LONDON (AP) — The British government agreed Wednesday to release emails and other documents casting light on the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States despite his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
The move came after the opposition Conservative Party said it would force a vote in Parliament calling for the release of emails and other messages related to Mandelson’s appointment in 2024. Critics say he should never have been given the job because his relationship with Epstein — though not its extent — was known at the time.
“I intend to make sure that all of the material is published,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer told lawmakers, apart from documents that compromise Britain's national security, international relations or the police investigation into Mandelson's activities.
Starmer said Mandelson had “lied repeatedly” to officials about his relationship with Epstein, and had “betrayed our country, our Parliament and my party.”
“I regret appointing him,” Starmer said in the House of Commons. “If I knew then what I know now, he would never have been anywhere near government.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the government should publish all relevant files, “not just the ones the prime minister wants us to see.”
Mandelson, 72, was fired in September from his job as envoy in Washington, after emails were published showing he maintained a friendship with Epstein following the late financier’s 2008 conviction for sex offenses involving a minor. Epstein died by suicide in a jail cell in 2019, while awaiting trial on U.S. federal charges accusing him of sexually abusing dozens of girls.
Mandelson resigned from the House of Lords and faces a police investigation for alleged misconduct in public office. A trove of documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice suggested Mandelson may have shared sensitive information with Epstein when he was government minister a decade and a half ago.
In 2009 he appears to have told Epstein he would lobby other members of the government to reduce a tax on bankers’ bonuses, and passed on an internal government report discussing a potential sale of U.K. government assets. The following year he appears to have tipped off Epstein about an imminent bailout of the European single currency.
The newly released files also suggest that in 2003-2004, Epstein sent three payments totaling $75,000 to accounts linked to Mandelson or his partner Reinaldo Avila da Silva.
Misconduct in public office carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Opening an investigation does not mean Mandelson will be arrested, charged or convicted.
An email requesting comment on the documents was sent to Mandelson through the House of Lords.
Starmer said the government was working on legislation to remove the noble title, Lord Mandelson, that the ex-ambassador still holds. He will also be removed from the Privy Council, a committee of senior officials that advises King Charles III, for bringing “the reputation of the Privy Council into disrepute,” Starmer said.
The European Union is also investigating potential wrongdoing by Epstein when he was the bloc's trade commissioner between 2004 and 2008. The U.K. was an EU member until 2020.
“We will be assessing if, in light of these newly available documents, there might be a breaches of the respective rules with regard to Peter Mandelson,” European Commission spokesperson Balazs Ujvari said. “We have rules in place, emanating from the treaty and the code of conduct that commissioners, including former commissioners, have to follow.”
Associated Press writer Sam McNeil in Brussels contributed to this report.
Britain's Prime Minster Keir Starmer departs 10 Downing Street to go to the House of Commons for his weekly Prime Minister's Questions in London, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
FILE - Britain's Ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, speaks during a reception at the ambassador's residence on Feb. 26, 2025 in Washington. (Carl Court/Pool Photo via AP, File)
LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — A backside double cork 1080! Followed by a cab triple cork 1440! Holy Crail, that was a sweet grab!
The snowboarders and freestyle skiers will be speaking a language all their own as they “shred some gnar” (ride some gnarly conditions) at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Can't tell a melon from a method grab? No worries. Here's a cheat sheet of some terms you might hear when the action starts in Livigno, Italy.
Halfpipe: Imagine a massive tunnel that you could drive a truck through, slice the top off, then transform it into hard-packed snow. That is the halfpipe where snowboarders and freeskiers take turns zooming across its inclined slope to gather speed before launching into a series of acrobatic jumps. The halfpipe at the Livigno ski resort hosting these Olympic events measures 220 meters (240 yards) in length, 22 meters (24 yards) in width, and rises to 7.2 meters (23.6 feet) in height.
Slopestyle: A course located on a slope where snowboarders and freestyle skiers take turns trying to put together the most polished and demanding series of tricks coming off rails and molded bumps for aerial lift. The Livigno slopestyle course allows for jumps that can exceed 25 meters (27 yards).
Big air: The third of the “park” events consists of athletes performing one single “big” jump. The Livigno big air jump ramp peaks at over 40 meters (yards).
180, 360, 540, 1440: The degrees of a spinning trick completed in a single jump. 360 is 1 complete spin, 720 two spins, etc. The most spins completed in competition are 6 1/2. That's a 2340, both on snowboard and skis, and the massive spins like that almost always come in big air. On the halfpipe, anyone who pulls off a 1440 will be in contention for a medal. Important for street credibility: 2340 and the like are pronounced “twenty-three forty,” not "two thousand, three-hundred and forty."
Backside: Facing backwards going into a rail on a slopestyle course, as well as when a rider or skier faces uphill when completing a spin on a jump. Frontside means a rider faces downhill when completing a spin.
Cork: A head-over-heels flip that produces a corkscrew effect. A double cork is two flips, a triple cork, three, etc. Triple corks are the trick that could win the men's halfpipe.
Grabs: How the snowboarder reaches down and holds the board during a jump. There are many, but among those that come up for the top riders: Mute (front hand grabs the toe edge), melon (front hand grabs the back edge), stalefish (grab heel edge with rear hand). method (a melon but with a little flair, tweaking the board up and twisting) and, of course, the crail (both hands and back leg should be straight; do not try this at home). Judges look to see whether the rider actually grabs the board, not just places their hand on top of it, and some of these grabs need to be executed between bindings.
Grabs, Part 2: Freeskiing has its own glossary of these grabs, including Japan (behind and across to grab opposite ski) and seat belt (imagine putting a seatbelt on, but by bringing the buckle up to grab the latch).
Goofy: When a snowboarder leads with his “bad foot.” For a right-handed person, it would mean leading with the right foot.
Kicker: Another term for a slopestyle jump.
Lip: The top edge of the halfpipe.
Switch: Riding backwards, also called a “fakie.”
Tomahawk: A steak Shaun White ate at the X Games in Aspen that doubles as his preferred name for what's more commonly known as the Double McTwist 1260, a trick with 3 1/2 spins (two of them head over heels) that starts with a backside spin and is still considered one of the toughest out there.
Cab: A basic of most halfpipe rides, it's named after a skateboarder, Steve Caballero. It starts with a switch approach into a frontside spin.
Yolo: “You Only Live Once.” This is a Cab, double cork 1440 that was the focal point of the 2014 Olympics. White saw Swiss rider Iouri “iPod” Podladtchikov land it in the lead-up, then went about trying to perfect it himself; it was the iPod who pulled it off at the Olympics to win gold. The Yolo is still a relevant trick but in a sign of how much things have changed, it's now a triple cork (or two) — not on the board eight years ago — that will likely win this year's Olympics.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
FILE - Austria's Anna Gasser competes during the women's slopestyle finals at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Feb. 6, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
FILE - United States' Shaun White trains before the men's halfpipe finals at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Feb. 11, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)
