AP - BP took a step Wednesday towards reassuring investors that it wasn't solely to blame for the Gulf oil spill — and that it won't have to foot the entire cost.

AP - The Obama administration is asking a federal appeals court to lift an order blocking federal funding for some stem cell research, a day after being turned down by the judge who issued the order.

Reuters - General Motors Co has begun testing applications that allow subscribers to its OnStar vehicle communication system to update their Facebook status verbally and to receive text messages audibly.

AP - Data-services provider TNS Inc. said Wednesday it will pay up to $112.5 million for Cequint Inc., which sells caller-ID goods and services to mobile phone operators.

Google speeds up its internet search engine by launching a new product, Google Instant, that displays results as soon as users type in queries.

NewsFactor - Apple's sales of iPads could reach 28 million units next year, according to one analyst's report this week. As the iPad wave continues, there are indications that the popular tablet is beginning to make entries into enterprises at a rate faster than other Apple products.

AP - General Motors Co. is testing software that would let drivers talk to their cars to update status messages on the Facebook social media website, as well as listen to Facebook messages, the company said Wednesday.

SPACE.com - The planet Jupiter is back in the night sky and has something for every amateur astronomer to enjoy.

AP - Oracle Corp. plans to pay newly appointed co-President Mark Hurd a base salary of $950,000 annually and said the ousted Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO is eligible for a target bonus of $5 million in the current fiscal year.

AP - Tropical Storm Igor is growing a bit stronger in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa near the Cape Verde Islands.

AP - Google Inc. stepped on its Internet search accelerator Wednesday by adding a feature that displays results as soon as people begin typing their requests.

An overweight orang-utan, who was Britain's fattest primate, has been put on a strict new diet.

AP - BP took some of the blame for the Gulf oil disaster in an internal report issued Wednesday, acknowledging among other things that it misinterpreted a key pressure test of the well. But in a possible preview of its legal strategy, it also pointed the finger at its partners on the doomed rig.

AP - Authorities say flooding from the remnants of Tropical Storm Hermine has killed a second person who was swept away from his pickup truck.

Mashable - Kno Inc., the company behind the 14-inch dual-touchscreen tablet unveiled at D8 earlier this year, announced it has closed a $46 million debt-and-equity round led by Andreessen Horowitz.

The Upshot - Last week, the online classified bulletin board Craigslist replaced the link to the fabled "Adult Services" section on its homepage with a black "censored" box. It was Craigslist's way, apparently, of saying it was doing away with the ads for good after anti-trafficking advocates and law enforcement agencies had repeatedly assailed the company for maintaining [...]

AP - THE OFFERING: Apple Inc.'s new music-discovery feature, Ping, which lets you see what songs your friends are buying and recommend some of your favorites to them.

LiveScience.com - In the battle against drug-resistant bacterial infections, researchers have identified two possible, if unlikely, allies: cockroaches and locusts.

AP - The unprecedented turtle rescue effort at NASA's Kennedy Space Center is winding down.

Reuters - In the rush to develop America's biggest new source of domestic energy, one community is fighting to protect its rural way of life from the environmental strains that accompany shale gas drilling.