hello and welcome to newswatch with me, samira ahmed. did the bbc�*s coverage of the crisis in sudan focus too much on the evacuation of british citizens? and did bbc news prioritise dominic raab's defence of the bullying charges against him over the actual findings? at a time of some turmoil at the top of the bbc, we're going to keep to the sharp end of bbc news this week with a selection of your comments, starting with coverage of the horrific situation in sudan. the subject was addressed at the top of monday's news at ten. tonight's at 10pm, the rush to flee

the violence in sudan. thousands of british nationals are still trapped and demanding help. as more people are flown to safety by some eu states, british citizens describe the terror they face in a conflict between the military factions. eve fairbanks was one of a number of viewers concerned about the emphasis put on getting british nationals out of the country, calling bbc news... and grace dalton left us a phone message on monday with her thoughts. i've been really frustrated throughout today, but was on the verge of tears watching the evening news at 10:00pm. as there was coverage regarding the situation in sudan and how awful it was for the british people who are stuck there. and yet there was no regard given for the sudanese civilians

who are stuck there. obviously, i'm really hoping that those who are british can be evacuated as soon as possible. but why was nothing said about the sudanese people who are caught up in this horrific situation? we put that point to bbc news and were told... on wednesday, british families living in sudan did get on rescue flights out of the country, organised by the uk government. and on that evening's television bulletins, nick beak in cyprus and lucy manning at stansted airport reported on the evacuees. on wednesday, british families living in sudan did get on rescue flights out of the country,

organised by the uk government. and on that evening's television bulletins, nick beak in cyprus and lucy manning at stansted airport reported on the evacuees. other countries, the french and germans got their people out before the british. but how do you feel? do you think the british helped you when you needed them, or were they too slow? of course, yeah. they were slower than the others, but still, they saved us, so, that's what matters, right? it took 11 days, but thank god. thank god we're back. what do you feel about the british response to getting you out? slow, but we're here. how do you think the british have handled the evacuation so far? i think they handled it well. i would have preferred it to be faster, but i think it's, you know, organised well. sue scaggs was watching and had this response...

sue skeggs was watching and had this response... on that point, bbc news told us... do let us know your thoughts on any of the issues we're discussing in today's programme or on any

aspect of bbc news. details of how to contact us at the end of the programme. now for some of your other comments this week. it won't have escaped your notice that we are only a week away from the coronation of king charles iii, and the bbc has been playing its part in the build up with a number of programmes and articles examining the state of the monarchy. one example was monday's panorama in which reporterjane corbyn heard about changing attitudes towards the royal family, especially among the young. do you care about the monarchy is it's something you support? no. i wouldn't say i don't care, i but i'd say it's not necessarily something that i'm invested in. i'd say i wasn't invested in it. the only person i know who does support the monarchy is my gran, and she loves it. charles has a problem with gen 2. the future of the monarchy for charles and for william, and the popular support, which they need, is really in the balance when it comes to the younger people. we asked two newswatch viewers to give us their contrasting

perspectives on this perennially divisive issue. like many people, i'm sure i've noticed reports that surveys suggest a large percentage of young people no longer support the notion of the monarchy in this country. it doesn't actually surprise me, given the amount of negative reporting there has been about the monarchy or about the royalfamily and particular individuals in it. so i wonder whether it might be something for the bbc and other media outlets to consider. that a series of programmes explaining what an monarchical system actually benefits, how it benefits the country, might actually do something to right the balance. can we please have a little balance in the reporting of the up and coming coronation and the monarchy? it seems that not a day

is going passed without a prime slot on the bbc news being given over to the promotion of the coronation and the royal family. i would like to point out that not all licence fee payers are monarchists. some of us would prefer to have an elected president as our head of state. please bbc, let's have some balance. will no doubt be returning to those differing interpretations of balance with regard to coverage of the monarchy over the next week or two. now, the resignation of deputy prime minister, dominic raab, after an inquiry found he was intimidating and aggressive towards officials, was breaking news last friday morning, and by the afternoon bbc news was running prominently an interview with mr raab, conducted by political editor chris mason, in which the departing minister went on the offensive. the uk's deputy prime minister resigns following an inquiry into bullying allegations. in an exclusive interview with the bbc�*s chris mason, dominic raab insists he behaved appropriately and takes a swipe at the civil service.

