By STEPHEN GROVES

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton finalized an agreement with House Republicans Tuesday to testify in a House investigation into Jeffrey Epstein this month, bowing to the threat of a contempt of Congress vote against them.

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Hillary Clinton will testify before the House Oversight Committee on Feb. 26 and Bill Clinton will appear on Feb. 27. It will mark the first time that lawmakers have compelled a former president to testify.

The arrangement comes after months of negotiating between the two sides as Republicans sought to make the Clintons a focal point in a House committee’s investigation into Epstein, a convicted sex offender who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019, and Ghislaine Maxwell, his former girlfriend.

“We look forward to now questioning the Clintons as part of our investigation into the horrific crimes of Epstein and Maxwell, to deliver transparency and accountability for the American people and for survivors,” Rep. James Comer, the chair of the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement.

For months, the Clintons resisted subpoenas from the committee, but House Republicans — with support from a few Democrats — had advanced criminal contempt of Congress charges to a potential vote this week. It threatened the Clintons with the potential for substantial fines and even prison time if they had been convicted.

Even as the Clintons bowed to that pressure, the negotiating between GOP lawmakers and attorneys for the Clintons was marked by distrust as they wrangled over the details of the deposition. They agreed to have the closed-door depositions transcribed and recorded on video, Comer said.

But the belligerence is likely to only grow as Republicans relish the opportunity to grill longtime political foes under oath.

Clinton, like a number of other high-powered men, had a well-documented relationship with Epstein in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He has not been accused of wrongdoing in his interactions with the late financier.

Both Clintons have said they had no knowledge that Epstein was sexually abusing underage girls.

The Clintons initially argued the subpoenas for their testimony were invalid and offered to submit sworn declarations on their limited knowledge of Epstein’s crimes. But as Comer threatened to proceed with contempt of Congress charges, they began looking for an off-ramp.

Both Clintons have remained highly critical of how Comer has handled the Epstein investigation and argue that he is more focused on bringing them in for testimony rather than holding the Trump administration accountable for how it has handled the release of its files on Epstein.

Still, the threat of a vote on contempt charges raised the potential for Congress to use one of its most severe punishments against a former president for the first time. Historically, Congress has shown deference to former presidents. None has ever been forced to testify before lawmakers, although a few have voluntarily done so.

By KONSTANTIN TOROPIN and FARNOUSH AMIRI, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. Navy fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that was approaching the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea, U.S. Central Command said Tuesday, threatening to ramp up tensions as the Trump administration warns of possible military action to get Iran to the negotiating table.

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The drone “aggressively approached” the aircraft carrier with “unclear intent” and “continued to fly toward the ship despite de-escalatory measures taken by U.S. forces operating in international waters,” Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins said in a statement Tuesday.

The shootdown occurred within hours of Iranian forces harassing a U.S.-flagged and U.S.-crewed merchant vessel that was sailing in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. military said.

The Shahed-139 drone was shot down by an F-35C fighter jet from the Lincoln, which, according to Hawkins, was sailing about 500 miles (800 kilometers) from Iran’s southern coast. The military’s statement noted that no American troops were harmed and no U.S. equipment was damaged.

Then, hours later, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces harassed the merchant vessel Stena Imperative, the military said.

According to Hawkins’ statement, two boats and an Iranian Mohajer drone approached the ship “at high speeds and threatened to board and seize the tanker.”

The destroyer USS McFaul responded to the scene and escorted the Stena Imperative “with defensive air support from the U.S. Air Force,” the statement said, adding that the merchant vessel was now sailing safely.

The actions come as tensions are high between the longtime adversaries. They began to rise again as Iran’s government spent weeks quelling protests that began in late December against growing economic instability before broadening into a challenge to the Islamic Republic.

President Donald Trump had promised in early January to “rescue” Iranians from their government’s bloody crackdown on protesters, which later morphed into a pressure campaign to get Tehran to make a deal over its nuclear program. That is even as the Republican president insists Iranian nuclear sites were “obliterated” in U.S. strikes in June.

“We have talks going on with Iran. We’ll see how it all works out,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday. Asked what his threshold was for military action against Iran, he declined to elaborate.

