thank you for coming on newswatch.past week. some viewers, as you have heard, think it's excessive and alarmist. how would you respond to them? well, i would say don't shoot the messenger.

thank you for coming on newswatch.here has, of course, been a lot of coverage of omicron over the past week. some viewers, as you have heard, think it's excessive and alarmist. how would you respond to them? well, i would say don't shoot the messenger. what we are seeing is science in real time. it's absolutely remarkable. it's only been identified, omicron, about ten days ago. it only got a name — omicron — last friday. so incredibly early, very good research from the south african authorities, and as a result of that, we have seen this very swift action. and we have been reporting not only on what the scientists have said, and they are genuinely concerned that this could be the worst variant yet — but you also have to look at what governments have done. the uk government imposing travel restrictions, dramatically changing the booster programme from the over 40s getting a booster now down to everybody over the age of 18, and in england, the aim to offer everyone a boosterjab by the end of january. and then, in terms o

hello and welcome to the last newswatch of 2021 with me, samira ahmed.s political troubles? and is it strictly necessary to feature bbc�*s celebrity dancing show on bbc news? notwithstanding what looks increasingly like a health emergency over the omicron variant of covid, the government has faced a legion of difficulties this week. on tuesday night there was the biggest backbench rebellion of boris johnson's premiership, over new covid regulations. on thursday the conservatives lost in the north shropshire by—election, a seat they had held for 200 years, and last election with a majority of 23,000. and tales of parties and gatherings around westminster last december continued to swirl around. here's helen catt reporting on sunday on the latest revelations about what went on in downing street a year ago. it's the christmas quiz that downing street says was virtual, but is now posing very real questions for the prime minister. pictured here with two aides hosting a round on 15 december last year. on the video call, number 10 staff, some dialling in from h

hello, and welcome to newswatch with me, samira ahmed.to horrific crimes, such as the death of arthur—labinjo hughes, suitable for the audience of an early evening news bulletin? and has the bbc�*s coverage of that downing street party been obsessive and irresponsible? what exactly did or didn't happen in downing street on 18 december last year remains unclear for now. but that's not for a lack of questions on the part of journalists. here's laura kuenssberg quizzing the prime minister at wednesday's press conference — the purpose of which was to announce new covid measures. how can you stand at that lectern, exactly where some of your team laughed and joked about covid rules, and tell people they must now follow your new instructions? and are you really asking the public to believe that you had no idea what was going on under your own roof? caroline cockwell got in touch with us to say... and sue williams agreed... that's a story that's not going away anytime soon, and we hope to talk to someone at the bbc about it next week. meanwhile,

now on bbc news, it's time for newswatch. hello, and welcome to newswatch with me, samira ahmed. details and recordings related to horrific crimes, such as the death of arthur—labinjo hughes, suitable for the audience of an early evening news bulletin? and has the bbc�*s coverage of that downing street party been obsessive and irresponsible? what exactly did or didn't happen in downing street on 18 december last year remains unclear for now. but that's not for a lack of questions on the part of journalists. here's laura kuenssberg quizzing the prime minister at wednesday's press conference — the purpose of which was to announce new covid measures. how can you stand at that lectern, exactly where some of your team laughed and joked about covid rules, and tell people they must now follow your new instructions? and are you really asking the public to believe that you had no idea what was going on under your own roof? caroline kok well got in touch with us to say... and sue williams agreed... that's a story that's not going away anytime soon, and we hope to talk to someone at the bbc

hello, and welcome to newswatch with me, samira ahmed.ese red... ..an all too familiar newswatch complaint, if it was dangerous to go out during storm arwen, what's a bbc reporter doing in the middle of it? how worried should we be? the risks posed by the new 0micron variant of covid—19 are uncertain as of yet, but it's clear that the subject is being given plenty of attention and airtime from bbc news, starting with reports of its emergence on thursday last week. tonight at 10pm — the uk's suspends flights from six african countries after the discovery of a new variant of coronavirus. the countries, including south africa, will be placed on the travel red list amid fears the new mutation may be the most dangerous yet. as the coverage went on, leading news bulletins all week, julie smith contacted us on saturday to say... and richard colborne wondered...

