WASHINGTON: Bill Gates has admitted making a &quot;huge mistake&quot; in associating with Jeffrey Epstein, telling staff at his charity foundation that he had affairs with two Russian women but denying involvement in the disgraced financier&#39;s crimes. The Microsoft co-founder is among the prominent names appearing in documents released by the US Justice Department that revealed close friendships, illicit financial dealings and private photos with convicted sex offender Epstein. In a town hall on Tuesday with staff at the Gates Foundation, a recording of which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Gates expressed regret that his relationship with Epstein had affected the work of his philanthropic organization. &quot;It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein,&quot; and to also bring Gates Foundation executives into meetings with Epstein, he said. &quot;I apologize to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made.&quot; In a draft email among the documents released by the Justice Department, Epstein alleged Gates engaged in extramarital affairs, writing that his relationship with Gates ranged from &quot;helping Bill to get drugs, in order to deal with consequences of sex with Russian girls, to facilitating his illicit trysts, with married women.&quot; &#39;I saw nothing illicit&#39; Gates, 70, admitted at the town hall to two affairs. &quot;I did have affairs, one with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities,&quot; he said. But he denied any involvement with victims of Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking underage girls. &quot;I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,&quot; Gates told the town hall. The tech titan said his relationship with Epstein began in 2011, three years after the financier pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution. Gates said he knew of an &quot;18-month thing&quot; restricting Epstein&#39;s travel but didn&#39;t check his background. He said his then-wife Melinda expressed concerns about Epstein in 2013, but that he continued the relationship for at least another year. &quot;Knowing what I know now makes it, you know, a hundred times worse in terms of not only his crimes in the past, but now it&#39;s clear there was ongoing bad behavior,&quot; Gates told staff. The Gates Foundation said Gates addressed the Epstein case and other issues at its scheduled twice-yearly town hall event. &quot;Bill spoke candidly, addressing several questions in detail, and took responsibility for his actions,&quot; it said in a statement to AFP.

Americas

In a draft email among the documents released by the Justice Department, Epstein alleges Gates engaged in extramarital affairs, writing that his relationship with Gates ranged from "helping Bill to get drugs […] to facilitating his illicit trysts, with married women."

