a bill to legalise assisted dying in england and wales will be discussed in parliament, and the public debate on this most sensitive and emotive of issues has already begun. on tuesday morning, the mp bringing forward the proposal, kim leadbeater, was hosting a press conference in westminster, carried live on the news channel. they have produced a bill that is workable, that has absolutely rocksolid safeguards. i heard kim describe it as... apologies, we're just turning away briefly from that news conference going on in westminster. we will go back to it injust a second. there is an update regarding the situation of match of the day presenter gary lineker, about his future with or without the bbc. over the next two minutes, viewers were told that gary lineker�*s contract was being extended to cover the 2026 world cup, but that he would be leaving match of the day at the end of the season — news that had broken the evening before. the decision didn't go down

well with helen whiting.

we asked the politics live team that question, and they told us... we also asked bbc news about that interruption we saw earlier, and about this week's coverage of gary lineker more widely. here is their statement.

that debate about assisted dying will receive plenty of airtime in the coming weeks, notjust from the political and medical points of view, but from the religious and ethical standpoints, too. and there was another major religion story this week, as aleem maqbool reported. it was a turbulent five days

that lead to the resignation of the archbishop of canterbury. last thursday, a report landed that was heavilly critical of the church and ofjustin welby, in their handling of a man who abused more than 120 boys. well, aleem maqbool, religion editorfor bbc news, joins me now. thank you so much for coming on newswatch. you have been religion editor for three years. do you find it is hard to get onto the news bulletins unless there is a scandal like this week's resignation of the archbishop of canterbury? it is interesting that you say that. i actually don't feel like that. it may come across that way when we're talking about the institutions themselves, but i actually find in this role, i get a chance to explain much more about the way people think about issues. it isn't always about holding people to account and scandal. so, over the last couple of weeks i was reporting on where faith played a part in the american election. we were looking at... you know, i was in rome

a couple of weeks ago, looking at women in the church, in the catholic church. we have looked at the faith dimensions to wars and so on. but i understand it can sometimes feel like a role that focuses on the negative — a lot of news does. you know, when we are talking about the rise in anti—semitism since what has been going on in gaza, the islamophobia that we saw in the violence during the summer. and when it comes to abuse. believe me, i would love never to do stories about abuse. we know that, of course, lots of people are religious. how far do you think the bbc does reflect their faiths? part of myjob is, i suppose, explaining communities to each other a little bit. so there is a little bit of sort of religious literacy. but outside of news, we're doing a good job on television, on radio.

you know, i hosted for a year and a half, on radio 4, beyond belief, where we talk much more about the wider role that faith plays in society, looking at forgiveness, wealth, and death when it comes to faith. so i think more broadly we are doing a good job, and i know there are really good people making programmes for tv and radio who understand that faith plays an important part of a lot of people's lives and they reflect that. on the other hand, we know that the british census showed that for the first time the number of people self declaring as christians is below 50%. the number of people who are humanists or have no faith are 38% — more than those who say they are anglicans. and they often complain that they aren't adequately represented, especially on ethical issues, on the news. do you think that is true? i think it is usually the other way around. i think a lot of people of faith feel that their voice is not heard, and we're sometimes too secular in our coverage.

i think we get a good balance. i think if you listen to some of the programmes i was telling you about, that's always in the back of the programme maker's mind, that there is the 37% out there who don't have a faith, and to reflect that, as well. but i have to say, having lived in other countries for 17 years, working for the bbc abroad, i think what is going on here faith—wise is fascinating and i think it is one of the most fascinating places to look at faith. because for the younger generation, there is much more understanding of other faiths in this country than i remember when i left. they interact with people of other faiths. they see their, you know, mo salahs and bukayo sakas talking about their own faith. and i think they are much more open and understanding about it. so there actually is a way of covering these kind of stories where faith plays a part. it isn't about selling faith —

that's not what the role is — but explaining the world around us, like most news roles. the big ethical debate of the moment is the assisted dying bill, of course. it feels like it is being so often covered on bbc news as a political or medical story. i wonder how far you are able to cover it from a belief point of view. the last time i sat down with the archbishop of canterbury, justin welby, was a couple of weeks ago, talking about assisted dying. so we did that story. it has, like i say, the faith dimension does play a part in the story for a lot of people. i mean, in terms of the way they view the subject. there is also an important constitutional reason why we look at it from a faith perspective. it is because there are 26 bishops and archbishops who sit in the house of lords. the leaders of both faith groups are opposed to assisted dying.

