thank really looking forward to it. thank you very much. christian fraser in windsor. now it's time for newswatch, with samira ahmed. this week, your reaction to coverage of the build—up to tomorrow's big day in windsor. hello, welcome to newswatch with me samira ahmed. the dress, the bride's first kiss, her father's non—attendance — has wedding fever taken over bbc news? and have more important stories been sidelined in the process? it's not been a week for those averse to celebrity weddings or the royal family. bbc anticipation has been rife about all aspects of saturday's ceremony, including — in a report from colleen harris at the start of the week — the bridal dress. the wedding dress. the focus of every bride's big day. but meghan

markle will wear hers under an intense global spotlight. tony nickson was watching, and had this response: "this was speculative blather — like so much of the coverage worse was to come, in the eyes of some viewers, on tuesday, when daniela relph went to los angeles, and met the man with whom meghan markle had shared her first kiss, at the age of 13, joshua silversteen. he's an actor and comedian with a clear memory of that first kiss.” think she made a beeline and made the move and is kind of laid one on my lips. nothing to pg—13. it was sweet and generous, and courageous on her part. kathryn stowers felt that interview "crossed a line", asking: is it in the public interest to not only hear who her first kiss was with, but to interview the man and hear him describe

an innocent and private moment in her life? again, the bbc has strayed from public service broadcasting to salacious gossip." caroline bruce agreed that: "the bbc has become completely obsessed with meghan markle. i was absolutely astonished to see an interview with the first person she ever kissed. this is not only utterly cringe worthy but why does the bbc think viewers actually care?" and david mccabe warned: "if the bbc is not careful, the continued exposure of everything connected with meghan markle will turn her into another diana. this preoccupation with every aspect of her life and lifestyle is bordering on intrusion. we all know what happened with diana." the impression some had that the wedding build—up was taking over bbc news was reinforced by a new version of the countdown sequence, leading up to the headlines on the news channel. normally it features bbc reporters on location, but from thursday that was replaced by up to a minute's worth

of images of guess who? benedict adams emailed: "i notice that the 60 second ‘what we do' trailer at the top of the hour has been changed to show 57 seconds of harry and meghan. this was about the time on bbc breakfast on friday not given over to the royal wedding. have bbc journalists been given the day off as there was no news, just froth, speculation and fawning?" but the main pre—wedding focus this week was an on—off issue which seemed at times to be turning into a latin american soap opera. every twist and turn was followed by bbc news. thomas markle is expected to walk his daughter down the aisle in a ceremony at st george's chapel in windsor. our royal terrace that buckingham palace this evening. it's unclear whether that is going to happen or not. it's not. it's absolutely unclear now. in windsor,

preparations for the wedding are gathering pace with a question mark over whether the father of the bride will be there. meghan markle, by all accounts, is still hoping very much that he will. reports suggest he has taken ill. those allegations he helped stage paparazzi photos of his preparations for the wedding. i've just got some news we are getting committed as a statement from meghan markle that has just come through. i will read it. this is on kensington palace paper. it says sadly my father will not be attending our wedding. having your father walk you up the aisle is a matter of great importance to most brides, but not everyone thought it had so much significance for the rest of us. dan o'leary emailed us on wednesday: and on tuesday nic lovell made a different point:

on next week's programme we plan to talk to a senior editor from bbc news about this and the other concerns we've just raised, as well as how the news handles the big day itself. but for this week, here's a last word on the royal wedding from viewers sian timmermans and bob hallums, who both contacted us after watching different parts of the bbc output on tuesday. hello, good morning, you are watching breakfast. prince harry and meghan markle called... watching breakfast. prince harry and meghan markle called. . ij watching breakfast. prince harry and meghan markle called... i was disappointed with the bbc breakfast coverage. considering kensington palace had requested for understanding and privacy at this