Bill Gates admits affairs but denies involvement in Epstein crimes

LONDON: Britain&#39;s government committed Tuesday to releasing documents on <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/king-charles-strips-andrew-of-royal-titles-royal-lodge-residence" style="color:#0073e6;">ex-prince</a> Andrew&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/uk-monarchy-reels-from-andrews-stunning-arrest" style="color:#0073e6;">past role</a> as a trade envoy, after the Jeffrey Epstein scandal widened with the arrest of a veteran UK politician. The fallout from the publication last month by US authorities of millions of files related to Epstein is reverberating around the British monarchy and political circles. It has piled pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer&#39;s Labor government to release documents on Andrew and former minister Peter Mandelson, who are both now the subject of high-profile police investigations. Minister Chris Bryant told parliament that the government would release vetting documents on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor&#39;s appointment as trade envoy, a post he held from 2001 to 2011. It came after the third largest party, the Liberal Democrats, deployed a little-used parliamentary mechanism intended to force ministers to disclose files that stem from when Tony Blair was Labor prime minister 26 years ago. Bryant said publishing the documents was &quot;the least we owe the victims&quot; of Epstein, adding that Andrew was &quot;a rude, arrogant, and entitled man.&quot; &#39;Stain on country&#39;&nbsp;Mountbatten-Windsor, who was stripped of his royal titles last year, is being probed by police over allegations that he shared sensitive documents with Epstein during his time as envoy. The former prince was <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/uk-police-say-exprince-andrew-released-under-investigation" style="color:#0073e6;">arrested</a> last week on suspicion of misconduct in public office, and his brother King Charles III has said the &quot;law must take its course.&quot; Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said Andrew&#39;s association with Epstein, and that of Mandelson, who was bailed in the early hours of Tuesday, were a &quot;stain on our country.&quot; &quot;We must begin to clean away that stain with the disinfectant of transparency,&quot; he said. The party&#39;s motion, known as a &quot;humble address,&quot; passed without a vote due to the government&#39;s support. Bryant said he wanted to &quot;manage people&#39;s expectations&quot; about how quickly the papers can be released, due to the age and quantity of the material, as well as the police probe. Mountbatten-Windsor, long embroiled in scandals over his friendship with Epstein, has denied any wrongdoing. Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide last year, claimed she was trafficked three times to have sex with the British royal, starting in 2001 and twice when she was 17. Andrew settled a US civil lawsuit in 2022 brought by Giuffre while not admitting liability. The push for the files on Andrew comes as the government prepares to release in early March a first set of documents relating to the 2024 appointment of Mandelson as UK ambassador in Washington. The main opposition Conservative Party had also earlier successfully used a &quot;humble address&quot; to compel their release. &#39;Pushed appointment&#39;&nbsp;Mandelson, a key figure in British politics for decades and Britain&#39;s envoy to Washington until September, is facing a separate misconduct in public office probe, also related to his links to Epstein. His appointment has triggered a political storm with two of Starmer&#39;s top aides resigning over the row and raising questions about the prime minister&#39;s judgement. Starmer sacked Mandelson as envoy after just seven months over revelations about the depth of his ties to Epstein. Later released files appear to show that Mandelson passed on financial information to the disgraced financier when he was UK business secretary around 2009-2010. When Andrew was appointed trade envoy, Mandelson was a pivotal figure in Blair&#39;s Labor and was nicknamed the &quot;Prince of Darkness&quot; for his media manipulation skills. Mountbatten-Windsor&#39;s biographer, Andrew Lownie, told AFP Blair and Mandelson &quot;pushed his appointment through.&quot; Mandelson has apologized for his friendship with Epstein and insisted he did not know about the financier&#39;s sexual offences, despite Epstein&#39;s 2008 conviction for child prostitution. He was arrested by police on Monday and held for questioning before being released on bail early on Tuesday. In a statement, law firm Mishcon de Reya, which is representing him, said the arrest was due to the &quot;baseless&quot; concern that he was a flight risk. The firm said there was &quot;absolutely no truth&quot; in the suggestion that he was &quot;planning to leave the country and take up permanent residence abroad,&quot; adding that his priority was to cooperate with police and &quot;clear his name.&quot; Neither Mandelson nor Andrew has been charged with any offence. Starmer has apologized to Epstein&#39;s victims for appointing Mandelson, and accused him of lying about the extent of his ties to the tycoon during the vetting process. Police on Tuesday evening said they had &quot;now ended&quot; a search of an address in Berkshire, west of London, linked to Andrew&#39;s arrest. It is believed the property is Andrew&#39;s former residence, Royal Lodge, on the royal family&#39;s Windsor estate.

Europe

The fallout from the publication last month by US authorities of millions of files related to Epstein is reverberating around the British monarchy and political circles; it has piled pressure on Prime Minister Starmer's government to release documents on Andrew and former minister Mandelson, both now subject of high-profile police investigations.

