Reuters World News - Europe's Epstein fallout, ICE and French central bank chief

Episode Date: February 10, 2026

The Epstein files revelations are sending shockwaves through Europe’s elite while in the U.S. Ghislaine Maxwell pleads the fifth. ICE is cracking down on activists who follow them in their cars. The resignation of the French central bank governor gives President Emmanuel Macron an opportunity to fill a key position ahead of a possible electoral victory for right-wing National Rally party. Plus, officials investigate why the Winter Olympic medals keep breaking.     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 Carmel Crimmons in Dublin. It's Tuesday, February 10th, today. Galane Maxwell refuses to answer questions at a congressional deposition as the Epstein files tarnish Europe's elite. ICE is cracking down on people who follow them in their cars. And the resignation of France's central bank governor gives Emmanuel Macron an opportunity. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. Jeffrey Epstein is once again dominating Capitol Hill. The late sex offenders associate, Galane Maxwell, refusing to answer questions at a House deposition,

invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Her lawyer says she will talk if President Trump grants her clemency. Maxwell, who's currently serving 20 years for sex trafficking, drew criticism from both parties. Here's Republican Oversight Committee Chair, James Comer. This obviously is very disappointing. We had many questions to ask about the crime.

and Epstein committed, as well as questions about potential co-conspirators. Democrats, like Representative Melanie Stansbury, say Maxwell is using her testimony to get a pardon. Her silence can be bought through clemency. It is very clear that that is the message that she is trying to send directly to Donald Trump himself. The same committee is preparing to depose Bill and Hillary Clinton at the end of the month. Maxwell's deposition came as the DOJ released millions of Epstein documents. They include photos of President Trump with several women whose faces are redacted, and a suggestive note to Epstein.

Trump has denied knowledge of Epstein's crimes and says he broke off ties in the early 2000s. He says the suggestive note was faked. While the Epstein saga has become a drag on Trump's popularity, so far the biggest repercussions have been in Europe, where a prince and ambassador and senior politicians have been brought down by the Epstein revelations. For more on this, here's Europe's editor, Rachel Armstrong. Rachel, where in Europe is the Epstein scandal having the biggest impact? Well, for now, and I'm going to stress for now,

as this story is moving very fast, but currently Britain, where there were a few shady hours on Monday, where it looked like there was a fairly strong risk that Prime Minister Kirstama could have been pushed to a step down as anger, Groovy Roefer Howling appointed Peter Mandelson, a man known to have close ties to Jeffrey Epstein as E.S. Ambassador. It was interesting because we've not seen in any other country the political fallout come to such a higher level as we have done in Britain. And that's in part because the new allegations against Mandelson, which he denies, are very serious.

But I think it's also because Stama was already in a pretty precarious position. There's a lot of anger amongst his party in the public that since he came to office in 2024, he hasn't really managed to get a grip on serious. policymaking and has gone from one crisis to another. And the other place, interestingly, in Europe where there's been a huge fallout is Norway. A lot got ridden last week about the Crown Princess's dealings with Epstein. This week, the focus has turned to a former diplomat, Mona Yule, who has been put under investigation for grace corruption, which she denies. And I think this has really resonated in Norway, because Norway is a country that prides itself

as being a very good global citizen. Its sovereign wealth fund puts a lot of stall on its ethical approach to investing. And yet, Norwegians are reading about how some people in the higher echelons of their society seem to have incredibly close dealings with this guy in the case of Yule. It's alleged that she not only had a close relationship with him,

but she was aligned to inherit millions of dollars in his will, which I think has just shocked many Norwegians. Department of Homeland Security officials are set to testify before a House committee today, and Democrats are likely to have quite a few complaints against the conduct of ICE agents, and not just against immigrants. Under President Trump, immigration officers are increasingly targeting Americans who follow or document ICE operations. Videos verified by Reuters show ICE officers drawing weapons on citizens,

encounters that have escalated even after internal guidance told officers not to engage with protesters. And according to two agency officials, ICE has been maintaining an internal database with names, photos, and license plates of protesters for several months. Immigration reporter Ted Hessan says people have described a range of tactics being used against them. I spoke with Becky Ringstrom, who is a housekeeper and a mother living in suburban Minneapolis, who said she was following ICE officers. And as soon as I pulled into the parking lot here, I could see that there was four agents inside in tactical gear.

