Report: Bangladeshi mom doesn't want twins back

The mother of recently separated conjoined Bangladeshi twins does not want custody of the daughters she gave up for adoption and wants them to have new lives in Australia, newspapers reported Saturday.

Europe: Proton beams circulate in Big Bang machine

Scientists switched on the world's largest atom smasher Friday night for the first time since the $10 billion machine suffered a spectacular failure more than a year ago.

Astronauts await word of baby girl on Earth

Atlantis' astronauts anxiously awaited word Friday on the birth of a crewman's daughter as they moved more supplies into the International Space Station and geared up for another spacewalk.

Measure to change U. of Neb. stem-cell rule fails

The University of Nebraska's governing board on Friday voted not to place tighter restrictions on embryonic stem cell research than those outlined under federal guidelines, which were expanded after President Barack Obama took office.

Asian carp may have breached electronic barrier

Asian carp may have breached an electronic barrier designed to prevent the giant invaders from upsetting the ecosystem in the Great Lakes and jeopardizing a $7 billion sport fishery, officials said Friday.

Flurry of IPOs signals IPO rebound to continue

The flurry of initial public offerings this week is confirmation that this fall's rebound in the market wasn't a fluke and sets the stage for more companies to raise money through IPOs in 2010. But the response to two of the newly public companies shows that investors continue to be careful about where they place their bets.

GE, Vivendi talks over NBC Universal stretch on

A deal for Comcast Corp. to buy a controlling stake in NBC Universal and create one of the most powerful media companies in the world is taking longer than expected as the current owners tussle over price.

B&N Nook sells out, too late for holiday orders

Consumers who haven't yet ordered Barnes & Noble's electronic book reader, the Nook, won't see one before Christmas.

Suit over search-engine keywords tries new angle

A lawsuit in Wisconsin is bringing a fresh challenge to the practice of paying for keywords on Google and other search engines to boost one company's link over a rival's.

Ask AP: Shuttle complexity, credit union agency

A space shuttle is no tinker toy. But is it the most complex machine ever built?

Microsoft offers about 24K training vouchers in NC

Microsoft Corp. is giving away nearly 24,000 vouchers to North Carolina residents who want to improve their computer skills so they can improve their lot in the work force.

EU extends Oracle/Sun review deadline until Jan 27

European Union regulators said Friday that they have extended until Jan. 27 a deadline to wrap up their antitrust review of Oracle Corp.'s planned $7.4 billion takeover of Sun Microsystems Inc.

Dell's profit, stock drop on weak quarterly report

Some of the computer industry's biggest players _ such as IBM Corp., Intel Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. _ have wowed Wall Street this fall with stronger-than-expected profits.

Library group offers text search to 4.6M books

A group of major national research libraries says users now can search the full text of 1.6 billion pages from 4.6 million digitized volumes.

Sony hopes online service will build brand loyalty

Sony's new online service connecting the whole range of its gadgets to downloadable content like movies and games should help build brand loyalty, a top executive said Friday.

Obama answers questions from top Cuban blogger

President Barack Obama has answered questions submitted by a celebrated Cuban blogger, saying he isn't interested in "talking for the sake of talking" with Raul Castro and indicating he won't visit the island until the communist government changes its ways.

EBay completes sale of Skype for $2 billion

EBay has completed its sale of Skype for about $2 billion to an investor group that included the founders of the Internet phone service.

Glitch snarls air traffic in latest woes for FAA

For the second time in a little more than a year, a glitch at one of the two centers that handle flight plans for the nation's air travel system set off delays and cancellations for passengers around the country.

On the Call: Dell's CEO Michael Dell

A key element of Dell Inc.'s turnaround strategy has been a vow not to cut prices as aggressively as rivals just to keep market share. The tactic has allowed competitors such as Acer Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. to steal business from Dell, and this fall Dell lost its ranking as the world's No. 2 PC maker.

AOL offers buyouts to over a third of work force

The struggling Internet company AOL plans to shed up to 2,500 jobs _ more than a third of its work force _ as it prepares to separate from Time Warner and finally sever their ill-fated marriage.

Google's Chrome OS to be ready for 2010 holidays

Consumers will have to wait until next year's holiday shopping season to find out if Google Inc.'s new operating system can deliver on its promise to make low-cost computers run faster.

Shareholders OK DirecTV spinoff but sale uncertain

Shareholders approved the formation of a new company out of DirecTV Group Inc. and some of Liberty Media Corp.'s entertainment businesses, as the chairman of both firms dampened speculation about a sale to a big phone company.

3 new ancient crocodile species fossils found

A 20-foot-long crocodile with three sets of fangs _ like wild boar tusks _ roamed parts of northern Africa millions of years ago, researchers reported Thursday. While this fearsome creature hunted meat, not far away another newly found type of croc with a wide, flat snout like a pancake was fishing for food.

Yahoo jumps on Twitter bandwagon to improve search

Yahoo Inc. is jumping on the Twitter bandwagon in its latest attempt to get people to use its Internet search engine more frequently.

Google adding automatic captions to YouTube videos

Think of it as closed captioning for the new media world.