UK govt says will release files on 'rude' ex-prince Andrew

LONDON: London police on Monday arrested Britain&#39;s former ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, amid <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/police-assessing-claims-uk-flights-trafficked-epstein-victims" style="color:#0073e6;">allegations</a> over his ties to disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein. &quot;Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office,&quot; the Metropolitan Police said in a statement. Images on UK television appeared to show Mandelson being driven away from his north London home, accompanied by a man and a woman, after police raided his properties earlier this month. &quot;He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday, 23 February and has been taken to a London police station for interview,&quot; the Met added. The arrest comes days after ex-prince Andrew, King Charles III&#39;s younger brother, was <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/uk-police-say-exprince-andrew-released-under-investigation" style="color:#0073e6;">arrested</a> in a misconduct in public office probe also related to the latest release of documents related to Epstein. Mandelson, a pivotal figure in British politics, is being probed over allegations that he sent sensitive documents to the late US sex offender Epstein when he was a government minister, including during the 2008 financial crash. The ex-politician was <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/uk-pms-top-aide-quits-in-scandal-over-mandelson-links-to-epstein" style="color:#0073e6;">sacked</a> by Prime Minister Keir Starmer as envoy to Washington last year when an earlier release of documents linked to Epstein showed the extent of their friendship. The latest Epstein files released by the United States on January 30 have resulted in high-profile UK investigations. Starmer has apologized to Epstein&#39;s victims and accused Mandelson of lying about the extent of his ties to the financier during the vetting process for his appointment to Washington. But Mandelson&#39;s appointment has unleashed a political storm with two of Starmer&#39;s top aides resigning over the row. The government is to release tens of thousands of emails, messages, and documents on Mandelson&#39;s vetting procedure, which could ramp up the pressure on the prime minister and other senior ministers. Mandelson, also a former European Union trade commissioner, stood down from parliament&#39;s unelected upper chamber, the House of Lords, earlier this month. Officers from the Met&#39;s specialist crime team were also deployed earlier this month to search two of his addresses, one in the western English county of Wiltshire and the other in London, according to the police.

Images on UK television appeared to show Mandelson being driven away from his north London home, accompanied by a man and a woman, after police raided his properties earlier this month.



UK police arrest ex-envoy Peter Mandelson in Epstein case

LONDON: Britain&#39;s royal family was thrown into crisis Thursday after former prince Andrew was arrested by police and held for hours, in a blow to the monarchy unprecedented in modern British history. The disgraced royal was detained early Thursday on suspicion of misconduct for his links to late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. As Andrew marked his 66th birthday on Thursday, police swooped on the remote Sandringham royal estate in eastern England around 8:00 am (0800 GMT). King Charles III, who has promised police the full support of Buckingham Palace, swiftly issued a rare personally signed statement insisting: &quot;The law must take its course.&quot; It was a humiliating new blow for Andrew, who was last year stripped of his titles and ousted from his Windsor residence of more than two decades. Thames Valley Police said in a statement late Thursday: &quot;The arrested man has now been released under investigation.&quot; A photograph published by the media showed Andrew slumped in the back of a car, staring wild-eyed ahead. While the earlier police searches in Norfolk &quot;have now concluded,&quot; they were still searching a property in Berkshire, police added. It is believed that this is Andrew&#39;s former residence, Royal Lodge. &quot;It&#39;s a hugely significant moment for the British monarchy, and indeed the nation,&quot; royal expert Ed Owens told AFP. &quot;We are witnessing a monarchy, I think, shaken by recent events.&quot; In the sleepy village of Sandringham near the royal estate, an off-duty police officer said he was &quot;very satisfied some formal action was taken.&quot; &quot;It&#39;s very reassuring to the members of the public,&quot; the officer, who did not want to be named, told AFP. Thames Valley police said it had arrested &quot;a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office,&quot; without naming the suspect, as is common UK practice. US President Donald Trump called the arrest &quot;very sad&quot;, adding, &quot;It&#39;s so bad for the royal family,&quot; in comments to reporters. &#39;Moment of crisis&#39;&nbsp;Andrew&#39;s arrest follows new revelations last week that the ex-prince appeared to have sent Epstein potentially confidential documents while serving as a UK trade envoy, a post he held from 2001. In a November 2010 email seen by AFP, Andrew appeared to share with the US financier reports on his visit to several Asian countries. Epstein had been convicted in the United States in 2008 of procuring a child for prostitution. Charles last year stripped his brother of his titles and ordered him to leave his Windsor mansion &mdash; though he does remain eighth in the line of succession. &quot;Let me state clearly: the law must take its course,&quot; the king said in his statement. In an apparent bid to project an air of business-as-usual, Charles carried out several public duties on Thursday, including opening London Fashion Week. In the Norfolk village of Dersingham, local pub owner John Higginson said he hoped the issue would be &quot;resolved.&quot; &quot;I just feel sorry, to be quite honest, for people like William and Kate,&quot; he added, referring to the heir to the throne and his wife. Royal commentator Katie Nicholl told Sky News: &quot;Let&#39;s make no bones about it. This is a moment of crisis for the monarchy, possibly the greatest crisis since the (1936) abdication. No one quite knows how this is going to pan out.&quot; The scandal has been gathering pace since one of Epstein&#39;s accusers, Virginia Giuffre, last year claimed in her posthumous memoirs that she had been trafficked three times to have intercourse with Andrew when she was a teenager. The Giuffre family welcomed Andrew&#39;s arrest on Thursday, saying: &quot;Our broken hearts have been lifted at the news.&quot; Wide probe&nbsp;Andrew has previously denied any wrongdoing in his associations with Epstein. He settled a US civil lawsuit in 2022 brought by Giuffre while not admitting liability. Official guidance stipulates trade envoys have a duty of confidentiality over sensitive commercial or political information related to their official visits, the BBC has said. Misconduct in public office carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, according to the Crown Prosecution Service. The US Justice Department last month released millions of files from its investigation into the US financier. At least nine UK police forces have confirmed they are assessing claims stemming from the Epstein files, many related to Andrew.

