Six news items to get you ready for weekend cocktail parties and other current events chatter:

1. Another Savior for BlackBerry? Readers of this column know that we’ve been eagerly following the BlackBerry saga. Two weeks ago, BlackBerry’s stock dropped like a lead balloon after reporting nearly $1 billion in losses and laying off close to 4,500 employees. Last week, doubts arose over whether Fairfax Financial Holdings chairman Prem Watsa had adequate finances to close his proposed $4.7 billion takeover of the company. Compared to that disastrous fortnight, this week was a pretty good one for BlackBerry. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management had requested a confidentiality agreement so that it could examine BlackBerry’s books and internal operations. Cerberus, which specializes in buying distressed companies and turning them around, has previously invested in Chrysler and recently announced plans to sell its interest in Bushmaster Firearms International after one of its semi-automatic rifles was used during the Newtown, Conn., school shooting last December. The news of Cerberus’s potential interest helped BlackBerry’s stock tick up by the end of trading yesterday. Meanwhile, another buyer could be on the horizon, as The New York Times reports that BlackBerry’s co-founder and former co-CEO Mike Lazaridis could be exploring a bid to reclaim his company.

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