LONDON (AP) — The British government said it would publish files related to the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the U.S. on Wednesday, as police investigate potential misconduct stemming from the ex-diplomat’s ties to the late Jeffrey Epstein.

Lawmakers have forced Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government to disclose thousands of files about the decision to name Mandelson to the key diplomatic post at the start of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, despite a past friendship with the convicted sex offender.

The government has said the files will show that Mandelson misled officials about the extent of the relationship.

Mandelson, 72, a former Cabinet minister, ambassador and elder statesman of the governing Labour Party, was arrested Feb. 23 at his London home on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He has been released without bail conditions as the police investigation continues.

He has previously denied wrongdoing and hasn’t been charged. He does not face allegations of sexual misconduct.

Cabinet minister Darren Jones said the “first tranche of documents” will be published Wednesday afternoon.

The documents are being published in batches after review by Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee. Police have asked the government not to release files that could compromise their criminal investigation into Mandelson.

“The documents that will be published today later to Parliament will provide full transparency about the appointments process, bar one document that has been held back by the Metropolitan Police because of an ongoing criminal investigation,” Jones told broadcaster ITV.

Starmer fired Mandelson in September after earlier revelations about his Epstein ties, but is facing a political storm over his decision to give him the Washington job in the first place.

Documents in a huge trove of Epstein files published by the U.S. Department of Justice in late January suggested that Mandelson sent market-sensitive information to the convicted sex offender when he was the U.K. government’s business secretary after the 2008 financial crisis.

That includes an internal government report discussing ways the U.K. could raise money, including by selling off government assets. Mandelson also appears to have told Epstein he would lobby other members of the government to reduce a tax on bankers’ bonuses.

Mandelson is also facing a separate probe by the European Union’s anti-fraud office for the time he spent as the bloc’s trade representative.

The critically acclaimed drama starring Ruth Wilson and Dominic West is coming to ITVX. Here’s everything you need to know about the series

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A highly praised drama featuring Ruth Wilson and Dominic West is set to arrive on ITVX. The Affair, which premiered on Showtime in the United States in 2014 and spanned five seasons, has been procured by ITV.

The broadcaster will release all 53 episodes on its streaming platform in the coming months, beginning with series 1 to 3, which will be available this week.

Conceived by Sarah Treem and Hagai Levi, The Affair rapidly established itself as one of the most provocative and psychologically profound dramas on television, renowned for its innovative, multi-perspective storytelling, intricate characters, and unflinching exploration of love, memory, betrayal and the long-term consequences of relationships.

The drama boasts a Rotten Tomatoes score of 85% and 7.9 out of 10 on IMDb, with some viewers proclaiming it “the best show ever.” The Affair has also garnered numerous awards, including a Golden Globe for Best Television Series – Drama, reports the Mirror.

ITV has stated that introducing The Affair to ITVX provides UK viewers with the opportunity to experience the full breadth of the series, from its initial romantic entanglements to the darker, more complex revelations that challenge trust, perspective and truth. Here’s everything you need to know about the series.

When does The Affair start on ITVX?

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ITV has announced that series 1 to 3 will be accessible on their streaming platform ITVX from Friday, March 13, 2026, whilst series 4 will debut this summer, and series 5 will arrive in 2027.

The Affair cast list

The Affair’s first season features Dominic West and Ruth Wilson in the lead roles as Noah Solloway and Alison Bailey, who embark on a relationship whilst each is married to someone else.

Dominic is best recognised for his roles as Jimmy McNulty in HBO’s The Wire, Prince Charles in The Crown and Dr Chris Cox in Brassic. Meanwhile, viewers will identify Ruth from His Dark Materials, where she portrayed Mrs Coulter, and in Luther as Alice Morgan.

In the second season, the narrative shifts to include the viewpoints of Noah and Alison’s soon-to-be ex-spouses, Helen Solloway and Cole Lockhart, played by Maura Tierney, known for her role as Abby Lockhart in ER and Lisa Miller in NewsRadio, and Joshua Jackson, famed for playing Pacey Witter on Dawson’s Creek, and Peter Bishop in Fringe.

