Countdown: GOP unity frays as shutdown grows near

Countdown: GOP unity frays as shutdown grows near 

Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, returns to his office after a procedural vote on the House floor, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Sept. 30, 2013. The Republican-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate are at an impasse as Congress continues to struggle over how to prevent a possible shutdown of the federal government when it runs out of money. President Barack Obama ramped up pressure on Republicans Monday to avoid a post-midnight government shutdown, saying that failure to pass a short-term spending measure to keep agencies operating would "throw a wrench into the gears" of a recovering economy.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A threatened government shutdown imminent, House Republicans scaled back their demands to delay the nation's health care law Monday night as the price for essential federal funding, but President Barack Obama and Democrats rejected the proposals as quickly as they were made.

"We're at the brink," said Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.

On a long day and night in the Capitol, the Senate torpedoed one GOP attempt to tie government financing to changes in "Obamacare." House Republicans countered with a second despite unmistakable signs their unity was fraying - and Senate Democrats stood by to reject it, as well.

The stock market dropped on fears that political gridlock between the White House and a tea party-heavy Republican Party would prevail, though analysts suggested significant damage to the national economy was unlikely unless a shutdown lasted more than a few days.

Still, a shutdown would send hundreds of thousands of workers home and inconvenience millions of people who rely on federal services or are drawn to the nation's parks and other attractions. Some critical parts of the government - from the military to air traffic controllers - would remain open.

As lawmakers squabbled, President Barack Obama spoke bluntly about House Republicans. "You don't get to extract a ransom for doing your job, for doing what you're supposed to be doing anyway, or just because there's a law there that you don't like," he said. Speaking of the health care law that undergoes a major expansion on Tuesday, he said emphatically, "That funding is already in place. You can't shut it down."

House Speaker John Boehner responded a few hours later on the House floor. "The American people don't want a shutdown and neither do I," he said. Yet, he added, the new health care law "is having a devastating impact. ... Something has to be done."

For all the Republican defiance, it appeared that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and fellow Democrats had the upper hand in the fast-approaching end game, and that Republicans might soon have to decide whether to allow the government to remain open - or come away empty-handed from a bruising struggle with Obama.

Some Republicans balked, moderates and conservatives alike.

Rep. Phil Gingrey of Georgia said it felt as if Republicans were retreating, given their diminishing demands, and Rep. Scott Rigell of Virginia said there was not unanimity when the rank and file met to discuss a next move.

Yet for the first time since the showdown began more than a week ago, there was also public dissent from the Republican strategy that has been carried out at the insistence of lawmakers working in tandem with GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

Rep. Charles Dent, R-Pa., said he was willing to vote for stand-alone legislation that would keep the government running and contained no health care-related provisions. "I would be supportive of it, and I believe the votes are there in the House to pass it at that point," the fifth-term congressman said.

Other Republicans sought to blame Democrats for any shutdown, but Dent conceded that Republicans would bear the blame, whether or not they deserved it.

Hours before the possible shutdown, the Senate voted 54-46 to reject the House-passed measure that would have kept the government open but would have delayed implementation of the health care law for a year and permanently repealed a medical device tax that helps finance it.

In response, House Republicans sought different concessions in exchange for allowing the government to remain open. They called for a one-year delay in a requirement in the health care law for individuals to purchase coverage. The same measure also would require members of Congress and their aides as well as the president, vice president and the administration's political appointees to bear the full cost of their own coverage by barring the government from making the customary employer contribution.

"This is a matter of funding the government and providing fairness to the American people," said Boehner. 

"Why wouldn't members of Congress vote for it?"

The vote was 228-201, with a dozen Republicans opposed and nine Democrats in favor.

Unimpressed, the White House issued a veto threat against the bill and Democrats said they would sweep it aside in the Senate.

Obama followed up his public remarks with phone calls to Boehner and the three other top leaders of Congress, telling Republicans he would continue to oppose attempts to delay or cut federal financing of the health care law.

Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck said the House's top Republican told the president that the health care law was costing jobs and that it was unfair that businesses were getting exemptions but American families were not.

The impact of a shutdown would be felt unevenly.

Many low-to-moderate-income borrowers and first-time homebuyers seeking government-backed mortgages could face delays, and Obama said veterans' centers would be closed.

About 800,000 federal workers, many already reeling from the effect of automatic budget cuts, would be ordered to report to work Tuesday for about four hours - but only to carry out shutdown-related chores such as changing office voicemail messages and completing time cards.

Some critical services such as patrolling the borders and inspecting meat would continue. Social Security benefits would be sent, and the Medicare and Medicaid health care programs for the elderly and poor would continue to pay doctors and hospitals.

U.S. troops were shielded from any damage to their wallets when the Senate approved legislation assuring the military would be paid in the in the event of a shutdown. The House passed the bill early Sunday morning.

That had no impact on those who labor at other agencies.

"I know some other employees, if you don't have money saved, it's going to be difficult," said Thelma Manley, who has spent seven years as a staff assistant with the Internal Revenue Service during a 30-year career in government.

As for herself, she said, "I'm a Christian, I trust in God wholeheartedly and my needs will be met." She added, "I do have savings, so I can go to the reserve, so to speak."

The last time the government shut down, in 1996, Republicans suffered significant political damage, and then-President Bill Clinton's political fortunes were revived in the process.

Now, as then, Republicans control the House, and senior lawmakers insist even a shutdown isn't likely to threaten their majority in the 2014 elections. "We may even gain seats," Oregon Rep. Greg Walden, who chairs the party campaign committee, said recently.

For all the controversy about other matters, the legislation in question is a spending bill - and there was little if any disagreement about the spending-related issues.

The House and Senate have agreed to fix spending for a wide swath of federal programs at an annual level of $986 billion for the budget year that begins Oct. 1, the same as for the 12 months just ending.

Without separate legislation to make further reductions, across-the-board cuts would automatically take effect early next year that would reduce the level to $967 billion.

Foreign minister: Iran open to negotiations

Foreign minister: Iran open to negotiations 

FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2013 file photo, seated at the table from left, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton attend a meeting of the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany during the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters. Always scrutinized, Iran now will be under even greater watch as the U.S. looks for signals the Islamic Republic's new president is serious and powerful enough to pursue detente with Washington and an end to the painful economic penalties imposed over its nuclear program.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Iran would open its nuclear facilities to international inspectors as part of broad negotiations with the United States that could eventually restore diplomatic relations between the adversaries and those talks have the backing of the nation's supreme leader, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said Sunday.

