The following were the top stories in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. * U.S. President Barack Obama emerged from a late-night meeting with House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid saying the two parties had moved closer to a spending agreement to avoid a government shutdown, but no deal had been struck. * Federal prosecutors accused a corporate lawyer and a trader of stealing confidential information about pending mergers and other deals from three prominent law firms in a years-long scheme that resulted in more than $32 million worth of profits. * The Bank of Japan said it will offer a special lending facility of $11.73 billion for banks to lend to companies seeking post-quake reconstruction funding. The board also said it is considering broadening the range of eligible collateral for its money-market operations.
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