By STEPHEN GROVES

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is testifying before House lawmakers in New York on Thursday as part of a congressional investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, starting off two days of depositions that will also include former President Bill Clinton.

The closed-door depositions in the Clintons’ hometown of Chappaqua, a typically quiet hamlet north of New York City, come after months of tense back-and-forth between the former high-powered Democratic couple and the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee. It will be the first time that a former president has been forced to testify before Congress.

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Yet the demand for a reckoning over Epstein’s abuse of underage girls has become a near-unstoppable force on Capitol Hill and beyond.

President Donald Trump, a Republican who has expressed regret that the Clintons are being forced to testify, bowed last year to pressure to release case files on Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial. The Clintons, too, agreed to testify after their offers of sworn statements were rebuffed by the Oversight panel and its chairman, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., threatened criminal contempt of Congress charges against them.

“We have a very clear record that we’ve been willing to talk about,” Hillary Clinton said in an interview with the BBC earlier this month. She added that her husband had flown with Epstein for charitable trips and that she did not recall meeting Epstein but had interacted with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and confidant, at conferences hosted by the Clinton Foundation.

“We are more than happy to say what we know, which is very limited and totally unrelated to their behavior or their crimes, and we want to do it in public,” Hillary Clinton said.

Bill Clinton, however, has emerged as a top target for Republicans amid the political struggle over who receives the most scrutiny for their ties to Epstein. Several photos of the former president were included in the first tranche of Epstein files released by the Department of Justice in January, including a number of him with women whose faces were redacted. Clinton has not been accused of wrongdoing in his relationship with Epstein.

Comer has also pointed to Hillary Clinton’s work as secretary of state to address sex trafficking as another reason to insist on her deposition. The committee’s investigation has sought to understand why the Department of Justice under previous presidential administrations did not seek further charges against Epstein following a 2008 arrangement in which he pleaded guilty to state charges in Florida for soliciting prostitution from an underage girl but avoided federal charges.

Yet conspiracy theories, especially on the right, have swirled for years around the Clintons and their connections to Epstein and Maxwell, who argues she was wrongfully convicted. Republicans have long wanted to press the Clintons for answers.

“I mean if you’re the wife of Bill Clinton, aren’t you going to have some questions about your husband’s activities?” said Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., a member of the House Oversight Committee. “We only go where the facts take us. We didn’t put the president and the secretary in this position. They put themselves in it.”

Democrats, now being led by a new generation of politicians, have prioritized transparency around Epstein over defending the former leaders of their party. Several Democratic lawmakers joined with Republicans on the Oversight panel to advance the contempt of Congress charges against the Clintons last month. Several said they had no relationship with the Clintons and owed no loyalty to them.

Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight panel, said that both Republican and Democratic administrations “have failed survivors in not getting more information out to the public.” He also said he wanted to ask about Epstein’s possible ties to foreign governments.

Democrats are also coming off an effort this week to confront Trump about his administration’s handling of the Epstein files by taking women who survived Epstein’s abuse as their guests to Trump’s State of the Union address. Even senior Democrats, such as former Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, said it was appropriate for the committee to interview anyone, including the former president, who was connected to Epstein.

“We want to hear from everyone,” Pelosi said, adding that she did not see why Hillary Clinton was being interviewed and that it was important to “believe survivors.”

Follow the AP’s coverage of Jeffrey Epstein at https://apnews.com/hub/jeffrey-epstein.

By JAMEY KEATEN, JON GAMBRELL and MELANIE LIDMAN

GENEVA (AP) — Iran and the United States began indirect talks Thursday in Geneva over Tehran’s nuclear negotiations viewed as a last chance for diplomacy as America has gathered a fleet of aircraft and warships to the Middle East to pressure Tehran into a deal.

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President Donald Trump wants a deal to constrain Iran’s nuclear program, and he sees an opportunity while the country is struggling at home with growing dissent following nationwide protests last month. Iran meanwhile has maintained it wants to continue to enrich uranium even as its program sits in ruins, following Trump ordering an attack in June on three of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites, part of a bruising 12-day war last year.

If an American attack happens, Iran has said all U.S. military bases in the Mideast would be considered legitimate targets, putting at risk tens of thousands of American service members. Iran has also threatened to attack Israel, meaning a regional war again could erupt across the Middle East.

“There would be no victory for anybody — it would be a devastating war,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told India Today in an interview filmed Wednesday just before he flew to Geneva.

“Since the Americans’ bases are scattered through different places in the region, then unfortunately perhaps the whole region would be engaged and be involved, so it is a very terrible scenario.”

