Reuters World News - UPDATE- Munich, Dubai Epstein fallout, Guthrie FBI block

Episode Date: February 13, 2026

This podcast has been updated for the latest news on Don Lemon pleading not guilty in Minnesota ICE protest case, the Trump administration suing Harvard and the DP World CEO resigning over alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein.*  Reuters exclusive reporting finds an Arizona sheriff is blocking FBI access to evidence in the case of missing Nancy Guthrie. U.S. President Donald Trump’s upheaval of Atlantic ties looms over the Munich Security Conference. Plus, Russia blocks WhatsApp. Listen to the Morning Bid podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast ⁠⁠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 Tara Oaks in Liverpool. And I'm Sharon Reich Garson in New Jersey today. An Arizona sheriff is blocking FBI access to evidence in Nancy Guthrie's abduction. The Epstein files take down one of the most prominent CEOs in the Middle East. The Minnesota immigration crackdown is ending. Trump looms large over the Munich Security Conference. And Russia locks WhatsApp. This is Rooters World News, bringing you everything you need to know on the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week.

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon has pleaded not guilty in a Minnesota federal court. He's facing charges over his live stream coverage of a protest that disrupted a church service back in January. Prosecutors say Lemon conspired to deprive worshippers of their civil rights. His lawyers argue the case is a direct attack on press. freedom. Supporters have turned up inside the courtroom filling seats and outside more have rallied, calling the charges politically motivated. The Trump administration is suing Harvard, accusing the university of dragging its feet in a federal probe into whether it has illegally considered race in admissions. The Justice Department says Harvard has been slow walking key

documents, including policies and emails tied to diversity and equity programs that are now banned. The suit lands as Trump is threatening to freeze federal funds over pro-Palestinian protests, diversity, and transgender policies. Harvard hasn't commented. The fallout from the newly released Epstein files is spread to Dubai. The CEO of Dubai Port Giant DP World, Sultan Ahmed bin Saliam, is resists. designing over his alleged ties to Epstein. Bin Salim is one of the most prominent business figures in the Middle East. The allegations have put the logistics giant under significant foreign pressure. Pressure, which Emirati companies usually don't give into, as our reporter Naze Assyrian explains.

We kind of really have to understand the scale of DP world here. It's employees more than 100,000 people worldwide. It's active in more than 80 countries. It has massive, massive, massive. investments around the world. It has partners and sponsorships that include some of the most prominent organizations in the world, including McLaren, for example, the Formula One racing team. So this is a shake-up in one of the pillars of global trade. This comes after sustained pressure from D.P. World's partners from around the world, and we've seen them pause investments with DP World. And what's very noteworthy here is that this is one of the few instances that I can call where Emirati companies are sort of acquiescing to foreign pressure. We usually see

kind of Emirati companies do what they want because of the scale of resources at their disposal and because of the kind of relationships they have with global powers. And in the U.S., the Epstein files have led to the most high-profile exit in the banking world. Goldman Sachs' top lawyer has stepped down after documents shows, accepted gifts from a late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and advised him on how to address media inquiries regarding his crimes. Kathy Rumler says she had no knowledge of his ongoing criminal conduct. A sheriff is blocking FBI access to key evidence in the investigation

into the abduction of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of the today show host, Savannah Guthrie. That's according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of a case. The FBI asked Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos for evidence, including a glove and DNA from her home, in order to process it at the FBI's National Crime Lab in Quantico, Virginia. But Nanos insisted on using a private lab in Florida. According to Reuters' source, outsourcing that forensic analysis is hampering the FBI's ability to help in the case. A spokesperson for the sheriff did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Now the endangerment finding is hereby eliminated.

As well as all greenhouse gas emission standards that followed, the red tape has been cut. That's EPA Administrator Lee Zeldon, and the red tape he's referring to is the endangerment finding. That's the 2009 scientific determination that greenhouse gas emissions threaten human health. And rolling it back means ending the federal government's authority to control pollution. It's the most sweeping climate change policy rollback by the administration to date. I have proposed, and President Trump has concurred, that this surge operation conclude. Bordesard Tom Homan announcing a significant drawdown of immigration officers in Minneapolis, following the tumultuous surge, which has left two U.S. citizens dead and sparked nationwide protests.

Homan says the agency should prioritize targeting criminals and stressed that the pullback was not a retreat, noting some success in arresting what he called public safety threats, as well as gaining cooperation of local law enforcement. But those that say we are backing down from immigration enforcement or the province of mass deportations, you are simply wrong. Look at the data. Record number of arrest and deportations under President Trump's first year. And we'll continue that effort.

Meanwhile, Democrats in the U.S. Senate have blocked legislation that would fund the Department of Homeland Security passed today's deadline, raising the likelihood of a DHS shutdown tomorrow morning. Democrats said they would not support funding the agency unless Republicans agree to reforms that would rein in immigration agents. German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz opened the Munich Security Conference announcing that Germany in France have begun confidential talks about, about a European nuclear deterrent. He says the world's old order is crumbling

and Europe needs to grow stronger to reset its relationship with Washington. The conference is arguably the most significant gathering of European and American defense officials. Our correspondent Sabina Zibold in Munich says European leaders are hoping U.S. Secretary of State

Marco Rubio will strike a different tone than Vice President J.D. Vance did last year. Munich last year suddenly was a total shock. JD Vance basically took the stage and raised doubts over free speech in Europe, for example. It was very much an attack. People were absolutely shocked because they felt that the Americans were actually pulling the rock beneath transatlantic relations. This year will have Secretary of State Rubio taking the stage in Munich. He has been the one in the US administration in the past who basically chose a much, much softer language

and chose to really engage with Europeans much more. Russia has banned the popular messaging app WhatsApp. The government says the meta-owned platform violated local laws, but it may also be part of an effort to move citizens to a state-controlled messaging service. Our Russia chief political correspondent, Andrew Osborne, has more. I mean, WhatsApp for years now has been one of the most popular messenger apps inside Russia. It's been under pressure for some time. This is not an overnight development.

In August, Russia's state communications regulator came out with an announcement that said it wasn't happy with WhatsApp. And at that point, Russians lost the ability to make phone calls on WhatsApp. It just stopped working overnight. What the authorities are trying to do is they're trying to make the max state-backed app a kind of an indispensable part of everyday life, something that you cannot do without to carry out your kind of basic business. And they've been trying to encourage people voluntarily to make that switch. But of course, at the same time, they've been exerting this enormous pressure on foreign-owned apps like WhatsApp. And the other big one, of course, in Russia, is Telegram, the Telegram app. Critics say that Russia is increasingly moving in the direction of China where the internet is,

you know, very tightly controlled and there's less scope for freedom for citizens. Russia says it's actually not doing that. But yeah, what it means in practice is that if you are a Russian citizen and you want to use apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, you can only do that if you, you can only do that. if you have access to a reliable VPN, a virtual private network. And at the same time, Russia is clamping down on VPNs themselves. So it's a game of cat and mouth, really. And finally, a recommended listen for your weekend.

A sister markets podcast morning bid is also on seven days a week, wherever you get your podcasts. For all your market moving news from the week that was, you can catch the weekend review which drops on Saturday. mornings. And for everything that's on tap for the week coming, you can catch the week ahead on Sunday mornings. 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 favourite podcast player. And 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.