By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Home resales rose in April to the highest level in nearly 3-1/2 years and prices surged, offering the economy a buffer from the stiff headwinds posed by belt-tightening by Washington. The National Association of Realtors said on Wednesday existing home sales advanced 0.6 percent to an annual rate of 4.97 million units, the highest level since November 2009. The data underscored the housing market's improving fortunes as it starts to regain its footing. Resales were 9.7 percent higher than in the same period last year. ...

NEW YORK (AP) — Lowe's said Wednesday that its first-quarter net income rose nearly 3 percent, but results fell short of expectations as rainy weather hurt spring gardening sales.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of a House panel angry over the growing epidemic of sexual assaults in the military took a key step toward tackling the problem by passing legislation Wednesday that would strip commanding officers of their longstanding authority to unilaterally change or dismiss court-martial convictions in rape and assault cases. Lawmakers believe the revision will lead to a cultural shift and encourage victims to step forward.

In a medical first, doctors used plastic particles and a 3-D laser printer to create an airway splint to save the life of a baby boy who used to stop breathing nearly every day.

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — The U.S. and several key allies looked again Wednesday for a strategy to end Syria's civil war, their united efforts unable at the moment to stem the Assad regime's military gains and Washington still unwilling to join those providing the rebels with lethal military aid.

LONDON (AP) — Two U.K. government officials say a brutal attack that left one man dead near a London military barracks appears to have been motivated by radical Islam.

How did the CIA become the hero in the Benghazi talking point controversy? The Republican theory of the case is that the CIA provided mostly correct talking points (with one big flaw — it blamed spontaneous protests), which the State Department and the White House then edited into misleading mush to protect President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. But, of course, the CIA is part of the Obama administration, too, and run by Obama appointees — why hasn't it enjoyed as much scrutiny as everyone else involved?

Jon Stewart last night couldn't resist telling the story of Canada's Rob Ford, the mayor of Toronto who might have a crack habit based on video viewed by news organizations (even though Ford is resisting as much as he can). So Stewart turned to Senior Canadian Correspondents Samantha Bee and Jason Jones, who revealed that crack smoking is par for the course in their native land.

NEW YORK (AP) — Lowe's said Wednesday that its first-quarter net income rose nearly 3 percent, but results fell short of expectations as rainy weather hurt spring gardening sales.

By Luke Baker BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain, France and Germany called for stricter rules to stop companies such as Google, Apple and Amazon aggressively avoiding taxes in austerity bitten Europe, while acknowledging they had done nothing unlawful. At a summit to discuss energy and tax policy, the leaders of the three largest EU countries took the opportunity at news conferences to lament the impact of corporate tax avoidance, following several cases involving U.S. firms. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - The feud between world number one Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia deepened when Woods described the Spaniard's "fried chicken" jibe as "wrong, hurtful and inappropriate" on Wednesday. Woods reacted on his Twitter account after Garcia issued an apology to a comment he made at Tuesday's European Tour awards dinner when he was asked on stage whether he would be inviting Woods for dinner during next month's U.S. Open in Merion. "We will have him round every night. We will serve fried chicken." Garcia was heard to say. ...

"Before Midnight" — The final scene of 2004's "Before Sunset" was so romantic it drove moviegoers crazy — happily crazy — especially because it was so tantalizingly ambiguous. Jesse and Celine, that appealing (and extremely talkative) couple played by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, who had fallen in love in the 1995 "Before Sunrise," had reunited at last. In the gorgeous afternoon light of Paris, no less. But we didn't know what would happen next. Nine years later, we have our answer, and it was sure worth the wait. "Before Midnight," the third movie in the Richard Linklater series, is not only as good as the first two, it's arguably better, tackling weightier, trickier issues with wit, humor and breathtaking directness. The setting is still gorgeous — it's a summer vacation in Greece. (Will these two ever venture to an ugly locale?) But the rest is different. Delpy gives Celine a new hardness here, an edge that we saw only a bit in the previous film. And Hawke is extremely effective as a man who adores his partner but is increasingly frustrated with her. It all comes to a head in a humdinger of a fight — just Jesse and Celine in a hotel room, plus a bottle of wine that doesn't get drunk. It gets poured, though, and you'll be so frazzled, you'll want to reach through the screen and chug it down yourself. Rated R for sexual content/nudity and language. 109 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is showing singer-songwriter Carole King that she has friends at the White House.

The lunar crash site from an meteorite strike on the moon is taking center stage in cosmic crime scene investigation and you can see the space rock impact zone online in a free webcast tonight (May 22).

Prolonging the Buzz with Grandma