Peter Mandelson arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office amid Epstein files fallout
Lord Peter Mandelson leaving his home in Wiltshire. Ben Birchall/PA Images via Getty Images
(LONDON) — Lord Peter Mandelson has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, police said Monday.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police issued a statement, saying, “Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday and has been taken to a London police station for interview. This follows search warrants at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas.”
Mandelson is a former U.K. ambassador to the United States.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LONDON) — Delegations from Russia, Ukraine and the United States are set to hold trilateral talks in the United Arab Emirates on Friday in what officials say will be the first trilateral meeting since Russia launched a full-scale invasion on Ukraine almost four years ago in February 2022.
The talks — planned for Friday and Saturday in Abu Dhabi — will be at a technical level and not include heads of state but is still a notable diplomatic engagement amid the ongoing fighting.
Administration officials for U.S. President Donald Trump have projected confidence over reaching a deal in recent days, saying territorial control of eastern Ukraine is the last remaining sticking point. But that issue is arguably the most difficult and many experts remain skeptical an agreement is possible yet.
President Trump’s lead negotiators special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner met for four hours with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin into the early hours of Friday. But the Kremlin afterwards indicated there was no breakthrough and vowed to continue fighting unless Ukraine cedes all of its Donbas region and agrees to a number of other heavy Russian demands.
Ahead of the meeting with Putin Witkoff on Thursday said that negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are now down to “one issue.”
“And we have discussed iterations of that issue, and that means it’s solvable,” Witkoff said in Davos Thursday.
When Trump was asked what concessions Putin needs to make during the upcoming talks, Trump didn’t mention any specifics but did indicate that concessions from Putin are on the table.
“He’ll make concessions,” Trump said. “Everybody’s making concessions to get it done.”
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Davos at the World Economic Forum on Thursday. The talks between the two lasted for about an hour.
“This is the last mile, which is the most difficult,” Zelenskyy said following the meeting. “The dialogue is not easy, but it was positive,”
After the meeting, however, Zelenskyy issued a sharp rebuke to Europe for not doing enough to stop Russia.
“Too often, Europeans turn against each other — leaders, parties, movements, and communities — instead of standing together to stop Russia, which brings the same destruction to everyone. Instead of becoming a truly global power, Europe remains a beautiful but fragmented kaleidoscope of small and middle powers,” Zelenskyy said.
“Instead of taking the lead in defending freedom worldwide — especially when America’s focus shifts elsewhere — Europe looks lost, trying to convince the U.S. president to change,” he continued.
Witkoff and Kushner met with Putin along with Josh Gruenbaum, who has been newly appointed by Trump as a senior adviser to his Board of Peace.
On the Russian side, the meeting was attended by presidential aide Yuri Ushakov and investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev, according to the Kremlin.
Speaking to journalists afterwards, Ushakov indicated Putin will still only accept an agreement that hands control of Donbas to Russia, as Moscow alleges was outlined during the summit between Putin and Trump in Alaska last summer.
“The main thing is that during these negotiations between our president and the Americans, it was once again stated that without resolving the territorial issue according to the formula agreed in Anchorage, one should not expect to achieve a long-term settlement,” Ushakov continued.
Ushakov maintained that the Russian Federation is sincerely interested in resolving the Ukrainian crisis through political and diplomatic methods, but wouldn’t retreat on the battlefield during negotiations.
“While this is not the case, Russia will continue to consistently achieve the goals set for the special military operation on the battlefield, where the Russian armed forces have a strategic initiative,” Ushakov said.
Russia’s invasion has killed hundreds of thousands of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers, razed whole Ukrainian cities and forced over 5 million to flee the country, according to the United Nations.
The American delegation shared with Putin “first-hand” their assessments of the meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy in Davos, according to the Russian delegation.
“Our security negotiating group has already been formed and will fly to the Emirates in the coming hours. It includes representatives of the leadership of the Ministry of Defense, headed by Admiral Kostyukov, Chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff, ” Ushakov said.
In Davos, Zelenskyy suggested he doubted Russia is ready to reach a peace deal, saying “I am not sure Putin wants to end this war in the situation where he is.”
“Maybe they want to find compromises. We are open to different steps, and I said that there are two sides that compromise,” said Zelenskyy. “Russians will not win this war. They did not win and will not.”
ABC News’ Mariam Khan, Patrick Reevell and Will Gretzky contributed to this report.
Emergency services work at the site of a train collision on January 19, 2026 after yesterday’s train collision in Adamuz, Spain. Authorities say at least 39 were killed and more than 150 were injured when a train collided with a derailed train on the evening of Sunday, Jan. 18. (Photo by Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images)
(ADAMUZ, Spain) — At least 39 people were killed and about 152 others were injured after two high-speed trains collided in southern Spain on Sunday, according to officials.
A train traveling from Málaga to Madrid derailed near Adamuz, crossing over to the adjacent track where it hit another train coming from Madrid to Huelva, according to the Spanish Interior Minister.
The number of confirmed dead rose to 39 from the previously reported 21 and was “not final,” Oscar Puente, the Spanish transport minister, said in a statement early on Monday.
