this is bbc news, the headlines: police in new york have released new pictures of a person interest they want to question in relation to the shooting of a police or chief executive. the syrian army says it has lost control of the key central city of hama. millions of people in the united kingdom could be facing a decade—long weight for a weight loss drug. now for all the latest sport.

we'll start with formula one, and the feud that's brewing between britain's george russell — and the now four—time champion max verstappen. and the now four—time russell accused verstappen of blocking him dangerously during qualifying at the qatar grand prix last week, a claim that resulted in a stewards�* investigation and verstappen losing pole position to russell. verstappen allegedly saying he would purposefully go out of his way to crash into him. the red bull driver said ahead of this weekend's season—ending abu dhabi grand prix that russell had lied — and that he had "no regrets" over his comments in doha. i haven't got him disqualified. it almost feels like he expects a double standard, you know, and if it's not going his way then there's no way, and that's not how the sport works. so, iwas, as i no way, and that's not how the sport works. so, i was, as i said, no way, and that's not how the sport works. so, iwas, as i said, i've known max fortobias, i respected all of this time, but now i've lost respect for him, because we are all fighting on track, and it's never personal. now he's made a personal,

and you need to stand up to a bully like this, and so far people have let get away with murder. from my side, it's not personal. it's part of racing. the words he said with totally unnecessary. his crossed a line and i'm not going to accept it. so, somebody has to stand up to someone who thinks he's above the law. three—time olympic dressage gold medallist charlotte dujardin has been suspended from all competition for one year following a horse whipping controversy that saw her withdraw from the paris games. dujardin was provisionally suspended by equestrian�*s governing body injuly as it launched an investigation into a video from four years ago showing her making what she described as "an error ofjudgment" during a coaching session. the video showed dujardin repeatedly hitting a student's horse with a whip from the ground. her behaviour sparked widespread condemnation. there are two games left in this round of midweek premier league fixtures. fulham face brighton,

whilst tottenham travel to bournemouth. spurs manager ange postecoglou admits that it's hard to know what to expect from his team after some topsy turvy results of late, but he insists they're not the only ones. i don't think, apart from liverpool, there's no team who thinks about going into any game, thinking it's going to, you know, they're somehow favourites because there's been sort of inconsistency in results amongst all clubs. and that's because the evenness of the competition. so we're expecting a tough game down there. they're a good side who rarely dip below a certain level of performance. so it'll be a good test for us. all that to come later on, and also cricket. england take on new zealand for the second test in their three—match series later... after victory in the first test in christchurch by 8 wickets, england have opted not to change a winning formula, with ollie pope to remain stand—in wicketkeeper — and jacob bethell batting at number three... our cricket reporter henry moeran says it's a series so far, where the new boys have impressed.

there are so many positives from that first test match, not least the number of players that a year ago i never even tasted test cricket, ready to perform well. there all offering really valuable contributions. also the likes of ben stokes really showing they have plenty in the tank when it comes to performing for england, particularly overseas. a lot of positives. the one caveat in all of this, the last five overseas test series, england have won the opening test match but only gone on to win ron of the series. we've seen them start brightly, the question is whether they can carry that on. and that's all the sport for now. let's look at the details of the six milestones which the prime minister says his government wants to achieve — with ben chu from he says he is doubling down on

promises made let's take a look at the details. the prime minister has set out some new measurable milestones to be achieved by 2029, by which voters can judge the performance of this labour government. let's look at how challenging they are. first, the economy. the pm has promised higher living standards. the government's official forecaster estimates that a measure of how much the average household will have left after taking off tax and adding on benefits will rise by about 0.5% per year over this parliament, slightly better than in the last parliament. but that would still be worse than just about every other parliament going back decades. be aware, though, that these are only forecasts, and these ones are especially uncertain. second, housing. the pm has promised 1.5 million new homes over the course of the parliament.

that would equate to around 300,000 per year. the most recent official data shows only around 221,000 net additional dwellings were delivered in england in 2023—24, down on the previous year. again, it's been decades since this number of new houses was delivered in any year. third, police. the government is committing to deliver 13,000 additional neighbourhood police officers, police community support officers and special constables, which could be difficult given the police service point to low levels of police morale. fourth, the prime minister says he will raise the share of children in england who are ready to learn at the age of five to 75%, by improving access to early years education. for context, official data suggests that in 2023—24, around 68% of children in england had a good level of development at this age. fifth, clean power.

the pm has pledged clean powerfor the uk by 2030, which will involve big increases in solar and wind generating capacity. the national energy system operator, the government's independent energy planner, recently concluded this is possible but also warns achieving it will be at the limit of what is feasible. finally, hospital waiting times. the pm has said he will hit the official target that 92% of patients in england waiting for elective treatment should be seen within 18 weeks. in september 2024, only around 59% had been waiting less than 18 weeks. the last time the 92% target was achieved was back in 2015. so, these are the government's chosen milestone targets for 2029. of these, it's clean power, housing and hospital waiting times which most experts judge will be the hardest to meet. studio: that was ben chu. we were focusing on one of those promises, on policing.

