AP News in Brief at 6:04 p.m. EST

The president moved quickly to sign the bill after the House approved it with a 217-214 vote.

“This bill is a great victory for the American people,” Trump said.

The vote Tuesday wrapped up congressional work on 11 annual appropriations bills that fund government agencies and programs through Sept. 30. Trump has said he will sign the bill when it reaches his desk, ending the partial government shutdown that began Saturday.

Passage of the legislation marked the end point for one funding fight, but the start of another. That's because the package only funds the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks, through Feb 13, at the behest of Democrats who are demanding more restrictions on immigration enforcement after the shooting deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal officers in Minneapolis.

US shoots down Iranian drone that 'aggressively' approached an aircraft carrier, military says

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.

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

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 American military said.

The developments could escalate the heightened tensions between the longtime adversaries as President Donald Trump has threatened to use military action first over Iran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests and then to try to get the country to make a deal over its nuclear program. Trump's Republican administration has built up military forces in the region, sending the aircraft carrier, guided-missile destroyers, air defense assets and more to supplement its presence.

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

Clintons finalize agreement to testify in House Epstein probe, bowing to threat of contempt vote

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.

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, both Democrats, 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.

UK police open criminal investigation into politician Peter Mandelson over alleged leaks to Epstein

LONDON (AP) — British police on Tuesday opened a criminal investigation into politician Peter Mandelson over alleged misconduct in public office related to his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The U.K. government says newly released Epstein files suggest Mandelson – a former Cabinet minister, ambassador and elder statesman of the governing Labour Party – may have shared market-sensitive information with the convicted sex offender a decade and a half ago.

London’s Metropolitan Police force said detectives had reviewed reports of misconduct and decided they met the threshold for a full investigation.

Commander Ella Marriott said the force “has now launched an investigation into a 72-year-old man, a former government minister, for misconduct in public office offenses.”

Misconduct in public office carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Opening an investigation does not mean Mandelson will be arrested, charged or convicted.

Immigration agents draw guns, arrest activists following them in Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Immigration officers with guns drawn arrested activists who were trailing their vehicles on Tuesday in Minneapolis, while education leaders described anxiety and fear in Minnesota schools from the ongoing federal sweeps.

Both are signs that tension remains in the Minneapolis area after the departure of high-profile commander Greg Bovino of U.S. Border Patrol and the arrival of Trump administration border czar Tom Homan, which followed the fatal shooting of protester Alex Pretti.

“There’s less smoke on the ground,” Gov. Tim Walz said, referring to tear gas and other irritants used by officers against protesters, “but I think it’s more chilling than it was last week because of the shift to the schools, the shift to the children.”

At least one person who had an anti-ICE message on clothing was handcuffed while face-down on the ground. An Associated Press photographer witnessed the arrests.

Federal agents in the Twin Cities lately have been conducting more targeted immigration arrests at homes and neighborhoods, rather than staging in parking lots. The convoys have been harder to find and less aggressive. Alerts in activist group chats have been more about sightings than immigration-related detainments.

Signs of forced entry found at Arizona home of 'Today' show host Savannah Guthrie's mother

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Investigators found signs of forced entry at the Arizona home of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie's mother, a person familiar with the investigation said Tuesday, as the host asked for prayers to help bring back the 84-year-old, who is believed to have been taken against her will.

The host described her mother, Nancy Guthrie, as “a woman of deep conviction, a good and faithful servant” in a social media post late Monday. She asked supporters to "raise your prayers with us and believe with us that she will be lifted by them in this very moment. Bring her home.”

The Pima County sheriff and the Tucson FBI chief held a news conference Tuesday and urged the public to offer tips, but they revealed few new details about the investigation. Sheriff Chris Nanos declined to say whether the disappearance was thought to be random or targeted or to describe the evidence found at Guthrie's home.

The sheriff has said she needs daily medication and could die without it. Asked whether officials were looking for her alive, he said, “We hope we are.”

DNA samples have been gathered and submitted for analysis as part of the investigation. “We’ve gotten some back, but nothing to indicate any suspects,” Nanos said.

Trump calls Colombia's Petro 'terrific' just weeks after insulting him as a 'sick man'

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump met for nearly two hours with Colombian President Gustavo Petro at the White House on Tuesday, conducting a friendly face-to-face mere weeks after threatening military action against the South American country and accusing the leader of pumping cocaine into the United States.

Trump said afterward that he and Petro hadn’t been “the best of friends,” suggesting that he’d felt insulted by the president of Colombia because he didn't know him and because the two had never met.

Afterward, he'd changed his mind, saying, “We had a very good meeting. I thought he was terrific.”

Trump said the pair discussed cooperation in counternarcotics operations and a number of other topics.

The meeting followed Trump saying Petro — who has continued to criticize Trump and the U.S. operation to capture Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro — has become more willing to work with his administration to stem the flow of illegal drugs from Colombia.

Paris prosecutors raid X offices as part of investigation into child abuse images and deepfakes

PARIS (AP) — French prosecutors raided the offices of social media platform X on Tuesday as part of a preliminary investigation into allegations that include spreading child sexual abuse images and deepfakes. They have also summoned billionaire owner Elon Musk for questioning.

X and Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI also face intensifying scrutiny from Britain's data privacy regulator, which opened formal investigations into how they handled personal data when they developed and deployed Musk's artificial intelligence chatbot Grok.

Grok, which was built by xAI and is available through X, sparked global outrage last month after it pumped out a torrent of sexualized nonconsensual deepfake images in response to requests from X users.

The French investigation was opened in January last year by the prosecutors’ cybercrime unit, the Paris prosecutors' office said in a statement. It's looking into alleged “complicity” in possessing and spreading pornographic images of minors, sexually explicit deepfakes, denial of crimes against humanity and manipulation of an automated data processing system as part of an organized group, among other charges.

Prosecutors asked Musk and former CEO Linda Yaccarino to attend “voluntary interviews” on April 20. Employees of X have also been summoned that same week to be heard as witnesses, the statement said. Yaccarino was CEO from May 2023 until July 2025.

Jill Biden's first husband charged with killing wife in domestic dispute at their Delaware home

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — The first husband of former first lady Jill Biden has been charged with killing his wife at their Delaware home in late December, authorities announced in a news release Tuesday.

William Stevenson, 77, of Wilmington was married to Jill Biden from 1970 to 1975.

Caroline Harrison, the Delaware Attorney General’s spokesperson, confirmed in a phone call that Stevenson is the former husband of Jill Biden.

Jill Biden declined to comment, according to an emailed response from a spokesperson at the former president and first lady’s office.

Stevenson remains in jail after failing to post $500,000 bail after his arrest Monday on first-degree murder charges. He is charged with killing Linda Stevenson, 64, on Dec. 28.

Lindsey Vonn is 'confident' she can race at Olympics despite ruptured ACL in left knee

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Lindsey Vonn has done this before. And succeeded.

The 41-year-old American skiing standout is “confident” she can compete at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics despite a torn ACL from a crash four days ago.

Vonn said that the damage to her left knee was a “completely ruptured” ACL, bone bruising “plus meniscal damage.”

After three days of physical therapy and doctors' advice, Vonn tried skiing on Tuesday. She did not appear to be limping as she entered and exited a news conference.

“My knee is not swollen, and with the help of a knee brace, I am confident that I can compete on Sunday," Vonn said. "And as long as there’s a chance, I will try . . . I will do everything in my power to be in the starting gate."