AOL laid off more than 450 employees at its corporate headquarters yesterday as part of plans announced earlier this year to cut costs and change the company's business strategy.

European officials yesterday joined the chorus of concern over a U.S. screening program that creates risk profiles for every air traveler entering or leaving the United States, and sought assurances that the system does not violate European privacy rights.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Communications equipment maker Ciena Corp. reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday on sharply higher revenue and lower expenses, sending its shares as much as 10 percent higher.

TOKYO -- Sony is sticking to its target of shipping 2 million PlayStation 3 consoles by the end of the calendar year, its president said Thursday as he addressed concerns the company wouldn't be able to meet even the relatively low goal it set ahead of the year-end shopping season.

LONDON -- Shares of EMI Group PLC, whose artists include Coldplay and Robbie Williams, dropped more than 8 percent Thursday after the music company said it had ended takeover talks with an unidentified suitor.

SANTA ANA, Calif., Dec. 13 -- Representatives of Chandler family members on Tribune's board of directors approached one private-equity firm about a possible partnership to buy the embattled media giant several months ago, even before the family began pushing for the sale of the company that is now...

A new Bush administration policy for reviewing scientific documents before publication has angered some U.S. Geological Survey scientists, who say the elaborate internal review of their work may impede them from conveying information to the public.

Phillip Swann, of TVPredictions.com, will be online to answer your questions about HD and Blu-ray technologies.

Google has come up with yet another novel way to reward its employees.

Before stepping into the cockpit of a commercial jetliner for the first time, pilots have racked up hundreds of hours in the air, usually at the controls of small planes.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The congressional panel investigating Hewlett-Packard Co.'s boardroom spying probe has demanded that CEO Mark Hurd explain $1.37 million worth of options he exercised just before the scandal became public.

NEW YORK -- Skype is introducing a $30 annual subscription to make unlimited calls with the Internet-based telephone service to any regular or mobile phone number within the United States and Canada.

-- IBM Corp. and Yahoo Inc. are teaming up to offer a free data-search tool for businesses, a quirky move challenging Google Inc. and other corporate-search specialists in a blossoming market.

MIAMI -- Every year it's the same -- the relentless refrains of "Santa Baby" and "Silver Bells," those saccharine lyrics that seem to fill every radio frequency, not to mention every speaker in stores and restaurants and offices. By the time Christmas is over, Terri Lynn says she feels saturated.

RICHMOND, Dec. 11 -- Virginia Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell (R) said Monday that he will push for legislation requiring sex offenders to register their e-mail addresses and instant messaging screen names so they can be blocked from using popular online networking sites.

The House and Senate have passed legislation that will revamp the Bush administration's $5.6 billion effort to counter bioterrorism threats, reorganizing management of the program and providing struggling companies with periodic cash infusions to help fund their research and testing.