Technology Top Stories from Associated Press (AP)

BEIJING (AP) , Lei Shujie, a designer in Shanghai, piled up a wish list for the quirky holiday dubbed "Singles Day" that has grown into China's , and possibly the world's , busiest online shopping day. Clothes, a pillow, a cabinet to give a friend , Lei put off buying until Sunday, when retailers promised discounts of up to 70 percent. "The prices are irresistible," she said.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) , A half mile below the ground at Prudhoe Bay, above the vast oil field that helped trigger construction of the trans-Alaska pipeline, a drill rig has tapped what might one day be the next big energy source.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) , Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp. has settled with Apple Inc. on their outstanding patent disputes. In a joint statement Sunday, the two companies said they also signed a 10-year license agreement that will extend to current and future patents held by one other.

The harrowing saga of legendary super soldier Master Chief continues in the first-person shooter Halo 4 (Microsoft Studios and 343 Industries, rated Mature, reviewed for Xbox 360, $59.99). After a five-year absence in a starring gaming role, the green-armored and shiny-helmeted legend is back in the first of the three-part epic, the Reclaimer Saga.

LONDON (AP) , A European official says her staff members were hacked when they joined her for a conference on Internet security in Azerbaijan. European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes said in a blog post Saturday that her advisers' computers were compromised as they attended a meeting of the Internet Governance Forum in the Azeri capital of Baku.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) , Google says its search engine and other Internet services have been cut off from much of China just as the country's ruling party picks new leaders. Data posted on Google's website shows its services in China became largely inaccessible beginning around 1 a.m. PST Friday. That would be about 5 p.m. Friday in Beijing.

WASHINGTON (AP) , The military is cracking down on special operations troops who share knowledge of their secret missions for profit, punishing seven Navy SEALs, including one involved in the mission to get Osama bin Laden, who moonlighted as advisers on a combat video game.

WASHINGTON (AP) , Seven members of the secretive Navy SEAL Team 6, including one involved in the mission to get Osama bin Laden, have been punished for disclosing classified information, senior Navy officials said Thursday. Four other SEALs are under investigation for similar alleged violations, one official said.

NEW YORK (AP) , U.S. retail sales of new video game hardware, software and accessories fell 25 percent in October, marking the 11th straight month of declining sales for physical game products, according to a report from NPD Group. Many gamers are waiting for big holiday releases such as Activision's "Call of Duty: Black Ops II."

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) , Iran's sanctions-fighting "resistance economy" suddenly got a lot leaner, less flashy and perhaps a bit more uncomfortable. The Islamic Republic announced Thursday a ban on...

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) , The Australian government has abandoned its 5-year-old pledge to mandate a filter blocking child pornography and other objectionable Internet content. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio on Friday that instead of imposing a compulsory filter, Internet service providers have agreed to block a list of 1,400 websites.

NEW YORK , Apple says it sold 3 million iPads of all kinds in the first three days it sold the new Mini model. Apple started selling the Mini on Friday, starting at $329. It's a third smaller than the full-size iPad. The sales figure compares with 1.5 million iPads sold in the first three days after Apple launched the third-generation iPad in March and cut the price of the iPad 2.

LONDON (AP) , A British lawmaker called Sunday for the country's media ethics inquiry to publish all the text messages it has between Prime Minister David Cameron and Rebekah Brooks, the ex-chief executive of Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper division, who now faces charges over the country's tabloid phone hacking scandal.

LOS ANGELES (AP) , There's no mistaking the similarities. A childhood on a dusty farm, a love of fast vehicles, a rebel who battles an overpowering empire , George Lucas is the hero he created, Luke Skywalker. His filmmaking outpost, Skywalker Ranch, is so far removed from the Hollywood moviemaking machine he once despised, that it may as well be on the forest moon of Endor.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) , The flying machine that ushered in NASA's space shuttle program has suffered storm damage in New York City. Shuttle prototype Enterprise weathered Superstorm Sandy this week at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, but it sustained minor damage to its vertical stabilizer, or tail. A small piece of foam came off, said a museum spokesman.