JERUSALEM – Israel’s parliament easily voted down a bill Monday calling for a national referendum on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s (search) Gaza withdrawal plan, rejecting the last-ditch attempt to torpedo the plan and sparking settler threats of civil war. With the referendum’s failure and the expected approval of the 2005 …

PHILADELPHIA – Qwest Communications International Inc. (Q) is expected to hike its $8 billion takeover offer for long-distance telephone and data services company MCI Inc. (MCI), sources familiar with the situation said Friday. The new bid, which would be given to MCI’s board early next week, would value the company …

This is a partial transcript of “The Big Story With John Gibson,” March 28, 2005, that has been edited for clarity. JOHN GIBSON, HOST: Religious leaders are pushing the GOP (search) to get in the fight for Terri Schiavo’s life, but Christian conservatives are equally vocal on many other cultural …

DETROIT – Auto dealership group CarMax Inc. (KMX) on Wednesday posted higher quarterly profit on strong used-car sales but said rising gasoline prices and interest rates could hurt spring business, sending its shares down 5 percent. The company forecast earnings in the current quarter at the lower end of Wall …

Smokeless tobacco (search) boosts heart rate, blood pressure, and adrenalin. The results have “potential implications” for heart risk, the study notes. The study was small and short, so it’s not the final word on smokeless tobacco. But the findings indicate cigarettes may not be the only tobacco product that affects …

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – A lawsuit claims the video game “Grand Theft Auto” led a teenager to shoot two police officers and a dispatcher to death in 2003, mirroring violent acts depicted in the popular game. The suit announced Tuesday seeks damages from the game’s manufacturers and two stores that allegedly …

NEW YORK – Federated Department Stores Inc. (FD), parent of Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, posted a quarterly profit Tuesday at the high end of its expectations despite a slow start to the holiday shopping season. The Cincinnati-based company, reported to be in talks to acquire May Department Stores Co. (MAY), earned …

SEABROOK, N.H. – The crematorium where a decomposing corpse sat for a week apparently used a Dumpster to dispose of pacemakers, replacement hips and other metallic implants, a prosecutor said Thursday. In addition to the body of the unidentified woman, investigators searching the Bayview Crematorium (search) found the remains “of …

DENVER – A professor who likened World Trade Center (search) victims to a notorious Nazi refused to apologize, but said his treatise was a “gut response” in his first public comments since the University of Colorado began a review that could lead to his dismissal. “I don’t believe I owe …

ATHENS, Greece – Investigators trying to determine why a Cyprus airliner crashed in the Greek mountains focused on reports of past technical problems, with a former airline mechanic saying Tuesday the jet lost cabin pressure last year because of an improperly sealed door. Autopsy results indicated that dozens of people, …