“I’d like to see a deal negotiated,” Trump said. “Right now, we’re talking to them, we’re talking to Iran, and if we could work something out, that’d be great. And if we can’t, probably bad things would happen.”

The U.S. shot down the drone hours after Iran’s president said Tuesday that he instructed the country’s foreign minister to “pursue fair and equitable negotiations” with the U.S., marking one of the first clear signs from Tehran it wants to try to negotiate with Washington despite a breakdown of talks last summer.

Turkey had been working behind the scenes to make the talks happen there later this week as U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff is traveling in the region. A Turkish official later said that the location of talks was uncertain but that Turkey was ready to support the process.

Amiri reported from New York.

By LUIS ANDRES HENAO

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (AP) — Haitians living in the U.S. were given a reprieve, at least for the time being, when a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from ending temporary immigration protections that were initially put in place after the catastrophic 2010 earthquake that rocked their homeland.

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U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington granted a request on Monday to pause the termination of temporary protected status, or TPS, for Haitians while a lawsuit challenging the administration’s effort to end it proceeds. The TPS designation for people from the Caribbean island country had been scheduled to expire Tuesday.

“We can breathe for a little bit,” said Rose-Thamar Joseph, the operations director of the Haitian Support Center in Springfield, an Ohio city that is home to roughly 15,000 Haitians whom President Donald Trump denigrated in 2024 by falsely suggesting they ate their neighbors’ cats and dogs. “It is not a final victory, because a judge cannot redesign a country for TPS or extend the TPS, but it means a lot for us.”

The TPS designation allows roughly 350,000 Haitians to live and work in the U.S., though it doesn’t provide a legal pathway to citizenship. The Homeland Security secretary may grant the designation if conditions in home countries are deemed unsafe for return due to a natural disaster, political instability or other dangers.

Haiti is one of several countries that Trump has aggressively sought to strip of TPS protections as part of his administration’s wider, mass deportation effort.

In her written opinion, Reyes said the plaintiffs’ lawsuit was likely to prevail on its merits and that she found it “substantially likely” that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem preordained her termination decision because of “hostility to nonwhite immigrants.”

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin denounced the ruling as “lawless activism.”

“Haiti’s TPS was granted following an earthquake that took place over 15 years ago,” she said in a statement. “It was never intended to be a de facto amnesty program, yet that’s how previous administrations have used it for decades. The Trump administration is restoring integrity to our immigration system to keep our homeland and its people safe.”

Many Haitians in Springfield were worried that if their TPS status were ended, the administration might surge immigration officers to the city to begin rounding them up. Hours before the stay was granted, though, McLaughlin said DHS did not “have any new operations to announce.”

Haiti’s TPS status was activated after the 2010 earthquake and was extended multiple times. The country has since been racked by gang violence that has displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

In addition to Haitians, Noem has terminated protections for about 600,000 Venezuelans, 60,000 people from Honduras, Nicaragua and Nepal, more than 160,000 Ukrainians and thousands of people from Afghanistan and Cameroon. Some have pending lawsuits in federal courts.

“If the termination stands, people will almost certainly die,” attorneys for Haitian TPS holders wrote in a court filing in December. “Some will likely be killed, others will likely die from disease, and yet others will likely starve to death.”

Faith leaders and Haitian community leaders pray at St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Springfield, Ohio, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, during an event in support of Haitian migrants fearing the end of their Temporary Protected Status in the U.S. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)

They said the decision to end Haiti’s status was motivated by racial animus, and that Noem had failed to consider whether there was an ongoing armed conflict that would pose a “serious threat” to personal safety, as required by law.

DHS, though, contends that conditions in Haiti have improved. In a November announcement about the ending of TPS for Haitians, the government said there had been some positive developments for Haiti, including authorization of a new, multinational force to combat gangs. Noem determined allowing Haitians to remain in the U.S. was against the national interest, the notice said.

In a December court filing, administration attorneys said the plaintiffs’ claims of racial animus were based on statements “taken out of context, often from other speakers and from years ago, and without direct links to the Secretary’s determinations.”

