british prime minister sir keir starmer is under pressure on the issue of slavery reparations at a commonwealth summit in samoa. the slave trade, slave practice, was abhorrent and it is very important that we start from that place and of course that matters hugely to many of the countries that are represented here. the menendez brothers convicted in 1996 for murdering their parents in beverly hills — could they be about to walk free? kamala harris holds a star—studded rally in georgia as rival donald trump blitzes the swing states of arizona and nevada. i'm samira hussain live from that kamala harris campaign event where she has just left the stage.

welcome to newsday, i'm steve lai. uk prime minister sir keir starmer is at the commonwealth summit where he's facing renewed pressure from caribbean countries about the issue of reparations for the tra ns—atla ntic slave trade. a draft communique says they'll prioritise further research into reparatoryjustice. britain was pivotal to the once lucrative trade in enslaved africans. it was the world's biggest slave trading nation before abolition in the 1800s. mr starmer has been speaking to our political editor chris mason who travelled with him to the summit in samoa. it turns out the tropical south pacific isn't always sun—kissed, but peer beyond the windscreen wipers and this small island nation oozes pride at being host to more than 50 countries. some commonwealth countries want the uk to pay up for the impact of slavery. "no" says the prime minister. i think we should be

clear from the outset that the slave trade, slave practice, was abhorrent and it's very important that we start from that place and of course that matters hugely to many of the countries that are represented here. my focus is on the forward—look, not the backward—look. i want to understand the nature of your objection. is it a financial one, or is it a moral and philosophical one? can our generation be held responsible for the actions of our forebears? i think our generation can say the slave trade and practice was abhorrent and we should, you know, we talk about our history, we can't change our history, but we should certainly talk about our history... you say that, but not apologise, not pay any money? i think that we recognise that and of course apologies have already been made in relation to the slave trade and that's not surprising, it's what you would expect, but if you then go on to the question, we have 55 countries here represented an say in the conversations

i've already had, the things that have come up most, their resilience, there are a real concern particularly for some smaller countries about the impact of climate on them and how we can help with international institutions, financial institutions, to unlock money that might help them. you find yourself in the last couple of days embroiled with a row with donald trump with a loosely—worded social media post by a labour staffer and something of a transatlantic spat breaking out over alleged electoral interference by the labour party. does it worry you or is it classic election campaigning and electioneering going on in america? this needs to be seen for what it is, the labour party members and staff who are on a voluntary basis in their own time going to campaign in the election. it's happened every election, every political party does it. if donald trump can kick you around like this as a candidate, what might be like he wins the presidency? i've met donald trump, we had dinner together in new york a few weeks ago.

the reason was a shared endeavour, we want to make sure we had a good working relationship. the relationship between our two countries is a special relationship, we both recognise that. you had your transport secretary calling for a boycott of a transport company, a row over taylor swift concert tickets, now people even inadvertently undermining your relationship with donald trump, your critics say you are behaving like you are in opposition. can i address that head—on? i said economic growth was the number—one mission of this government and what i intended to do was build a partnership between an active and labour government that had absolute between an active and robust labour government that had absolute clarity about what it was doing on economic growth with the private sector who would come up alongside us and invest... no, let me finish, come alongside as... is there still a mentality shift from opposition after so many years to being in government? these examples point to that,

the sense there is still a mindset of you being an opposition party as opposed to the party of government. i challenge that, £63 billion worth of investment, budget coming where we will fix the foundations, the last 14 years�* fiction that has led to disaster for our country, the economy is broken, public services on their knees, put that behind us, we are going to clear the decks here. let me ask you about the budget next week. the chancellor said today you are going to rewrite the rules on borrowing and debt so you can spend more. how big a moment is this, the budget, for the country, for the new government? it's a very important budget because we've had a0 years because we've had 14 years where the economy didn't really go, badly damaged. i believe in running towards problems. if you know what the problem is... run towards it and fix it at the same time tell the story about the future of the country. the king has addressed the opening ceremony of the commonwealth heads of government meeting on samoa. speaking at the gathering of leaders from the 56 commonwealth countries,