opinions about what you see, hear, or read on bbc news, on tv, radio, online and social media, email newswatchu can call us... and do have a look at our website for previous interviews. that's all from us, we'll be back to hear your thoughts about bbc news coverage again next week. goodbye. hello. a big change in the feel of the weather through this weekend, with some milder air spreading from the west. but with that, a fair amount of cloud, some mist, and murk and hill fog and some outbreaks of rain at times. on the earlier satellite picture, a slice of clear sky, and where that clear sky remains, quite a cold start to saturday morning. the coldest weather of the whole weekend, in fact. out west, more cloud, and with that some milder weather, which is slowly but surely going to crawl its way eastwards through the day. so, temperatures in eastern parts starting the day below freezing, western areas well above. belfast at six, plymouth at eight degrees, and as we go through the day, the milder but cloudier and wetter conditions will work eastwards. so early sunshine in eastern scotland, eastern

it's the strictly come dancing final tomorrow night — now on bbc news it's time for newswatch.ello and welcome to the last news watch of 2021. as covid—19 cases rates sharply, as bbc news focused too much on the governments political troubles? and is it strictly necessary to feature bbc celebrity dancing show on bbc news? notwithstanding which looks increasingly like a health emergency over the omicron variant of covid—19, the government has faced a legion of difficulties this week. on tuesday night, there was the biggest backbench rebellion of boris johnson's premiership of the covid—19 regulations. the conservatives lost the by election with the seat that they've held for more than 20 years of the majority of 23,000. and details of parties around westminster last december continued to swirl around. here is hell and reporting on sunday with the latest revelations about what went on in downing street a year ago. it's the christmas quiz the downing street said was virtual but it's not opposing very real questions for the prime minister. pictured here in hosting a round of the 15

coming up in around 10 minutes' time, we'll have newswatch. but first, here's click.

coming up on tonight's newswatch, has bbc news focused too much on the government's political troubless hour with some breaking news. the cabinet secretary simon case has stepped down from leading the inquiry into downing street christmas parties as a result of allegations that his office held a party last december 17 a year ago today. members of simon case's private office, invitations went out. he denies the allegations, but the person responsible for previous investigations of controversies involving politicians is to be put involving politicians is to be put in charge of the inquiry in simon case's case. more now from nick eardley. you did say an hour ago, and in the next hour counts as a wee while. �* , ,., , and in the next hour counts as a wee while. �* ,,., , ., and in the next hour counts as a wee while. �* , ., , while. absolutely. it had become re while. absolutely. it had become pretty much _ while. absolutely. it had become pretty much inevitable _ while. absolutely. it had become pretty much inevitable that - while. absolutely. it had become| pretty much inevitable that s

thank you for coming on newswatch.heard the opposite point of view from some viewers who think the coverage has actually not taken the risk of omicron seriously enough, and that people listening will be too casual about it. well, it's dominated the airwaves. i don't think there's anything that's been casual about the coverage. we have pointed out that some doctors in south africa who first identified it said, well, it's causing mostly a mild illness, but the flip side of that is that it's quite a young population in south africa, and it's been spreading among the student population there, and you would expect a younger people, younger adults who get infected to have a mild illness. and it's also fair to say that coronavirus, for most people, is not a serious illness — but even a minority who get seriously ill, that that can lead to, you know, very, very serious problems for the nhs, very serious levels of death and disease, which is what we've seen over the last two years. i'm really struck by the fact that for the las

it's time for newswatch. we will be back with the headlines at 8am.shropshire by—election, a seat they had held for 200 years, and last election with a majority of 23,000. and tales of parties and gatherings around westminster last december continued to swirl around. here's helen catt reporting on sunday on the latest revelations about what went on in downing street a year ago. it's the christmas quiz that downing street said was virtual, but is now posing very real questions for the prime minister. pictured here with two aides hosting a round on 15 december last year. 0n the video call, number 10 staff, some dialling in from home, others apparently gathered in groups elsewhere in the building. at the time, indoor socialising with others was banned in london. a number of newswatch viewers felt the coverage of that quiz, and more widely of alleged parties over the past couple of weeks, was excessive and threatened to distract the public from the increasing dangers posed by the pandemic. belinda craig emailed: and tim semmens had this to say: well, we a

. _ now on breakfast, it's time for newswatch. to talk to someone at the bbc about it next week. it was announced that an investigation will open next week into the death of six—year—old arthur hughes. it is a highly distressing case and we are being careful about what we showed you and what is ion today by the programme. here are some of the report last thursday, the day his stepmother and father were convicted of killing arthur. arthur. arthur had been a healthy and happy little boy, but he was subjected to months of beatings and punishments by his stepmother and father. during the trial, jurors listened to the hundreds of audio recordings they made, all of them extremely distressing. some of those audio recordings and videos were shown in that report, a decision which prompted several viewers to contact us and protest. here is a barbera harris and helen walker. ., . ., ., . walker. the horrific and tragic murder of _ walker. the horrific and tragic murder of arthur _ walker. the horrific and tragic murder of arthur was - walker