It was a day of drama, tears and tempers in the U.S. Capitol on Thursday with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh angrily denying a charge of sexually assaulting Christine Blasey Ford at a party in 1982 when they were teenagers. Both got the chance to tell their stories to the Senate Judiciary Committee during a nearly nine-hour-long hearing. “I have never sexually assaulted anyone, not in high school, not in college, not ever,” Kavanaugh told the senators. “I have never done this to her or to anyone.” Hours earlier, Ford told the panel she was “100 percent certain” it was a drunken Kavanaugh who pinned her down on a bed, groped her, tried to take off her clothes, and put his hand over her mouth to muffle her screams for help. Kavanaugh told the senators he attended no such party. He accused Democrats of seeking to avenge Hillary Clinton’s election …

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello flew to New York this week on a mission: convince potential tourists that the hurricane-ravaged island was ready for their return. But Puerto Rico’s recovery from last year’s Hurricane Maria has been a “mixed bag,” Rossello told Reuters on Thursday, acknowledging that the bankrupt U.S. territory, while improving, was far from out of the woods. Puerto Rico has received only a small fraction of the federal funding it needs to get back on its feet, Rossello said in a 75-minute interview, and getting access to the rest could take more than a decade. $4 billion or less His administration estimates that fixing Puerto Rico fully will require $139 billion, but the federal government has earmarked only about $60 billion to $65 billion for the recovery, he said. Of that, only about $3 billion to $4 billion has actually flowed into the island’s coffers.  Obtaining the remainder could take 10 to 11 years, he said, adding that his team was …

Former Massachusetts state Sen. Brian Joyce, who was awaiting trial on federal corruption charges, was found dead in his home Thursday, authorities said. Joyce, 56, was found dead by his wife, according to a statement from Gregg Miliote, a spokesman for the Bristol District Attorney’s office. “Foul play is not suspected in the death at this time,” Miliote said. The state’s chief medical examiner planned to conduct an autopsy and the investigation remained “active and ongoing,” the spokesman said. A Democrat who served as assistant majority leader, Joyce was first elected in 1998 and left the Senate after not seeking re-election in 2016 amid the federal probe. He moved to Westport, Massachusetts, from Milton after his political career ended. In December 2017, Joyce was named in a 113-count indictment charging him with racketeering, extortion, wire fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors said he accepted up to $1 million in bribes and …

He let his anger flare repeatedly, interrupted his questioners and sobbed several times during his opening statement. She strived to remain calm and polite, despite her nervousness, and mostly held back her tears. Throughout their riveting, nationally televised testimony on Thursday, Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh served as Exhibits A and B for a tutorial on gender roles and stereotypes. Amid the deluge of reaction on social media, one prominent observation: Ford, as a woman, would have been judged as a far weaker witness had she behaved as Kavanaugh did. “Imagine a woman openly weeping like this on a national stage and still getting elected to the Supreme Court. Or any office,” tweeted Joanna Robinson, a senior writer with Vanity Fair. ​Kavanaugh vented fury and tears Kavanaugh, nominated to fill a vacant seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, mixed tears with fury in his statement forcefully denying Ford’s allegation …

It was a steady demand of Democrats at Thursday’s Senate hearing on sexual assault claims against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh: that an FBI background investigation into Kavanaugh should be reopened. Democrats say that’s critical to finding the truth in the accounts of Kavanaugh and his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford. Republicans say it’s unnecessary and a delaying tactic aimed at sinking Kavanaugh’s nomination. In fact, a reopened FBI investigation could help clarify the contradictory accounts. But it isn’t the silver bullet Democrats seem to suggest it would be. A look at what a reopened FBI investigation would and wouldn’t do: What is the FBI’s role? The FBI conducts background checks for federal nominees but the agency does not make judgments on the credibility or significance of allegations. Instead, the department compiles information about the nominee’s past and provides its findings to the agency that requested the background check. In this case, …

Thursday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh riveted Washington and the nation with hours of fiery, emotional testimony from the judge and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing him of sexual assault when they were high schoolers. Kavanaugh denied the accusation. Here are some takeaways from the extraordinary hearing: ​How did she do? Ford gave a soft-spoken and steady account about what she said happened three decades ago in a bedroom at a small gathering of friends. She said she came forward not for political reasons, but because it was her “civic duty.” She described in detail how an inebriated Kavanaugh and another teen, Mark Judge, locked her in a room at a house party as Kavanaugh was grinding and groping her. She said he put his hand over her mouth to muffle her screams, and testified, “I believed he was going …

U.S. President Donald Trump strode up to the lectern and took stock of the world’s press in a five-star New York hotel. “This is quite a gathering. Wow!” he crowed. And so began 1 hour and 22 minutes with the world’s most powerful man, pumped by days of U.N. diplomacy and seething over Democratic opposition to his Supreme Court nominee, now fighting multiple allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior while a student. Standing before a large row of American flags, the 45th president of the United States dealt with everything from China, Iran and the Kurds, to socialism, Justin Trudeau, women, the Supreme Court and Middle East peace. Without notes and clearly relishing the occasion, he dished out compliments and made digs where he saw fit.   WATCH: Trump Accuses China of Meddling in US Elections at Press Conference “You do a very good job,” he told a Fox reporter who …

