Negotiators reached a tentative agreement Saturday for the Senate Judiciary Committee to hear testimony Thursday from Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault from decades ago, according to two people briefed on the matter. Lawyers for Ford and bipartisan representatives of the committee came to the tentative agreement after a short phone call, said one of the people, who was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity. The person said Kavanaugh would also appear. Some details of the hearing, such as the order of their appearance, remained in negotiation. Talks were expected to continue Sunday. Get More

Six siblings of U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar have urged voters to cast their ballots against the Arizona Republican in November in an unusual political ad sponsored by the rival candidate. The television ad from Democrat David Brill combines video interviews with Gosar-family siblings who ask voters to usher Paul Gosar out of office because he has broken with the family's values. They do not elaborate. They previously condemned the congressman's false accusation in 2017 that wealthy Democratic donor George Soros was a Nazi collaborator in World War II. Get More

Minnesota state Rep. Jim Knoblach abruptly ended his re-election campaign Friday amid allegations of inappropriate touching from his adult daughter. Minnesota Public Radio reported the announcement came hours after the St. Cloud Republican's attorney, Susan Gaertner, denied the allegations in an interview with the station. She said the veteran lawmaker "does not want to drag his family through six weeks of hell." Knoblach's 23-year-old daughter, Laura, told MPR that he inappropriately touched her for most of her life, with her first memories starting when she was 9 years old and continuing until she was 21. She said the activity included kissing, licking and biting her ears. She said she confided in close friends, family and authority figures at her school and church about his actions for more than a decade. Get More

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said Sunday that an unnamed U.S.-allied country in the Persian Gulf was behind an attack on a military parade that killed 25 people and wounded nearly 70. Rouhani did not identify those behind Saturday's attack, which was claimed by an Arab separatist group. He could have been referring to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates or Bahrain — close U.S. military allies that view Iran as a regional menace over its support for militant groups across the Middle East. "All of those small mercenary countries that we see in this region are backed by America. It is Americans who instigate them and provide them with necessary means to commit these crimes," Rouhani said. Get More

Dozens of vehicles slowly approached President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Saturday afternoon, blasting reggaeton and salsa as they drove by. They honked their horns and waved Puerto Rican flags draped from their car windows and trunks. They were on their way to a rally a few miles away to mark the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Maria. Despite the scorching hot sun, hundreds of activists showed up at the Meyer Amphitheater in West Palm Beach. Buses full of protesters came from as far as Miami and Orlando. The crowd was lively. People spread out on the grass and walked around carrying posters that read "Respeta Mi Gente" (Respect My People) and "Justice for Puerto Rico." To one side of the stage, a giant blowup balloon of Trump depicted as a baby had been inflated. Crowds waited in line to take photographs in which they gave the orange balloon the middle finger. Get More

Gray muck is flowing into the Cape Fear River from the site of a dam breach at a Wilmington power plant where an old coal ash dump had been covered over by Florence's floodwaters. Forecasters predicted the water will continue to rise through the weekend at the L.V. Sutton Power Station. Duke Energy spokeswoman Paige Sheehan said the utility doesn't believe the breach poses a significant threat of increased flooding to nearby communities. Sheehan said the company can't rule out that ash might be escaping the flooded dump and flowing through the lake into the river. Get More

Six weeks before the 2018 midterm elections, Democrats hold a 12-point lead in congressional preference among registered voters, with nearly six-in-ten saying they’d like to see significant change in the direction President Donald Trump has been leading the country, according to a new national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. The results suggest a political environment where Democrats have the clear advantage in their pursuit to win back control of Congress in November. One pollster said that Americans are "trying to send the signal that they’re not satisfied." Another said they are trying to show "they want to shake up the status quo." Get More at NBC News

Some South Florida heroes reunited with their families Saturday after helping the victims of Hurricane Florence in the Carolinas. There were signs, balloons and yelling as the lights and sirens pulled up to the Miami Fire Rescue building. Then came the emotional embraces. The families were reunited after almost two weeks apart. “I’m going to eat some food with my girls. I left them right before we had to go to dinner like two weeks ago and I still owe them dinner,” said Capt. Miguel Ferrer, a first responder. Get More

Britain's Labour Party may hold the fate of Brexit in its hands — if only it can decide what to do. With the U.K. and the European Union at an impasse in divorce talks, many Labour members think the left-of-center opposition party has the power — and a duty — to force a new referendum that could reverse Britain's decision to leave the 28-nation bloc. Labour's leadership has long opposed that idea, and a showdown on the issue looms at the party's annual conference, which starts Sunday in the port city of Liverpool. Get More

Some of the most vocal proponents of the #MeToo movement and droves of other women have come to the defense of Christine Blasey Ford after President Donald Trump questioned her credibility and wondered why she didn’t report her sexual assault at the time she said it happened. In a slew of unrestrained tweets Friday, Trump contended that if the attack Ford said happened at the hands of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was “as bad” as she claims, she would have “immediately” reported it to local authorities. He asked her to produce the report to prove the details of her alleged assault and wondered, “Why didn’t someone call the FBI 36 years ago?” The president's brazen comments sparked the birth of a new trending hashtag, #WhyIDidntReport, and inspired victims to reveal their own stories of assault and share their reasons for not telling anyone about the violence. Get More

An Encinitas, California, firefighter who survived one of the deadliest mass shootings in history is now helping local first responders prepare for future active shooter emergencies. Encinitas Deputy Fire Chief Jon Blumeyer was among the group of police and firefighters who took part in an active shooter simulation in Bonsall on Saturday. Blumeyer was attending the Route 91 Harvest Music festival last October when a shooter started firing at the crowd. “Once I felt that my wife was out, and our friends had gotten out, I knew people were hurt, so I had to turn around and help people,” said Blumeyer. Get More

It was America's deadliest battle ever, with 26,000 U.S. soldiers killed, tens of thousands wounded and more ammunition fired than in the whole of the Civil War. The Meuse-Argonne offensive of 1918 was also a great American victory that helped bring an end to World War 1. A remembrance ceremony will take place on Sunday afternoon in the Meuse-Argonne cemetery, which is surrounded by green fields and forests in Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, a village in northeastern France. More than 14,000 graves will be lit with candles to honor those buried there. Early Sunday, volunteers began reading the soldiers' names aloud, while others were in charge of placing candles on all the crosses. Covering 52 hectares (130 acres), Meuse-Argonne is the largest American cemetery in Europe. Get More

America has lost millions of acres of farmland over nearly three decades to urban and rural development. Despite conservation efforts by state and local governments and increased financial incentives for farmers, urban development and the expansion of rural residential real estate over the last 25 years has eliminated farmland across the country at levels not seen since the early 1970s. Since 1992, nearly 31 million acres of farmland have been developed for residential use around urban centers and rural communities, according to American Farmland Trust's latest report, "Farms Under Threat." Get More

The Trump administration on Saturday proposed rules that could deny green cards to immigrants if they use Medicaid, food stamps, housing vouchers and other forms of public assistance. Federal law already requires those seeking green cards and to prove they will not be a burden — or "public charge" — but the new rules detail a broad range of programs that could disqualify them. The Department of Homeland Security said current and past receipt of certain public benefits above thresholds would be considered "a heavily weighed negative factor" in granting green cards as well as temporary stays. Get More