Softbank Corp. (9984), Japan’s third- largest mobile-phone company, is in talks to buy control of Sprint Nextel Corp. (S), according to two people familiar with the matter.

Softbank is seeking two-thirds of the U.S. company, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. Softbank is in discussions to acquire the stake for more than 1.5 trillion yen ($19 billion), Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported on its website, without saying where it got the information.

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When House Republicans called a hearing in the middle of their long recess, you knew it would be something big, and indeed it was: They accidentally blew the CIA’s cover.

The purpose of Wednesday’s hearing of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee was to examine security lapses that led to the killing in Benghazi last month of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three others. But in doing so, the lawmakers reminded us why “congressional intelligence” is an oxymoron.

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