“I want to express all my gratitude for the huge effort of the rescue teams during the night, under very difficult circumstances, and my condolences to the victims and their families in these terribly painful moments,” he said in Spanish on social media.
Spain’s prime minister is expected to visit the crash site this morning.
Officials had earlier said that of those injured, 75 were hospitalized, with 15 in very serious condition and five in life-threatening condition.
Rescue crews are on the scene, and all trains between Madrid and the Andalusia region are suspended, according to officials.
The cause of the train derailment has not yet been released.
Iryo, the company operating the train that initially derailed, released a statement, saying the company “deeply regrets what has happened and has activated all emergency protocols, working closely with the competent authorities to manage the situation.”
The company said there were 300 passengers on the train at the time.
Puente, the transport minister, spoke to reporters late Sunday night and the high-speed Iryo train was “relatively new.”
Puente said the derailment of the Iryo train bound for Madrid and its subsequent collision with the second train happened on a straight stretch of track, which had undergone extensive renovation work that was only finished in May.
The Spanish minister called the accident “extremely strange.”
“It’s very difficult at this moment to explain,” Puente added, and said he hoped the investigation would help clear up what has happened.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
A large flash is seen in Tel Aviv, Israel, June 13, 2025. (ABC News)
(LONDON) — President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to “knock the hell” out of Iran if it tries to rebuild its nuclear program.
“Now I hear that Iran is trying to build up again, and if they are, we’re going to have to knock them down. We’ll knock them down. We’ll knock the hell out of them,” Trump said as he took reporter questions while welcoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
“But hopefully that’s not happening,” Trump continued. “I heard Iran wants to make a deal. If they want to make a deal, that’s much smarter. You know, they could have made a deal the last time before we went through, you know, a big attack on them. And, they didn’t decide not to make a deal. They wish they made that deal. So I think, again, they should make a deal.”
Earlier this year, the U.S. attacked three of Iran’s nuclear facilities using bunker busting bombs and cruise missiles. Trump claimed that the U.S. “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear facilities, yet it’s unclear how far back their nuclear program was actually setback.
Trump on Monday also said he would support an Israeli attack on Iran if Iran continues with their ballistic missile and nuclear weapon program.
“The missiles, yes. The nuclear, fast. Okay. One will be, yes, absolutely. The other was, we’ll do it immediately,” Trump said.
Asked if he would support an overthrow of the Iranian regime, Trump said he was not going to discuss it.
“I mean, I’m not going to talk about overthrow of a regime. They’ve got a lot of problems they are in. They have tremendous inflation. Their economy is bust, they’re economy is no good. And I know that people aren’t so happy,” Trump said.
President Trump’s comments come after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that Tehran is in a “full-scale” war with the U.S., Israel and Europe, describing the country’s diplomatic situation as “complicated and difficult.”
“In my opinion, we are in a full-scale war with America, Israel, and Europe; they do not want our country to stand on its feet,” Pezeshkian said in a lengthy interview posted to the official website of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.
“This war is worse than the war in Iraq with us; if one understands well, this war is much more complicated and difficult,” Pezeshkian added, referring to the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.
Pezeshkian said that despite sanctions and foreign pressure, Iran remains steadfast and capable of defending its national interests.
The interview was published ahead of Netanyahu’s visit to the U.S., where Iran was among the topics expected to be under discussion.
Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump was expected to be on advancing the Gaza peace plan, disarming Hamas, demilitarizing Gaza and the fate of the last hostage still remaining in the Strip, a spokesperson for the Israeli foreign ministry said before the Israeli delegation departed on Sunday for the U.S. The spokesperson added that Netanyahu’s agenda is expected to include the “danger Iran poses” to both the Middle East and United States.
The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in June during a 12-day conflict that killed some 1,100 Iranians and saw strikes against Iran’s key nuclear facilities, its air defense network and prominent military and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) sites around the country.
Senior military, IRGC and nuclear research personnel were among those killed. Retaliatory missile attacks by Iran killed 28 people in Israel.
In the lead up to and during the June conflict, Netanyahu repeatedly hinted that Israel may pursue a regime change strategy in Iran, seeking to topple the Khamenei-led theocracy there. “This is your opportunity to stand up,” Netanyahu said in an address to Iranians during the war.
Trump even raised the prospect of killing Khamenei in the days before the U.S. joined Israel’s campaign. “We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” Trump wrote on social media. “He is an easy target, but is safe there — We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.”
The months since the conflict have seen little progress on a new deal to constrain Iran’s nuclear program or cap its ballistic missile arsenal — two goals long expressed by Trump.
Netanyahu met with Trump on Monday shortly after Iran conducted a major military exercise involving ballistic missiles. Referring to recent Iranian activity, Netanyahu warned last week that “any action against Israel will be met with a very severe response.”
At home, the Iranian regime faces serious economic challenges as the country’s currency — the rial — edged lower over recent weeks, causing widespread dissatisfaction and protests.
Over the weekend, groups of shop-owners closed their businesses in two large malls in downtown Tehran protesting the rapid drop in the value of the rial.
Pezeshkian was elected to replace late President Ebrahim Raisi — who died in a helicopter crash in 2024 — with the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic’s presidential election history. He was widely seen as a moderate alternative to hardliners aligned with the IRGC.
