Navy supply ships set to join F-35 as political lightning rod in 2013

OTTAWA - The navy's long-delayed, much-studied joint support ship program is expected to come under the political microscope within weeks in what is likely another defence equipment embarrassment for the Harper government.The parliamentary budget officer has been examining the program and is poised to release his findings soon after MPs return from their Christmas break later this month.Kevin Page's...

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'Gangster Squad' actor Josh Brolin arrested for public intoxication in Calif on New Year's Day

SANTA MONICA, Calif. - Actor Josh Brolin spent some of New Year's Day and the following morning in a Southern California jail cell after getting arrested for misdemeanour public intoxication.Santa Monica Police Lt. Darrell Lowe says the actor was not given a citation for the Tuesday arrest, which means he likely won't have to appear in court.Lowe says Brolin was arrested just before midnight January...

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Report: Lance Armstrong weighs doping admission

The New York Times reported Friday that Lance Armstrong, who has strongly denied the doping charges that led to him being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, has told associates he is considering admitting to the use of performance-enhancing drugs.The report cited anonymous sources and said Armstrong was considering a confession to help restore his athletic career in triathlons and running...

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Friday's Sports In Brief

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -- Alabama coach Nick Saban sent home two backup players from the BCS championship game for violating curfew.A person with knowledge of the decision said the players were freshman linebackers Dillon Lee and Ryan Anderson. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the school didn't release names.A statement from Saban announced the disciplinary action. Alabama's...

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Report says Armstrong may confess to doping

Lance Armstrong is reportedly considering a change in course, dropping his years of denials and admitting that he used performance-enhancing drugs.The New York Times, citing anonymous sources, reported late Friday that Armstrong has told associates he is thinking about the move.However, Armstrong attorney Tim Herman says that the cyclist hasn't reached out to USADA chief executive Travis Tygart and...

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Netflix suffers Christmas Eve outage, points to Amazon

 An outage at one of Amazon's web service centers hit users of Netflix Inc.'s streaming video service on Christmas Eve and was not fully resolved until Christmas day, a spokesman for the movie rental company said on Tuesday.The outage impacted Netflix subscribers across Canada, Latin America and the United States, and affected various devices that enable users to stream movies and television...

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Netflix blames Amazon for Christmas Eve outage

An outage at one of Amazon's web service centers hit users of Netflix Inc's streaming video service on Christmas Eve and was not fully resolved until Christmas Day, a spokesman for the movie rental company said on Tuesday.The outage impacted Netflix subscribers across Canada, Latin America and the United States, and affected various devices that enable users to stream movies and television shows from...

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Number of e-book readers increasing in United States: survey

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The popularity of electronic books is increasing in the United States, with nearly one-quarter of American bibliophiles reading e-books, according to a survey released on Thursday.The number of e-readers aged 16 years and older jumped from 16 percent in 2011 to 23 percent this year, while print readers fell from 72 to 67 percent in 2012, in a survey conducted by the Pew Research...

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China tightens Internet controls, legalizes post deletion

 China unveiled tighter Internet controls on Friday, legalizing the deletion of posts or pages which are deemed to contain "illegal" information and requiring service providers to hand over such information to the authorities for punishment.The rules signal that the new leadership headed by Communist Party chief Xi Jinping will continue muzzling the often scathing, raucous online chatter in a...

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Hunger strike pressures Canada PM, aboriginal protests spread

A Canadian aboriginal chief in the third week of a hunger strike is urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to "open his heart" and meet with native leaders angered by his policies as small impromptu protests spread beyond Canada's borders.Chief Theresa Spence from the remote northern Ontario community of Attawapiskat has been fasting since December 11 and has vowed to continue until Harper commits to...

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