Police confirm that their searches in Norfolk have now concluded; It is understood that reported searches of Andrew's former home on the Windsor estate, west of London, remained ongoing.

UK police hold ex-prince Andrew for hours in misconduct probe

LONDON: UK police said Tuesday they were &quot;assessing&quot; information in the Epstein files that women were trafficked by plane into Britain, as pressure grows to probe ex-prince Andrew&#39;s links to the flights. &quot;We are assessing the information that has emerged in relation to private flights into and out of Stansted Airport following the publication of the US DoJ Epstein files,&quot; Essex police said. The short statement, referring to the late convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the Department of Justice in the United States, did not reference Andrew. But former UK prime minister Gordon Brown has been among high-profile figures urging police to probe the disgraced royal&#39;s links to dozens of flights dating back decades tied to Epstein. A BBC investigation published in December found almost 90 flights linked to the US financier arrived at and departed from UK airports, some with British women on board who claim they were abused by the billionaire. Writing in the New Statesman magazine last week, Brown said he had been &quot;told privately that the investigations related to the former Prince Andrew did not properly check vital evidence of flights&quot;. &quot;I have asked the police to look at this as part of the new inquiry,&quot; he stated, adding it appeared &quot;the authorities never knew what was happening&quot;. &quot;In short, British authorities had little or no idea who was being trafficked through our country, and for whom other than Epstein.&quot; &#39;Concern&#39;&nbsp;Andrew &mdash; who was last year stripped of his titles by his brother King Charles III after one of Epstein&#39;s victims alleged she had been trafficked to have sex with him &mdash;&nbsp;could not be reached for comment. He has previously denied any wrongdoing in his associations with Epstein. The Essex Police announcement follows Thames Valley Police west of London, confirming earlier this month that it was &quot;assessing&quot; misconduct in public office accusations against the former prince. The force, responsible for the southern area of Windsor where he previously lived, announced the move after the latest Epstein files revealed Andrew may have passed potentially confidential reports to the American while serving as a UK trade envoy. It prompted Charles to voice &quot;concern&quot; over the actions of his brother &mdash; now known simply as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor &mdash;&nbsp;and issue an unprecedented statement noting Buckingham Palace was &quot;ready to support&quot; the police in their assessment. In the latest potentially damaging disclosure, the Financial Times reported Tuesday that emails show Andrew agreed to help negotiate an $8-billion cash-for-oil swap between a Chinese sovereign wealth fund and the rulers of the United Arab Emirates during an official visit to China. The ex-royal and a banker with whom he worked closely exchanged multiple messages about the plan with Epstein, starting while the financier was still under house arrest for a 2008 conviction for soliciting sex from an underage girl, according to the newspaper.

The Essex Police announcement follows Thames Valley Police west of London, confirming earlier this month that it was "assessing" misconduct in public office accusations against the former prince.

Police 'assessing' claims UK flights trafficked Epstein victims

PARIS: The Paris prosecutor&#39;s office announced it was setting up a special team of magistrates to analyze evidence that could implicate French nationals in the crimes of the convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. With Epstein&#39;s known circle now extending to prominent French figures after the release of documents by the US authorities, the prosecutor&#39;s office said it would also thoroughly re-examine the case of a former French modelling agency executive, Jean-Luc Brunel, a close associate of the American financier who died in custody in 2022. The new team will work closely with prosecutors from the national financial crimes unit and police with a view to opening investigations into any suspected crimes involving French nationals, the Paris prosecutor&#39;s office told AFP. The aim is &quot;to be able to extract any piece that could be usefully reused in a new investigative framework&quot;, it said. Brunel was found dead in his cell in a Paris prison in 2022 after having been charged with raping minors. The case against him was dropped in 2023 in the wake of his death, with no other person charged. Prosecutors said an investigation had shown Brunel was &quot;a close friend of Jeffrey Epstein&quot; who had offered modelling jobs to young girls from poor backgrounds. Brunel had engaged in sexual acts with underage girls in the United States, the US Virgin Islands, Paris and the south of France, they said. Ten women had made accusations against Brunel, several describing how they had been led to drink alcohol and had been subjected to forced sexual penetration, according to the prosecutor&#39;s office. New cases Several French public figures feature in the latest US Department of Justice release of material from the Epstein files, though being mentioned there does not in itself mean any offence has been committed. The prosecutor&#39;s office said it had been asked to look into three new specific cases involving a French diplomat, a modelling agent and a musician. At the request of the French foreign ministry it was looking into the reported appearance of senior diplomat Fabrice Aidan in the cache of Epstein-related documents published by the US authorities. &quot;An investigation is underway to gather various pieces of evidence that could substantiate this report,&quot; the prosecutor&#39;s office stated. The prosecutor&#39;s office has also received a complaint filed by a Swedish woman against Daniel Siad, a model recruiter with close ties to Epstein. She accused him of &quot;sexual acts that she describes as rape and that may have been committed in France in 1990&quot;, it said. The office has also received a complaint filed against French conductor Frederic Chaslin alleging acts of sexual harassment allegedly committed in 2016, it said. The latest release of Epstein files has led to French former minister Jack Lang resigning from his position as the head of a top cultural body, the Arab World Institute (IMA). Lang has however denied any wrongdoing, saying he was &quot;shocked&quot; that his name appeared in the statutes of an offshore company Epstein founded in 2016. The office of the national financial prosecutor said it had opened a preliminary investigation for &quot;aggravated tax fraud and money laundering&quot; against Lang and his daughter Caroline Lang.&nbsp;Following this announcement, Lang resigned from the presidency of the IMA. In an interview in newspaper La Tribune Dimanche, out on Sunday, Lang once again insists he is &quot;white as snow&quot;, denouncing what he describes as &quot;a tsunami of lies&quot; against him. He told the paper he had known nothing of Epstein&#39;s 2008 conviction for procuring a child for prostitution. Epstein died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex-trafficking underage girls. The US authorities ruled his death was a suicide.

This undated photo taken in an unidentified location provided by the US Department of Justice on December 19, 2025 shows Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy US financier who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking underage girls. (via AFP)

The Paris prosecutor’s office formed a special team to investigate potential involvement of French nationals in Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes, re-examining Jean-Luc Brunel’s case and reviewing new allegations against public figures.

