Border delays cost Canada, Ontario says

TORONTO - Chronic delays for trucks using Ontario border crossings to get in and out of the United States are costing Canada's economy $6.1 billion a year, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce said Monday.

A new study by the chamber also warned that the figure stands to more than double over the course of the next 25 years to nearly $13.3 billion if federal and provincial officials don't start taking the problem seriously.

New York health aides begin 3-day strike

NEW YORK - Thousands of home health care aides who make it possible for sick or frail patients to remain at home began a three-day strike Monday.

At least one affected agency quickly reached a tentative agreement as the strike got under way.

Workers say they can barely exist on the $7 hourly wage and are seeking $10 an hour plus health benefits. The 23,000 aides are employed by 26 New York City agencies.

The agencies, who say they lack the funds to meet all the workers' demands, sent replacement workers for the neediest clients.

Goodrich workers to vote on contract

TROY, Ohio - Workers at the Goodrich Corp. plant that makes wheels and brakes for the space shuttle plan to vote on a new contract today, the company said on Monday.

Goodrich spokeswoman Gail Warner said the company was advised of the vote by United Auto Workers Local 128, which represents 330 workers at the plant.

The existing contract was extended twice so the two sides could continue negotiations, which have gone on for more than two months.

Martha Stewart's sentencing delayed

NEW YORK - A federal judge has delayed the sentencing of Martha Stewart until July 8, giving lawyers for the celebrity homemaker time to prepare new legal papers aimed at winning her a new trial.

Lawyers for Stewart asked for the three-week delay so they could draw up a motion arguing for a new trial after a prosecution ink expert was charged last month with lying on the stand.

Home Depot preparing to expand to China

ATLANTA - The Home Depot is expanding into China with the hope of one day becoming the largest home-improvement store chain in Asia and rivaling the success it has had in the United States, company officials said Monday.

The Atlanta-based retailer would not say how many stores it plans for China or when its first store there will open, but it named Bill E. Patterson to the newly created position of Home Depot president of Asia.

Iraq seeks own '.iq' domain on Internet

Iraq is making its first claim for an internationally recognized presence on the Internet.

Iraq's media commission and the U.S.-led administration in Iraq want to set up Web addresses using the domain code ".iq" as the final tag. That would mean addresses for Web pages would be distinctively identified on the Internet with Iraq's own country code.

Although Internet cafes are popping up throughout Baghdad, few people own computers, and even fewer have regular access to the Internet.

Lionel train maker ordered to pay rival

DETROIT - A U.S. District Court jury decided Monday that model train-maker Lionel LLC and others should pay $40.8 million to rival Mike's Train House Inc. for misappropriating its designs.

Mike's Train House of Columbia, Md., sued Michigan-based Lionel in 2000, saying that Lionel sold trains made from designs stolen from a South Korean manufacturer hired by Mike's Train House.

Enquirer wire services