that shapes some of the people who are part of their faith institutions. so it is an important dimension to this and we are reporting on it in that way. aleem maqbool, thank you. finally, business today, early on thursday morning, reported on the sale of some jewellery with links to the last queen of france, marie antoinette. check out the spelling on the red banner. yesterday a diamond—studded necklace thought to be involved in a scandal that led to the eventual downfall of the last... even at 5:50am in the morning, several viewers spotted the mistake, including this caller to our phone line. hello, my names carol, from peterborough. this isn't the first time i've noticed spelling mistakes on the red band at the bottom of the news

channel's output. but the one i'm looking at this morning absolutely takes the biscuit. necklace is spelt n-e-c-k-l-e-s-s, as in someone who doesn't have a neck. absolutely dreadful. of course, marie antoinette�*s neck did actually end up on a guillotine as a victim of the french revolution. so is this some kind of freudian slip? whatever the case, louise curry was also unimpressed. 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, e—mail us or you can find us on x.

you can call us or whatsapp here. and do have a look at previous interviews on our website. that's all from us for now. thank you forjoining us. do think about getting in touch and perhaps even coming on the programme. we will be back to hear more of your thoughts about how the bbc covers the news next week. goodbye. we have had more of a wintry look to the sky as the temperatures have started to drop. there will be some snow for some northern parts of the uk in the next few days. the low pressure will go to scandinavia and change the wind

direction towards the arctic in the uk. that colder air will begin to arrive in scotland today. from 16 degrees yesterday to 6 degrees in aberdeen today. some clear skies must follow and wintry showers continuing in northern parts in scotland and weather in northern scotland crossing the sea. the winds will ease overnight in scotland and we will have clear skies in the east and north—east of england. there, we will start frosty and a bit icy in places early on sunday morning but some sunshine here. more cloud elsewhere and more showers will continue to affect scotland. wintry in the north over the hills, some wetter weather in northern ireland, heading over the sea and into wales and england. temperatures in double figures in southernmost parts of england and wales but certainly a lot colder further north and feeling cold, though with less strong winds in scotland. as we head into monday, milder air towards the south

and longer boundary between the two and a deepening area of low pressure which is likely bringing snow on monday night. wintry showers continuing in northern scotland on monday and thickening cloud coming in across many areas. rain in southern england and getting wetter in northern ireland as the low pressure begins to arrive. so a cold day and temperatures are beginning to drop further across wales and the midlands. but through the evening and overnight we may well find some snow in northern ireland but more especially in southern scotland and northern england, where there could be over ten centimetres of snow. that will bring some disruption to the northern pennines. that snow will continue overnight and into tuesday morning than the low pressure moves away and more snow showers in northern scotland which will continue into next week and that blast of colder air will push

its way southwards.

live from london. this is bbc news. farmers in wales stage a protest outside the welsh labour conference opposing government plans to change an inheritence tax. ten newborn babies die in a hospitalfire in northern india. 16 other babies are receiving treatment. president zelensky has said ukraine must do all it can through diplomacy to end the war with russia next year, but said negotations with moscow would only start from a position of strength. the head of the electoral commission in georgia has been doused with black paint, at a meeting to confirm the country's disputed election results. and the former world heavyweight boxing champion, mike tyson, has lost his comeback fight

against the youtuber, jake paul. hello and welcome. hundreds of angry farmers have protested outside the welsh labour conference. they're furious with the uk government's decision to impose a 20% inheritance tax on farm estates worth more than £1 million. that's around $1.25 million. but the prime minister says he will defend the government's budget announcements "all day long". here's damian grammaticas. on the north wales coast, the rumblings of rural protest. could this swell into a real political problem for the government? the morale, the mental health, you know, everything

is at an all time low. and what do they do? they kick us again. galvanised by the budget and the government's decision to levy inheritance tax on farms, they descended here