Other cast members comprise Julia Goldani Telles as Whitney Solloway, Jadon Sand as Trevor Solloway, Jake Siciliano as Martin Solloway, Catalina Sandino Moreno as Luisa Leon, and Abigail Dylan Harrison as Stacey Solloway.

The Affair filming locations

The first three seasons of The Affair were primarily filmed in Montauk and utilised real locations such as The Lobster Roll and Montauk Lighthouse Museum.

Filming also occurred on Long Island and in New York City. However, in the fourth season, the action transitioned from New York to Los Angeles. Scenes were also captured at Morro Bay and San Francisco.

How many episodes of The Affair are there?

The Affair comprises a total of five seasons and 53 episodes. The series premiered on Showtime in October 2014 and ran for five years, concluding in 2019.

ITVX has secured all five seasons, with the first three arriving on the streaming service on Friday, March 13, 2026. Season 4 is slated for this summer and series 5 will arrive in 2027.

For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new Everything Gossip website.

The alleged attack took place near a Morrison’s supermarket

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A teenage boy has denied taking part in the alleged gang rape of a girl in woodland near a tram stop, insisting any sexual activity with her was “100 per cent” consensual.

The three boys, who were aged 12, 13 and 14 at the time and cannot be named for legal reasons, are accused of raping the 13‑year‑old in bushes off a footpath close to the Newbold tram stop in Rochdale.

Jurors have previously been told that the boys “took it in turns and swapped positions” during the incident in February 2024. Part of the alleged assault was filmed on a mobile phone and later circulated among the group and others, prosecutors say.

All three boys deny the charges as two of them, now aged 15 and 16, stand trial at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court. The third, who is now 14, has been deemed unfit to stand trial, jurors were told as the case was opened, reports the Manchester Evening News.

The eldest defendant gave evidence on Tuesday (March 10), stating he had been “running around” with his friends on the day the incident is alleged to have taken place. When asked by his barrister, Rachel Shenton, the 16-year-old described them “joking around town” before encountering other kids at the tram stop.

Asked if he recognised the alleged victim and her friend, he said he had “more than likely probably seen them” before, but that he didn’t know them.

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The court was told how they had boarded the same tram during a short journey to Newbold, during which there was “talking and flirting”. The alleged victim’s friend had reportedly said that the alleged victim “liked” his co-defendant, resulting in a chat about “who fancied who”, he said.

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“I asked (the alleged victim) did she like me and she said yes,” the boy told the court, adding that there was then a “conversation about s******g”. He said they “all agreed” to go the bushes and that the alleged victim “suggested we go and get some condoms,” but that they had told her they didn’t have any money and that she said it was “okay to do it without”.

He continued to say the alleged victim had “voluntarily walked into the bushes” and “she went first”, claiming she began performing a sex act on his co-defendant before then doing the same to him.

“Did (the alleged victim) say or do anything to suggest she wasn’t agreeing to that?” Ms Shenton asked him. “No, it was 100 per cent willingly,” he answered. Asked if anything was stopping her from leaving the bushes, he said: “No, she could have got up and walked out.”

The defendant explained that he then attempted to have intercourse with her. “Would it be fair to say you were not very successful at that?” Ms Shenton asked. “Yes,” he replied.

“It was my first time,” he told the court. “Did you know what you were doing in terms of sex? Did you know how to have sex?” Ms Shenton asked him. “No,” he said.

The incident continued for around “six or seven minutes”, according to the boy. “Did you believe she was consenting?” Ms Shenton asked. “Yes,” he replied. “Would you have done any of these actions if you felt she wasn’t consenting?” she continued. “No,” the boy answered.

He said that “both” him and the alleged victim were “moving around” during the encounter, and that he was the first to leave the wooded area as his “phone had died” and he had to “rush home”.

When leaving, he did not think he had done anything wrong, the court heard, eventually arriving home, eating a sandwich before heading back out. “If I thought I had committed an offence I don’t think I would have gone back to the town,” he said.

The boy then asked his co-defendant to send him a Snapchat video of the incident, which had been filmed. “Did you believe that was a video of the rape of the girl?” Ms Shenton asked him. “No,” he said, continuing to describe feeling “happy” about losing his virginity.

