Reuters World News - UPDATE - Trump drops Anthropic, Cuba "friendly takeover" and Bill Clinton
Episode Date: February 27, 2026*This podcast has been updated for the latest news on President Donald Trump's statement that he is directing federal agencies to stop using AI company Anthropic's technology. The update also includes... details of Bill Clinton's closed door hearing on his relationship with Epstein, and suggestions of a "friendly takeover" of Cuba by the U.S. administration. Pakistan bombs Taliban targets in Afghanistan. Netflix walks away from the Warner Bros deal paving the way for a Paramount Skydance win. And U.S. Border patrol is under scrutiny after releasing a near-blind, Rohingya refugee in Buffalo who was later found dead. Plus, the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Americans on both sides of the political aisle are souring on the economy. 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
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Hi there, I'm Kim Vennel in Wanganui, New Zealand.
And I'm Sharon Resh Garson in New Jersey. Today, Bill Clinton testifies about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump orders federal agencies to stop using anthropic AI systems.
Pakistan bombs targets in major cities in Afghanistan overnight.
Paramount Skydance wins the battle to take over Warner Brothers, making a deal too sweet for Netflix to match.
And the death of an almost blind refugee on the streets of Buffalo sparks anger at U.S. immigration authorities.
This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week.
U.S. President Donald Trump is ordering every federal agency to immediately stop using technology from the AI company Anthropic.
The move comes as the Pentagon and Anthropic have been locked to.
in a feud over how the military could use AI in wartime. Trump says the Defense Department and
some others will have six months to phase out those tools. In a post-on-truth social, Trump says
the government doesn't, quote, need Anthropic and will not do business with them again,
adding in all caps that the U.S. would, quote, never allow a radical left-woke company
to dictate how our great military fights and wins wars. Anthropic has never.
not responded to Reuters' request for comment.
Former President Bill Clinton tells lawmakers he, quote,
saw nothing suggesting Jeffrey Epstein was abusing underage girls.
And he says he would have reported him if he did.
Clinton testified behind closed doors about his ties to the late financier
and says he wouldn't have flown on Epstein's plane several times in the early 2000s
if he'd known about his alleged crimes.
The oversight committee has also questioned Hillary Clinton, who says she doesn't remember ever meeting Epstein.
The Cuban government is talking with us. They're in a big deal of trouble, as you know.
U.S. President Donald Trump is raising the idea of what he calls a, quote, friendly takeover of Cuba,
telling reporters at the White House that the country's in trouble and Secretary of State Marco Rubio's dealing with the issue at a very high level.
They have no money. They have no anything right now. But they're talking with us and maybe we'll have a friendly takeover of Cuban.
The Cuban government says it's not conducting any high-level talks with Washington. However, Havana hasn't outright denied press reports that U.S. officials may be speaking informally with the grandson of Cuba's former leader, Raul Castro.
It's open war. That is the message from Pakistan's defense minister.
after the country bombed Taliban targets in neighbouring Afghanistan overnight.
Pakistan security forces posted footage showing what they say were strikes on Afghanistan's capital, Kabul.
Sources said the air and ground strikes took out Taliban posts,
headquarters and ammunition depots in multiple sectors along the border.
Both sides are reporting heavy casualties inflicted on the other,
but the figures cited by each country could not be verified by Reuters.
Witnesses described the sounds of loud blasts and jets, which gave way to ambulance sirens.
Reuters news editor Saad Saeed is monitoring the story.
Saad, what do we know so far?
This seems like the biggest escalation in fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan
since the Taliban came to power in 2021.
In terms of the scale of the strikes, it appears
bigger than the October skirmishes.
Pakistan has hit what are official government installations.
We're unclear on what those installations are,
which is a serious escalation from before,
where Pakistan said it was hitting militant strongholds,
although the Taliban did report civilian casualties in previous attacks.
Pakistan and Afghanistan share a 1600-mile-long border,
which now threatens to become a front line.
At the center of the fighting, accusations by Pakistan that the Taliban is harboring militants inside its borders.
Historically, when the Taliban came to power in 2021, it seemed like there was no cause for concern as far as Pakistan goes.
But quickly, it turned out that, or at least Pakistan claimed that the Taliban is providing sanctuary to militants who were carrying out attacks against Pakistan.