U.S. President Donald Trump said “Iran has to come back and they have to talk” if it wants to avoid a new round of economic sanctions. Speaking to reporters in New York Wednesday, the president defended his decision to withdraw from the 2015 six-nation agreement for Tehran to give up its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of crippling economic sanctions. “Here’s the thing: they have rampant inflation,” Trump said. “They have rampant inflation, their money is worthless. Everything is going wrong. “At some point I think they are going to want to come back and say can we do something. Very simple, I just don’t want them to have nuclear weapons,” he added. ​Taking on Iran, nuclear deal Taking the gavel of the United Nations Security Council earlier in the day, Trump used most of his remarks on the theme of nuclear nonproliferation to criticize Iran, labeling the …

The late reggae legend Bob Marley once sang: “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” For a young Kurdish immigrant living in San Diego, Marley’s observation rings true. Blind since birth, the young musician says music washes away his pain. VOA’s Lukman Ahmad visited the talented musician in San Diego, California, and filed this report, narrated by Bezhan Hamdard. …

VOA’s Greta Van Susteren told a congressional panel Tuesday that Rohingya refugees are vulnerable to human trafficking, exploitation and violent extremism. Van Susteren and Stephen Pomper, U.S. program director for the International Crisis Group, gave their testimonies on Myanmar’s persecuted Muslim group to the House Foreign Affairs Committee in a hearing on “Genocide Against the Burmese Rohingya.” VOA’S Zlatica Hoke has more. …

An observatory in Barrow, Alaska, the most northerly astronomical outpost in the U.S., has become a key scientific instrument in studying climate change. Established in 1973, the Barrow Observatory is staffed year-round by two researchers who measure and track changes in air quality and weather, while also acclimating with local traditions. Natasha Mozgovaya traveled to Barrow, now officially called Utqiagvik, its Inupiaq name, to see what life is like in one of the coldest places in the world. …

In a wide-ranging news conference, President Donald Trump railed against the Iran nuclear deal and accused China of meddling in U.S. elections. Mike O’Sullivan reports, Trump spoke Wednesday in New York after three days of meetings at the United Nations. …

Six nations made the unprecedented move Wednesday of asking the U.N.’s International Criminal Court to investigate Venezuela for possible crimes against humanity, even as President Nicolas Maduro made an unexpected trip to the world body’s headquarters to deliver a nearly hourlong speech declaring his nation “will never give in.” Maduro’s speech at the General Assembly gathering of world leaders came hours after Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Paraguay and Canada formally asked the ICC to investigate Venezuela on a range of possible charges, from murder to torture and crimes against humanity. “To remain indifferent or speculative in front of this reality could be perceived as being complicit with the regime. We are not going to be complicit,” said Paraguayan Foreign Minister Andres Rodriguez Pedotti. Pressure to end violence The six countries hope the move puts new pressure on Maduro to end the violence and conflict that have sent more than 2 …

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday his administration is planning a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and will announce details soon. “I’ll be meeting with Chairman Kim in the very near future,” Trump told reporters at the United Nation’s General Assembly in New York. Earlier Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he is planning the summit and that it may take place after October. Pompeo will brief U.N. Security Council ministers Thursday on efforts to denuclearize North Korea. “We’re working diligently to make sure we get the conditions right so that we can accomplish as much as possible during the summit. But we hope it will be soon,” Pompeo told CBS This Morning. “It may happen in October, but more likely sometime after that.” At a news conference in New York on the sidelines of the General Assembly meetings, President Trump refused to get pinned …

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the woman who has accused him of sexually assaulting her when both were teenagers are set to testify Thursday at a Senate hearing that could determine the balance of the nation’s highest judicial body. Christine Blasey Ford will give her account of the alleged incident, in which she says Kavanaugh assaulted her during a party when both of them where in high school. In prepared opening remarks that were released late Wednesday, Ford detailed the incident in the summer of 1982, during which she claimed a visibly intoxicated Kavanaugh and his friend, Mark Judge, pushed her into a room, locked the door behind them and assaulted her. In the statement, she said she was too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone, and didn’t reveal details of the incident until years later, to her husband and in therapy sessions. Kavanaugh, who will appear separately before …

A group of alumni is calling on a prominent New Hampshire prep school to more thoroughly investigate decades of sexual misconduct at the school.  The call from the Phillips Exeter Alumni for Truth and Healing follows a report released by the school last month, in which 11 former staffers are accused of sexual misconduct involving students. The report also found that school administrators failed to act on complaints of abuse and, in several cases, never recorded the complaints in personnel files. The group is calling on the school to hand over all evidence collected in the investigation to an independent third party, investigate cases of student-on-student abuse, and provide more details of administrators who failed to properly handle abuse claims. The school said it would review the group’s concerns. …