Geneva talks are the third meeting since June war

Araghchi again is passing messages to Steve Witkoff, a billionaire real estate developer and friend of Trump who serves as a special Mideast envoy for the president. The two men held multiple rounds of talks last year that collapsed after Israel launched its war against Iran in June. These latest talks are again being mediated by Oman, a sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula that’s long served as an interlocutor between Iran and the West.

Araghchi met Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi after arriving in Geneva on Wednesday night. The men “reviewed the views and proposals that the Iranian side will present to reach an agreement on the Iranian nuclear program, based on the guiding principles agreed upon in the previous round of negotiations,” a report from the state-run Oman News Agency said. Al-Busaidi will pass on Iran’s offer to American officials on Thursday, it added.

The U.S. delegation arrives at the Oman ambassador’s residency, where the indirect nuclear talks between the United States and Iran are taking place in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)

An Associated Press journalist saw al-Busaidi after he met with the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog. The Omani diplomat flashed a thumbs up to a question about whether he was hopeful for the talks.

Al-Busaidi returned Thursday to the Omani diplomatic residence on the shores of Lake Geneva . A convoy believed to be carrying American diplomats later arrived to the compound, followed by another believed to be carrying Iranian diplomats. Oman later published images of Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, meeting with al-Busaidi at the residence, signaling the start of the talks.

Oman’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, right, holds a meeting with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff, centre, and Jared Kushner, as part of the ongoing Iranian-American negotiations, in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday Feb. 26, 2026. (Foreign Ministry of Oman via AP)

In this round of negotiations after the June war, Trump has pushed to halt Iran’s enrichment of uranium entirely, as well as address Tehran’s ballistic missile program and its support of regional militant forces. Iran has maintained the talks must remain focused only on nuclear issues.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Wednesday that Iran is “always trying to rebuild elements” of its nuclear program. He said that Tehran is not enriching uranium right now, “but they’re trying to get to the point where they ultimately can.”

Iran has said it hasn’t enriched since June, but it has blocked IAEA inspectors from visiting the sites America bombed. Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press also has shown activity at two of those sites, suggesting Iran is trying to assess and potentially recover material there.

The West and the IAEA say Iran had a nuclear weapons program until 2003. Before the June attack, it had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to restart a weapons program, but has “undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.” While insisting its program is peaceful, Iranian officials have threatened to pursue the bomb in recent years.

“The principle’s very simple: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” U.S. Vice President JD Vance told reporters at the White House on Wednesday.

Vance said Trump is “sending those negotiators to try to address that problem” and “wants to address that problem diplomatically.”

“But, of course, the president has other options as well,” Vance added.

In this satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC, the headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet is seen in Manama, Bahrain, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. Ships can be seen at its dock. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

Threat of military action sparks war fears

If the talks fail, uncertainty hangs over the timing of any possible attack.

If the aim of potential military action is to pressure Iran to make concessions in nuclear negotiations, it’s not clear whether limited strikes would work. If the goal is to remove Iran’s leaders, that will likely commit the U.S. to a larger, longer military campaign. There has been no public sign of planning for what would come next, including the potential for chaos in Iran.

Vehicles drive past the Saint Sarkis church and a painting of the late Iranian revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini in downtown Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

There is also uncertainty about what any military action could mean for the wider region. Tehran could retaliate against the American-allied nations of the Persian Gulf or Israel. Oil prices have risen in recent days in part due to those concerns, with benchmark Brent crude now about $70 a barrel. Iran in the last round of talks said it briefly halted traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes.

Satellite photos shot Tuesday and Wednesday by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by the AP appeared to show that American vessels typically docked in Bahrain, the home of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, were all out at sea. The 5th Fleet referred questions to the U.S. military’s Central Command, which declined to comment. Before Iran’s attack on Qatar in June, the 5th Fleet similarly scattered its ships at sea to protect against a potential attack.

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Melanie Lidman from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.

In many cultures, rice that sticks at the bottom of a pot isn’t a flaw, it’s a feature. Those crispy, caramelized shards are often the best part, but getting them right is an art. Dishes like Persian tahdig, Korean nurungji and Spanish paella with its socarrat crust all demand experience and skill to achieve that ideal layer of golden rice with its crackerlike bite.

Unless, of course, you cheat.

Instead of laboring over a traditional recipe, you can simply toss the rice with oil and salt, spread it out on a sheet pan and bake it at high heat until the top browns and the edges crackle. While this won’t give you anything time-honored or classic, it does yield a canvas ready to be embellished with spices, aromatics, vegetables and proteins, to create a weeknight-friendly masterpiece of your own.

For this version, I started with the flavors of shrimp fried rice, using plenty of scallion and ginger for brightness, sesame oil and soy sauce for depth, and a dab of fish sauce for funk. Fresh green chiles and lime juice added right before serving finishes it off with a burst of acidity and snap.