Zarif also said the United States and its allies must end their crippling economic sanctions as part of any deal. The Western-educated Zarif again repeated Tehran's position that it has no desire for nuclear weapons but has the right to continue a peaceful nuclear program.

"Negotiations are on the table to discuss various aspects of Iran's enrichment program. Our right to enrich is nonnegotiable," Zarif said during an English-language interview that comes amid a significant shift in U.S.-Iranian relations.

At the same time, Zarif's deputy tried to calm hard-liners' fears at home. "We never trust America 100 percent," Abbas Araghchi was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars News Agency, which has close ties to Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard.

And Obama's national security adviser expressed similar skepticism given decades of an anti-American record.

Iran's nuclear ambitions have isolated its people from the rest of the world and led to harmful economic penalties. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has declared the use of nuclear weapons against Islamic law yet has maintained his nation has the right to develop its uranium program.

But Khamenei, who is the nation's ultimate decision-maker, also has given his approval for elected leaders in his country to engage the West over the nuclear program, Zarif said.

That engagement resulted in a phone conversation Friday between President Barack Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the first direct contact between the two countries' leaders in three decades.

"While there will surely be important obstacles to moving forward, and success is by no means guaranteed, I believe we can reach a comprehensive solution," Obama told reporters Friday at the White House.

That optimism was certain to be a dominant topic when Obama meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who on Sunday was on his way to the United States and has long insisted Iran be blocked from obtaining the capability of obtaining a nuclear weapon.

As he boarded his plane in Israel, Netanyahu said he was heading to the United Nations to "tell the truth in the face of the sweet talk and the onslaught of smiles."

Zarif scoffed at those concerns.

"Well, a smile attack is much better than a lie attack," Zarif said.

He also said Israeli leaders have been warning that Tehran is months away from having a nuclear weapon since 1991, and those fears have never been realized.

"We're not six months, six years, 60 years away from nuclear weapons. We don't want nuclear weapons. 

We believe nuclear weapons are detrimental to our security," said Zarif, a former nuclear negotiator.

The potential diplomatic thaw after a generationlong freeze is far from certain, and Zarif indicated this would not be simple. Iran's top diplomat also said his country is willing to forgive the United States' history with Iran but will not forget decades of distrust between the two nations.

Nor was the United States rushing to forget Iran's past duplicity, hostility and support for organizations its State Department has labeled terrorist groups.

"Obviously, we and others in the international community have every reason to be skeptical of that and we need to test it, and any agreement must be fully verifiable and enforceable," said Susan Rice, the White House national security adviser.

Rice said sanctions would remain in place until the United States and its allies were satisfied Iran was not pursuing nuclear weapons.

In a separate interview, Secretary of State John Kerry said an agreement could come in a matter of months if Iran came to the table in good faith.

"The United States is not going to lift the sanctions until it is clear that a very verifiable, accountable, transparent process is in place, whereby we know exactly what Iran is going be doing with its program," he said last week before Obama and Rouhani spoke.

The skepticism went both ways.

"Definitely, a history of high tensions between Tehran and Washington will not go back to normal relations due to a phone call, meeting or negotiation," said Araghchi.

The U.S. and Iran broke ties after the 1979 Islamic Revolution when mobs stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. A total of 52 hostages were held for 444 days.

Araghchi also reiterated Khamenei's statements that he is not optimistic about the potential outcome.

The focus now turns to negotiations among foreign ministers and other officials from the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany. The group wants Iran to present a more detailed proposal for a path forward before or at the next round of negotiations, scheduled in Geneva on Oct. 15-16.

If Iran complies, the oil-rich nation could see the easing of economic sanctions imposed after years of Iran's stonewalling inspections and secrecy about its nuclear activities. The West has long insisted on inspections, and Zarif now seems open to them.

"There may have been technical problems. They may have been problems of transparency, and we are prepared to address those problems," he said.

Zarif spoke Sunday on ABC's "This Week." Rice spoke to CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS." Kerry was interviewed on CBS' "60 Minutes."

 

Who'll blink? Dems, GOP in shutdown stare down

Who'll blink? Dems, GOP in shutdown stare down 

An empty hallway in the U.S. Capitol Sunday morning, Sept. 29, 2013, as a government shutdown looms, in Washington. The political and economic stakes mounting with each tick of the clock, the White House and congressional Democrats say a House-approved delay in President Barack Obama's health care law does nothing but push Washington to the brink of the first government shutdown in 17 years.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- With the government teetering on the brink of partial shutdown, congressional Republicans vowed Sunday to keep using an otherwise routine federal funding bill to try to attack the president's health care law.

Congress was closed for the day after a post-midnight vote in the GOP-run House to delay by a year key parts of the new health care law and repeal a tax on medical devices, in exchange for avoiding a shutdown. The Senate was to convene Monday afternoon, just hours before the shutdown deadline, and Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had already promised that majority Democrats would kill the House's latest volley.

Since the last government shutdown 17 years ago, temporary funding bills known as continuing resolutions have been noncontroversial, with neither party willing to chance a shutdown to achieve legislative goals it couldn't otherwise win. But with health insurance exchanges set to open on Tuesday, tea-party Republicans are willing to take the risk in their drive to kill the health care law.

Action in Washington was limited mainly to the Sunday talk shows and a barrage of press releases as Democrats and Republicans rehearsed arguments for blaming each other if the government in fact closes its doors at midnight Monday.

"You're going to shut down the government if you can't prevent millions of Americans from getting affordable care," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.

"The House has twice now voted to keep the government open. And if we have a shutdown, it will only be because when the Senate comes back, Harry Reid says, `I refuse even to talk,'" said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who led a 21-hour broadside against allowing the temporary funding bill to advance if stripped clean of a tea party-backed provision to derail Obamacare. The effort ultimately failed.

The battle started with a House vote to pass the short-term funding bill with a provision that would have eliminated the federal dollars needed to put President Barack Obama's health care overhaul into place. The Senate voted along party lines to strip that out and lobbed the measure back to the House.

