IBT Staff Reporter

T+L sampled them plain, with cheese, and with bacon across the country for our definitive list of spots to experience burger heaven.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown sent birthday wishes to Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday, joining an online campaign to mark her 64th birthday next month.

Oil prices rose to a six-month high above $63 a barrel on Wednesday after Saudi Arabia, OPEC's biggest member, said the global economy had strengthened enough to cope with oil at $75-$80 a barrel.

Sales of existing homes in the United States rose 2.9 percent in April, according to an industry survey on Wednesday that supported views the three-year housing recession was near a bottom.

Top office products retailer Staples Inc reported slightly higher-than-expected quarterly earnings on Wednesday, bolstered by its Corporate Express unit.

The European Union proposed on Wednesday creating regulatory bodies to oversee financial supervision across national borders in a shake-up to protect investors and prevent another global credit crunch.

With first-time buyers continuing to influence the housing market, the National Association of Realtors released a report on Wednesday showing that existing home sales in the month of April increased by slightly more than economists had been expecting.

The Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg ship last used by the U.S. Air Force to track missiles and spacecraft has been sunk in the Florida Keys, creating the world’s second largest manmade reef.

Major U.S. equity indexes were little changed on Wednesday after investors digested a key report on the housing market, though the Nasdaq rose on a semiconductor licensing agreement.

General Motors Corp moved closer to filing the largest U.S. industrial bankruptcy after a crucial bond exchange proposal failed and as officials in Germany neared a decision on which company would take over GM's European brand, Opel.

Sales of existing homes in the United States rose 2.9 percent in April, according to an industry survey on Wednesday that supported views the three-year housing recession was near a bottom.

Oil rose to a six-month high above $63 a barrel on Wednesday after OPEC's biggest member Saudi Arabia said the global economy had strengthened enough to cope with oil at $75-$80 a barrel.

Germany aims to narrow the field of bidders for General Motors unit Opel on Wednesday and reach a deal to provide the carmaker with temporary financing should its U.S. parent file for bankruptcy.

Corporacion Financiera Alba CFA.MC considers a stake of between 20 and 25 percent in Spanish builder ACS as reasonable and sufficient, the financial holding's co-chairman said on Wednesday.

General Motors Corp. is likely to file for bankruptcy within the next five days after the too few bondholders showed interest on in swapping debt for stock.

The chief financial officer of Nokia, the world's biggest cellphone maker, on Wednesday backed a previous forecast that the second-quarter mobile market would be flat to slightly up from the first quarter and said the economy appeared unchanged since April.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will meet top Chinese government officials including President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing early next week, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

Myanmar's detention of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has hurt the image of Southeast Asia's regional group and strained its policy of quiet diplomacy, ASEAN chief Surin Pitsuwan said on Wednesday.

Russia is taking security measures as a precaution against the possibility tension over North Korea could escalate into nuclear war, news agencies quoted officials as saying on Wednesday.

Fannie Mae on Wednesday said it sold $2 billion in bills at higher interest rates compared with sales of the same maturities than a week ago.

Banks will be more closely scrutinized under European Union plans unveiled on Wednesday to apply lessons from the credit crunch and better protect investors hit by the worst financial crisis in decades.

The European Commission will organise a meeting of European Union industry ministers to discuss the sale of carmaker Opel, a spokesman for the EU executive said on Wednesday.

The pace of sales of existing homes in the United States rose 2.9 percent in April, according to an industry survey on Wednesday that supported views the three-year housing recession was near a bottom.

Sri Lanka must allow international humanitarian access to an estimated 300,000 Tamil refugees from its recently ended civil war, some 60 countries states told the U.N. Human Rights Council Tuesday.

Kazakhstan, one of the world's biggest uranium producers, accused a key industry executive on Wednesday of illegally selling deposits to foreign companies, a move that has alarmed the business community.

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi marked six years in detention on Wednesday as her supporters freed birds and prayed for the Nobel laureate facing a possible further five years in jail.

California's supreme court backed a ban on gay marriage on Tuesday, upholding a voter-approved proposition defining marriage as between a man and a woman, but said the marriages last year of 18,000 same-sex couples were still legal.

Chinese protesters gave a raucous welcome for House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday, painting red slogans and crying out for the lawmaker to live up to her reputation as a foe of human rights abuses.

Don't look for China to drive consolidation in a global auto industry bloated with too much cost and capacity, analysts and executives say, despite a recent rash of reports and speculation that say otherwise.