The most significant tweak I made to the ingredients was to use short-grain rice instead of the more typical long-grain.

Here, that plump short-grain rice takes on a wonderfully varied texture when roasted — with a soft chew at the center and edges, as if mochi and a potato chip had a love child. Long-grain rice works nicely, too. Just watch it carefully because it browns more quickly than short-grain rice. On the plus side, perhaps, it roasts up shatteringly crisp all the way through.

Either way, be sure to use rice cooked the day before, as it contains less moisture and crisps up more readily than fresh-cooked. And if you have a bag of rice tucked away in the freezer, you can use that. Just spread it on a kitchen towel to thaw before proceeding.

Two final tricks for the best results: To bolster the browning process, massage the oil into the rice to coat every grain, and add the shrimp to the pan only after the rice is already golden. Scattering the shrimp on top just for the last 5 or 10 minutes gives it enough time to blush pink without overcooking.

Then, serve it hot, warm or at room temperature. This dish’s brittle crunch is not only irresistible, but, it turns out, totally flexible.

Sheet-Pan Scallion Shrimp With Crispy Rice

This has the flavors of shrimp fried rice, but with a texture that varies between crunchy and soft. Roasting the oiled rice makes the edges especially crisp, while the center grains stay plump and moist. If you want to substitute long-grain rice, watch it carefully; it browns (and can dry out) more quickly than short-grain.

By Melissa Clark

Yield: 3 to 4 servings

Total time: 1 hour

INGREDIENTS

6 cups cooked white or brown short-grain rice, such as sushi rice
4 tablespoons neutral oil, such as grapeseed, sunflower or avocado, more as needed
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated
1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt or table salt, more to taste
5 garlic cloves, finely grated or minced
1 tablespoon finely grated or minced fresh ginger (from a 1-inch piece)
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil, more to taste
1 teaspoon fish sauce or soy sauce, more to taste
1 pound medium or large shrimp, cleaned
1 jalapeño or serrano chile, halved, seeded and finely chopped
1 tablespoon lime juice, more to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the oven to 450 degrees.

2. Spread the cooked rice out on a sheet pan. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil, then sprinkle with the scallion whites and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix and massage the rice until it’s evenly coated with salt, scallions and oil. Add a little more oil, if needed, to fully coat the rice so that it crisps up in the oven.

3. Spread everything out into an even layer and roast until the rice is crisp at the edges, 25 to 35 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the garlic, ginger, sesame oil, fish sauce and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and mix well. Transfer half of this paste to a small bowl and set aside for later (this will become your sauce).

5. Add shrimp to the large bowl and toss until the pieces are well coated. Let sit at room temperature while the rice cooks.

6. When the rice is golden brown in spots (especially along the edges), scatter the shrimp on top in one layer and continue to roast until the shrimp are cooked through, 5 to 10 minutes longer, depending on size.

7. To finish the sauce, stir the remaining 2 tablespoons neutral oil, lime juice and jalapeños into the ginger mixture.

8. Dab or drizzle the sauce onto the rice and shrimp, and stir everything so the crisp parts are mixed into the soft part of the rice and the shrimp gets laced throughout. Taste rice and add a little more salt, fish sauce, sesame oil and lime juice, if necessary; rice can take a lot of seasoning. Top everything with scallion greens to serve.

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Lest you think that restaurants are out of the woods because of the decrease in federal troops, I talked to one owner this week who is buying groceries for three employees and hasn’t paid themselves since November.

You don’t have to be particularly good at math to understand that this is not sustainable. And that eatery’s story is repeated throughout the Twin Cities.

So, if you want our fantastic culinary scene to survive, you have an assignment: Go out for a meal. Enjoy yourself. Tip generously. That’s it! Easy, right?

I’m still trying to support immigrant-owned restaurants, but please know that nearly every restaurant owner I have talked to recently is a few bad weeks away from closure. So follow your cravings. It just so happens that many of mine tend to lead me toward global cuisine.

Coconut Thai

Thai Basil stir fry at Coconut Thai on St. Paul’s Grand Avenue. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

It had been a while since I visited this Grand Avenue spot, so some friends and I stopped in on a recent weeknight.

The pretty, modern dining room was only about half full, but a steady stream of people came in to pick up takeout, which is another great way to support restaurants right now.

Like King and I in Mendota Heights, Coconut Thai boasts a matriarchal chef who grew up in Thailand. And like at King and I, the food here is incredibly fresh and flavorful.

We shared a smattering of dishes, from chewy-crisp gyoza and fried tofu to three tasty main dishes.