The Taliban has denied ever-giving sanctuary to any militants on its own territory
and has said Pakistan security is an internal problem.
You can follow this developing story at Reuters.com or by downloading the app.
The takeover battle described as the biggest thriller in Hollywood has come to an end.
And the winner, Paramount Skydance, which beat out Netflix to have its takeover bid for Warner Brothers accepted.
It is a dramatic reversal in a battle that's been grinding on since last fall
and which involves one of the world's richest men.
Entertainment reporter Dawn Chimalesky says in the end,
Netflix didn't want to match Paramount's bid.
It's a $31 share offer, which is up from the original $30 offer.
But there were a number of terms that Paramount incorporated
to demonstrate its confidence in closing the deal.
For example, it agreed to pay Warner Brothers a $7,000,
billion dollar fee if it fails to gain regulatory approval for this deal. It also offered investors a
25 cent per share ticking fee for every quarter that this deal goes beyond September and fails to
close. So that, again, demonstrates its ability to get this deal done. And lastly, billionaire Larry Allison,
whose son, David, is the CEO of Paramount, is personally backing the deal. One of the advisors I spoke with
said that Netflix really was reluctant to get into a sustained bidding war with one of the world's
richest men. In fact, they said there's no playing chicken with someone who won't turn the wheel.
Netflix shares jumped when investors learned it was out of the running. But as far as Paramount
is concerned, Dawn says they've bought content and IP that they hope will return dividends.
About 60 or 70% of the time that we spend on streaming services is actually viewing old movies or
older TV shows. So that would be a tool in retaining subscribers and keeping them watching.
And Warner Brothers over 100 years has developed this trove of characters that we know from
DC superheroes like Superman and Batman to fantasy series like Harry Potter. It will likely
combine the two television networks, CNN, this global, you know, global cable net and CBS broadcaster.
For more on Paramount Surprise, Wynn, tune in to our sister podcast Morning Bid.
Our nation is back, bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before.
President Donald Trump during his State of the Union speech, where he made several claims about the economy.
But new data from the latest Reuters-Ipsos poll shows he's still to convince Americans that he's got the economy under control.
Washington correspondent Jason Lang has more.
Two-thirds of Americans disagree with that.
They disagree with a statement that the U.S. economy is booming, 30% agree.
Most Democrats are an overwhelming share of Democrats think that the economy is not booming.
Republicans are more divided with only a bit over half thinking the economy is booming.
Also in the poll, inflation, with people asked whether they agree with the statement,
there is hardly any inflation in the U.S.
82% of respondents in our poll said that they disagree with a statement that there's hardly any inflation in America right now.
Even in the Republican Party, 72% said that they disagreed with a statement that there's virtually no inflation.
That's pretty high.
You can see the rest of the poll data and Jason's analysis on Reuters.com.
More bad news for UK Prime Minister Kier Stama, an embanker.
Sadracing setback as the Green Party wins a special election near Manchester,
an area which has been a Labour stronghold for decades.
The result marks the first time the Greens have won a British by-election.
US Border Patrol is under scrutiny again,
after a Rohingya refugee who was nearly blind,
was found dead on the streets of Buffalo.
58-year-old Noural-Aman Shah Alam went missing
after he was moved from prison,
where he was awaiting trial
and what ended up as a misdemeanor
to Border Patrol custody.
When Border agents realized he was in the country legally
as a refugee, they released him.
Neural then went missing
and temperatures outside were freezing.
Reporter Christina Cook says
Border Patrol agents are now in the spotlight.
Border Patrol gave Shah Alam
what they called a courtesy ride
to a coffee shop near his last known address,
but they didn't note
the family of where he was released.
And the address board for had for him was old.
The family had moved across town a few miles away.
You know, of course, this was a person who didn't speak English, was nearly blind,
and his son said he didn't read, write, or use technology.
Buffalo's mayor, Sean Ryan, who's a Democrat,
said in this statement on Wednesday that Shah Alam's death was preventable
and the result of inhumane decision-making by federal immigration authorities.
A customs and border protection spokesperson did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment on the case.
But in a statement to a local news outlet, a CBP spokesperson said,
Neural agreed to be taken to a coffee shop, a place agents determined to be warm and safe,
and near his last known address.
They say he showed no signs of any disabilities requiring special assistance.
For more on any of the stories from today,
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