victim support is a charity dedicated to helping victims of crime and traumatic incidents, and it's ceo katie kempen is here with me now. from what you heard of sir keir starmer on putting more police on the beat, on the stamping out anti—social behaviour in every community, what did you think of that? was that welcome news to you? there will certainly be some victims who we are looking after who welcomed the announcement of more bobbies on the beat, particular victims of anti—social behaviour he may struggle to get that access to a named officer and get the transparency of food to contact to get support. however, the safer streets mission is more important than bobbies on the beat, and includes halving violence against women and girls and having serious violence, and that is it within the context where police morale is low, and the wait to get to court is

longer than it's ever been. so, the criminaljustice longer than it's ever been. so, the criminal justice system longer than it's ever been. so, the criminaljustice system is really on its knees. within this context, services like victim support services like victim support services are more valuable than ever with the people who had dared to hold victims together whilst they navigate the system. so, whilst we welcome the addition of bobbies on the beat, it comes within a context where this week victim support services have been told, not only will we have greater cost because of national shirt insurance increases, we have also seen the funding to our services being cut, and that's a huge worry. what victim support services are here to do is give emotional support to help you sleep, help you recover and rebuild after trauma, but we also chase police for communication, we help victims prepare for court, and we help with the really practical measures for halving serious violence, such as protection orders and advice on keeping say. so, it's really quite worrying and also a bit puzzling as to why there will be more bobbies on

the beat, but less funding for victims. . �* , ., ., ., the beat, but less funding for victims. . �*, ., ., ., , ., victims. that's go into a bit of detail on _ victims. that's go into a bit of detail on the _ victims. that's go into a bit of detail on the more _ victims. that's go into a bit of detail on the more bobbies i victims. that's go into a bit of| detail on the more bobbies on victims. that's go into a bit of- detail on the more bobbies on the beat. 30,000 police officers, police committee support officers and special constables, and sir keir starmer said this would be a relief for millions of people who are scared to walk their own streets. in terms of the visibility of police, is that a significant factor, do you think? does that help people feel safer and more secure? for some victims were _ safer and more secure? for some victims were supported, - safer and more secure? for some| victims were supported, certainly, in particular victims of anti—social behaviour who want the local problem—solving and visibility, absolutely, but we also need to look at is in terms of reducing violence against women and girls, in terms of reducing serious violence, much of that violence does not occur in streets, it occurs behind closed doors, it occurs in the home, which is why it is just really disappointing and puzzling to see while the one hand we are seeing increased bobbies on the beat, but

on the other hand we are seeing victim services, her really there to help victims and it is really worrying that we are seeing victims funding being cut.— funding being cut. thank you very much for that _ funding being cut. thank you very much for that reaction. _ let's speak to anne longfield, the former children's commissioner for england. thanks for being with us. specifically, the promise from the prime minister having 75% of children start school with a good level of development. tell us what that actually means, and why that isn't happening at the moment. weill. isn't happening at the moment. well, it's a really important _ isn't happening at the moment. -ii it's a really important measure, because children who start school behind a much more likely to stay behind a much more likely to stay behind throughout their school lives, and actually end up without an education, being an educational training at 16 or 17. so, it has a big impact on life chances. the development goals are goals around

physical development, communication, literacy. they are understanding of social and emotional skills and the like. it said that children going in will be able to cope in a classroom scenario, socialise with other children, have the motor skills, be able to use pencils and the like, that we know are so important, and at the moment we know that a third of children aren't reaching those development goals at the moment when they go into the classroom, and for those disadvantaged children, that rises to about half. you huge amounts. teachers tell me that children are turning up at reception in nappies and buggies, and it clearly means that children are having to spend more time with those children, their children are not getting the education they need. what sort of age are we talking about here, when you say children are turning up at school in nappies and so on?— and so on? children will go into reception. _ and so on? children will go into reception. you _ and so on? children will go into reception, you know, _ and so on? children will go into reception, you know, they'll - and so on? children will go into reception, you know, they'll be| reception, you know, they'll be between four and five. so, way beyond where we would normally

expect children to be toilet trained, but this is something that has been really rocket boosted by covid, and children's development, reaching their development goals, just hasn't regained where they were, but it's not been at a good level over the last decade, and really what we have seen is children's early years of largely beenin children's early years of largely been in many instances neglected, they haven't had the support they need. �* , ., . they haven't had the support they need. �* , . . ., need. and these are children from derived need. and these are children from deprived backgrounds, _ need. and these are children from deprived backgrounds, largely, . need. and these are children from deprived backgrounds, largely, so| need. and these are children from l deprived backgrounds, largely, so is that an economic issue as well as a political one?— political one? well, it's a third of all children. _ political one? well, it's a third of all children, which _ political one? well, it's a third of all children, which is _ political one? well, it's a third of all children, which is high - political one? well, it's a third of all children, which is high in - all children, which is high in itself, the new target will be only a quarter of children, obviously we still wanted to be all children, but statistically the much more likely to not reach those goals are not be school ready if you are disadvantage, yes, that means you are growing up largely, often in poverty, there will be a possibility of poor housing, parents will be

struggling on lots of fronts, and probably not have the kind of assets and had to be able to buy the support they need or take children to the kind of experiences they want, or evenjust to the kind of experiences they want, or even just spend time with children, have the space to be able to help them develop and learn. for them, extra help is really important. them, extra help is really important-— them, extra help is really imortant. . , , ., important. extra help is important, ou sa , important. extra help is important, you say. but _ important. extra help is important, you say. but the — important. extra help is important, you say, but the government - important. extra help is important, you say, but the government is - you say, but the government is setting a target here, a specific target. is that the way to do it? targets, some people say targets are not always achievable, so what's the point of setting them in the first place? in this 1435 00:14:38,