point. for the bbc to be covering it as the first topic as headlines was as the first topic as headlines was a very, very disappointing. meghan markle's father is obviously quite sensitive and a private person. whether they are royalty to be or not, they deserve that. compassion and understanding. and secondly for the situation in israel to the second with nearly 60 people slaughtered. for this not to be headlines was again appalling coverage from the bbc. they decided that they wanted to run with the gossip, scaremongering and following a website like tmc rather than the

factual account of what is going on in the world. i was thoroughly disappointed. good evening to you and welcome to the bbc news at six. it is still unclear whether meghan markle. .. i was watching the news at six on tuesday and was dismayed to see that new story was that her father are probably not be attending the wedding. it's earth shattering news and it seemed to graph really the gate in news from palestine. it seems to be upset of the fact that eve ryo ne seems to be upset of the fact that everyone in the country wants to know everything about them and what they do. i don't think the majority of the country is really that interested. i think the bbc should concentrate on not following every bit of the royal family and coverage from the news world in general. when that violence in gaza was reported,

as it was at the top of monday's news at six, many viewers — as ever in relation to coverage of the middle east — were watching out carefully for signs of what they considered to be bias. dozens of palestinians have been killed and thousands injured by israeli troops during protests as america opens its new industry in jerusalem. officials say 52 people have died in clashes of the gaza border in the bloodiest day of for yea rs. hundreds of viewers thought the language used was too sympathetic to the israeli side, with terry regan emailing: and saffron grant had a similar response: but hundreds of others had the opposite perspective,

with gregg berger seizing on a different piece of wording: and dr russell blacker agreed there was an anti—israel slant: well we asked bbc news about those charges from both sides that they had failed to be impartial, and they told us: finally, while some of that

violence was taking place, the new us embassy injerusalem was being formally opened, and the bbc news channel was covering the ceremony. heavenly father, we come before you... it gets under way. let's show you... it gets under way. let's show you what happened on the border with gaza earlier this afternoon. protests they are at today's ceremony will keep the ceremony to

me can see the events of the left and the pictures from gaza as those are being brought in now. one viewer rang us to voice his frustration at what he saw. so much of the time you just talk over the event. i wanted to hear it. why on earth can you not wait until after the event is finished and then give us your analysis? but the news speakfor give us your analysis? but the news speak for itself. let us make up our own mind. that you can then offer analysis then if you wish after the event. thanks for all your comments this week. if you want to share your opinions on bbc news and current affairs, or even appear on the programme, you can call us on 0370 010 6676 or e—mail newswatch at bbc dot co dot uk. you can find us on twitter at newswatch bbc, and do have a look at our website: bbc.co.uk/newswatch. that's all from us.

we'll be back to hear your thoughts about bbc news coverage again next week. goodbye. hello, good evening. if you're picking a week and for a royal wedding i suspect you might pick this one. the weather is looking in decent shape. what a fine weather out there and good spells of sunshine. strong sunshine at this time of yearand sunshine. strong sunshine at this time of year and gradually will turn a little bit warmer as well. most of us are a little bit warmer as well. most of us are seeing clear skies to take us through the rest of the night. chilly down towards the southeast and could get down to freezing in some spots of the countryside. the further west you are not quite as cold. will be quite a chilly start at windsor for the royal wedding cold. will be quite a chilly start at windsorfor the royal wedding but don't worry about that. a beautiful looking day in prospect. that is not just went there. wherever you are spending their saturday looking at blue skies and sunshine for the most

part. a little extra clout into northern ireland and scotland later in the day. batches of clout into east anglia as well. cloud and rain at times and sunshine again. highs of 21 or 22 degrees. this is bbc world news today. our top stories. more than 100 people are feared dead after a plane crashed shortly after take—off from the cuban capital, havana. ten people are killed in a secondary school shooting in texas. a 17—year—old student is being held by police. there have been too many of these. texas has seen too many. and with hours to go before the royal wedding, prince harry and his best man go walkabout while his bride—to—be goes to a country hotel with her mother. around 100 people are feared dead

in cuba, after a passenger plane