The woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her three decades ago wants to testify next week before a Senate panel.
As AP's Sagar Meghani reports, lawyers said that Christine Blasey Ford would be prepared to testify as long as terms were fair and she was ensured of safety.
In an email sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Christine Blasey Ford's lawyer says her client wants to testify next week if a deal can be reached on terms that are "fair" and "ensure her safety."
It's a sharp switch from statements this week in which Ford and her lawyers insisted she would only testify after the FBI investigated her allegations, which put the hearing in doubt.
The lawyer says Ford still strongly prefers an investigation but stopped short of demanding it.
There is at least one obstacle to overcome - the hearing scheduled for Monday, which the lawyer says is not possible.
Sagar Meghani, at the White House.
Hurricane Florence continued to punish North and South Carolina Thursday one week after it churned over parts of the U.S. eastern seaboard with historically heavy rains and sweeping winds.
About 10,000 frustrated and exhausted people remain in shelters as forecasters predict flooding from swollen rivers will worsen in the two states over the next several days.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper says that recovery will be long and expensive.
"This is going to be a multi-billion dollar effort. We have roads and bridges to repair."
The National Weather Service said that some major waterways in the Carolinas and Virginia are far above flood stage and are expected to rise for days before they crest.
For more on these stories, visit our website voanews.com. This is VOA news.
The World Anti-Doping Agency announced Thursday it would lift its ban on Russia's anti-doping authority, RUSADA.
WADA President [Greg] Craig Reedie said in a tweet "the great majority of WADA's ExCo, executive committee, decided to reinstate RUSADA as compliant with the Code subject to strict conditions."
The decision to lift the ban drew ire from many, including U.S. anti-doping agency CEO Travis Tygart.
"It's a catastrophic blow both to clean athletes and those who value fair play around the world, but more importantly to the World Anti-Doping Agency and its credibility."
RUSADA was banned in 2015 after a WADA report found evidence of a large and sophisticated government-backed scheme to help athletes cheat on drug tests.
Moscow has repeatedly claimed it had no involvement in that scheme.
The United States imposed sanctions Thursday on a Chinese military agency for buying Russian weaponry in violation of U.S. sanctions against Russia.
The State Department said it would immediately penalize a unit of the Chinese military that oversees the country's defense technology for executing transactions with Rosoboronexport, Russia's main arms exporter.
China bought Russian Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jets and S-400 surface-to-air missiles.
The purchases violate a 2017 U.S. sanctions law that is designed to punish Russia for interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
A senior United Nations official says he believes a Russian-Turkish agreement to create a demilitarized buffer zone between the Syrian army and rebels in northern Idlib province has averted a war for now.
Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva.
Jan Egeland, a senior adviser of the U.N. special envoy for Syria, says the Russian-Turkish agreement bought more time for diplomats and politicians to do their job to protect civilians inside the buffer zone and avert a catastrophic humanitarian disaster.
"There will be in the future, air raids against the listed organizations. There will also be fighting between armed groups, armed actors and the so-called terrorists, the so-called radicals."
Under the deal, Egeland says only al-Nusra and other U.N.-listed terrorist groups can be attacked. He says these groups, which number about 10,000, will be moved outside the buffer zone.
Lisa Schlein, for VOA news, Geneva.
At least 44 people have drowned after a passenger ferry capsized on Lake Victoria in Tanzania Thursday afternoon.
Regional commissioner John Mongella said 37 people had been rescued but that some were in "a very bad condition."
For more, visit our website. I'm David Byrd, VOA news.