“Rather, Secretary Noem provided reasoned, facially sufficient explanations for her determinations.” they argued.

But many Haitians, including Jerome Bazard, a member of the First Haitian Evangelical Church of Springfield, say it’s still not safe enough to return to Haiti.

“They can’t go to Haiti because it’s not safe. Without the TPS, they can’t work. And if they can’t work, they can eat, they can’t pay bills,” he said. “You’re killing the people.”

Associated Press reporters Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus contributed to this report.

By KAMILA HRABCHUK

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia carried out a major overnight attack on Ukraine in what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday was a broken commitment to halt striking energy infrastructure as the countries prepared for more talks on ending Moscow’s 4-year-old full-scale invasion.

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The bombardment included hundreds of drones and a record 32 ballistic missiles, wounding at least 10 people. It specifically took aim at the power grid, Zelenskyy said, as part of what Ukraine says is Moscow’s ongoing campaign to deny civilians light, heating and running water during the coldest winter in years.

“Taking advantage of the coldest days of winter to terrorize people is more important to Russia than diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said. Temperatures in Kyiv fell to minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit) during the night and stood at minus 16 C (minus 3 F) on Tuesday.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte visited Kyiv in a show of support. He said that the overnight strikes raise doubts about Moscow’s intentions on the eve of talks, calling them “a really bad signal.”

He added that it was clear that the attacks only strengthen Ukrainians’ resolve.

Officials have described recent talks between Moscow and Kyiv delegations as constructive. But after a year of efforts, the Trump administration is still searching for a breakthrough on key issues such as who keeps the Ukrainian land that Russia’s army has occupied, and a comprehensive settlement appears distant. The talks in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine is ready to discuss how to end the fighting. “But no one is going to surrender,” he said.

Dispute over power grid attacks

A Kremlin official said last week that Russia had agreed to halt strikes on Kyiv for a week until Feb. 1 because of the frigid temperatures, following a personal request from U.S. President Donald Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, the bitter cold is continuing and so are Russia’s aerial attacks.

Zelenskyy, however, accused Russia of breaking its commitment to hold off its attacks on Ukraine’s energy assets, claiming the weeklong pause was due to come into force last Friday.

“We believe this Russian strike clearly violates what the American side discussed, and there must be consequences,” he said.

The bombardment of at least five regions of Ukraine comprised 450 long-range drones and 70 missiles, Ukrainian officials said.

Russian officials provided no immediate response to Zelenskyy’s comments.

Ukraine says Russia has tried to wear down Ukrainians’ appetite for the fight by creating hardship for the civilian population living in dark, freezing homes.

It has tried to wreck Ukraine’s electricity network, targeting substations, transformers, turbines and generators at power plants. Ukraine’s largest private power company, DTEK, said that the overnight attack hit its thermal power plants in the ninth major assault since October.

NATO show of support

Rutte addressed the Ukrainian parliament during his visit and said that countries in the military alliance “are ready to provide support quickly and consistently” as peace efforts drag on.

Since last summer, NATO members have provided 75% of all missiles, and 90% of those used for Ukraine’s air defense, under a financial arrangement whereby alliance countries buy American weapons to give to Ukraine, he said.

European countries, fearing Moscow’s ambitions, see their own future security as being on the line in Ukraine.

“Be assured that NATO stands with Ukraine and is ready to do so for years to come,” Rutte said. “Your security is our security. Your peace is our peace. And it must be lasting.”

Kyiv apartment blocks left without power

In Kyiv, officials said that five people were wounded in the strikes that damaged and set fire to residential buildings, a kindergarten and a gas station in various parts of the capital, according to the State Emergency Service.

By early morning, 1,170 apartment buildings in the capital were without heating, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. That set back desperate repair operations that had restored heat to all but 80 apartment buildings before the attack, he said.

Russia also struck Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, where injuries were reported, and the southern Odesa region.

The attack also damaged the Hall of Fame at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, in Kyiv, Ukrainian Culture Minister Tetiana Berezhna said.

“It is symbolic and cynical at the same time: The aggressor state strikes a place of memory about the fight against aggression in the 20th century, repeating crimes in the 21st,” Berezhna said.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine