IBT Staff Reporter

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.

On a hillside neighborhood in the West Bank settlement of Efrat, workers construct a foundation that will expand a building toward a nearby playground.

Gunmen attacked a police headquarters in the Pakistani city of Lahore on Wednesday, setting off a car-bomb that killed at least 22 people in what the government said was revenge for an offensive against the Taliban.

General Motors Corp said on Wednesday that a crucial bond exchange proposal failed to gain enough support and that its board of directors would meet to review the automaker's options, clearing the path for what would be the largest U.S. industrial bankruptcy ever.

North Korea, facing international censure for this week's nuclear test, threatened on Wednesday to attack the South after it joined a U.S.-led plan to check vessels suspected of carrying equipment for weapons of mass destruction.

President Barack Obama's pick of Sonia Sotomayor to join the Supreme Court will trigger a battle in the Senate over what conservatives called her liberal positions, but she is likely to prevail.

Colombian ethanol output is expected to more than double to 2.42 million liters a day by the end of 2009 as new projects come onstream, Agriculture Minister Andres Fernandez Acosta said on Wednesday.

Microsoft users that were trying to log into Xbox Live on Wednesday were greeted with an error message.

Volkswagen AG signed a memorandum of understanding last week with the Chinese firm BYD to consider options for partnership in the area of hybrids and electric vehicles powered by lithium batteries.

Fuel cells maker Proton Power Systems Plc said on Wednesday its Proton Motor GmbH unit had signed a five-year agreement with contract manufacturer Deutsche Mechatronics GmbH for bulk production of its fuel cell systems in Germany.