Canada says deaths tied to listeria outbreak

Canada says deaths tied to outbreak

Canadian public health officials said that as many as 12 deaths might be linked to an outbreak of food poisoning, and the number of cases could rise.

Eleven of the fatalities from listeriosis occurred in Ontario and one was in British Columbia, officials said. The fatalities are among 26 cases of the disease from the same strain of listeria that was identified at a Toronto plant run by Maple Leaf Foods Inc.

The company, Canada's largest food processor, expanded a food recall Sunday to include all meat products made at the Toronto plant, which is scheduled to reopen today. Of the deaths in Ontario, listeriosis was listed as the cause or a factor in six fatalities, with the other five under investigation, officials said.

ENTERTAINMENT

Hardware blamed for Netflix delays

Netflix Inc. is blaming a faulty piece of computer hardware for a breakdown that delayed millions of shipments to the online DVD rental service's customers this month.

"We've taken steps to fortify our shipping system with the acquisition of additional equipment and worked with our vendors to verify we're in good shape elsewhere," technology chief Mike Osier wrote on Netflix's website.

INTERNET

Facebook widens Scrabulous block

A highly popular Scrabble clone already pulled from Facebook in the U.S. and Canada continued its tumble over the weekend as the online hangout extended its block of the game throughout most of the world.

Facebook said it was forced to disable Scrabulous after one of Scrabble's rights owners, Mattel Inc., made a formal removal request and the developers of Scrabulous took no action themselves.

The Scrabulous application remains available in India, where its developers live and where Mattel has filed a lawsuit claiming violations of intellectual property.

MUSIC

Rap label trustees seek new buyers

Trustees in the bankruptcy of Death Row Records asked a judge to let them seek new buyers for the rap label, saying that the winning bidder in a June auction, Global Music Group Inc., had failed to close the $24-million deal.

The two trustees also asked the Los Angeles bankruptcy judge to order Global Music Group to stop saying it had the "exclusive" rights to purchase Death Row's assets.