Starmer Apologizes to Epstein Victims Over Mandelson Appointment
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer apologized Thursday to victims of Jeffrey Epstein for appointing Peter Mandelson as Britain's ambassador to Washington, D.C., despite Mandelson's connections to the disgraced financier, according to Euronews. The apology came after newly released documents revealed further details of Mandelson's ties to Epstein, pointing to a closer relationship than Mandelson had previously disclosed.
In a speech Thursday, Starmer stated that Mandelson had "portrayed Epstein as someone he barely knew," Euronews reported. Starmer added, "I am sorry for having believed Mandelson."
The controversy arose after the release of documents that detailed Epstein's efforts to arrange a meeting with an Iranian individual and Seth Lloyd in 2010, via an intermediary named Charles Harper, about funding a research project on Cryptography in Nature, according to Hacker News. The Iranian individual stated that they had never met Epstein and had zero contact with him, despite their name appearing in 26 different documents in the Epstein Files. The individual recalled meeting Charles Harper at SS Deli in Cambridge in May 2010, though they had no specific recollection of the meeting.
In other news, researchers at Johns Hopkins University presented evidence that a bonobo named Kanzi was able to participate in pretending to hold a tea party, Ars Technica reported. The study, published in the journal Science, suggests that apes are capable of using their imagination just like human toddlers. "It really is game-changing that their mental lives go beyond the here and now," said co-author Christopher Krupenye, according to Ars Technica.
Nature News also reported on the bonobo study, noting that Kanzi is the first non-human animal to clearly grasp the concept of make believe. In experiments, the ape favored a cup that scientists had pretended to fill with juice over one they had pretended to empty. Amalia Bastos, a comparative psychologist at the University of St Andrews University, UK, stated that the study adds to evidence that some animals can conceive of objects, events, and individuals that aren't in the here and now.
Meanwhile, NPR News reported that some Public Health Service officers deployed in detention centers are suffering "moral distress." As immigrant arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement soared in 2025, so did the demand for health care providers to staff hastily constructed detention centers. Nearly 400 officers have done monthlong tours helping to provide basic medical care to detainees at ICE facilities nationwide, according to a USPHS employee who reviewed a roster.
Discussion
AI Experts & Community
Be the first to comment