story

LONDON – British potato farmers demonstrated outside Parliament on Monday to publicize their bid to remove the term “couch potato” (search) from the Oxford English Dictionary (search), arguing that the description of slothful TV addicts harms the vegetable’s image. The group of about 30 farmers carried signs that read “couch …

JERUSALEM – Israeli and Palestinian leaders failed Tuesday to resolve “all the basic issues” facing them at their first summit since a February cease-fire was declared, the Palestinian prime minister said. The summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (search) was “difficult” and “did not live up to our expectations,” …

WASHINGTON – Motorists in California, New York and Connecticut will have to continue using corn-based ethanol (search) in their gasoline to cut air pollution at an extra cost of up to 8 cents a gallon. The three states had asked the Environmental Protection Agency to waive a 1990 requirement in …

NEW YORK – Retailer Pier 1 Imports Inc. (PIR) Tuesday warned for the 10th time in the past year that quarterly results would fall short of expectations, saying weak customer traffic is hurting its margins and sales. The home goods retailer also posted a loss for its first fiscal quarter, …

This is a partial transcript of “The Big Story With John Gibson,” May 31, 2005, that has been edited for clarity. JOHN GIBSON, HOST: French President Jacques Chirac (search) is surrounding himself with friends after suffering a painful, humiliating, awful defeat. He has named close adviser Dominique de Villepin (search) …

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – He just wanted his colleagues in the government’s legislative arm to discuss the possibility of conducting a study into the feasibility of reversing the ban on women drivers — the only prohibition of its kind in the world. But Consultative Council member Mohammad al-Zulfa’s (search ) …

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – Jurors in the Michael Jackson (search) child molestation trial completed a scheduled half-day of deliberations Thursday and left court without reaching a verdict. The panel has spent more than 22 hours deliberating over five days. The reason for the short day was not released by the …

WASHINGTON – Former FBI whistle-blower Coleen Rowley (search) will run for Congress as a Democrat in Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District, where she hopes to knock off GOP Rep. John Kline. “I’m concerned about the direction of the country,” Rowley said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “We have done things that …

DENVER, Colo. – Therapist Jennifer Bier has a warrant out for her arrest. Her crime — abiding by state law. In a controversial Colorado case, the question is whether a military judge can order Bier to turn over records of confidential conversations she had with former Air Force Academy (search) …

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – The jury’s findings on the 10-count indictment against Michael Jackson (search): –Count one: Conspiracy involving child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion, including 28 specific acts between Feb. 1 and March 31, 2003. Verdict: Not guilty. –Counts two through five: Lewd act upon a child under the …