving their way. support for independence is already up. ourjob now is to get support for independence surging and make sure that no westminster government can ever stand in the way of scotland's right to choose. before anyone can choose, the uk government has to agree to holding a referendum. nicola sturgeon set out what the real challenge now is. she has to demonstrate

there is a real desire for another independence vote if she is to try and force the westminster government to allow one. all the troops are ready. the country is ready. it's time for change, this brexit nonsense has gone on far too long. do you really think there will be a referendum in the next couple of years? i believe so. nicola sturgeon has set that out in her plan. the party are getting ready, with plans to deliver a brochure on independence to every household in scotland this summer. but they can't say for sure when any vote might be. sarah smith, bbc news, edinburgh. polls have closed in spain's third general election in four yea rs. a final poll released as counting begins puts pedro sanchez‘s governing socialist party in the lead, but without an overall majority. they also suggest the vox party will win the first seats of any far—right party in spain's since the 1970s. the election was called in february after catalan

separatistsjoined right—wing parties in rejecting his government's budget. let's cross live to madrid — and join tim willcox. tim, talk us through these results. martin, these are exit polls and they are not always accurate, but it does appear to have been a good day for the socialists. pedro sanchez, it seems, will have the largest number of seats here in the congress of deputies, but not enough for an outright majority, which means he will have to form a coalition government. it has also been a good night for vox, which has come from nowhere, the hard right party. let's show you what the unofficial projections are on the public broadcaster here. it seems the governing party polled 28%, well ahead of its rivals. the opposition popular party, once one ofjust two parties who exchanged power here in spain, the popular party has had one of its worst ever results, just

under 18% of the vote for them. the left—wing parties predicted to get some 16%, while the centre—right citizens party is just under 14.5. but vox, the first hard right party to win any political representation since the death of franco in 1975. there will need to be lots of talk 110w there will need to be lots of talk now about coalition building, but it seems that the impetus is with pedro sanchez for the socialists. let's discuss this with a couple of experts here in madrid, and fuentes, a leading writerfor a newspaper and another journalist a leading writerfor a newspaper and anotherjournalist here. a leading writerfor a newspaper and another journalist here. anna, a leading writerfor a newspaper and anotherjournalist here. anna, a good night for the socialists, but it is not in the back? well, they are moderately optimistic. they are not celebrating yet. yes, compared to ten years ago, they have gone up dramatically and for the popular party, on the country. so we can see

that the situation can change very quickly. and guy, vox, coming from nowhere, now we have seats in parliament? that's right. it was polling well going into this election, but that polling had come out of nowhere because a year or two ago, vox was really a very minor party. they weren't allowed to take pa rt party. they weren't allowed to take part in the debates. they were not allowed in the tv debate because they didn't have parliamentary representation. there is a feeling that that kind of thing actually benefited them. they felt excluded from mainstream media and the mainstream debates. they managed to present themselves as outsiders, antiestablishment, and that seems to have helped them as they get these seats in the seat of power now. and since the late 1970s and 80s, there have only really been two parties exchanging power here in spain, the socialist party and the popular party, who have had a terrible night. a very difficult night. they had a very clear that. they went far to the right because of the

appearance of vox, and it seems that it hasn't gone well. their former leader mariano rajoy was much more moderate, and some people inside the party are missing him. and guy, the cata la n party are missing him. and guy, the catalan referendum declared illegal by madrid direct rule as we saw a couple of years ago as well, that is still a divisive issue, isn't it? it absolutely is. vox in particular has made it a real issue. but all three parties on the right have really focused on the catalan issue in re ce nt focused on the catalan issue in recent months, almost trying to outdo each other as they try to show that they would be tougher on the catalan independence movement on the other parties. so that has made this a very divisive election campaign. thank you both. as i say, unofficial exit polls, but we should start getting hard figures through soon.

