It's not exactly as hot as the gunboat confrontations Canada once had with foreign boats over cod fishing on the East Coast.

It's not even as bitter as the 1990s clashes over West Coast salmon runs Canada shares with the United States, which included the 1997 blockade of an Alaska state ferry in Prince Rupert, B.C.

But Canada and the U.S. are getting testy over tuna.

The Canadian Press reported American tuna fishermen are upset after their Canadian port privileges were cancelled on the eve of talks aimed at renewing the three-decade treaty covering the valuable albacore tuna fishery.

The treaty has given Canadian and American fishermen the right to fish in each other's waters since 1981. The tuna fishery has a value of about $30 million a year. The agreement also allows the two countries' fishing fleets to tie up in each other's ports to get supplies and land fish.

But spokesmen for the Canadian and U.S. tuna fisheries say there's little chance the cross-border aspect of the fishery

The Conservative government is getting another tongue-lashing from scientists over its latest cut to federally funded research.

This time, it's the Experimental Lakes Area getting the ax.

The program used a region of 58 freshwater lakes near Kenora, in western Ontario, where scientists conducted experiments on the effects of pollution. It was included in budget cuts to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Winnipeg Free Press reported.

Some 40 department employees, including biologists, chemists and other scientists, will be laid off at its Winnipeg regional office, the Free Press said.

The program is no longer "aligned with the department's mandate and is not responding to our research priorities," federal officials said, adding Ottawa hopes universities and provincial governments will pick up the slack to fund continued work.

"It makes more sense to allow it to be owned and operated by those who will benefit from this unique research facility," Erin Filliter, spokeswoman for

Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, sign the Canadian government's guest books at CFB Gagetown, New …The ruddy-cheeked, bemedalled balding man who reminisced about his days training to be a helicopter pilot at CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick on Monday could have been any aging veteran.

But he was Canada's future king about whom his subjects are decidedly ambivalent.

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, are on a four-day visit to Canada for the Diamond Jubilee of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. Charles will be using the tour to recognize the work of Canadians in service to their communities and abroad, highlighting the theme of the jubilee, according to the Prince of Wales website.

Royal couple's itinerary for Canadian tour

Charles has been heir to the throne longer than any other in British history.

A recent Angus Reid poll suggests many in Britain and the Commonwealth would rather he step aside in favour of his more glamourous, charismatic son William and his wife Catherine. Only 17 per cent of Canadians polled want him to take the crown.

William and Catherine

A working session at the 2012 NATO Summit in Chicago, May 21, 2012. REUTERS/Philippe WojazerAs prime minister Stephen Harper meets with his North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies this week,  the future of the 63 year old military organization is very much up in the air.

Inside the meeting the leaders were looking to reinvent NATO, this time in the midst of shrinking military budgets.  The new buzzword, which Canada is touting, is "smart defence" or the idea of doing more with less.

Outside the meetings, thousands of protesters called for the end of alliance.

Is the alliance even relevant anymore?

A case to disband NATO:

During the Cold War, NATO had a core purpose: defending central Europe against the Soviet Union. The disappearance of that core purpose weakens NATO and the members' resolve.

Last summer,  outgoing U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates said NATO was facing "collective military irrelevance."

Gates noted the alliance's inefficiencies and emphasized the inadequate funds NATO gets from most European members. He said the U.S. share of NATO spending had reached 75

The thief was caught after quick-thinking employees recognized the man and the fake jewel he gave them back

When kids grow up playing cops and robbers they usually don't have to sit around waiting for a bad guy to expel evidence.

But that's what Windsor, Ont., police had to do after a famous jewelry thief, Richard Mackenzie Matthews, allegedly swallowed a $20,000 diamond. The 1.7-carat stone was finally passed by the accused on Saturday, police say. Tests have confirmed that the stone is, in fact, the missing Precision Jewellers gem.

The alleged thief, who is known for robbing other stores elsewhere and called the diamond switcher, initially came in to case out the Precision Jewellers, the Windsor Star reports. He returned and asked for the same employee, Liz Dick, to help him find an engagement ring. She pulled out the diamond and let him hold it.

"I was shaking, I was scared but I tried not to show it," she said to the Windsor Star. "The last thing I wanted him to do was bolt from

Violence erupted again after the Quebec government passed a law to clamp down on protests. (Canadian Press pho …It is a little ironic that the Quebec government's Bill 78 came down on the same day a Russian anti-protest bill was to be introduced.

Friday was supposed to be the first reading of a draconian draft law in Russia that would raise the maximum fines for organizers of unsanctioned protests to $48,000 from $1,600. Participants' fines would increase to $32,000 from $160.

Quebec's legislation, which passed Friday, also sets multiple requirements on public demonstrations and threatens stiff penalties to people who disrupt college and university classes.

The bill has been met with a chorus of criticism.

Louis Masson, the head of the Quebec Bar Association, says the Bill "clearly limits" the right to freedom of assembly. Constitutional lawyer Julius Grey told CBC News that  Bill 78 is a "terrible law" that suspends the freedom to association, express and protest, without sufficient reason. Pauline Marois, leader of the opposition Parti Québécois, said it was "one of the darkest days of Quebec

A number of studies have linked soft drinks, including diet ones, to type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, increased cancer risk and obesity. Last month a woman even died after drinking eight litres of Coke every day.

All of these negative reports may be contributing to about a 30 per cent drop in the sales of soft drinks in Canada, but producers are taking steps to prevent this from cutting into profits.

Coca-Cola, Pepsi and other rivals jointly took out an ad in the New York Times last week to promote their calorie-cutting efforts. And Canadian divisions are following suit with packaging that clearly shows the calorie count in a can or bottle.

This comes a day after the British Medical Journal published a study showing that adding a high tax on unhealthy food and drinks may slow rising obesity rates. United Nations' special rapporteur Olivier De Schutter also called for a tax on soft drinks in Ottawa on Wednesday.

But the soda industry in Canada is saying they are

Apple appears to have begun production on a product Steve Jobs would have never approved during his time as CEO.

According to a report from Liberty Times, the makers of the iPad have selected two LCD panel suppliers to produce 7.85-inch screens for the iPad Mini, a new tablet expected to be released this fall.

"The paper (Liberty Times) claims that LG and AU Optronics have been certified to produce the panels for the much rumored device," reveals Seth Fiegerman in a Business Insider piece. "The report also says that two other companies — TPK Holding and Chimei Innolux — have signed on to produce six million backlight modules for the iPad Mini screen."

Since the emergence of the seven-inch Kindle Fire, which provided a healthy boost to Android's tablet market share, the internet has been replete with rumours of an iPad Mini.

"Apple has since regained lost ground and remains the dominant player in the tablet arena," says Lance Whitney in a CNET blog. "Still, the iPad has watched its