A U.S. border officer stands near a security booth.  (Dave Chidley/Canadian Press)

By CBC News

The budget U.S. President Barack Obama submitted to Congress on Monday proposes to slap a $5.50 fee on every visitor from Canada who travels to the U.S. by air or by sea.
    
The fee would not apply to visitors arriving in private vehicles, thus exonerating typical cross-border shoppers.

Currently, visitors from Canada, Mexico and a number of Caribbean countries are exempt from "passenger inspection fees." It's an exemption these countries have enjoyed since 1997.

But Obama's 2012 draft budget includes a legislative proposal to lift those exemptions -- a move that a supporting document from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimates would bring in an extra $110 million a year.

Revenue from the charges would be used to support U.S. Customs and Border Protection's inspection functions, the document says.

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Do you think this border fee is reasonable? 
(This survey is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)

Scottish deerhound Hickory won the best in show award at the 135th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York on Tuesday. (Mary Altaffer/Associated Press)

The Westminster Kennel Club awarded its best in show title to a five-year-old Scottish deerhound named Hickory on Tuesday night.

She became the first of her breed to capture the purple-and-gold ribbon and shiny silver bowl.
"I think Hickory could feel my lead that I was excited and went with it," handler Angela Lloyd said.

Judge Paolo Dondina of Italy thanked everyone at New York's Madison Square Garden, then picked Hickory from a best-of-seven final show ring that truly sounded international -- there was a Pekingese, Portuguese water dog, Chinese shar-pei, smooth fox terrier, bearded collie and black cocker spaniel.

A couple of those pooches on the green carpet ring with Hickory were among the country's top-rated show dogs. The 85-pound Hickory wasn't on that list, though she wagged her long tail the most at the end after beating out a total of nearly 2,600 entries.

"The quality of all of the dogs were outstanding," Dondina said. "This animal is like in the heavens. It's not of this world."

-With files from The Associated Press

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Which dog do you think should have won the Westminster Kennel Club best in show award? What's your favourite breed of dog? Let us know in the comments below.

(This survey is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)

Prince William and Kate Middleton, shown at St. James Palace in central London on Nov. 16 when they announced their engagement, are marrying April 29 at Westminster Abbey. (Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters)

CBC News has learned Prince William and Kate Middleton will make their first official trip as a married couple to Canada from the end of June to mid-July.

The tour will run from June 30 to July 8 and will include stops in Alberta, the Northwest Territories, Prince Edward Island and Quebec.

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William and Kate will spend Canada Day the way the prince's grandmother, the Queen, did last year, in Ottawa.

But what about the rest of the trip?

Give us your pitch. Why should William and Kate come to your town during their first trip abroad? Would you go see the royal couple if they visit your part of the country? Let us know in the comments below.

(This survey is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)

China is ordering Chinese filmmakers and television producers to limit the amount of smoking depicted on-screen in an effort to curb tobacco use.

Plot lines and scenes involving smoking should only be used when necessary for artistic purposes or character development, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television said on its website Tuesday.

Under the new rules, minors under age 18 cannot be shown smoking or buying cigarettes, and characters may not smoke in public buildings or other places where smoking is banned.

China has been tightening up restrictions on smoking over the past decade, banning tobacco advertising and sponsorships of major sporting events.

That's part of a slow realization of the massive toll heavy tobacco use is taking on an aging, increasingly urbanized population. Tobacco use is linked to the deaths of at least 1 million people every year in China, where 300 million people (or nearly 30 per cent of adults) smoke.

Last August, a group of Canadian doctors called on federal and provincial governments to stop subsidizing movie productions that depict smoking in films aimed at children and teens.

Studies worldwide show smoking in movies is a powerful way to recruit young people to the addiction, said Neil Collishaw, research director of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada.

With files from The Associated Press

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Do you want Canadian film and television producers to limit depictions of smoking on-screen? Do you think it would discourage young people from smoking? Let us know.


(This survey is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)

Prince William and Kate Middleton, shown at St. James Palace in central London on Nov. 16 when they announced their engagement, are marrying April 29 at Westminster Abbey. (Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters)

Prince Harry has been chosen as his brother's best man and Kate Middleton's sister Philippa will be her maid of honour at the British royal wedding on April 29.
    
Prince Charles's office made the announcement Monday, ending weeks of speculation.

Prince William and Middleton also named a number of bridesmaids and page boys for the nuptials at Westminster Abbey.

The bridesmaids include Lady Louise Windsor, 7, the daughter of the Earl and Countess of Wessex; Margarita Armstrong-Jones, 8, the daughter of Viscount and Viscountess Linley; Eliza Lopes, 3, daughter of Harry Lopes and Camilla Parker Bowles's daughter, Laura; and Grace van Cutsem, 3, a godchild of William's.

Page boys for the wedding will be William Lowther-Pinkerton, 10, the son of William's private secretary, and Tom Pettifer, 8, another of William's godchildren.

