Reuters World News - Clintons, US-India, Rafah and Norway’s royals

Episode Date: February 3, 2026

Bill and Hillary Clinton agree to testify in a House investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. The U.S. will slash tariffs on India after New Delhi agrees to stop buying Russian oil. Only a trickle of Palestinians successfully travel through the reopened Rafah crossing. And the son of Norway’s crown princess stands trial on charges of rape and domestic violence while she faces criticism over her ties to Jeffrey Epstein.  Listen to the Morning Bid podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Find the Recommended Read here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, I'm Kim Vinal in Wanganui, New Zealand. It's Tuesday, February 3rd. Today, Bill and Hillary Clinton agreed to testify in the House Epstein investigation. The US cuts tariffs in exchange for India stopping Russian oil purchases. Only a trickle of Palestinians are allowed through the reopened Rafa crossing. And the son of Norway's Crown Princess is arrested on New York. charges ahead of his rape trial. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week.

We start with a change of mind for Bill and Hillary Clinton. They've agreed to testify before a congressional committee about their alleged links to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The former US president and the former presidential Democratic nominee could have faced, criminal charges had they been found in contempt of Congress for refusing to appear. Bill Clinton flew on Epstein's plane several times in the early 2000s after leaving office. He's expressed regret about the relationship and said he knew nothing about Epstein's criminal activity. The Clintons are among an increasingly long list of powerful people impacted by the Justice Department's multiple releases of Epstein documents.

Reuters has been going through the millions of pages made public. Here's correspondent Andy Sullivan, who's been looking through the material. We're at about 3.5 million documents, and these are like emails, some of them are videos, some of them are photographs. It's just an enormous amount of information, and we've struggled to make sense of it, as have other news outlets. The real striking thing to me is how many people still associated with Epstein after he pleaded guilty to soliciting underage prostitutes after he served his time, after it was known that

he was a sex criminal. The Justice Department has said the material did not amount to evidence of criminal sexual activity by those named in the files. The U.S. has reached a trade deal with India, ending months of escalating tensions between the world's two largest democracies. President Trump announced the deal on social media. It slashes U.S. tariffs on India. goods to 18% down from 50%.

And in exchange, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says India will buy more than $500 billion worth of US products and will stop purchasing Russian oil and buy American energy instead. Reporter Aftap Aat in New Delhi says even so, India is happy to pay more for its energy to have the US back on side. So India is naturally a very big importer of energy. It has 1.4 billion people which it needs to serve and it doesn't produce its own energy. It's about 80, 85% of energy is imported in India. So any advantages that it gets whenever in the market, like for example after the Ukraine war,

Russia was offering its oil at a discount. But for the last few years, that discount has been coming down. It's getting difficult to get Russian oil because of mounting sanctions on Russia. And I think India is now okay to go back to its conventional partners from where it bought oil. Elon Musk's SpaceX has acquired his artificial intelligence company, XAI, consolidating his empire ahead of the SpaceX IPO. The tie-up that brings together his rocket and satellite company with the maker of the GROC chatbot and the acquisition of XAI

sets a record for the world's largest merger and acquisition deal. For more business and econ news, don't forget to tune in to our sister Markets podcast MorningBid, available wherever you get your podcasts. To Minneapolis now, and US Homeland Security Secretary Kristy Noam says her department is deploying body cameras to every officer in the field. The move is effective immediately, and the program will go nationwide as funding becomes available. That's according to an ex post by Noam. Meanwhile, a measles outbreak had an immigration detention. facility in South Texas has seen some people quarantined, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Officials say they've halted all movement to try and stop the spread, although

didn't clarify exactly what that means. There are two confirmed measles cases at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, and officials say the infected are being treated with proper care. The U.S. is in the midst of the largest measles outbreak since the disease was declared eliminated. from the country in 2000. US Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, says she was at last week's FBI raid on an election facility in Georgia. She says her presence was requested by President Trump and that her attendance was within her authority.

The reopening of Gaza's Rafa crossing on Monday marked a major step in the ceasefire intended to end the war. But it doesn't mean Palestinians can confirm. freely pass from Gaza into Egypt on the other side, with Israel severely limiting the number of people it allows through. One of those waiting is mother of three, Fatan Hamid Abu Watfa. She hasn't seen her children since she left Gaza nearly ten months ago to visit her mother-in-law receiving medical treatment in Egypt.

She got stranded there when the Rafa crossing closed. For some in Gaza, like Tamar al-Burai, Rafa's reopening is a matter of life and death. He has obstructive sleep apnea and relies on a machine to breathe at night and needs to get out of the enclave to get treatment. He's one of some 20,000 people, according to Gaza's health ministry, who are awaiting medical evacuation, including children and cancer patients. Turning to Norway now, where it's been a challenging few days for the royal family. A Norwegian court has ruled that the eldest son of the Crown Princess will be held in police detention over new accusations made against him, including causing bodily harm and wielding a knife.

The fresh accusations come ahead of his appearance due in court today, charged with 38 separate offences, including rape and domestic violence. He's admitted to some minor offences but denies the more serious charges. He plans to give a detailed account in court, his lawyer says. He faces multiple years in prison if found guilty. Oslo Bureau Chief Gladys Foucher says it's a complicated situation for the Norwegian royal family to navigate. Marius is not in the line of succession. He's not a formal member of the family in the sense that he's not a prince.

But he's of course part of the family. He is the son of the Crown Princess. and he is a sibling to the future queen of Norway. The crown prince recently expressed that tried to help Marius. They show that they value him as a member of the family and they care for him. But they also have to be mindful of their role as the royal family of Norway. They've also expressed their compassion for the alleged victims of his crimes. And they've also been extremely careful about an alternative ending in the legal process.

And they've expressed that they trust the legal process. in no way will come to a fair and rightful decision. The trial begins as the royal family battles several health problems, as well as questions over the Crown Princess's ties to Geoffrey Epstein. Over the weekend, she issued an apology saying she showed poor judgment. What's interesting is despite all these problems that the family is going through, the monarchy as an institution has been quite resilient in terms of popularity. Despite all of this, the vast majority of Norwegians do want a monarchy as an

institution. And for today's recommended read, tourists are braving the frigid temperatures and flocking to see the U.S.-Canadian border to see a partially frozen Niagara Falls. There's a link to that story and photos in the podcast description. For more on any of the stories from today, check out reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast player. If you're listening on a smart speaker, just ask for the latest news from Reuters seven days a week. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.