IBT Staff Reporter

Former prime minister Tony Blair said on Wednesday he could have not have imagined what he called the nightmare that unfolded in Iraq but still did not regret joining the U.S.-led invasion.

Visitors and some residents evacuated from low-lying vacation islands off the North Carolina coast on Wednesday as Hurricane Earl bore down on the U.S. eastern seaboard, churning up dangerous swells.

Burger King Holdings Inc has been considering a possible sale and has held talks with potential buyers, a source familiar with the situation said on Wednesday, lifting its shares 18.5 percent.

Allergan Inc has agreed to plead guilty and pay $600 million to resolve a federal probe of its marketing practices for the injectable wrinkle smoother Botox, the company and the Department of Justice said on Wednesday.

Wall Street rose more than 2 percent on Wednesday and was set to record its best day in eight weeks as U.S. and Asian economic data soothed worries about a global economic slowdown.

Asian auto sales soared in August, boosted by government incentives although U.S. economic uncertainty and slowing growth in China look set to curb demand, while in Europe car sales fell as scrapping bonuses ran out.

Burger King Holdings Inc is in advanced talks to sell itself to investment firm 3G Capital, The New York Times reported on Wednesday, boosting shares 15 percent.

U.S. bank regulators pinned their hopes on Wednesday on new powers to avert another round of bailouts should crisis strike the handful of mega-firms now even larger than those previously considered too big to fail.

Michael Wei and Lucy HornbyChina may launch an antimonopoly probe into BHP Billiton's $39 billion bid for Canada's Potash Corp, the China Business News said on Wednesday, citing a source familiar with the matter.

Media stocks gained more than the market in early trading on Wednesday ahead of details of a new online TV product announcement expected from Apple Inc later in the day.

A cooling global economy and an impending austerity squeeze in Britain will make the Bank of England wait well into next year before hiking interest rates, a Reuters poll of 60 economists showed on Wednesday.

A top Swedish prosecutor said on Wednesday she was reopening an investigation into rape allegations against Julian Assange, the founder of whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan and rival Ichiro Ozawa clashed over fiscal priorities Wednesday in a battle for party leadership that threatens a policy vacuum as Japan struggles to tackle a strong yen and weak economy.

Wall Street jumped on Wednesday as an increase in U.S. manufacturing activity and new signs of growth in China and Australia boosted investor confidence in the state of the global economy.

The U.S. manufacturing sector grew faster than expected in August but private employers unexpectedly cut jobs, showing the economic recovery still faces headwinds.

The meeting between the three Pakistan players at the centre of spot-fixing allegations and the country's High Commissioner has been postponed until Thursday, officials said on Wednesday.

A federal judge approved the creation of a $150 million fund for Bank of America Corp shareholders as part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over the bank's 2009 acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

The U.S. manufacturing sector grew more quickly than expected in August, chalking up a 13th straight month of expansion, according to an industry report released on Wednesday.

With the launch of the Singapore Mercantile Exchange (SMX), a pan-Asian multi-product commodity and currency derivatives exchange, on Tuesday the focus of bullion traders has shifted from London to Asia.

A New York federal judge has approved the creation of a $150 million settlement fund for Bank of America Corp shareholders, as part of a larger settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over the bank's 2009 purchase of Merrill Lynch, the regulator said on Wednesday.

New powers from the financial reform law will help avoid a repeat of 2008's frenzied sale of Wachovia and the wreckage that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers, U.S. regulators said on Wednesday.

U.S. banking regulators see new powers under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law helping avoid a repeat of 2008's frenzied sale of Wachovia and the wreckage that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Floods have ravaged Pakistan's economy, the prime minister said on Wednesday, with massive job losses and soaring inflation expected to hurt a nation whose stability is vital to the U.S. war against militancy.

President Barack Obama declared an end to the seven-year U.S. combat mission in Iraq on Tuesday and promised recession-weary Americans my central responsibility now is to repair the U.S. economy.

Departing White House economist Christina Romer said on Wednesday the United States needs to find the political will for more action to boost the economy and not let high deficits get in the way of creating jobs.

Adam Sandler's new comedy Grown Ups has knocked Sylvester Stallone's latest mercenary action movie off the UK box office top spot after just one week, according to Screen International on Wednesday.

Burger King Holdings Inc has been considering a possible sale and has held talks with potential buyers, a source familiar with the situation said on Wednesday, lifting its shares 18.5 percent.

Borders Group Inc reported a quarterly loss as the second-largest U.S. book store chain cut prices and continued to grapple with lower sales amid a shift to electronic books.

An intact Roman lantern made of bronze, believed by experts to be the only one of its kind in Britain, has been unearthed in a field by a metal-detecting enthusiast.