The latest House measure, passed early Sunday by a near party-line vote of 231-192, sent back to the Senate two key changes: a one-year delay of key provisions of the health insurance law and repeal of a new tax on medical devices that partially funds it, steps that still go too far for The White House and its Democratic allies on Capitol Hill.

Senate rules often make it difficult to act quickly, but the chamber can act on the House's latest proposals by simply calling them up and killing them.

Eyes were turning to the House for its next move. One of its top leaders vowed the House would not simply give in to Democrats' demands to pass the Senate's "clean" funding bill.

"The House will get back together in enough time, send another provision not to shut the government down, but to fund it, and it will have a few other options in there for the Senate to look at again," said the No. 3 House Republican leader, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California. "We are not shutting the government down."

On the other hand, Democrats said the GOP's bravado may fade as the deadline to avert a shutdown nears.

Asked whether he could vote for a "clean" temporary funding bill, Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, said he couldn't. But Labrador added, "I think there's enough people in the Republican Party who are willing to do that. And I think that's what you're going to see."

McCarthy wouldn't say what changes Republicans might make. He appeared to suggest that a very short-term measure might pass at the last minute, but GOP aides said that was unlikely.

And rumors Saturday night that GOP leaders might include a provision to deny lawmakers and staff aides their employer health care contributions from the government had cooled by Sunday afternoon. Lawmakers and congressional aides are required to purchase health insurance on the Affordable Care Act exchanges, but the administration has taken steps to make sure they continue to receive their 72 percent employer contribution.

Republicans argued that Reid should have convened the Senate on Sunday to act on the measure.

"If the Senate stalls until Monday afternoon instead of working today, it would be an act of breathtaking arrogance by the Senate Democratic leadership," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. "They will be deliberately bringing the nation to the brink of a government shutdown."

In the event lawmakers blow the Monday deadline, about 800,000 workers would be forced off the job without pay. Some critical services such as patrolling the borders, inspecting meat and controlling air traffic would continue. Social Security benefits would be sent, and the Medicare and Medicaid health care programs for the elderly and poor would continue to pay doctors and hospitals.

The Senate was not scheduled to meet until midafternoon Monday, 10 hours before a shutdown would begin, and even some Republicans said privately they feared that Reid held the advantage in the fast-approaching end game.

Republicans argued that they had already made compromises; for instance, their latest measure would leave intact most parts of the health care law that have taken effect, including requiring insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions and to let families' plans cover children up to age 26. They also would allow insurers to deny contraception coverage based on religious or moral objections.

Tea party lawmakers in the House - egged on by Cruz - forced GOP leaders to abandon an earlier plan to deliver a "clean" stopgap spending bill to the Senate and move the fight to another must-do measure looming in mid-October: a bill to increase the government's borrowing cap to avert a market-rattling, first-ever default on U.S. obligations.

McCarthy appeared on "Fox News Sunday," while Cruz and Labrador were on NBC's "Meet the Press." 

Van Hollen appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation."

 

Shutdown nearing, GOP seeks health care delay

Shutdown nearing, GOP seeks health care delay 

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, arrives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013. Heat is building on balkanized Republicans, who are convening the House this weekend in hopes of preventing a government shutdown but remain under tea party pressure to battle on and use a must-do funding bill to derail all or part of President Barack Obama's health care law.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Locked in a deepening struggle with President Barack Obama, the Republican-controlled House pushed legislation toward passage Saturday night imposing a one-year delay on parts of the nation's new health care law and repealing a tax on medical devices as the price for avoiding a partial government shutdown in a few days' time.

Senate Democrats pledged to reject the measure even before the House began debating it, and the White House issued a statement vowing a veto in any event. Republicans are pursuing "a narrow ideological agenda ... and pushing the government towards shutdown," it said.

As the day wore on, even some Republicans said privately they feared that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., held the advantage in the fast-approaching end game. If so, a House GOP rank and file that includes numerous tea party allies would soon have to choose between triggering the first partial shutdown in nearly two decades - or coming away from the confrontation empty-handed.

Undeterred, House Republicans pressed ahead with their latest attempt to squeeze a concession from the White House in exchange for letting the government open for business normally on Tuesday. "Obamacare is based on a limitless government, bureaucratic arrogance and a disregard of a will of the people," said Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind.

Another Republican, Rep. Darrell Issa of California, reacted angrily when asked whether he would eventually support a standalone spending bill if needed to prevent a shutdown. "How dare you presume a failure? How dare you? How dare you?" he said.

Apart from its impact on the health care law, the legislation that House Republicans decided to back would assure routine funding for government agencies through Dec. 15. A companion measure headed for approval assures U.S. troops are paid in the event of a shutdown.

The government spending measure marked something of a reduction in demands by House Republicans, who passed legislation several days ago that would permanently strip the health care law of money while providing funding for the government.

It also contained significant concessions from a party that long has criticized the health care law for imposing numerous government mandates on industry, in some cases far exceeding what Republicans have been willing to support in the past. Acknowledging as much, Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., said that as a conservative he had often found during Obama's presidency that his choice was "between something bad or (something) horrible."

GOP aides said that under the legislation headed toward a vote, most portions of the health law that already have gone into effect would remain unchanged. That includes requirements for insurance companies to guarantee coverage for pre-existing conditions and to require children to be covered on their parents' plans until age 26. It would not change a part of the law that reduces costs for seniors with high prescription drug expenses.

One exception would give insurers or others the right not to provide abortion coverage, based on religious or moral objections.

The measure would delay implementation of a requirement for all individuals to purchase coverage or face a penalty, and of a separate feature of the law that will create marketplaces where individuals can shop for coverage from private insurers.

By repealing the medical device tax, the GOP measure also would raise deficits - an irony for a party that won the House majority in 2010 by pledging to get the nation's finances under control.

The Senate rejected the most recent House-passed anti-shutdown bill on a party-line vote of 54-44 Friday, insisting on a straightforward continuation in government funding without health care-related add-ons.

That left the next step up to the House - with time to avert a partial shutdown growing ever shorter.

For a moment at least, the revised House proposal papered over a simmering dispute between Speaker John Boehner and the rest of the leadership, and tea party conservatives who have been more militant about abolishing the health law that all Republican lawmakers oppose.

It was unclear whether members of the rank and file had consulted with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who has become the face of the "Defund Obamacare" campaign that tea party organizations are promoting and using as a fundraising tool.

