Washington  - The United States on Tuesday slapped import duties on Canadian lumber, the latest twist in a long-running trade dispute between the two neighbours.

US trade representative Ron Kirk said that the US would impose a 10-per-cent customs duty on one of Canada's key exports until the United States has collected 54.8 million dollars it is owed under the terms of a 2006 trade deal.

Strasbourg, France  - A controversial new law reportedly approved by Afghan President Hamid Karzai that makes it illegal for Shiite women to refuse their husbands sex is "extremely alarming and troublesome" for NATO allies, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said Friday in the French city of Strasbourg.

New York  - Research In Motion (RIM) Ltd has opened an online software store for its BlackBerry phones as it seeks to take on Apple Inc, the pioneer of the trend.

The online store opened Wednesday and is initially available to customers in the United States, Canada and Britain.

BlackBerry App World would offer about 1,000 programs in its first week, including games, music applications, Facebook, Myspace and transmissions from the Bloomberg financial news agency, The New York Times and the music channel MTV.

Ottawa (Canada), Apr. 2 : Several Canadian lawmakers and the general public have expressed growing outrage over a controversial legislation in Afghanistan that would restrict the rights of minority Shia women and make it illegal for them to refuse sex to their husbands. The proposed law would also make it illegal for a Shia woman to leave her house without her husband''s permission.

The proposed Shia family law has cast a shadow over an international conference in Europe on Afghanistan''s future.

According to the Globe and Mail, Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay said he would use this week''s NATO summit to put "direct" pressure on his Afghan counterpart to abandon the legislation.

Recent approved efficiency of "Polypill," a cheap five-in-one pill in reducing the average person's risk of heart disease and stroke. This new pill is combination of five heart drugs -- three blood-pressure-lowering drugs, a cholesterol-lowering statin drug, and aspirin.

Research team led by Salim Yusuf, MD, of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario analyzed data collected from more than 2,000 people with one heart disease risk factor, such as obesity, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol.

Toronto - The international cyber spy network which has invaded some 1,295 computers in 103 countries, is continuing to operate despite being discovered, the Toronto Globe and Mail newspaper reported Monday, citing computer technology experts.

The Canadian researchers who managed to get on the trail of the hackers have so far witnessed no reduction in the cyber spies' activities, the paper said.