India, Feb. 6 -- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer apologised on Thursday to victims of Jeffrey Epstein for appointing Peter Mandelson as the UK's ambassador to Washington despite his ties to the disgraced financier. The prime minister said Mandelson had "portrayed Epstein as someone he barely knew." In a speech on Thursday, he said "I am for having believed Mandelson's lies and appointed him."

Starmer fired Mandelson in September after emails were published showing that he maintained a friendship with Epstein following the late financier's 2008 conviction for sex offences involving a minor.

Epstein died by suicide in a jail cell in 2019, while awaiting trial on US federal charges accusing him of sexually abusing dozens of girls. Star...