In debate on the House floor, Republicans adamantly rejected charges that they seek a government shutdown, and said their goal is to spare the nation from the effects of a law they said would cost jobs and reduce the quality of care. The law is an "attack and an assault on the free enterprise and the free economy," said Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas.

Democrats disagreed vociferously. "House Republicans are shutting down the government. They're doing it intentionally. They're doing it on purpose," said Rep. Donna Edwards of Maryland, as Republican lawmakers booed from their seats on the floor.

In the Senate, there was little doubt that Reid had the votes to block a one-year delay in the health care program widely known as "Obamacare." He said the same was true for the repeal of the medical device tax, even though 33 Democrats joined all Senate Republicans in supporting repeal on a nonbinding vote earlier in the year.

The 2.3 percent tax, which took effect in January, is imposed on items such as pacemakers and CT scan machines; eyeglasses, contact lenses, hearing aids and other items are exempt. Repealing it would cost the government an estimated $29 billion over the coming decade.

If lawmakers miss the approaching deadline, a wide range of federal programs would be affected, from the national parks to the Pentagon.

Some critical services such patrolling the borders, inspecting meat and controlling air traffic would continue. Social Security benefits would be sent and the Medicare and Medicaid health care programs for the elderly and poor would continue to pay doctors and hospitals.

The new health insurance exchanges would open Tuesday, a development that's lent urgency to the drive to use a normally routine stopgap spending bill to gut implementation of the law.

 

Jury gets negligence case over death of Jackson

Jury gets negligence case over death of Jackson 

AEG Live lead attorney Marvin Putnam a delivers his closing arguments in the Michael Jackson wrongful death trial in Los Angeles, Wednesday Sept. 25, 2013. The singer's family has sued the entertainment firm, saying the company negligently hired and supervised Conrad Murray, the doctor who administered the dose of propofol that killed Jackson.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- After a bitterly fought five-month trial, a negligence lawsuit by Michael Jackson's mother against his concert promoter was placed in the hands of a jury Thursday after a final plea by a Jackson lawyer to punish the company he portrayed as a heartless, money-making machine.

Attorney Brian Panish, who represents Katherine Jackson, urged the six women and six men on the jury to find that defendant AEG Live LLC and Jackson shared responsibility for hiring Dr. Conrad Murray, the physician whose treatments killed the superstar.

Earlier this week, a lawyer for AEG Live suggested the promoter was pressured by Jackson to hire Murray as his personal physician, and was deceived when Jackson and Murray hid the fact that the singer was receiving nightly doses of the anesthetic propofol in his bedroom.

The drug is intended for use during operations at hospitals.

Murray was convicted in 2011 of involuntary manslaughter after giving Jackson an overdose of propofol as a sleep aid as Jackson fought chronic insomnia. Murray is in prison.

Jurors were led out of the courtroom by 10 armed sheriff's deputies assigned to guard them during deliberations.

Panish used his rebuttal argument earlier Thursday to urge the jury to find that AEG hired Murray without considering whether he was fit for the job. AEG lawyers say it was Jackson who hired the doctor.

In his speech to jurors, Panish suggested they might decide there was shared negligence in hiring Murray.

"Think of a bicycle built for two," he said. "Both can cause the harm."

He did not blame Jackson for seeking propofol and instead cited AEG for hiring the doctor who gave it to him.

"Propofol might not be the best idea," Panish said. "But if you have a competent doctor, you're not going to die."

Panish claimed that AEG executives such as CEO Randy Phillips and co-CEO Paul Gongaware disdained Jackson and reminded jurors of an email in which an AEG attorney referred to Jackson as "the freak."

"They're a money-making machine," Panish said. "All they care about is how much money is this freak going to make for them.

"It's not right, ladies and gentlemen," Panish said. "It would not be right to allow Gongaware and Phillips to skate down the street and click their champagne glasses at AEG Live."

Both executives were initially named as defendants but were dismissed from the case during the trial.

Panish showed jurors details of a contract that was drafted by AEG Live but only signed by Murray. He said it proved that AEG wanted to control the doctor.

The plaintiff's last argument came a day after AEG Live attorney Marvin Putnam told jurors that Jackson was the architect of his own demise and no one else can be blamed. Putnam said Jackson insisted on hiring the cardiologist, despite objections from AEG Live.

The company told Jackson there were great doctors in London but the singer would not be deterred, Putnam said.

"It was his money and he certainly wasn't going to take no for an answer," he said.

Putnam showed brief excerpts from the "This Is It" documentary to show that Jackson appeared in top form just 12 hours before he died.

"AEG Live did not have a crystal ball," he said. "Dr. Murray and Mr. Jackson fooled everyone. They want to blame AEG for something no one saw."

If AEG Live had known about the propofol treatments, it would have pulled the plug on the planned tour, the lawyer said.

"AEG would have never agreed to finance this tour if they knew Mr. Jackson was playing Russian roulette in his bedroom every night," Putnam told jurors.

If jurors find AEG didn't hire Murray, their work will be done quickly and they need not decide four other questions.

A unanimous verdict is not required in the case. Only nine of the 12 jurors must agree.

 

No compromise: Government on brink of a shutdown?

No compromise: Government on brink of a shutdown? 

With four days to go before the federal government is due to run out of money, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., left, looks at a countdown clock during a news conference on Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2013, where Senate Democratic leaders blamed conservative Republicans for holding up a stopgap spending bill to keep the government running. From left are, Reid, Senate Budget Committee Chair Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin of Ill., Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., the Democratic Policy Committee chairman.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Moving closer to the brink of a government shutdown, House Republicans vowed Thursday they won't simply accept the stopgap legislation that is likely to remain after Senate Democrats strip away a plan to dismantle President Barack Obama's health care law.

The defiant posture sets the stage for weekend drama on Capitol Hill after the Senate on Friday sends the fractious House a straightforward bill to keep the government operating through Nov. 15 rather than partly closing down at midnight Monday.

Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and several rank-and-file Republicans said the House simply won't accept a "clean" spending measure, even though that's been the norm in Congress on dozens of occasions since the 1995-96 government closures that bruised Republicans and strengthened the hand of Democratic President Bill Clinton.

"I don't see that happening," Boehner said. Still, he declared that "I have no interest in a government shutdown" and he doesn't expect one to occur on Tuesday.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said the Democratic-led chamber will not relent.