Officials said details about the bridesmaids' dresses and the page boys' uniforms will be made available on the wedding day.

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Are you eagerly anticipating the royal wedding? Do you care about the royal wedding and if so, why? Let us know in the comments below.


  (This survey is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)

A man in an ape costume is seen outside a hotel where a media conference is held announcing the claim that a deceased sasquatch creature has been found in Georgia in 2008. (Ben Margot/Associated Press)Hundreds of Bigfoot enthusiasts joined a television crew in North Carolina to search for the legendary creature on Saturday.

Cable channel Animal Planet is filming a six-part series about Bigfoot sightings in the U.S. More than 300 volunteers scoured the Uhwarrie National Forest near Charlotte, N.C., for evidence of the purportedly ape-like animal, also commonly known as the sasquatch, the Salisbury Post reports.

There have been several reports of Bigfoot sightings in different North Carolina counties since the 1970s.

In June 2010, a Cleveland County man named Tim Peeler called police after allegedly seeing a 10-feet-fall creature with a long beard and yellowish-blond hair wander onto his rural property, according to the Charlotte Observer.

Volunteers at the Bigfoot search on Saturday didn't catch a glimpse of the elusive animal, but apparently found some hair samples, which the Animal Planet crew saved for analysis.

Do you believe a creature like Bigfoot exists? What are your favourite myths or legends? Let us know in the comments below.

(This survey is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)

A 71-year-old woman used her handbag to fight off a gang of sledgehammer-wielding thieves as they attempted to raid a jewelry story in Northampton, England, the Associated Foreign Press reported Tuesday. 

Ann Timson has now been dubbed "Supergran" by media around the world, as the video of her heroic act surfaced online. 

A witness recorded the woman running across a road to confront the six robbers, whose plan was botched when the jeweller's shop staff triggered metal shutters to shield the windows. 

Timson said she intervened because she felt angry that these people could get away with a crime in broad daylight, the CBC' s Tom Parry reported from London. 

Watch the video above. 

Has there been a situation where you ended up 'saving the day'? What heroic acts have you witnessed? Share your stories below.

By CBC News 

When Kendra Fisher was a young woman she had a dream, a dream of playing on Canada's Olympic women's hockey team. Fisher worked hard -- and just when she was about to have it all, her life spun out of control. At a Team Canada try-out in 1999, her anxiety disorder incapacitated her to the point she could not continue in the training camp. 

The good news on Fisher's story is that she learned how to cope with her disorder and she says she now lives a very productive and happy life. At 31 she's a goalie in the Canadian Women's Hockey League and a senior resource manager with Zylog Systems. Fisher is also keen to share her story to help others via her Facebook and Twitter accounts. 

The not-so-good news is that more young Canadians appear to be suffering from serious anxiety. At least one psychologist says, based on his cases, anxiety disorders now affect as many as 25 per cent of his patients seeking help for mental illness. 

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Have you ever had an anxiety disorder? How do you deal with stress and anxiety? Take our survey and tell us in the comments below. 

(This survey is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)

A man looks at different applications on his iPhone. (Jeff Chiu/Associated Press)

An iPhone app called Confession has received the approval of the Catholic Church in the U.S.

The app offers guidance for Catholics to help them with the sacrament of confession and also keeps track of their sins.

The app "is not intended to function as a replacement for confession" at church," he said in an email to CBC News.

Instead, it is supposed to help people prepare for confession and is designed to be used in the confessional, the booth in church where people sit while confessing to a priest, he said.

Leinen said he was inspired to create the app after Pope Benedict XVI's worldwide address on Jan. 24, urging Catholics to embrace modern communications and to make their presence felt online.

Developer Little iApps said the app has received the approval of Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne in Indiana.

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Do you think an iPhone confession is equal to one in a church? Let us know in the comments below. (This survey is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)

Christina Aguilera sings the American national anthem before the NFL football Super Bowl XLV game between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Feb. 6. (Charlie Krupa/Associated Press)

Christina Aguilera says that her U.S. national anthem flub during the opening ceremony of Sunday's Super Bowl XLV came after "getting lost in the moment," and eventually losing her place.

When she was supposed to sing the line "O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming," she sang, "What so proudly we watched at the twilight's last reaming."

After hearing the cringe worthy mistake, the international audience flocked to social networks to comment on her public blunder.

"Still can't get over the fact that Miss 'All-American' Christina Aguilera screwed up the National Anthem!" said Twitter user @alleyezonZ.

@BrentClay commented, "How could anyone take issue with Christina Aguilera's mistake during The Star-Spangled Banner? We're all just human, aren't we?"

Aguilera apologized in a statement to The Associated Press. "I can only hope that everyone could feel my love for this country and that the true spirit of its anthem still came through."

- With files from the Associated Press

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What has been your most embarrassing public moment? Take our survey and tell us in the comments section below.

(This survey is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)