representing over 2.5 billion people — the monarch praised what he called the shared vision of the organisation and said leaders should learn from the lessons of the past. ladies and gentlemen, few of our forebears ladies and gentlemen, few of ourforebears could have our forebears could have imagined the commonwealth of today. our imagined the commonwealth of today. 0urfree imagined the commonwealth of today. our free association of proudly independent nations alive with opportunity stands in proud defiance of the discrimination of the past. we have not reached this point by accident. shared vision, collective courage have been our staff. as we set a course of the century ahead, we can renew our courage with our faith in one another. for more more on this i'm

joined now by arley gill, chairman of grenada's national reparations commissionqi. we just heard from the british prime minister ackowledging the �*abhorrance�* of the slave trade and past actions. but very much trying to look forward and not backwards. what's your reaction from hearing that? well, thank you for having me and good day to all of your listeners. if it is that the prime minister of england speaks of the abhorrence of slavery and slave trade and genocide and the king, king charles iii, would have spoken about the past, we believe that it is only fitting that they apologise because in recognising that what has gone before, what crimes against humanity that have left a scar notjust humanity that have left a scar not just on the humanity that have left a scar notjust on the caribbean and in africa but left a scar as well in the united kingdom, and it has affected and shaped our

future, our present and it is only fitting that they hold the commonwealth and the united kingdom at the very least up to apologise, it is the moral and proper thing to do and the issue of preparatoryjustice should be discussed as we expect several caribbean heads to raise the issue in the presentations. we believe as we look forward and look to the future, it is extremely important that we consider our past and do what is necessary to ensure that the wounds and harm of the past are repaired. playing devil's advocate, there may be some that will be thinking given the passage of time that pursuing reparations now punishes a generation that didn't cause the damage of the past and rewards a generation that didn't suffer from it?

reparations are not about punishing anyone go and the generations now that benefit from the wealth generated in the past from the wealth generated in the -as- ., ~ ., . the past from the atlantic slave trade, _ the past from the atlantic slave trade, they - the past from the atlantic slave trade, they have - slave trade, they have benefited, the development of the united kingdom in large part, the privileges that you now enjoy are in large part generated from slavery and slave trade. it is not about punishment, reparations is not a punishment, it is about repair. so the generations now, what they will do now is make right the wrongs that were done by in that generations of the past, that is all it is. when we speak about our future, i believe that the common future of the commonwealth should really concentrate on closing the gap between the rich nations of the continent commonwealth and the poor. we believe reparation justice will go a long way to closing that

gap- go a long way to closing that gap. not asking for... go—ahead. i gap. not asking for... go-ahead._ gap. not asking for... go-ahead. , ., ., go-ahead. i 'ust wanted to get our go-ahead. ijust wanted to get your thoughts. _ go-ahead. ijust wanted to get your thoughts, we _ go-ahead. ijust wanted to get your thoughts, we have - go-ahead. ijust wanted to get your thoughts, we have about| go-ahead. i just wanted to get l your thoughts, we have about 45 seconds left, i wanted to in practical terms, what are you asking for in terms of reparations?- asking for in terms of reparations? asking for in terms of re arations? ~ , ., reparations? we believe an a olo: reparations? we believe an apology is _ reparations? we believe an apology is the _ reparations? we believe an apology is the first - reparations? we believe an apology is the first step - reparations? we believe anj apology is the first step but we're also looking at areas of debt relief. we are forever in debt. assistance in regards to health care, education, the return, for instance, of artefacts and other precious material from african countries and caribbean countries. so we are looking for the economic package basically, a developmental package that will assist us here in the caribbean to move from state of underdevelopment to develop status. reparations is notjust about hard cash, it is extremely important to note that. we are looking at the developmental status of health, education, debt relief, transfer of technology, those

are the sort of pragmatic and practical programmes we want to engage the uk and other countries that have benefited from the atlantic slave trade and slavery. that is what we are speaking about.- and slavery. that is what we are speaking about. thank you very much _ are speaking about. thank you very much for— are speaking about. thank you very much for putting - are speaking about. thank you very much for putting that - are speaking about. thank you very much for putting that in i very much for putting that in context for appreciate your time today. the us election is at a fever pitch with just 12 days to go, it's a tight race — so there's again big focus on those all important �*swing' states. these are the latest pictures from clarkston, georgia — at a rally for kamala harris. it's a star—studded event tonight — featuring �*the boss' bruce springsteen, film—maker tyler perry, as well as former us president barack 0bama. donald trump has been campaigning on the other side of the country today. here in arizona, and in neighbouring nevada — another important state for both campaigns. he spoke of the issue of immigration in that speech. we are a dumping ground, we are like a garbage can for the world.

that is what has happened, that is what has happened. we are like a garbage can. it's the first time i've ever said that. every time i come up and talk about what they've done to our country i get angrierand angrier. first time i've ever said garbage can but you know what? it's a very accurate description. joining me now from clarkston, georgia is our correspondent samira hussain. samira, you have at the kamala harris valley, get up to speed at how the event unfolded? if the aim of the event was to bring energy and to really get people excited about this election, it is perhaps that they were successful, there was, according to the campaign, some 23,000 people that were here at this high school football stadium and it was a star—studded event. they had samuel ljackson, you had tyler

perry and of course you had former president barack 0bama, arguably the most popular democrat right now. in fact, there were people in the audience that i spoke to that said they were specifically here to hear from the former president. people were excited and of course, the musical event, having bruce springsteen here, it really brought a lot of energy, but the challenge of course for all the campaigns is to translate that energy into votes. georgia is one of the states where you have seen early voting, there has been about 2 million early votes that have been cast and you also heard the pitch from vice president kamala harris to encourage people to go and vote early and it really is a matter of getting people to cast their ballot. �* ,., of getting people to cast their ballot. �* . ., ballot. and so close to the election. _ ballot. and so close to the election, the _ ballot. and so close to the election, the reason - ballot. and so close to the election, the reason they l ballot. and so close to the i election, the reason they are in georgia now pushing so hard is because george is one of those key and very pivotal swing states.—

those key and very pivotal swin: states. �* ., , ., swing states. and that is what ou have swing states. and that is what you have kamala _ swing states. and that is what you have kamala harris - swing states. and that is what you have kamala harris here | swing states. and that is what| you have kamala harris here in georgia and then you have of course former us president donald trump that was campaigning both in nevada and arizona, also two swing states because the idea is that in orderfor because the idea is that in order for either candidate to get to that magic number to be able to clinch the white house, they're going to have to be able to swing states into either republican or democrat, depending on which party you play for. and so that is why you're going to see both candidates really making a final push in a lot of these swing states.— final push in a lot of these swin: states. �* ., ., swing states. and you managed to seak swing states. and you managed to speak to _ swing states. and you managed to speak to some _ swing states. and you managed to speak to some of _ swing states. and you managed to speak to some of the - to speak to some of the supporters of kamala harris there, did they seem to be any undecided voters you came across that may have potentially been swung by what they have seen today?- they have seen today? look, if ou are they have seen today? look, if you are going _ they have seen today? look, if you are going to _ they have seen today? look, if you are going to come - they have seen today? look, if you are going to come to - they have seen today? look, if you are going to come to this | you are going to come to this kind of event with all of these democrats taking the stage, you are pretty much someone who is are pretty much someone who is a firm supporter of the

democratic party. that said, i did speak to some independent voters and some voters that had previously voted for republicans in the past but for those voters that i did speak to, it was really all about women's rights and that was sort of the driving factor and not just the sort of the driving factor and notjust the women i spoke to, even some of the men. women's freedom, reproductive freedoms it was really a driving factor. first mike, thank you so much for that, we leave you in georgia. samira hussain. let's turn to the middle east — where efforts to re—start negotiations on a ceasefire and hostage release deal in gaza continued on thursday. us secretary of state antony blinken is in doha for meetings with qatari leaders. he said that israeli and american negotiators will travel to doha in the coming days for fresh ceasefire talks. a hamas official, speaking after talks with egyptian mediators in cairo on thursday, told the french news agency afp that the group is ready to stop fighting if israel

commits to a ceasefire deal. speaking alongside qatar's prime minister a little earlier, secretary blinken said he hopes to find a diplomatic resolution to the war in the wake of israel's killing of hamas leader yahya sinwar. whom he described as a central obstacle in previous negotiations. the reason i believe there is opportunity now is because the biggest obstacle to concluding that agreement was sinwar and the fact he is no longer with us perhaps creates an opening for moving forward and concluding an agreement. our state department correspondent tom bateman is following the story from doha. he sent this update. the saudis still want, are pushing this wider so—called normalisation deal between the saudis and israel which would be dangled as a prize to the israelis to try and engage with a diplomatic process in the long term but really, the

diplomatic track on all of this is in a mess. because of what is in a mess. because of what is going on with hamas, because of the israeli military assault in the north of gaza and mr netanyahu appearing to show that there is a lack of interest, frankly, in diplomacy and much more in the military path and that is what mr blinken is trying to do, pull the israelis back towards trying to get a deal. but at the moment, all of that, the chance of any kind of breakthrough and even getting discussions back up and running, seems very slim. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news now. the chancellor, rachel reeves, has said the government will change its self—imposed rules on measuring debt, so more money can be freed up for more investment in this month's budget. the shadow chancellor, jeremy hunt, says increasing borrowing will mean interest rates stay higher for longer, punishing people with mortgages. police are reopening

an investigation into a crash at a school in south london last year, which killed two eight—year—old girls. theirfamilies had previously been told that the driver of the car — which ploughed into their playground — would not be charged, because she had suffered an epileptic seizure. the victim's parents were critical of the first investigation. the uk's drug safety regulator is asking doctors to look out for signs that people who are not obese may be misusing weight—loss jabs. the medicines regulator says the drugs do have side effects and should only be used for treating obesity and diabetes. it follows reports of some people who are not obese becoming sick after using the jabs. the regulator says while most side—effects are mild, some can be serious. you're live with bbc news. the district attorney of los angeles has announced that the brothers, erik and lyle menendez — convicted of murdering their parents in 1989 — should be resentenced. it follows a renewed focus on the case — in which the brothers argued they'd been sexually and physically assaulted

by their parents. that claim was dismissed during the initial trial, but new evidence could confirm the allegations. this latest development means the brothers, now in their fifties — could soon walk free. 0ur los angeles correspondent emma vardy reports. this 911 call in 1989 sparked a murder case which gripped the world. brothers erik and lyle menendez, aged 18 and 21, claimed they had found the bodies of their parents, shot dead in their beverly hills mansion. but they later admitted carrying out the killings themselves. they are in court with their attorneys and the people are represented. during their trial, which was televised, the brothers said they'd been physically and sexually abused by their father,

and argued it was manslaughter. at the time, they were not believed, and were eventually convicted of murder and sentenced to life without parole. but last year, new evidence was revealed which backed up the brothers�* claims of abuse, and there were calls from some family members for them to be released. lyle and erik have already paid a heavy price. discarded by a system that failed to recognise their claim. they have grown, they have changed, and they have become better men, despite everything that they've been through. today, the district attorney for la recommended that the brothers should be given a lighter sentence, which means they could now walk free. we are going to recommend to the court that the life - without the possibility of parole be removedl and that they will be l sentenced for murder. under the law, since _ they were under 26 years of age at the time that the crimes occurred, they would - be eligible for-

parole immediately. erik and i killed our parents together, so... i'd say that makes us pretty close. erik and lyle menendez recently gained widespread attention once again, with two netflix series made about the brothers�* story, now seen as a case which, had it been held with society�*s modern understanding of abuse, may have had very different outcome. emmy vardy, bbc news, los angeles. let�*s go live to los angeles and speak to our correspondent peter bowes. peter, talk us through this call for re—sentencing and white is happening call for re—sentencing and white is hap