The drunken noodles, which were described as having a “distinct spiciness,” were not spicy at all, but the deeply umami, slightly sweet sauce sure was tasty. If you like spice, I’d recommend asking for more.

The masaman curry was pretty classic — potatoes and meat bathed in a coconutty red curry. It’s up there with others I’ve tried in the cities and I’d totally order it again.

Finally, we ordered the Thai basil stir fry to add some roughage (my grandma used this word frequently and it cracks me up) to our meal. Turns out, it was the dish we liked the most! Tons of bright, fresh veggies in a mildly spicy, salty and floral sauce kept our forks coming back for more.

A decent wine list made this girlfriend-dinner approved, too.

Coconut Thai: 720 Grand Ave., St. Paul; 651-348-7250; coconutthaimn.com

Taco n Madre

The Taco n Madre taco at Taco n Madre on St. Paul’s West Side. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

I’m embarrassed to admit I hadn’t been to this Mexican restaurant, in the former Jerabek’s Bakery location on the West Side, until a few weeks ago.

I have friends who live a few blocks away, so I suggested it for a recent dinner. It did not disappoint.

The funniest friend in our group thought it essential that we order the restaurant’s signature taco, the Taco n Madre, described as a 12-inch flour hard-shell taco, with your choice of meat, French fries, cheese, lettuce, pico de gallo and chipotle sauce.

This thing is comically large, so my friend definitely got the laughs he craves, as well as a pretty delicious dinner (and lunch the next day, and maybe dinner again). The crisp, flaky tortilla is fried in-house, and the inside is as described. As entertaining as it was to watch my friend try, picking this thing up and eating it like a regular taco is pretty difficult.

Another friend was very happy with her birria and fish tacos, and we loved that you can order them a la carte, making it easy to try a few kinds.

I’m almost never in a burrito mood, but the Burrito Bandera sounded really good to me. It’s also a giant thing, filled black beans, lettuce, pico, sour cream, cheese, guacamole and meat. It’s topped with white queso, green and red sauce, representing the colors of the Mexican flag, and is adorably served on a heart-shaped plate. I managed to eat about half of it, and that was a feat.

As positive as our experience at Taco n Madre was, there was also a bit of a dark cloud hanging over the whole thing. We had to knock at the locked door to be let in. And beyond the wall of the main dining room, the second dining area has been turned into a giant food pantry, with neighbors bringing everything from toilet paper to beans to ramen to help feed people who are afraid to leave their homes. I hope someday soon I can return and it’ll just be a really great taco place.

Taco n Madre: 63 Winifred St., St. Paul; 651-340-4614; taconmadremn.com

Rosedale Burger Dive

Left to right, the Peppero, Dilla and Ollie martinis at Burger Dive in Rosedale Center. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

Ever since watching the “Parks and Recreation” episode where the ladies on the show celebrate Galentine’s Day, I have wanted to get my gal pals together to raise a glass.

Unfortunately, it never seems to work out for me.

But this year, I happened to see that the new Burger Dive location in Rosedale Center had some briny martini specials, and my martini-loving ladies could not say no!

It was our first time at this Burger Dive, and we were surprised by how huge the space, which has been outfitted with wood paneling and beer signs to look like a dive bar, was. The bar is enormous, too, if you’re the type who likes to belly up, and there’s an old-school pull-tab booth, which was manned (womanned?) by someone named Lucille the night we were there. I mean, it doesn’t get more authentic than that.

Your average ladies might be interested in chocolate martinis or cosmos, but we are dirty martini, extra olives, fans, and these martinis fit the bill. There are three options: the Dilla, made with house pickles and vodka; the Peppero, made with Covalle Tomato Water Gin, vodka, vermouth, brine and Calabrian chili; and the Ollie, a pretty classic dirty martini.

All three of them were excellent, though the clear winner in my eyes was the spicy, umami Peppero, so much so that I’m trying to find that tomato water gin.

Since we were there, we had some burgers for dinner, and they were as delicious as the burgers at their other locations.

If you are in the area, especially to see a movie at the AMC theater that’s just steps away, I recommend a stop for a burger and a martini, or whatever drink floats your boat. The beer selection is great, and there are lots of nonalcoholic options, too.

Rosedale Burger Dive: 1595 Minnesota 36, Roseville; 651-340-2389; burgerdivemn.com

How to help

Looking for a way to help restaurants besides eating out? Some local industry insiders have launched the Salt Cure Restaurant Recovery Fund (thesaltcurefund.org) to help struggling eateries.

The fund helps cover things like payroll and lease payments and prioritizes restaurants that don’t have a digital footprint or access to fundraising support.

It’s administered by the Minneapolis Foundation, which has 110 years of experience in getting resources to those who need it most.

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