French prosecutors announce special team for Epstein files

WASHINGTON: Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein&#39;s accomplice, will be questioned behind closed doors by the US Congress on Monday, though she&#39;s expected to invoke her right not to answer questions. Maxwell, currently serving 20 years in prison for trafficking girls to the disgraced financier Epstein, will face questions from prison via videolink, in a deposition by the House of Representatives&#39; Oversight Committee. Though no new US prosecutions are expected after the latest dump of government files on Epstein, numerous political and business leaders have fallen into scandal or resigned as their ties to the convicted sex criminal were revealed. The House Oversight Committee is probing Epstein&#39;s connections to powerful figures and how information about his crimes was handled. Maxwell, however, is expected to invoke her right not to incriminate herself, guaranteed in the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution. Epstein was convicted in 2008 of soliciting a minor. His extensive ties to the world&#39;s rich and powerful, especially since his release in 2009, have become politically explosive across the globe. He died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for trafficking children. His death was ruled a suicide. Maxwell&#39;s lawyers have pushed Congress to grant her legal immunity to testify in a deposition, but lawmakers have refused. Without that, her legal team said she would invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. &quot;Proceeding under these circumstances would serve no other purpose than pure political theater,&quot; her lawyers said in a letter. The Trump administration has already come under criticism for its handling of her case. Last year, Maxwell was moved to a minimum-security prison in Texas after meeting twice with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who previously served as US President Donald Trump&#39;s personal lawyer. Trump himself was a longtime Epstein associate, but has not been called to testify by the Oversight Committee, which is led by members of his Republican Party. Also expected to be deposed by the committee are former president Bill Clinton and his wife, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, both Democrats. The Clintons have called for their depositions to be held publicly to prevent Republicans from politicizing their testimony.

This undated photo provided by the US Justice Department on December 19, 2025 shows Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy US financier who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking underage girls, and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell in an uniden

Though no new US prosecutions are expected after the latest dump of government files on Epstein, numerous political and business leaders have fallen into scandal or resigned as their ties to the convicted sex criminal were revealed.

US Congress to depose Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell

LONDON: Embattled British Prime Minister Keir Starmer&#39;s chief of staff resigned on Sunday over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington despite his <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/congress-mocks-modi-as-trumps-puppet-amid-epstein-email-controversy" style="color:#0073e6;">links</a> to US&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/france-opens-probe-of-exminister-lang-after-epstein-revelations" style="color:#0073e6;">convicted</a> sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. &quot;After careful reflection, I have decided to resign from the government,&quot; Morgan McSweeney, Downing Street&#39;s chief of staff, said in a statement. &quot;The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country, and trust in politics itself,&quot; he added. &quot;I advised the Prime Minister to make that appointment, and I take full responsibility for that advice.&quot; The 48-year-old Irishman always maintained a low profile but was dubbed by some as the &quot;most powerful man in politics&quot; having played a key role in Starmer&#39;s emphatic election victory in July 2024. He is credited with helping to move the Labor Party towards a more centrist policy agenda following leftist ex-leader Jeremy Corbyn&#39;s ill-fated tenure. He was also said to have been close to Mandelson, who previously helped ex-prime minister Tony Blair transform the party and its fortunes in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Fresh inquiry&nbsp;The resignation came as the foreign ministry said it was reviewing an exit payment to Mandelson, who was sacked by Starmer last September over his friendship with the late <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/bill-gates-says-he-regrets-every-minute-with-epstein" style="color:#0073e6;">Epstein</a>. Mandelson, a pivotal figure in British politics and the Labour Party for decades, received an estimated pay-out of between &pound;38,750 and &pound;55,000 ($52,000 to $74,000) after only seven months in the job, according to a report in the Sunday Times. Documents released on January 30 by the US Justice Department appear to show that Mandelson leaked confidential UK government information to financier Epstein when he was a British minister, including during the 2008 financial crisis. The revelation has placed intense pressure on Starmer and triggered a police investigation into Mandelson, 72, for alleged misconduct in a public office. The Foreign Office said in a statement it had launched a review into Mandelson&#39;s severance payment &quot;in light of further information that has now been revealed and the ongoing police investigation.&quot; Cabinet minister Pat McFadden earlier insisted Starmer should remain in office despite his &quot;terrible mistake&quot; in appointing Mandelson. He said the real blame lay &quot;squarely&quot; with Mandelson for putting himself forward for the job despite knowing the extent of his relationship with Epstein. Opposition pressure&nbsp;Despite McSweeney&#39;s departure, opposition leaders kept their focus on the prime minister. &quot;Keir Starmer has to take responsibility for his own terrible decisions,&quot; opposition leader Kemi Badenoch of the Conservative Party posted on X. &quot;But he never does.&quot; &quot;The Prime Minister can change his advisers all he likes, but the buck stops with him,&quot; said Daisy Cooper, leader of the Liberal Democrats, the third party in parliament. Noting that McSweeney had gone, Nigel Farage, leader of the hard-right Reform UK party, said: &quot;My money says Starmer won&#39;t be far behind after Labour&#39;s disaster in the elections this coming May.&quot; Starmer&#39;s deputy, David Lammy, became the first cabinet minister to appear to distance himself from the premier, according to a report in the Sunday Telegraph. The deputy prime minister had not been in favor of appointing Mandelson due to his known links to Epstein, the report quoted friends of Lammy as saying. Starmer&#39;s Labour Party took power just over 18 months ago in a landslide election victory. But it has been trailing Farage&#39;s anti-immigrant Reform UK as the government comes under fire over immigration, economic growth, and the cost of living crisis. Reform UK has led by double-digit figures in the polls for the past year. Mandelson, also a former European Union trade commissioner, stood down from parliament&#39;s unelected upper chamber, the House of Lords, earlier this week. He is one of numerous prominent figures embarrassed by the latest release of documents in the Epstein files by the US Justice Department. The financier died in jail in 2019 while facing charges of alleged sex trafficking. US officials ruled Epstein&#39;s death a suicide. Law firm Mishcon de Reya, representing Mandelson, said he &quot;regrets, and will regret until to his dying day, that he believed Epstein&#39;s lies about his criminality&quot;. &quot;Lord Mandelson did not discover the truth about Epstein until after his death in 2019,&quot; said the statement. &quot;He is profoundly sorry that powerless and vulnerable women and girls were not given the protection they deserved.&quot;

Resignation comes as foreign ministry says it was reviewing an exit payment to Mandelson, who was sacked by Starmer last September over his friendship with the late Epstein.



UK PM's top aide quits in scandal over Mandelson links to Epstein

PARIS: France&#39;s financial crimes prosecutors told AFP Friday they had opened a preliminary investigation into influential former minister Jack Lang and his daughter Caroline after revelations in the Epstein files. The pair will be investigated for &quot;laundering of aggravated tax-fraud proceeds&quot; over their suspected financial ties with late US financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the office said. Lang, a prominent figure who has held a series of ministerial roles in previous governments, is facing pressure to resign from his current post as head of a leading French cultural institute over his links to Epstein. France&#39;s foreign minister said Friday he had summoned the 86-year-old ex-minister to a weekend meeting. Lang is the most high-profile French figure caught up in the latest US release of documents linked to the financier, who killed himself in 2019 while in prison facing charges of sex trafficking underage girls. A mere mention in the files does not imply wrongdoing. French media reports said Lang, who heads the Arab World Institute (IMA) in Paris, repeatedly appealed to Epstein for funds or favors, while his daughter&#39;s name appears in the company files of an offshore company co-owned with the disgraced US tycoon. Caroline Lang, a film producer, resigned on Monday as head of the Independent Production Union. Lang, who spent nearly 20 years as culture minister and education minister in different governments, has denied any knowledge of Epstein&#39;s crimes, despite the financier&#39;s conviction in 2008 for soliciting a minor for prostitution. On Wednesday, Lang refused to step down as president of the IMA, a cultural hub focused on the Arabic-speaking world. Pressure has increased, however, and the foreign ministry &mdash; which provides half of the institute&#39;s budget &mdash; has ordered him to a meeting. &quot;He has been summoned by the ministry and will be received on Sunday,&quot; Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told AFP on a visit to Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan. Speaking later from Beirut, Barrot added: &quot;The first elements emerging from these files are new and extremely serious&quot; and would require in-depth examination. But his priority, he said, was to ensure the proper running of the institute. The 12.3 million euros ($14.5 million) it receives annually from the foreign ministry accounts for half the IMA&#39;s budget. Calls to resign&nbsp;The financial crimes investigation will now increase the pressure on Lang. Lang did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment, but his lawyer, Laurent Merlet, said Sunday&#39;s meeting with Barrot was merely one with his supervisory authority. &quot;The purpose is to understand his side of the story,&quot; he said, rejecting the notion that the Epstein files proved any &quot;close bonds of friendship.&quot; A source in Lang&#39;s circle said he was in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh on Friday. Politicians &mdash; even within Lang&#39;s Socialist ranks &mdash; have said he should step down. Socialist party leader Olivier Faure urged Lang to &quot;think about resigning to protect the institution he presides.&quot; A source in the president&#39;s office said Lang should be &quot;thinking about the institution&quot; he has headed since 2013. The IMA&#39;s board of directors &mdash; made up in equal measure of ambassadors from Arab countries and figures chosen by the foreign ministry &mdash; appointed him and has renewed his tenure three times.