"The Senate will never pass a bill that guts the Affordable Care Act," Reid declared.

A partial government shutdown would keep hundreds of thousands of federal workers off the job, close national parks and generate damaging headlines for whichever side the public held responsible.

Washington faces two deadlines: The Oct. 1 start of the new budget year and a mid-October date - now estimated for the 17th - when the government can no longer borrow money to pay its bills on time and in full.

The first deadline requires Congress to pass a spending bill to allow agencies to stay open. The mid-month deadline requires Congress to increase the government's $16.7 trillion borrowing cap to avoid a first-ever default on its payments, which include interest obligations, Social Security benefits, payments to thousands of contractors large and small, and salaries for the military.

The standoff just four days before the end of the fiscal year increased the possibility of a shutdown, with no signs of compromise.

The No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, Dick Durbin of Illinois, said that because of the time it takes the Senate to approve even non-controversial bills, if the House amends a Senate-passed spending bill and returns it to the Senate over the weekend, "That is a concession on their part that we're going to shut down the government."

Not far from the Capitol, at a community college in Largo, Md., Obama insisted he would not negotiate over his signature domestic achievement, either on a bill to keep the government operating or legislation to raise the nation's borrowing authority.

"The entire world looks to us to make sure that the world economy is stable. You don't mess with that," Obama said of the debt ceiling/default measure. "And that's why I will not negotiate on anything when it comes to the full faith and credit of the United States of America."

Responding to Obama's non-negotiable stand, Boehner said, "Well, I'm sorry but it just doesn't work that way."

House GOP leaders said Thursday they would unveil their own legislation to lift the government's borrowing cap through December of next year, but only if the new health care law is delayed for a year.

Meeting behind closed doors, House Republican leaders encountered resistance from their rank and file over their measure even though they were attaching a list of other Republican favorites such as green-lighting the Keystone XL oil pipeline, blocking federal regulation of greenhouse gases and boosting offshore oil exploration.

Republicans who lost the presidential election and a shot at Senate control last year are trying to use must-pass measures to advance agenda items that the Democratic-led Senate and Obama have soundly rejected. The last-ditch effort on "Obamacare" comes just days before coast-to-coast enrollment in the plan's health care exchanges begins Oct. 1.

Despite the popular items, the leadership was struggling to win over its recalcitrant GOP members, especially tea party-backed lawmakers pressing for deeper, deficit-cutting spending measures. The spending cuts the Republicans would attach to the debt-limit legislation would be likely to represent a small fraction of the almost $1 trillion in new borrowing authority the bill would permit.

"Among conservatives, there's a lot of angst about that," said Rep. John Fleming, R-La.

Proposed changes include requiring federal workers to contribute more to their pensions, along with other items from a failed 2011 deficit-cutting effort.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, insisted that the House accept the Senate bill.

"Republicans have got to put an end to the tea party temper tantrums and pass our bill without any gimmicks and without any games," she said.

In the Senate, top Democrat Reid sought to schedule a series of votes Thursday night to speed the short-term spending bill to the House. Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Mike Lee, R-Utah, blocked the effort, however, saying they wanted the vote on Friday.

Cruz gave a 21 hour-plus speech earlier this week opposing the measure if it is changed to remove the anti-Obamacare provisions. Reid's request sparked a remarkable exchange between Cruz and Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who accused the tea party duo of being publicity hounds who want a Friday vote because that's what they've told outside activists to expect.

"My two colleagues, who I respect, have sent out emails around the world and turned this into a show," Corker said, his voice dripping with derision. "And that is taking priority over getting legislation back to the House so they can take action before the country's government shuts down."

 

FBI agents work in nightmarish scene at Kenya mall

FBI agents work in nightmarish scene at Kenya mall

Mary Italo, center, grieves with other relatives for her son Thomas Abayo Italo, 33, who was killed in the Westgate Mall attack, as they wait to receive his body at the mortuary in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2013. Thomas was an accountant and the breadwinner of the family who helped look after Mary who is sick, according to relatives. Kenyan authorities prepared for the gruesome task of recovering dozens more victims than initially feared after the country's president declared an end Tuesday to the four-day siege of the Nairobi mall by al-Qaida-linked terrorists.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Working near bodies crushed by rubble in a bullet-scarred, scorched mall, FBI agents began fingerprint, DNA and ballistic analysis Wednesday to help determine the identities and nationalities of victims and al-Shabab gunmen who attacked the shopping center, killing more than 60 people.

A gaping hole in the mall's roof was caused by Kenyan soldiers who fired rocket-propelled grenades inside, knocking out a support column, a government official told The Associated Press. The official, who insisted he not be identified because he was sharing security information, said the soldiers fired to distract a terrorist sniper so hostages could be evacuated.

Video of the roof collapse showed massive carnage. The collapse came Monday, shortly after four large explosions rang out followed by billows of black smoke. Although a government minister said the terrorists had set mattresses on fire, causing the roof to collapse, the video showed such massive destruction that the explanation seemed unlikely to be the full story.

Al-Shabab on its Twitter feed Wednesday claimed that the Kenyan government assault team carried out "a demolition" of the building.

The current death toll is 67 and is likely to climb with uncounted bodies remaining in the wreckage of the Nairobi mall. Another 175 people were injured, including more than 60 who remain hospitalized. At least 18 foreigners were among those killed.

Al-Shabab, the Somali Islamic extremist group which carried out the attack, said Wednesday that foreigners were a "legitimate target" and confirmed witness accounts that gunmen separated Muslims from other people and let the Muslims go free. The others were gunned down or taken hostage.

"The Mujahideen carried out a meticulous vetting process at the mall and have taken every possible precaution to separate the Muslims from the Kuffar (disbelievers) before carrying out their attack," the group said in an email exchange with The Associated Press.

Witnesses have told AP and other media that gunmen rounded up people, asked questions about Islam that a Muslim would know and told the Muslims to leave the mall. Still, some Muslims were among the victims.

Also among those killed when the militants entered the Westgate Mall on Saturday, firing assault rifles and throwing grenades were six Britons and citizens from France, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, Peru, India, Ghana, South Africa and China.

Asked if al-Shabab had intended to kill foreigners, the group said "our target was to attack the Kenyan govt on it's soil and any part of the Kenyan territory is a legitimate target ... and Kenya should be held responsible for the loss of life, whether foreigners or local."