and what you've got is the risk here of a very small minority of very activist civil servants with a passive aggressive culture of the civil service who don't like some of the reforms, whether it's brexit, whether it's parole reform, whether it's human rights reform, effectively trying to block government. some view has found the weight given to mr raab�*s defence of his actions via that interview with chris mason to be excessive, meaning coverage of the story as a whole lacked impartiality. here's jake zeikowitz. richard brown wondered...

that leading article on the website was headlined "dominic raab hits out at activist civil servants", and ian bartlett took particular exception to it. emailing... we asked bbc news for a statement in response to those comments. it reads...

from last friday, there were four days of protests in london organised by the climate group extinction rebellion, and they were reported on bbc london news. they say this is the largest climate change march in the history of the uk. they say around 20,000 to 30000 people are here today, and it represents around 2,200 organisations across the uk who are demonstrating against climate change. but the demonstrations barely featured on the bbc�*s national news, to the regret of a viewer called sophie, who points out that she's not a member of extinction rebellion but poses this question... why is it that the bbc gave so little coverage to a four day, well organised, very well attended peaceful demonstration by a group of people that only want the best for us. they give more coverage when those

people are disruptive, throwing orange powder onto a snooker table. then those people are branded "bad, destructive, troublesome." so how are those passionate people to get their message across? 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, you can call us... email... or you can find us on twitter at and do have a look at our website. that's all from us. we'll be back to hear your thoughts about bbc news coverage again next week. goodbye.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and on the mimi's story straight at the top of the hours straight at the top of the hours straight after this programme. this is eurovision cast. eurovision cast from bbc news. hello and welcome to a very special edition of eurovision cast. today we're going to be in conversation with sam ryder, the uk's entry to eurovision last year, and the man who famously came second. i'm adam flemming from the newscast podcast today, standing in for nina warhurst. hi, i'm daniel. i'm the eurovision reporterfor bbc news. and i'm winner of eurovision 2015. and i'm going to host. that radio merseyside. welcome to the eurovision cast studio. sam rider. hello. hello, sam. before we get started, i was because we do this

with these headsets, right? so i was wondering with your with your hair, do these work? how do i look? you look great. sound brilliant. so last may, sam, i remember interviewing you in turin in your hotel, and we were talking about how for the first time in years it felt like the entire uk was behind our eurovision artist. and on the night it felt that you had convinced britain that we were going to do well. but still the phrase what is happening was trending on twitter when you started to get all of those points and it's brilliant that you're here. thank you for coming on eurovision cast. how are you now? nearly 12 months on? yeah, i feel fantastic. i feel incredibly grateful for every single little door that clicked open since eurovision. for myself and the team of absolute lives and friends that were involved, ijust it's

an overwhelming sense. it feels like yesterday being swept up and, you know, being amidst the chaos, that beautiful chaos that just is we all know eurovision to be but at the same time it feels like so much has happened in that interim. and yeah, i think ultimately it's just as i always say, it's gratitude, isn't it? you look back at stuff like that and think, wow, i mean, you didn't stop, you came back. and then it was the platinum jubilee. oh, i had a break over christmas and i went surfing badly. and and that's, you know, we're back. can you stand up? 0h, ican. yeah. how long for? i can get some decent. i mean, i've been surfing for a number of years now. oh, so you're actually quite good. and that was.... no, no, no.

the thing is, like, there's kind of no style to it. i can surf, but i don't have that kind of, i don't know, nonchala nt, like surfing. not quite californian. do you ever see any sewage? do you ever see any big poos in the sea? that's your only break you've had between may and now. so yeah, it's been absolutely full on. last year we had 12 days. now eight days, i believe, of totally eight days off since eurovision. and then had a break over christmas, but so myself and my tour manager kaz, who isjust the other side of the glass right now actually, and everyone else involved in the team, like we're all old friends, you know that this has all happened to together and that is just so wonderful.

and we find when you're spending time with those people, you don't finish a day and think, oh, i need a break,