yes, i do understand, but i don't think it's actually towards me. i think it's towards isis. but when they think of isis, they think of me because i've been put on the media so much, you know? but they only did that because you chose to go to isis. but what was there to obsess over? we went to isis, that was it, it was over. theyjust wanted to continue the story— because it was a story. it was the big story. but you do accept that you did join a terrorist group? yes. i did. an accompanying television documentary will be shown on bbc two next month. but the podcast series, which started last week, has already caused something of a storm. several national newspapers objected to the bbc giving the oxygen of publicity to a member of a terror group, as they saw it. and neil seagrave emailed newswatch to ask...

and sharon doherty also got in touch with us to say... well, the series editor of the shamima begum story isjonathan aspinwall, and we can talk to him now. thank you for coming on newswatch, jonathan. why did you think this was a podcast series worth making? i think this is an important podcast because of the forensic journalism around this particular story that we have done here at the bbc. it's a really important investigation into what shamima begum did and what she didn't do when she reached the islamic state territory. but it's also a retracing of herjourney from east london to turkey and then into syria and what exactly happened on that journey.

it's important to stress that this is a story which is notjust told through challenging interviews with shamima begum. we then go and test what shamima begum has said with other eyewitnesses, with experts, and also with some of the victims of the islamic state. you see, people are saying, all very well, but is it ethical to interview someone whojoined a terror group to tell her story, when we know at the same time she's trying to win sympathy for her ongoing court case? i think the key things here are there is a lot of noise and some confusion over what exactly happened on that particularjourney from east london to syria, and we absolutely explore that. we never take her account as necessarily the truth. ourjob is to unpick, ourjob is to test. ourjob is to find out exactly what happened. and then there are key issues around radicalisation, and we know that radicalisation amongst young people is an issue. and shamima begum's experience

tells us about radicalisation, and you'll hear in this ten—part podcast series about the radicalisation process in terms of propaganda, in terms of social media, there are important public interest editorial justifications. those are all legitimate questions potentially, and it's all about the framing. but the title of this podcast series is i'm not a monster: series 2, the shamima begum story. sounds like it's her story. it's not her story. it is... why do you call it that? the shamima begum story, is a piece ofjournalism. it's forensicjournalism in which we test what's happened. and the i'm not a monster, it's series two of that particular strand, and it fits in that particular feed. but the shamima begum story is about proper bbc news investigations, proper journalism by a very experienced team of specialist investigative journalists. josh baker, who is the journalist behind this series, has been investigating this

for years and years and years, and is extremely experienced in terms of reporting on what happens in syria, on what happens, the consequences of the islamic group's actions and also radicalisation. these are his areas of expertise. so this is a very professional team — and it's good to see the likes of the daily telegraph in their reviews of this podcast acknowledging that this is journalism, that this is very forensic, that it's not giving shamima begum an unchallenged platform. that's really important to us. what about time? the shamima begum story gets ten episodes. people are very uncomfortable at the amount of attention you're giving her. it's a very complex story. well, you'll know how divisive it is. you'll know the very strong emotions, the very strong feelings about this particular story. and from perspective that some people feel she is a monster, that she should never be allowed back into this country. and they talk about how shejoined the is group, a terror group, and how

she went into syria, into islamic state group territory. i would also say there's other perspectives where people say that she was groomed, that she was exploited, that she was trafficked, and that she that she is a victim in this. and ourjob is basically to try and unpick her story and work out what is true and what's not true. so what are the facts and what's fiction? and that's been the basis of this journalism. and i'm really proud of the journalism that we've done. it's very thorough. it tests what she's saying, and we never take what she says on face value. we really interrogate what she said, and i think that's really important. did the bbc pay her? it's really clear to say that the bbc did not pay her and that would be an absolute red line and that would break our

editorial guidelines. not in kind... we did not pay. not in cash? no, we did not pay her. jonathan aspinwall, thank you so much for coming on. newswatch. thank you. jacinda ardern became the youngest female head of government in the world in 2017 when she was elected prime minister of new zealand at the age of 37. on thursday, she announced she was stepping down after what she described as six challenging years in the job. online and on social media, bbc world news headlined their story on this with the words, "can women really have it all?" and that met with a scathing response from the likes of cat... robert rutledge agreed... and here's catherine o'brien...