Al-Shabab had threatened retaliation against Kenya for sending its troops into Somalia against al-Shabab, and many of those killed in an attack that horrified the world were Kenyans. The group's leader, Ahmed Godane, said in a new audio statement Wednesday that the attack was carried out in retaliation for the West's support for Kenya's Somalia invasion and the "interest of their oil companies." Somalia has untapped energy reserves. More attacks would come, Godane said, if Kenya doesn't withdraw its troops.

Though Kenya's foreign minister earlier said that "two or three" American citizens may have been involved in the attack, a Western official said that after checking passport and refugee databases, there is not yet an indication any Americans were involved. Several U.S. cities, notably Minneapolis, host large Somali-American communities.

The violence continued elsewhere Wednesday. In the Kenyan town of Wajir, which lies along the border with Somalia, one person was killed and four wounded after a gunman opened fire and threw grenades, the Interior Ministry said.

Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said forensic experts from the U.S., Israel, Britain, Germany and Canada are all taking part in trying to reconstruct the scene at the mall. He said results would not be ready before a week's time.

Morgue officials in Nairobi have been prepared for the last two days for a large influx of bodies still in the mall. Officials have told AP that the shopping center, which the terrorists held for four days, could hold dozens more bodies. The government has confirmed 72 total deaths: 61 civilians, six security forces and five attackers. The Red Cross says 71 people remain missing.

Al-Shabab said the Kenyan government assault team carried out "a demolition" of the building, burying 137 hostages in the debris. A government spokesman denied the claim and said Kenyan forces were clearing all rooms Wednesday, firing as they moved and encountering no one.

The al-Shabab claim appeared to refer to the rocket-propelled grenades fired inside the Nakumatt department store, in the incident described to AP by a government official.

In a series of tweets from a Twitter account believed to be genuine, al-Shabab also said that "having failed to defeat the mujahideen inside the mall, the Kenyan govt disseminated chemical gases to end the siege."

Kenyan government spokesman Manoah Esipisu told AP that no chemical weapons were used - including tear gas - and that the collapse of floors in the mall was caused by a fire set by the terrorists.

"Al-Shabab is known for wild allegations and there is absolutely no truth to what they're saying," he said. But officials said the death count will likely rise.

The country's interior minister in a press conference said an "inconsequential number" of bodies remained in the mall.

The mall's top level parking lot collapsed in the middle of the building. That brought the second level down onto the ground floor on top of at least eight civilians and one or more attackers, said Esipisu.

Lenku said there were no indications that a woman took part in the attack, despite persistent press speculation, and he said officials have not yet confirmed reports that the attackers had rented a shop inside the mall.

U.S. Ambassador Robert Godec said Wednesday that Washington is providing technical support and equipment to Kenyan security forces and medical responders. Godec said the U.S. is assisting the investigation to bring the attack's organizers and perpetrators to justice.

In another development, a British man was arrested in Kenya following the terrorist attack, Britain's Foreign Office said.

British officials are ready to provide assistance to the man, the agency said in a statement Wednesday. Officials would not provide his name or details. He is believed to be in his 30s. Britain's Daily Mail newspaper said he was arrested Monday as he tried to board a flight from Nairobi to Turkey with a bruised face and while acting suspiciously.

Kenyan officials have said that 11 suspects in total have been arrested in connection with the attack, including at least seven at the airport. They are being questioned, said the government spokesman.

The International Criminal Court in the Hague has said it is prepared to work with Kenya to bring the attackers to justice. ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in a statement that while Kenya has primary jurisdiction in the slaying of civilians in the Westgate Mall, the atrocity could also fall under the court's jurisdiction.

Al-Shabab, whose name means "The Youth" in Arabic, first began threatening Kenya with a major terror attack in late 2011, after Kenya sent troops into Somalia following a spate of kidnappings of Westerners inside Kenya.

The mall attack was the deadliest terrorist attack in Kenya since the 1998 al-Qaida truck bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, which killed more than 200 people.

Mass starvation feared in Syria; `We have no food'

Mass starvation feared in Syria; `We have no food' 

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian citizens gather at the scene of a car bomb exploded in the residential al-Tadhamon neighborhood in Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013. Syrian state media say a car bomb has exploded in Damascus, killing and wounding a dozen people. Damascus has been hit by a wave of explosions over the past leaving scores of people dead.

BEIRUT (AP) -- Syrian opposition groups and international relief organizations are warning of the risk of mass starvation across the country, especially in the besieged Damascus suburbs where a gas attack killed hundreds last month.

With the world's attention focused on the regime's chemical weapons, activists said six people - including an 18-month girl - have died for lack of food in one of the stricken suburbs in recent weeks.

Save the Children said in an appeal Monday that more than 4 million Syrians, more than half of them children, do not have enough to eat. Food shortages have been compounded by an explosion in prices.

"The world has stood and watched as the children of Syria have been shot, shelled and traumatized by the horror of war," said Roger Hearn, Save the Children's regional director for the Middle East. "The conflict has already left thousands of children dead, and is now threatening their means of staying alive."

Thousands of people are believed trapped in suburbs east and west of the capital that have been held for months by rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad. Regime troops are besieging the areas, and residents say food is increasingly had to find. Rebels say they are trying to break the blockade.

The suburbs were the site of the Aug. 21 attack that a U.N. report found included the use of the nerve gas sarin. They were home to more than 2 million people before the war, but it is unclear how many are there now.

In some hard-hit areas such as the western suburb of Moadamiyeh, people are running out of food and are mostly relying on lentils, olives and dried figs, according to residents and activists.

"We have no food, no milk and no medicine," said a woman from Moadamiyeh, who identified herself by her nickname Um Lujain for fear of government reprisals. "We are surviving on one meal a day,"

Um Lujain said her 18-month-old daughter has lost half her weight and spends most of her days sleeping. 

The woman said her daughter's diet is based on the liquid she makes by boiling lentils.

"There has been no children formula or bread for about a year," the woman said. She added that sometimes rebels find expired boxes of powdered milk in abandoned shops or pharmacies, and people still give it to their children for lack of food.

According to the Moadamiyeh Media Center, six people have died of starvation over the past 20 days: two women and four children ages 18 months to 7 years. It added that 15 other children are in intensive care in clinics, suffering from malnutrition.