She said agents streamed out of their cars and surrounded her, including one that she said, was hitting her windshield as if he was going to break it with a tool. I told them that one of my rights read to me. I asked what I was being charged with, why I was being pulled from the vehicle. None of these questions were answered. After this, she was detained by the officers there, and she was charged. with a federal crime, which is related to either assaulting or what's called impeding federal operations. There have been other tactics that we've seen where people who are opposed to ICE

say that they're following what they believe to be ICE vehicles, and then they realize that the vehicle leads them back to their own houses, showing that the officer knows where they live and who they are. And another way was that people would say they would just see officers or unmarked vehicles that appeared to be federal officers parked outside of their homes or outside of where they work. I will never stop believing that what happened on that day was nothing more than them trying to scare us. The Trump administration generally says that its officers are under siege and said that these were people who they believe either assaulted officers or were impeding and interfering with the operations that were at hand. France's central bank chief, Francois Villaroy de Gallo, is unexpectedly stepping down in June, more than a year before his term ends.

He says he's leaving to run a non-profit and insists it's an entirely personal decision. But as our Paris correspondent Lee Thomas explains, the departure gives President Emmanuel Macron an opportunity to fill a key position ahead of a possible electoral victory for the right-wing National Rally Party. There's going to be a presidential election next April. And if Francois Villois de Gallaud stayed until his term ends in October, it would have been up to the next president to name his successor. And the polls indicate that the far right has very solid chance of winning that election. I think you could say that this is a recognition that there's probably going to be a big shift of power, and it's not necessarily going to be towards Macon's allies.

Lee says that some members of France's business community share Macron's concerns about the RN's economic plans. The far right doesn't have a lot of people with deep and very strong credentials on everything's related to the economy and monetary policy. They are kind of struggling to win credibility with business leaders. They're struggling to get meetings with CEOs and that sort of thing. They've had some flip-flops on key economic and economic. policy issues like taxation and whether they would support higher taxes or lower taxes. And France has a public finance issue, you know, rising debts, a huge deficit. And although the RN say that they are committed to bringing the deficit down,

they haven't really spelled out how they would do that in a way that is really convincing. Nova Nordisk is suing Hems and Hers over patent infringement. The suit comes days after the telehealth company launched and then abruptly cancelled, a $49 copy of Novo's blockbuster weight loss pill Wagovi. The lawsuit sent Novo shares up 6% while hymns plunged 25%. Analysts say it could signal a broader crackdown on compounded weight loss drugs that have been eating into the Farmer Giants' profits. For more on Econ and Business News, tune into our sister markets podcast Morning Bid,

available wherever you get your podcasts. An update now on Ski-Great Lindsay Vaughn, who suffered a complex leg fracture in a crashed 13 seconds into her weekend downhill race at the Milano Cortina Olympics. The injury will require multiple surgeries, two of which she's had in Italy. The 41-year-old says in an Instagram post that she has no regrets. And staying in Italy, the Winter Olympics has a breaking problem, literally. That's the sound of German biathlete Justus Strelow's bronze medal breaking loose from its ribbon and falling to the floor while celebrating his team's win.

Olympic organisers are investigating why medals keep snapping. cracking and falling off athletes, sometimes just minutes after they're rewarded. The issue may stem from a breakaway cord mechanism required by law to prevent choking. Organizers say they're looking into the problem and promise replacements. And for today's recommended read, Reuters' reporting has unearthed the first direct evidence of Ethiopia's involvement in Sudan's civil war. Ethiopia is hosting a secret camp, training thousands of fighters for the rapid support forces paramilitary group in neighboring Sudan.

There's a link to the story and satellite images showing the camp's scale in the pod description. For more on any of the stories from today, check out roiders.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.