we put those points to bbc news and they told us... last friday, the cardiologist, dr asima malhotra, was invited onto the bbc news channel to discuss the use of statins for patients at risk of heart disease. he is, though, also well known for holding controversial views about some covid vaccines. switched tack, claiming that covid mrna vaccines had a cardiovascular risk. that comment, which was shared widely online, contradicted the overwhelming scientific consensus that mrna vaccines are safe, and the interview alarmed viewers such as thomas lubbock, who wrote...

well, following complaints like that, six days later, bbc news issued this statement... finally, as discussed on last week's programme, bbc breakfast celebrated its 40th anniversary on tuesday. a special programme featured a selection of bloopers from years past. a host of former contributors and another return from yesteryear.

have you noticed anything different about us? perhaps? look closely. it's not my knees. it's a new clock! but it's an old clock. that is the clock that was put on the screen at exactly this time, well, nearly this time, 50 minutes... the original, still the best clock. it looks kind of old fashioned, but it also looks kind of cool, that sort of eighties retro thing. don't panic, everybody. it's only for one day. it's only for today. not everyone was up early enough to see that explanation, though, and some of those who tuned in later were confused, like paul deakin... another fan

was david spencer... on breakfast television, it was nice to see a proper clock, because this is the face that you see on the mantelpiece, on your wall, on all the buildings like big ben. this type of clock really does help children to learn to tell the time with a proper watch. so i hope the bbc will keep it on. and thank you, bbc, for the breakfast television, which we all remember starting up years ago. it don't seem a0 years, it only seems like a0 minutes. thank you for all your comments this week. if you want to share your opinions about what you see or hear on bbc news, on tv, radio, online and social media, email newswatch@bbc.co.uk or you can find us on twitter @newswatchbbc. you can call us on 0370 010 6676. do have a look at previous interviews on our website.

that's all from us. we'll be back to hear your thoughts about bbc news coverage again next week. goodbye. hello. well, overall, the weekend for most of us will remain pretty cold. we've also had some snow recently. here's a beautiful picture from wales, from gwynedd — a wonderful wintry scene. now across the north—west of the country, it'll actually be a little bit milder through the course of the night, particularly around the western isles of scotland and northern ireland. a southerly breeze here, cloudy with spits and spots of rain — so seven in stornoway by 6am on saturday, six in belfast. elsewhere across the country, that blue colour indicating the frost. now the reason for this temperature difference is actually this tongue of milder air that's streaming in from the southern climes — and you can see it's in place across ireland, scotland, the north—west of england, and wales. elsewhere towards the east, it's going to be colder.

so let's summarise the weekend, then, with this tongue of milderair coming in from the south. south and eastern parts of the country will stay in the cold air, it'll be sunny — but north—western areas will be often cloudy, spits and spots of rain, and quite a bit milder. so here's the picture first thing on saturday — that weather front hugging north—western areas of the uk, that southerly breeze. elsewhere across the country, we've got sunny, crisp, and cold weather. there could be some mist and fog lingering into the afternoon across parts of the midlands and northern england. so typical temperatures here around four degrees, but up to around nine or so in the western isles of scotland. let's have a look at the weather on sunday — high pressure in charge of the weather in the south—east of the country, but in the north—west there, you can see a weather front affecting scotland, which actually will also affect the irish sea coasts, western fringes of wales, and also the far south—west of england. so here, in that southerly wind, temperatures could actually make double figures at least in 1—2 spots. the further east or south—east you are, the temperatures

will be quite a bit lower. so look at that — struggling in london, norwich and hull, only around 2—3 degrees above freezing. so really, quite a raw day for some of us on sunday. here's monday's weather map — high pressure in charge of the weather, in fact, all the way from western europe through central europe, into russia, too. so lots of fine weather, and there is an indication that here in the uk, the temperatures will recover a little bit as we go through the course of the week, perhaps making double figures in some spots. that's it from me. have a good weekend.

this is bbc news. our top stories: western defence chiefs fail to agree on the provision of advanced tanks to ukraine. the americans say it's still under discussion. anti—abortion activists have marched through washington, calling for further restrictions on the termination of pregnancies. a top un official tells the bbc she believes progress is being made towards reversing bans on women taking part in public life in afghanistan. we are going to use this to push the door wider and not allow it to close, and not allow it to close because it would close on the women of afghanistan. and forget life on mars. how about life onjupiter? we report from the space mission