On Monday, the opposition Syrian National Coalition accused government forces of tightening their months-long siege. "Assad's forces are starving people to death in those areas," the coalition claimed. 

"Famine looms in the horizon."

Rana Obeid, the 18-month-old girl, was the latest to die on Monday. An amateur video showed her lying on a bed, her ribs visible and her stomach bloated.

The video appeared genuine and corresponded to other AP reporting on the events depicted.

Mahmoud Abu Ali, an activist in Moadamiyeh, said the suburb has been under siege for 307 days. He added that most of the cows, sheep and goats died as a result of shelling or lack of feed, and people cannot plant their land because of daily bombardment.

"People wake up in the morning and there is no food to have breakfast. At noon there is no food for people to have lunch," Abu Ali said.

Khaled Iriqsousi, head of Syrian Arab Red Crescent, told The Associated Press that the organization has not entered suburbs of Damascus for five months because of the fighting.

Iriqsousi said by telephone that one of the most serious problems is that children are not getting vaccinated. 

"This will affect generations," he warned.

The United States and Russia brokered an agreement for Syria to give up its chemical weapons, but U.N. diplomats are at odds over details of a Security Council resolution spelling out how it should be done and the possible consequences if Syria doesn't comply.

In a speech at the U.N. on Tuesday, President Barack Obama challenged the Security Council to hold Syria accountable if it fails to live up to its pledges.

"If we cannot agree even on this," Obama said, "then it will show that the United Nations is incapable of enforcing the most basic of international laws."

Ertharin Cousin, head of the U.N.'s World Food Program, demanded that a potential cease-fire for the benefit of the experts who will secure Syria's chemical weapons include access for aid workers.

WFP is feeding 3 million people inside Syria.

Kenyan president declares victory in mall siege

Kenyan president declares victory in mall siege 

Relatives of Johnny Mutinda Musango, 48, weep after identifying his body at the city morgue in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday Sept. 24 2013. Musango was one of the victims of the Westgate Mall hostage siege. Kenyan security forces were still combing the Mall on the fourth day of the siege by al-Qaida-linked terrorists.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Kenyan authorities prepared for the gruesome task of recovering dozens more victims than initially feared after the country's president declared an end Tuesday to the four-day siege of a Nairobi mall by al-Qaida-linked terrorists. Officials said the death count could jump by another 60 or more.

"We have ashamed and defeated our attackers," President Uhuru Kenyatta said in a televised address to the nation that was delayed for hours as gunbattles persisted at the upscale Westgate mall. "Kenya has stared down evil and triumphed."

Despite Kenyatta's declaration, troops remained deployed at the vast complex, and security officials told The Associated Press attackers with weapons or booby traps might still be inside. A plan to remove bodies was aborted because of continued skirmishes inside the mall, where three floors had collapsed.

Describing the victims as "innocent, harmless civilians" of "various nationalities, races, ethnic, cultural, religious and other walks of life," a solemn-looking Kenyatta reported the known death toll: at least 61 civilians, along with six security forces and five al-Shabab militants.

About 175 people were injured, including 62 who remain hospitalized, he said, acknowledging that "several" bodies remained trapped in the rubble, including those of terrorists.

However, another government official said a far higher toll was feared and morgue workers were preparing to receive up to 60 more bodies. A Western embassy official said the number of additional dead could go as high as 100. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss information not publicly disclosed.

"They're just seeing dead bodies. They've found no survivors, no live hostages," said a Nairobi resident whose brother was taking part in the military sweep inside the mall. He spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because his brother was not authorized to publicly release the information.

Kenyatta said 11 suspects had been arrested; authorities previously announced that seven had been taken into custody at the airport and three elsewhere.

"These cowards will meet justice as will their accomplices and patrons, wherever they are," an emotional Kenyatta declared.

"We confronted this evil without flinching, contained our deep grief and pain, and conquered it," he said. "As a nation, our head is bloodied, but unbowed."

Kenyatta declared three days of national mourning starting Wednesday.

Kenyatta said forensic experts would examine the corpses of the assailants to determine their identities, softening earlier assertions by Kenya's foreign minister that Americans and a Briton were involved in the siege.

"Intelligence reports had suggested that a British woman and two or three American citizens may have been involved in the attack," the president said. "We cannot confirm the details at present but forensic experts are working to ascertain the nationalities of the terrorists."

Kenyan officials as early as Sunday evening began declaring near-victory over what they said were 10 to 15 attackers, some who wore black turbans and many with grenades strapped to their vests. But battles inside the shopping complex continued, straining the credibility of victory declarations.

Booming explosions on Monday collapsed a second-story parking garage down into a department store - blasts that lit cars on fire and sent dark plumes of smoke skyward for nearly two hours. Explosions continued throughout Tuesday, and the chatter of gunfire from inside the building could be heard. Fresh smoke rose from the building in the afternoon.

Fears persisted that some of the attackers could still be alive and loose inside the rubble of the mall, a vast complex that had shops for retailers like Bose, Nike and Adidas, as well as banks, restaurants and a casino.

Two Kenyan soldiers who had been inside the mall shortly before the president spoke said the operation was mostly over, but security forces were still combing the facility and had not definitively cleared all the rooms. 

They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were under orders not to speak to the media.

Another higher-ranking security official involved in the investigations said it would take time to search the whole mall before declaring that the terrorist threat had been crushed. That official also insisted on anonymity.

Al-Shabab, whose name means "The Youth" in Arabic, first began threatening Kenya with a major terror attack in late 2011, after Kenya sent troops into Somalia following a spate of kidnappings of Westerners inside Kenya.

The group used Twitter throughout the four-day siege to say that Somalis have been suffering at the hands of Kenyan military operations in Kenya, and the mall attack was revenge.

"You could have avoided all this and lived your lives with relative safety," the group Tweeted Tuesday. 

"Remove your forces from our country and peace will come."

Al-Shabab, responding to a request from AP, denied that any women had attacked the mall."

"We have an adequate number of young men who fully committed and ready to sacrifice their lives for the sake of Allah and for the sake of their religion," said the al-Shabab press office in what is thought to be an authentic email address.