Although the boy said he now felt ‘very ashamed’ about the incident, because I am getting blamed for something I didn’t do,” he claimed.

“What do you think about what you did do?” Ms Shenton asked him. “I didn’t do anything wrong,” he said. “I don’t know why I’m in this situation, to be honest.”

The 16-year-old told the court he had left school early, never receiving any sex education, but had been “brought up to be respectful” to women. “Did you gang rape (the alleged victim)? Ms Shenton asked him. “No,” the boy replied. “Is that ever something you would do?” she asked. “No,” he replied.

He told prosecutor Kim Whittlestone, under cross-examination, that, whilst on the tram, he had asked the alleged victim if she wanted to “s**g” him and that she had said “yes”.

“Did she appear to want to s**g you?” prosecutor Whittlestone asked him. “Yes,” the boy said. “Did she appear to want to be in your company?” she asked. “Yes,” he replied.

“Did you think it was slightly odd that you were going to have sex with her in the bushes?” Ms Whittlestone asked him. “No” he replied, adding “I wouldn’t think it was odd if she agreed to do it,” when quizzed on it being his first time having sex.

He was “not clear” about the precise events in the bushes, the court heard, but denied that the girl was “being told what to do.”

“What did you think about it being recorded?” Ms Whittlestone asked him. “I didn’t really think about that,” he said. “It got shared with me but I didn’t share it with anyone else,” he said of the footage.

Previously, Ms Whittlestone said the now 14-year-old has been found unfit to stand trial. She said the jury would be asked to find “whether he did the act” and whether he “encouraged” it to happen without the girl’s consent.

The indictment contains five counts of rape. Three counts relate specifically to each boy, while two are charged as ‘joint enterprise’, jurors were told. Each boy denies the charges they face. The trial continues.

It comes into force on Thursday morning

The Met Office has issued a weather warning across Northern Ireland on Thursday.

A yellow warning for wind will be in effect across all counties from 6am to midday on March 12.

The forecaster said: “Strong winds along with a spell of heavy rain leading to difficult travel conditions on Thursday morning.”

READ MORE: St Patrick’s Day celebrations and events taking place across Northern IrelandREAD MORE: Police in Derry “concerned” about missing man last seen three days ago

The Met Office added: “Southwesterly winds are expected to gust between 40 and 50 mph across much of Northern Ireland during Thursday morning.

“There is potential for many areas to see a short period when gusts may reach 50-60 mph accompanied by heavy rain. Winds easing from the west during the late morning.”

As for what to expect during the yellow weather warning, the Met Office has issued some details.

They said:

• Some delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport are likely
• Delays for high-sided vehicles on exposed routes and bridges likely
• Some short term loss of power and other services is possible
• It’s likely that some coastal routes, sea fronts and coastal communities will be affected by spray and/or large waves

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

The Cheltenham Festival is underway and each day features a championship race: the Champion Hurdle on Tuesday, the Queen Mother Champion Chase on Wednesday, the Stayers’ Hurdle on Thursday and of course Friday’s Gold Cup.

When is the 2026 Cheltenham Festival? Start and end dates

The Cheltenham Festival began on Tuesday, March 10 and ends on Friday, March 13. The Festival was extended from three to four days in 2005. There have been tentative proposals to add a fifth day, but the idea is unpopular among racing’s core audience. Moving Gold Cup day to the Saturday has been mooted as a compromise, but for now we stick to the same format.

How many races are there?

There are 28 races across the week, seven each day.

