The port city of Mariupol in Eastern Ukraine, once home to around 400,000, has been effectively reduced to rubble by Russian forces, which have battered the city and surrounded its steel plant, where women and children are still trapped.

A battered but stubborn force of Ukrainian soldiers is still holding out, made up of members of the Azov Battalion, a far-right group that has become part of Ukraine's armed forces.

After Ukraine's early success in the north, especially its defence of the capital Kyiv, Russia has shifted its brutal campaign to other parts of the country. Today on Front Burner, we're talking to the Wall Street Journal's European security correspondent James Marson on Russia's changing tactics 61 days into its war with Ukraine — and what could happen next.

It's still early in the Conservative leadership race, but candidate Pierre Poilievre seems to have momentum. He's drawing big crowds at rallies across the country with promises to make Canada "the freest country on Earth."

Front Burner producer Allie Jaynes introduces you to some of the people who attended a Toronto event last week, and CBC Politics senior reporter Catherine Cullen gives context around those crowds and how Poilievre's brand of populism compares to past candidates.

France is electing a new president this weekend — and once again the culture war over Islam is front and centre.

Marine Le Pen, the far-right candidate, has proposed a ban on Muslim women wearing headscarves in public, and she's in striking distance of upsetting Emmanuel Macron, France's current centrist president.

With the debate over French identity and rampant Islamaphobia flaring up again, Nothing is Foreign host Tamara Khandaker speaks with guest, Rim-Sarah Alouane, a French legal scholar, who says it's "draining" to feel as a French Muslim that "you are never enough."

So what does this moment mean for Western Europe's largest Muslim population? And just how close is France to the brink of a far-right future?

Featuring:

Rim-Sarah Alouane, a French legal scholar and civil liberties expert.

In 2010, Julian Assange uploaded hundreds of thousands of U.S. intelligence documents to WikiLeaks, the website he co-founded.

Twelve years, an array of allegations in the U.S. and Sweden, and an extended stay at the Ecuadorian embassy in London later, a British judge has now approved his extradition to the U.S. to face spying charges. The order has been sent to the U.K. home secretary for final approval.

Today, The Guardian reporter Ben Quinn joins us to explain how British courts arrived at this order, what recourse remains for Assange, and the chilling precedent his supporters fear an extradition could set.

It's been two months since police cleared out the trucks and protesters who'd been occupying the streets around Parliament Hill. Several of the key figures involved in the convoy protests are in custody or out on bail, waiting for their trials to begin. Millions in donations have been seized, repaid or spent, but almost $8 million have not been accounted for. And many people in Ottawa — and across the country — are still waiting for answers and accountability.

CBC Ottawa reporter David Fraser has been following the money and the latest from court. He fills us in on what we know now about how this protest became so entrenched.

Elon Musk, the world's richest person, is making a play to take over Twitter. It's a platform he dominates already with 82 million followers. The bold but unconventional tactics he's employed are on brand for Musk; part tech billionaire, part internet troll.

Today on Front Burner, we're talking to the Washington Post's Will Oremus about Musk's latest endeavour, some of his past controversies and whether it's even possible to hold the world's richest man to account.

On Sunday, French citizens will go to the polls to choose their next president. They have two choices: incumbent Emmanuel Macron, who is seen by many to have handled crises, like the pandemic, well but has struggled to shake the perception that he is out of touch and elitist.

Or, longtime far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, who has worked hard to reimagine her party, even though many of the core ideas — especially about immigration reform — remain.

Some polls have the pair only a few percentage points apart — much closer than when they faced off in 2017.

Sarah White, a Paris correspondent for The Financial Times, joins us to discuss why the race is so tight, and what it could mean if Le Pen wins.

Economically, Sri Lanka is on fire. Residents are dealing with ballooning food costs, hours-long lineups for fuel and power blackouts that last half the day.

The country is facing record inflation and unemployment, the likes of which haven't been seen in 74 years. But the crisis has united a nation that's long been divided along ethnic and religious lines — all to oust the political family they blame for the disaster.

This week on Nothing is Foreign, we hear from Sri Lankans who explain how their country landed in a $51-billion debt hole and the island nation's unprecedented protests.

Featuring:

Aritha Wickramasinghe, lawyer and human rights activist.

Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo.

Nearly two years ago, denturist Gabriel Wortman, in a fake police cruiser and uniform, terrorized rural Nova Scotia and killed 22 people. Looking for answers, a public inquiry is now connecting the dots between how the killer evaded RCMP and the chaotic situation officers faced on the ground.

For weeks, the Mass Casualty Commission has shared its findings, revealed critical documents, and gathered public testimony from witnesses. Today on Front Burner we hear RCMP testimony about how officers constantly felt a step behind the gunman – and how they eventually ended the rampage.

CBC Nova Scotia reporter Elizabeth McMillan joins us to explain what happened on April 18 and 19, 2020 and what's still to come from the commission.

(This episode originally played a clip that was misattributed. We've corrected the error.)

Etsy wants a place among the giants of online commerce.

The handmade and vintage item marketplace has seen sales explode during the pandemic, doubling since 2019 and passing $12 billion US last year. CEO Josh Silverman says it's competing to be "the starting point for your e-commerce journey."

But some of the creators and sellers on Etsy say, amid this growth, the site has been shrinking their profits and devaluing their labour.

Thousands of sellers are on what they call a "strike" this week, pausing their shops to protest growing fees. Today, a conversation with an organizer behind the effort, Gothic and Victorian dress- and costume-maker Kristi Cassidy.