The militants specifically targeted non-Muslims, and at least 18 foreigners were among the dead, including six Britons, as well as citizens from France, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, Peru, India, Ghana, South Africa and China. Five Americans were among the wounded.

The mall attack was the deadliest terrorist attack in Kenya since the 1998 al-Qaida truck bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, which killed more than 200 people.

Security officials in Nairobi always knew that Westgate, which was popular with foreign residents of the capital as well as tourists and wealthy Kenyans, was a likely target for terror attacks.

Matt Bryden, a former coordinator of the U.N.'s Somalia monitoring group, said it would have been impossible to adequately protect the complex without transforming its character from a pleasant shopping experience into a U.S. Embassy-like fortress.

"The issue now," he said, "is how this operation escaped detection. Was it so well-planned and operational security so tight that they managed to beat the system, or was it because there was a serious lapse of intelligence, or was it both?"

"To prevent future attacks the emphasis needs to be figuring it out and fix it, and not turning all shopping malls and restaurants and hotels into embassy-like fortresses."

A U.S. Embassy vehicle, identifiable by its numbered diplomatic license plate, arrived at the morgue on Tuesday. American officials have not confirmed the deaths of any U.S. citizens, but it appeared possible the morgue visit was by security officials with an agency like the FBI who were seeking information about one of the bodies inside.

Kenyatta said friendly nations offered various forms of assistance. American, British, French and perhaps most importantly Israeli advisers assisted the hostage-rescue mission, though security officials said all military actions were carried out by Kenyans.

Kenyatta singled out President Barack Obama, as well as the leaders of Israel and Britain, for their support.

 

Fairfax to buy BlackBerry for $4.7 billion

Fairfax to buy BlackBerry for $4.7 billion 
 

FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, file photo, blackBerry's employees prepare the launch event for the company's new smartphones in London. Fairfax Financial Holdings has offered to buy BlackBerry in a deal that values the Canadian smartphone company at about US$4.7 billion, on Monday, Sept. 23, 2013.

TORONTO (AP) -- BlackBerry has agreed to a $4.7 billion sale to a group led by its largest shareholder, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., after new smartphones failed to turn the company around.

BlackBerry Ltd. said Monday that a letter of intent has been signed and that its shareholders will receive $9 in cash for each share. The deal comes just days after the Canadian company announced plans to lay off 40 percent of its global workforce.

The BlackBerry, pioneered in 1999, was once the dominant smartphone for on-the-go business people and other consumers. It could be so addictive that it was nicknamed "the CrackBerry." President Barack Obama couldn't bear to part with his BlackBerry. Oprah Winfrey declared it one of her "favorite things."

But then came a new generation of competing smartphones, starting with Apple's iPhone in 2007. The BlackBerry, that game-changing breakthrough in personal connectedness, looked ancient suddenly.

Although BlackBerry was once Canada's most valuable company with a market value of $83 billion in June 2008, the stock has plummeted from more than $140 a share to less than $9, giving it a market value of $4.6 billion, just short of Fairfax's offer.

Anaylsts say that although BlackBerry's hardware business is not worth anything, its service business and patents are still valuable. At the end of the second quarter, the company also had total cash and investments of about $2.6 billion and no debt.

The deal follows a $7.2 billion offer that Microsoft Corp. made this month for the phones and services business of another troubled phone maker, Nokia Corp.

Fairfax head Prem Watsa, who owns 10 percent of BlackBerry, stepped down as a board member because of potential conflicts when BlackBerry announced it was considering a sale last month. The company would no longer be traded publicly once the sale goes through.

"We believe this transaction will open an exciting new private chapter for BlackBerry its customers, carriers and employees," Watsa said in a statement. "We can deliver immediate value to shareholders, while we continue the execution of a long-term strategy in a private company."

Watsa is one of Canada's best-known investors and is founder of Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. BlackBerry founder Mike Lazaridis recruited Watsa to join the company's board when Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie stepped aside as its co-CEOs in January 2012.

BlackBerry shares plunged 17 percent after the company announced Friday a loss of nearly $1 billion and layoffs of 4,500 workers. It gained 9 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $8.82 Monday.

BlackBerry said the general terms of the deal have been approved by its board and a special committee set up to look at options. The company said it will negotiate and execute a definitive transaction agreement with Fairfax by Nov. 4.

During that time, BlackBerry is entitled to continue to find other buyers, but if BlackBerry backs out of the deal, it would owe Fairfax about $157 million.

"The special committee is seeking the best available outcome for the company's constituents, including for shareholders," BlackBerry chairwoman Barbara Stymiest said in a statement.

Watsa is likely to keep current CEO Thorsten Heins in the job. He said in April that he's a big supporter of Heins and has called his promotion the right decision. He also said he's excited about the company's new BlackBerry 10 operating system.

This year's launch of BlackBerry 10 and fancier devices that use it was supposed to rejuvenate the brand and lure customers. But the much-delayed phones have failed to turn the company around. At their peak in the fall of 2009, BlackBerry's smartphones enjoyed global market share of more than 20 percent, says Mike Walkley, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity. That is now just 1.5 percent.

BlackBerry said Friday that it will lay off 4,500 employees as it tries to slash costs by 50 percent and shift its focus back to competing mainly for the business customers. That will bring its global headcount to 7,000. The company cut 5,000 jobs last year.

A week earlier than expected, BlackBerry surprised the market by reporting Friday that it lost nearly $1 billion in the second quarter. The company is booking over $900 million in charges to write down the value of its unsold smartphones.

The company also said Friday it plans to focus on offering only two high-end devices and two entry-level phones going forward, with emphasis on the business market.

The decline of BlackBerry, formerly known as Research In Motion Ltd., is evoking memories of Nortel, another Canadian tech giant, which ended up declaring bankruptcy in 2009.

But BGC analyst Colin Gillis said taking BlackBerry private is the right move and said it's possible that BlackBerry could survive in a much smaller form. He noted that the $9-per-share offer is lower than the $12.32 average price that the stock traded over the past six months.

Anthony Michael Sabino, a professor at St. John's University's business school, said going private removes the burden of pleasing shareholders with short-term results, just as Michael Dell hopes to do with Dell Inc. after winning a bid to take the troubled computer maker private. He said Fairfax is known for patience in its investments, which would give BlackBerry time to regroup.

"In all honesty, its fate is still uncertain, but at least now it has a fighting chance," Sabino said.