Race schedule: Times for every race in the 2026 Festival

Wednesday

1.20: Turners Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
Race conditions: £150,000 | 2m5f | 10 hurdles | Old Course

2.00: Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase (Grade 1)
Race conditions: £200,000 | 3m½f | 20 fences | Old Course

2.40: Coral Cup (Grade 3. handicap)
Race conditions: £100,000 | 2m5f | 10 hurdles | Old Course

3.20: Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase (Listed)
Race conditions: £75,000 | 3m6f | 32 obstacles | Old Course

4.00: Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase (Grade 1)
Race conditions: £400,000 | 2m | 13 fences | Old Course

4.40: Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase (Grade 3)
Race conditions: £150,000 | 2m½f | 14 fences | Old Course

5.20: Weatherbys Champion Bumper (Grade 1)
Race conditions: £80,000 | 2m½f | 14 fences | Old Course

Thursday

1.20: Ryanair Mares Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 2)
Race conditions: £105,000 | 2m1f | 8 hurdles | New Course

2.00: Jack Richards Novices’ Handicap Chase (Grade 2)
Race conditions: £125,000 | 2m4f | 17 fences | New Course

2.40: Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
Race conditions: £120,000 | 2m4f | 10 hurdles | New Course

3.20: Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
Race conditions: £325,000 | 3m | 12 hurdles | New course

4.00: Ryanair Chase (Grade 1)
Race conditions: £375,000 | 2m4½f | 17 fences | New Course

4.40: Pertemps Final (Grade 3, handicap)
Race conditions: £100,000 | 3m | 12 hurdles | New course

5.20: Kim Muir Challenge Cup (Listed, handicap)
Race conditions: £75,000 | 3m2f | 21 fences | New Course

Friday

1.20: JCB Triumph Hurdle (Grade 1)
Race conditions: £150,000 | 2m1f | 8 hurdles | New Course

2.00: William Hill County Hurdle (Grade 3, handicap)
Race conditions: £98,370 (2024) | 2m1f| 8 hurdles | New Course

2.40: Paddy Power Mares’ Chase (Grade 2)
Race conditions: £120,000 | 2m4½f | 17 fences | New Course

3.20: Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
Race conditions: £150,000 | 3m | 12 hurdles | New course

4.00: Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup (Grade 1)
Race conditions: £625,000 | 3m2½f | 22 fences | New Course

4.40: St James’s Place Hunter Chase (Listed)
Race conditions: £50 | 3m 2½f | 22 fences | New Course

5.20: Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle
Race conditions: £75,000 | 2m4½f | 10 hurdles | New Course

Champion Chase (Wednesday)

Marine Nationale, two-time Festival winner including this race last year, has been ruled out of Cheltenham with a sore neck.

That should leave this two-mile chase at the mercy of Majborough, who delivered an impressive performance in the Irish Arkle at the DRF. Majborough, owned by JP McManus, was well-fancied for last year’s Arkle when he a bad mistake at the second-last fence, but the addition of cheekpieces this season has helped address those jumping flaws.

Il Etait Temps got the better of Jonbon in the Tingle Creek at Sandown in December, but came unstuck in the Clarence House at Ascot in January (with Jonbon going on to win).

Jonbon would be a very popular winner for Nicky Henderson having been the bridesmaid so many times at previous Festivals. Jonbon was also second to Skelton’s L’Eau du Sud over this course and distance in the Shloer Chase in November.

Henderson has trained some Champion Chase legends, including Altior and Sprinter Sacre.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The war with Iran, for all its complexity and global effects, boils down to a single question: Who can take the pain the longest?

A surge in oil prices points to what may be Iran’s most effective weapon and the United States’ biggest vulnerability in continuing the campaign: Damaging the world economy. A sharp rise in gas prices has rattled consumers and financial markets, and international travel and shipping have been severely disrupted.

U.S. President Donald Trump appears aware of the danger. As oil jumped to nearly $120 a barrel on Monday, the highest since 2022, he suggested the war would be “short-term.” That helped reassure markets and the price eased to around $90 — even as Trump, nearly in the same breath, vowed to keep up the war and the punishment on Iran.

On the other side, Iran has to endure a near-constant stream of American and Israeli airstrikes it can’t defend against. So far, the Islamic Republic has been able to keep its leadership and military cohesive and in control. The Iranian public, which already rose up against its theocracy in nationwide protests in January, still boils in anger but have stayed home as they try to survive the heavy bombardment. Security forces have been on the street every day to ensure no anti-government demonstrations form.