we will continue to update you with those. we are also expecting to hear from party leaders in the next couple of hours. detectives searching for a man over the alleged abduction and rape of two women have in the past hour released an image of their main suspect. the cctv footage shows the man — who's thought to be in his late 20s or early 30s — attempting to book into a hotel in watford on thursday lunchtime. officers from the metropolitan police say he has a distinctive tattoo of the word "bobbie" on his stomach. the first woman was abducted in chingford at 12:30am on thursday and the second woman was taken from a street in edgware 12 hours later. detectives have also arrested a 33—year—old man on suspicion of conspiracy to rape. the headlines on bbc news... prayers have been held in the streets in sri lanka as church services are cancelled a week after more than 250 people were killed in the easter sunday bombings. there's to be more prominent health warnings on packets of opioid

painkillers because of growing concern over levels of addiction. britain's fracking tsar quits after six months in thejob. natascha engel says ministers are paying too much attention to a small but noisy environmental lobby. sport, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's jane dougall. good evening. let's start with manchester city, because they are back to the top of the premier league after a narrow 1—0 win at burnley. city did struggle to find the breakthrough, which came in the 63rd minute when sergio aguero's shotjust about crossed the line — it was confirmed using goalline technology. pep guardiola's side are now a point above liverpool with two games remaining. if city beat leicester and brighton, they will retain the title.

these kind of games, you play with the tension that's going to happen at the end of the season, but, you know, now 92 points we have, so it's incredible, so... and now it's the same as we said in the last month, it's in our hands, so we have to win our two games. next one against leicester and after against brighton. manchester united and chelsea had to share the spoils with a 1—1 draw. neither side could break the deadlock, even after seven minutes of added time. it was another david de gea mistake which led to chelsea's equaliser, as ben croucher reports. in this premier league marathon, the race for the top four that seemingly nobody wants to win. it's been slipping from manchester united's grasp of late, but they didn't waste time in taking the matter into their own hands. juan on target on his birthday. the presents nearly kept coming. eric bailly couldn't add the bow to united's bright start. instead, a familiar gloom with a familiar fall guy.

david de gea's blunder presented marcus alonso a gift wrapped equaliser. somebody at least wanted the spaniards gloves. he kept them on and kept chelsea at bay in a second half marked more for its tension and tackling, however bad the latter was. marcos rojo evaded a red card and later the chelsea defence, only to see his stoppage time header nodded off the line. frustration at how their afternoon could have been better turned to relief, with de gea saving from gonzalo higuain but still barely saving his blushes. nobody won this race today. the top four for united edging further and further away. ben croucher, bbc news. meanwhile, arsenal's aspirations of finishing in the top four took a knock as they lost 3—0 at leicester. arsenal had to play for more than 45 minutes with ten men after ainsley maitland—niles was sent off before half time. leicester went in front just before the hour, youri tielemens with the header, before two late goals from jamie vardy sealed victory for brendan rodgers' side.

so that means manchester city are back above liverpool — just a point separates them with two games left. there's been no change in the places from third to sixth after the weekend's games, although chelsea and manchester united have narrowed the gap slightly on tottenham and arsenal after their draw today. chelsea women have failed to reach their first champions league final, after they were beaten 3—2 on aggregate by the holders lyon. trailing 2—1 from the first leg in france, chelsea fell behind when maren mjelde deflected a lyon shot into her own net. chelsea responded whenji so yun curled home a delightful messi—esque free kick. needing just a goal to take it to extra time, karen carney almost found it, but a second proved beyond them. lyon will play barcelona in the final. meanwhile, arsenal women have sealed their first women's super league title since 2012 with a 4—0 win over brighton.

a record home crowd of over 5,000 at the amex saw the gunners clinch the title with a game to spare. sheffield united have been promoted to the premier league after leeds failed to beat aston villa in one of the most bizarre passages of play you're ever likely to see. leeds went ahead with around 20 minutes to go through mateusz klich, but chaos ensued afterwards with aston villa players and staff angry that leeds hadn't stopped when a villa player went down injured. leeds boss marcelo bielsa then told his players to allow aston villa to score. it finished in a 1—1 draw. but both teams will be in the playoffs. valteri bottas is back out in front

