LONDON (AP) — His poll ratings are dismal and rivals are eyeing his job. Now British Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces more embarrassment on Monday with the publication of hundreds of pages of files about former U.K. ambassador to Washington Peter Mandelson, a friend of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The government is expected to comply with a demand by lawmakers to release documents related to Mandelson’s appointment to, and conduct in, the U.K.’s most important diplomatic post.
Mandelson was fired after nine months, and fallout from the misjudged appointment has left Starmer fighting for his job.
A first trove of files published in March revealed ministers had been warned that Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein exposed the government to “reputational risk.”
It later was disclosed that Mandelson had been approved for the ambassador’s job despite failing security checks, a revelation that sparked bitter blame-trading between Starmer and senior civil servants who oversaw the security vetting.
The files being released Monday could run to more than 1,000 pages and are expected to include emails and text messages between Mandelson and government ministers and advisers.
Police have asked for some documents to be withheld because they form part of a criminal investigation into Mandelson for alleged misconduct in public office. Mandelson, 72, was briefly arrested in February by detectives investigating allegations he passed sensitive government information to Epstein when he was a minister in the British government a decade and a half ago.
He has been released without bail conditions as the police investigation continues.
Health Secretary James Murray said Monday that the release marked an “unprecedented” level of transparency from the government
“It’s right we do that. We have been very clear that the appointment of Mandelson was wrong,” he told Sky News.
Conservative lawmaker Alex Burghart said any attempt to withhold or redact more documents than those requested by police “will be viewed by the House as a contempt of Parliament, and as a cover-up by the British public.”
Starmer fired Mandelson in September 2025 after an earlier release of documents showed he had maintained contact with Epstein after the financier’s 2008 conviction for sexual offenses involving a minor.
Critics say Starmer’s decision to appoint Mandelson is evidence of bad judgment by a prime minister who has made repeated missteps since he led the center-left Labour Party to a landslide election victory in July 2024.
Details about Mandelson’s ties to Epstein, revealed in a huge trove of files published by the U.S. Department of Justice in January, raised new questions about Starmer’s judgment, driving opponents and some Labour lawmakers to call for the prime minister’s resignation.
Those calls intensified after Labour suffered big losses in local elections in May. A senior Cabinet minister, Wes Streeting, resigned with the intention of challenging Starmer for the Labour leadership. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is running for a seat in Parliament in a June 18 special election, and also is expected to challenge Starmer if he wins.
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer visits a children's activity centre in Essex, England, Thursday, May 21, 2026 to support families and help ease pressures on household budgets.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer looks on during a visit to Acorn Nursery, in Brighton, England, Tuesday May 26, 2026. (Gareth Fuller/Pool Photo via AP)
BUNIA, Congo (AP) — At least 282 confirmed cases of Ebola have now been reported in Congo’s ongoing outbreak, the central African nation said late Sunday, as patients who recovered from the disease spoke of their indescribable joy in interviews with The Associated Press.
The outbreak remains focused in Congo's eastern Ituri province, where 264 of the cases have been recorded, Congo’s Ministry of Health said. Congo has reported over 1,000 suspected cases with the Bundibugyo virus, the current species of Ebola, which has no approved treatment or vaccine.
According to the health ministry, the main challenges in containing the outbreak include early detection and rapid isolation of cases, rigorous contact tracing, safe and dignified burials and strengthening infection prevention and control in health facilities.
The contact tracing coverage rate so far is 45% with 220 suspected cases under investigation, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, some of the five people who have so far recovered from the disease spoke of their relief in interviews with The Associated Press.
Baraka Bulambulu, a nurse, said he was overjoyed after the last two Ebola tests on him returned negative.
Bulambulu was among those presented certificates of recovery by the World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as he opened a new Ebola treatment center in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, on Sunday.
“The first one came back positive, but the second and third were negative for me,” Bulambulu said with a wide grin. “Coming out of this illness alive is an indescribable joy."
Ezo Étienne, another nurse who recovered from the disease, said he first started feeling dizzy during ward rounds at the hospital as he checked on patients.
“That was how it started,” he recalled. “I called the team and told them, ‘Something’s wrong here.’ I checked my blood pressure and saw that I was immediately experiencing hypotension (low blood pressure). I decided to rest for a bit, and a few minutes later I started vomiting.”
The WHO has said all five survivors are health workers — four nurses and a laboratory worker — a group most affected in the outbreak.
Treatments so far have mostly targeted patients' symptoms, the organization has said.
“Your courage gives hope and your living story, that this outbreak can be stopped,” Tedros told the health workers on Sunday.
Neighboring Uganda has also reported nine cases of Ebola and closed its border with Congo seeking to limit its spread.
Although more than 20 Ebola outbreaks have taken place in Congo and Uganda, the Bundibugyo virus has been rare. The lack of approved vaccines and treatments, as well as the remote locations and armed violence in hot spots, have made the current response challenging.
Despite the challenges, the recoveries are “a victory worth celebrating,” said Dr. Dieudonne Mwamba Kazadi, the director-general of Congo's National Institute of Public Health.
"It’s a strong message that it is possible to recover from Ebola when seeking care early in a dedicated health facility,” he added.
A view of a ward at the Evangelical Medical Center (CEM) during a visit by the Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Bunia, Congo, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, visits health workers at the Evangelical Medical Centre (CEM) in Bunia, Congo, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Healthcare workers who have recovered from Ebola pose for a photo in Bunia, Congo, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, right, shakes hands with Ezo Etienne, a health worker who recovered from Ebola in Bunia, Congo, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