The pressure is on U.S. allies as well. Gulf Arab states, while still not combatants in the war, face seemingly unending and occasionally fatal Iranian fire targeting oil fields, cities and critical water works. And Israel, while boasting of inflicting heavy damage on Iran’s missile program and other military targets, continues to be targeted by increasingly sophisticated Iranian missiles that send a buckshot-like bouquet of high explosives raining down on its cities. Frequent air-raid sirens have disrupted daily life, closed schools and workplaces and created a tense atmosphere across the region.

No off-ramps seen in fighting

There’s no immediate end to the war in sight — nor in the rhetoric coming from both America and Iran, whose bad blood extends back decades to the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the U.S. Embassy hostage crisis.

“We’ve already won in many ways, but we haven’t won enough,” Trump said in a speech Monday in Doral, Florida. “We go forward, more determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory that will end this long running danger once and for all.”

Iranian Foreign Ministry official Kazem Gharibabadi offered a mirror image comment from Tehran, boasting that the Islamic Republic had rejected contacts about a ceasefire that he said had come from China, France, Russia and others.

“At the moment, we hold the upper hand,” Gharibabadi told Iranian state television late Monday night. “Just look at the state of the global economy and energy markets — it has been very painful for them.”

He asserted that it was Iran that “will determine the end of the war.”

Iranian strategy remains havoc

For years before Israel and the U.S. launched the war on Feb. 28, Iran warned that, if attacked, it would retaliate on the entire Middle East, targeting the oil infrastructure that made its Gulf Arab neighbors fantastically wealthy. By contrast, Tehran’s economy has been crippled by international sanctions.

Iran has now backed up its threat with barrages of missiles and drones. Qatar was forced to halt its production of natural gas, and Bahrain declared its oil operations couldn’t meet their contractual obligations. Other producers like Saudi Aramco are affected, disrupting a key source of energy for Asia — particularly China, which has sent a top envoy to the region.

Shipping broadly has stopped in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil and natural gas traded passes, and up to 30% of world fertilizer exports. Iran didn’t need to mine the waterway — its attacks on several ships prompted companies stop sending their vessels through the strait.

Trump has suggested U.S. warships providing escorts to tankers, but that has yet to materialize in a way to restart the traffic.

Early Tuesday morning, he threatened that if Iran stops the oil through the strait, “they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far.”

“Additionally, we will take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation, again — Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon them — But I hope, and pray, that it does not happen!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Iran, however, only doubled down. The Revolutionary Guard warned on Tuesday that it won’t allow “a single liter of oil” to leave the Persian Gulf.

What is victory?

For Iran’s theocratic rulers, victory means surviving the campaign still in power, no matter the costs to the country and the region.

Trump has been vague and contradictory about his aims in the war. At times, he seems to push for overthrowing Iran’s theocracy; other times, he seems to be willing to stop short of that, saying broadly that he wants to ensure Iran is no longer a threat to Israel, the region and the U.S.

That could give him flexibility in declaring that victory has been achieved, especially if real damage starts to show to the U.S. economy.

But if the war stopped right now, both the U.S and Israel would be left with major challenges.

One is Iran’s leadership. After an Israeli airstrike killed 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the start of the war, Iranian clerics named his 56-year-old son Mojtaba to the position, elevating him to the rank of an ayatollah.

Now Iran’s ultimate ruler, the younger Khamenei has long been viewed by analysts as being even more hard-line than his father, with close ties to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. Israel already described him as a target in its campaign, while Trump has said he wanted someone else in the role.

Also, Iran still has its stockpile of highly enriched uranium – one reason for the war that Israel and the U.S. have both pointed to. Iran had been enriching up to 60% purity, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

The U.S. bombed three Iranian nuclear sites in June during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, likely burying much of the stockpile in the debris. Those sites to this day remain out of the reach of international inspectors.

Mojtaba Khamenei could issue a religious ruling, or fatwa, reversing his father’s earlier statements and ordering it to be used to make a weapon. That’s something both America and Israel, long believed to be the Mideast’s only nuclear-armed state, don’t want to see.

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EDITOR’S NOTE — Jon Gambrell, news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press, has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the Mideast and the wider world since joining AP in 2006.