UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he believes Peter Mandelson should not be a member of the House of Lords over his links to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The PM has ordered an "urgent" investigation into Lord Mandelson's contact with Epstein while he was a government minister, No 10 has said.

Emails released in the US on Friday suggest Mandelson forwarded internal government information to Epstein when he was the UK's business secretary in 2009.

Mandelson resigned from Starmer's Labour Party on Sunday night, saying he wanted to save the party "further embarrassment".

Documents also suggest Epstein paid him $75,000 in three separate transactions in 2003 and 2004 - Mandelson said he has no record of the payments and believes they are "false" but said he will investigate.

Separate emails released on Friday also suggest Epstein invited Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to have dinner with a 26-year-old Russian woman. Several girls mentioned in the Epstein files are Russian.

The emails do not indicate any wrongdoing and the BBC has contacted Mountbatten-Windsor for a response. He has repeatedly denied all allegations of wrongdoing connected to Epstein.

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Russia resumed attacks on Ukraine yesterday after agreeing not to target population centres and energy infrastructure during a cold snap that has gripped the country.

Four people were killed overnight in the central Cherkasy region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced a new round of US-brokered talks between Ukraine and Russia that will take place on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi and last for two days.

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"On the first day, I asked 'why are there no more women?'," Hind Kabawat told the BBC's Lyse Doucet.

Kabawat is Syria's minister for social affairs and labour - the only female minister in the transitional government tasked with navigating the country's jagged road from war to peace.

Sectarian violence, which has killed thousands of people, has marred its first months in power and many of Syria's minority communities have blamed government forces.

Once an opposition leader in exile, Kabawat acknowledged the government has made mistakes since President Ahmed al-Sharaa's rebel forces swept into the capital on 8 December 2024, ending decades of the Assad family's brutal dictatorship.

But she insisted "mistakes happen in transition".

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Palestinians have started to enter the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt after it reopened for the movement of people.

The crossing has largely been closed since May 2024, when the Gazan side was captured by Israeli forces.

The reopening was supposed to happen during the first phase of US President Donald Trump's ceasefire plan between Israel and Hamas, which began in October. But Israel blocked it until the return of the body of the last Israeli hostage in Gaza, which happened last week.

It will come as a relief to many Palestinians who see it as a lifeline to the world, although there is frustration that only small numbers of people and no goods will be allowed through.

Around 20,000 sick and wounded Palestinians are waiting to leave Gaza for treatment, according to local hospitals and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Israeli reports say only 50 patients - accompanied by one or two relatives - will be allowed to exit each day, and that 50 people who left Gaza during the war will be allowed to return.

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Bad Bunny has become the first Latin artist to win album of the year in the 68-year history of the Grammy Awards, at a ceremony where dozens of stars railed against the Donald Trump administration's US immigration crackdown.

The 31-year-old, who will headline next week's Super Bowl half-time show, dedicated the award to immigrants who "leave their home, land, their country, to follow their dreams".

British singer Olivia Dean, who was named best new artist, also used her speech to defend immigrants.

"I'm up here as the granddaughter of an immigrant," said the singer, whose grandmother Carmen was part of the Windrush generation of immigrants in the UK.

Stars including Kehlani, Gloria Estefan and Billie Eilish also spoke in support of immigrants, while many musicians wore badges reading "ICE out" on the red carpet.

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A second woman is alleging that she was sent to the UK by Jeffrey Epstein for a sexual encounter with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor following the release of more documentation from the Epstein files.

The encounter allegedly occurred at the former prince's residence, Royal Lodge, in 2010.

BBC News has asked Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor for comment, but so far he has not responded to these accusations.

Laura, Paddy and Henry discuss the story and what it could mean for victims.

And John Bew, a professor, historian and former chief foreign policy adviser to four prime ministers, is in the studio to talk about what Trump might do in Iran, Ukraine, UK defence, and his time in Downing Street.

Donald Trump has warned Iran that "time is running out" to negotiate a deal on its nuclear programme following the steady build-up of US military forces in the Gulf.

The US president said a "massive Armada" was "moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm, and purpose" towards Iran, referring to a large US naval force.

In response, Iran's mission to the UN said Tehran "stands ready for dialogue based on mutual respect and interests", but if pushed, it wrote in all capitals, it would defend itself and "respond like never before".

Iran insists its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful and has repeatedly denied seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

Trump's latest warning to Iran's leaders follows his promise that Washington would intervene to help those involved in the brutal and unprecedented crackdown on demonstrations in the country earlier this month.

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Dame Sarah Mullally has been officially confirmed as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury in a ceremony rich with centuries-old tradition at St Paul's Cathedral in London.

Her predecessor, Justin Welby, resigned following accusations he did not do enough with information he had about a prolific abuser to prevent further abuse from taking place.

Dame Sarah is the first woman to lead the Church of England and told the BBC she is committed to speaking out about misogyny where she sees it and it was right that there was greater scrutiny on her own record in dealing with safeguarding in the Church.

The ceremony to confirm Dame Sarah was a mix of religious service and legal process - for part of the ceremony, the cathedral became a courthouse where legal rites, written down in 1533 but with their origins much earlier, were enacted.

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Israel is expected to reopen the Gaza Strip's key border crossing with Egypt, now that the funeral for the last hostage retrieved from Gaza has been able to take place.

The Rafah crossing has been mostly closed since May 2024, when the Palestinian side was seized by Israeli force.

It was meant to have reopened during the first stage of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which began in October however, the Israeli government made that conditional on Hamas making every effort to return the body of the last hostage, police officer Master Sgt Ran Gvili.

The Israeli military said it has retrieved the body of the last hostage in Gaza, paving the way for the next phase of US President Donald Trump's peace plan to get under way.

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President Donald Trump said his administration was "going to de-escalate a little bit" in Minnesota, after the second fatal shooting of a US citizen by federal immigration officers there.

"Bottom line, it was terrible. Both of them were terrible," he said in a Fox News interview on Tuesday.

In early January Renee Good was fatally shot by an immigration officer, followed by Alex Pretti, who was killed after being stopped by border agents this past weekend.

Pretti's death reignited local protests and public outcry across the country, and led to criticism from lawmakers in both parties.

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