Supercommittee gridlocked as deadline nears

WASHINGTON - Deadline nearing, the deficit-reduction talks in Congress sank toward gridlock Friday after supercommittee Democrats rejected a late Republican offer that included next-to-nothing in new tax revenue. Each side maneuvered to blame the other for a looming stalemate.

The panel faces a deadline of next Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, and lawmakers on both sides stressed they were ready to meet through the weekend in a last-ditch search for compromise.

But there was little indication after a day of closed-door meetings that a breakthrough was likely, both Democrats and Republicans emphasizing long-held political positions.

"Where the divide is right now is over taxes, and whether the wealthiest Americans should share in the sacrifices," said Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the Democratic co-chair of the panel.

But Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, said Republicans had offered "a balanced, bipartisan plan - the fact that it was rejected makes it clear that Washington Democrats won't cut a dime in government spending without job-killing tax hikes."

Egypt's Islamists confront military, vie for votes

CAIRO - Tens of thousands of Islamists and young activists massed Friday in Tahrir Square, confronting Egypt's ruling military council with the largest crowd in months to protest the generals' attempt to give themselves special powers over a future elected government.

While united against the army, however, conservatives and liberals were jockeying among themselves for votes in crucial parliamentary elections only 10 days away.

The stakes are higher for all sides than at any time since the uprising ousted President Hosni Mubarak in February. The victors will help choose who will draft a new constitution, thus defining the character of post-revolutionary Egypt.

Most of this year's rallies in Tahrir Square since Mubarak's ouster have been led by liberal- or left-leaning groups, but Islamists dominated Friday's protest. Members of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's best-organized group, carried signs and waved flags bearing the logo of its Freedom and Justice party. Elsewhere, ultraconservative Salafis in long robes and bushy beards called for application of Islamic Sharia law.

For most of the day, liberal groups showed little organized presence.

Crystal Cathedral's future uncertain

SANTA ANA, Calif. - The sale of the Crystal Cathedral to the Catholic church could mark an end to the storied televangelist ministry broadcast around the world that came crashing down in hard times.

While the church's spiritual leaders vow to carry on in a new location, the cathedral's own financial expert says it is impossible to see the future once the congregation loses its famed, glass-spired home.

What began more than 50 years ago as a weekly prayer service atop a drive-in movie theater snack bar in Orange County evolved into a televangelist empire broadcasting from the striking sanctuary that became an icon of the Rev. Robert H. Schuller's ministry.

The church raked in millions in donations through its "Hour of Power" television program to pay for the elaborate building and 40-acre grounds in Garden Grove filled with Biblical messages and statues. But it saw revenue plummet in 2008, and despite massive budget cuts, sought bankruptcy protection last year.

Now, congregants question the future of the church without the building they have come to love - and that has given the ministry its name. And many worry the "Hour of Power" broadcast - the source of 70 percent of the church's revenue - is doomed once the congregation moves to a new location that is unfamiliar to viewers and pales in comparison to the glimmering church that lets worshippers see the sky and swaying palm trees through its glass-paned walls.

Sheriff: Wagner not a suspect in Wood's death

LOS ANGELES - Actor Robert Wagner is not a suspect in the 30-year-old drowning of his actress wife, Natalie Wood, and there is nothing to indicate a crime, even though the investigation has been re-opened, a sheriff's detective said Friday.

"Her death was an accident, an accidental drowning," said Sheriff's Lt. John Corina.

Officials would not say why they were taking another look at the case, although the captain of the boat where the couple had stayed blamed Wagner for Wood's death.

Natalie Wood's sister, Lana Wood, told CNN's Piers Morgan in an interview Friday that she doesn't believe her sister fell off the boat.

Lana Wood told Morgan that she has spoken several times with the boat's captain, Dennis Davern, and he has told her that Wagner was involved in her plunge into the sea on Nov. 29, 1981. But Lana Wood said she does not believe that whatever happened was deliberate.

- The Associated Press