Lang is the most high-profile French figure caught up in the latest US release of documents linked to the financier, who killed himself in 2019 while in prison facing charges of sex trafficking underage girls.

France opens probe of ex-minister Lang after Epstein revelations

SYDNEY: Bill Gates has voiced regret over &quot;every minute&quot; he spent with Jeffrey <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/clintons-to-testify-in-epstein-investigation-ahead-of-possible-contempt-vote" style="color:#0073e6;">Epstein</a>, even as the Microsoft co-founder&#39;s former wife Melinda said he still had questions to answer over his relationship with the convicted sexual offender. The latest tranche of documents <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/us-congress-orders-release-of-epstein-files" style="color:#0073e6;">released</a> by the US Justice Department last week contained emails between many prominent figures and Epstein, often revealing warm friendships, illicit financial dealings and private photos. In a draft email among the documents, Epstein alleged Gates engaged in extramarital affairs, writing that his relationship with Gates ranged from &quot;helping Bill to get drugs, in order to deal with consequences of sex with russian girls, to facilitating his illicit trysts with married women.&quot; &quot;Every minute I spent with him, I regret, and I apologize,&quot; Gates, a billionaire philanthropist, told 9News Australia in an interview broadcast Wednesday. &quot;That email was never sent. The email is false,&quot; he said. &quot;I don&#39;t know what his thinking was there. Was he trying to attack me in some way?&quot; A Gates spokesperson issued a similar denial after the fresh cache of millions of files related to the investigation into Epstein, who died by suicide in prison in 2019, were released. &quot;The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epstein&#39;s frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame,&quot; the spokesperson said. Melinda French Gates told US National Public Radio in an interview that the document dump brought back &quot;memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage.&quot; &quot;For me, it&#39;s personally hard whenever those details come up,&quot; she said. &quot;Whatever questions remain there of what &mdash; I can&#39;t even begin to know all of it &mdash; those questions are for those people and for even my ex-husband. They need to answer to those things, not me.&quot; The couple divorced in 2021. Bill Gates told 9News that he met Epstein in 2011 and had several dinners with him over three years, but never visited his Caribbean Island and didn&#39;t have relations with women. &quot;The focus was always, he knew a lot of very rich people, and he was saying he could get them to give money to global health. In retrospect, that was a dead end,&quot; he said. Someone&#39;s name in the Epstein files does not imply any wrongdoing, but the documents <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-administration-begins-release-of-epstein-files" style="color:#0073e6;">revealed</a> connections between Epstein and public figures who have often downplayed &mdash; or even denied &mdash; such ties.

Billionaire says he met Epstein in 2011 and had several dinners with him over three years, but never visited his Caribbean Island and didn't have relations with women.

Articles tagged with "Epstein files"

Bill Gates admits affairs but denies involvement in Epstein crimes

UK govt says will release files on 'rude' ex-prince Andrew

UK police arrest ex-envoy Peter Mandelson in Epstein case

UK police hold ex-prince Andrew for hours in misconduct probe

Police 'assessing' claims UK flights trafficked Epstein victims

French prosecutors announce special team for Epstein files

US Congress to depose Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell

UK PM's top aide quits in scandal over Mandelson links to Epstein

France opens probe of ex-minister Lang after Epstein revelations

Bill Gates says he regrets 'every minute' with Epstein

Bill Gates admits affairs but denies involvement in Epstein crimes