Hotels don't want guests to have to linger at the front desk — or even stop by at all.

New programs are helping speed up the check-in process for busy travelers, or in at least one case, letting them go straight to their rooms by using their smartphone to unlock doors.

If some workplace problems happen because employees are only human, one New York City government worker got in trouble for virtually the opposite.

He was suspended for 20 days without pay partly for answering an information-technology help line "in a robotic voice." The city Civil Service Commission upheld the suspension this month.

China on Saturday successfully recovered an experimental spacecraft that flew around the moon and back in a test run for the country's first unmanned return trip to the lunar surface.

The eight-day trip marked the first time in almost four decades that a spacecraft has returned to Earth after traveling around the moon. China plans to send a spacecraft to the moon in 2017 and have it return to Earth after collecting soil samples.

Canada's Conservative government said it is suspending visa applications for residents and nationals of countries with "widespread and persistent-intense transmission" of the Ebola virus.

With Friday's decision, Canada joined Australia in suspending entry visas for people from Ebola-stricken countries in West Africa in an attempt to keep the deadly disease away.

Microsoft is releasing a $199 fitness band that also checks your email and even pay for coffee as the software company seeks to challenge Apple and others in the still-infant market for wearable devices.

The Microsoft Band will work with the company's new Microsoft Health system for consolidating health and fitness data from various gadgets and mobile apps. Unlike rival health systems, Microsoft Health will work with competing phones, not just those running Windows.

There was a bit of a British invasion of Beverly Hills, as BAFTA Los Angeles hosted its annual Britannia Awards, honoring film and television talent from both sides of the pond, including director Mike Leigh and actors Dame Judi Dench, Emma Watson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Robert Downey Jr.

But the majority of attendees Thursday night was Brits -- no surprise, given the party was thrown by the L.A. branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

A $500 million lawsuit against Kimberly-Clark Corp. alleges the company falsely claimed its surgical gowns protected against Ebola and other infectious diseases.

The suit, filed Wednesday in federal court, alleges that the multinational company knew for at least a year that its Microcool Breathable High Performance Surgical Gown had failed industry tests of impermeability to blood and microbes, but it continued to claim the product provided the highest level of protection against diseases including Ebola.

LeBron James shot miserably. His passes were errant. He didn't look good doing much other than tossing powder in the air.

His homecoming was horrendous.

Andy Murray clinched a spot in the ATP Finals on Thursday after beating Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets at the Paris Masters and then sent a message to his critics by scribbling "bad year" on a courtside television camera.

Following a tumultuous year that saw him change coach and recover from a serious back injury, Murray booked his spot at the season-ending tournament in London by reaching the quarterfinals at the Palais Omnisports with a 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 9 seed Dimitrov.

Lazio saw its four-match winning streak broken with a 1-1 draw at Hellas Verona in Serie A on Thursday.

Bosnia midfielder Senad Lulic put Lazio ahead in the 43rd minute at Verona's Bentegodi stadium, redirecting a cross from Antonio Candreva.