The unwelcome opposite of
good news. Often
no news is
good news, but on the other hand
no news can be
bad news as well.
Andrew Loog Oldham once said "To the
Rolling Stones,
bad news is
good news." It's exactly this kind of obfuscation on the part of the English that led to the
War of 1812.
This phrase can also be used as an adjective to describe someone whose presence can only mean trouble. "That cat's bad news," you may say.