in formula one's drivers' championship after winning the azerbaijan grand prix. it was yet another one—two for mercedes, with lewis hamilton finishing just behind his team mate in baku. bottas started on pole ahead of hamilton — and the finn just about kept hold of his lead going into the first corner. it turned into a tactical battle throughout the race, with ferrari's sebastian vettel and charles leclerc briefly threatening, but neither could stop the mercedes dominance once again. bottas came out on top and that gives him a one—point lead over hamilton in the standings. that's all the sport for now. 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 united nations says many villages in northern mozambique have been entirely wiped out by cyclone kenneth, which hit on thursday. with heavy rainfall predicted

for the next few days, there are also fears that many communities will face severe flooding. mozambique is still recovering from cyclone idai, which killed hundreds of people further south last month. aid workers say they have been unable to reach many of those affected by the cyclone. one of the worst—hit areas is the coastal city of pemba in the north of the country. earlier, i spoke to deborah nguyen from the united nations world food programme, who is in pemba. she told me that the bad weather is hampering aid efforts and called for more support from the international community. it has been raining in pemba nonstop since last night. very heavy rain. it has made it very hard to reach some communities. we are very concerned about how we can bring food to these people who need it. this is a very complex operation for us, because we will bring helicopters, and we will try to do everything we can to bring the food to these people.

how is the weather affecting the work you are trying to do? it is making everything more challenging because it keeps raining and the roads are impassable. one of the key bridges has collapsed. it's making it very difficult for us to access the areas where people need help direly. what is your estimate of how many people are in need? so far, we know that 700,000 people, according to the government, are at risk. at least 1,000 people have been displaced so far. we expect that this number will keep growing while it keeps raining, minute after minute, we can see that the level of water is rising. how much more difficult is this situation to deal with

because parts of the country are still recovering from the other cyclone, idai? indeed, all capacities are very stretched from aid agencies and the government. we are going to bring helicopters to pemba to ensure that we will be able to reach the communities stranded on the islands. but also in areas that are completely flooded, so our capacities are quite stretched now. we are calling for the international community to help us to give us more funding to make sure these people get the help that they need. how much practical help are the neighbours to mozambique offering? so far, a few neighbouring countries, such as south africa, have sent search and rescue teams. we see a lot of solidarity from different countries coming in, which is a really good thing to see.

but we are still in need of funding to make sure that we can buy food and provide logistics capacities to all of the humanitarian communities. it is very hard to access the stranded areas. we're just looking at some of the photographs that you have sent to us which show the scale of the problem you are dealing with, and the amount of water which still hasn't subsided. how much more funding do you need? are you having difficulty getting donors to contribute? we have a lot of donors who have provided funding for the cyclone idai emergency. we still need $127 million for that emergency response. and the need will still keep growing as we have more humanitarian needs to respond

to with this new emergency. tens of thousands of runners have been taking part in today's london marathon, with a new record set in the men's race. joe wilson was watching. when the cameras swooped to find the elite group, it was kenya's eliud kipchoge in control. of course it was. mo farah was toughing it out behind. kipchoge beat him across the line in the quickest time london's ever witnessed. farah said he had no regrets about his comments in the build—up, but finishing fifth was not the plan. brigid kosgei made her victory look easy, as did manuela schar of switzerland in the women's wheelchair event. 20—year—old american daniel romanchuk won the men's race. but there were 40,000 stories. runners in an array of colourful costumes have been pounding the streets today in the 39th london marathon, in what has been a record—breaking

yearfor applications. this is lucas bates, who was aiming to break the guinness world record for the fastest marathon dressed as a landmark building, which in his case was big ben. what he didn't plan for, however, was getting his sizeable costume over the line. after a few attempts of getting beneath the hoardings, and a little help from fellow competitors — he managed to finish his race. although sadly for lucas, he wasn't quick enough to break that world record he was after. i think we have already told you that bid, i am slightly concerned i'm going to repeat myself. as we have been saying, more than 40,000 people took part in the london marathon this afternoon and there we re marathon this afternoon and there were certainly some impressive costu mes, were certainly some impressive costumes, alongside the one we have shown you are big ben. look at that aerial