Front Burner

The Canadian government recently listed the Proud Boys and three other far-right organizations as terrorist entities. They also moved to list nine other militant Islamist groups.

For some people, this is a huge win. But others worry it's a sign that the war on terror is continuing to expand, and they're concerned about who might get caught up in its dragnet.

Today, Ben Makuch a national security reporter for Vice, and Michelle Shephard, author of Decade of Fear: Reporting from Terrorism's Grey Zone, wade through the complex ramifications.

The Brazilian city of Manaus has been dealing with a raging outbreak of COVID-19, one that has left hospitals overrun and oxygen supplies dwindling; and not for the first time.

The city was hit so hard by the coronavirus in the spring, that researchers estimated that 75 per cent of the population had been infected, which makes the severity of this recent outbreak unexpected and concerning.

Today, Atlantic writer and Yale University public health policy lecturer Dr. James Hamblin explains the potential threat posed by new variants of the coronavirus popping up around the world, how they could upend expectations about herd immunity, and the need for a truly global vaccination response.

In the summer of 2019, newly elected Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said he was determined to blow the lid off of what he called a "shadowy," foreign-funded campaign to crush Alberta's oil and gas industry. He mentioned Russia, OPEC and the Rockefeller Foundation as possibly playing a role. And he announced an inquiry to get to the bottom of it.

But three delays and $3.5 million later, evidence of a shady international campaign has yet to materialize. And the still-ongoing inquiry has been mired in allegations of cronyism, climate denialism and conspiracy theories.

Jennie Russell and Charles Rusnell — investigative reporters with CBC Edmonton — join us to explain how the inquiry into "anti-Alberta energy campaigns" started and how it's going.

On Friday CBC announced it was ending Trickster, a well-received television show that aired both here and in the U.S. There will be no second season as previously planned. The cancellation follows scrutiny over showrunner Michelle Latimer and questions about her Indigenous identity.

Today, Anishnawbe playwright and humorist Drew Hayden Taylor joins us to share his thoughts on the cancellation and what it means to be Indigenous.

As of Sunday, Canada had fallen to 27th in the world in vaccines administered, behind the U.S., the U.K. and smaller countries like Poland and Serbia, according to data aggregated by the University of Oxford.

Canada was one of the first countries in the world to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for use and have reserved record doses per person — but the country is facing significant shipment delays. There are also growing questions about whether the vaccine contracts signed by the federal government are in the country's best interest, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assures the public that Canada is on track to meet its vaccination goals.

Today on Front Burner, CBC News senior writer J.P. Tasker discusses why Canada is falling behind and what might be done about it.

More than 80 women from around the world have accused the fast-fashion mogul Peter Nygard of rape, sexual assault, and human trafficking in incidents across four decades and at least four countries. He denies it all, and claims his accusers are lying as part of a vast conspiracy. Nygard had built a sprawling international retail empire over the past 50 years — but now, his professional achievements are being overshadowed by a sinister personal life, earning him the moniker, ‘Canada’s Jeffrey Epstein’. Evil by Design is a new podcast that asks the key questions: Who are the women and men who have stepped forward? Which systems failed them? And how did Nygard get away with it for so long? More episodes are available at: smarturl.it/evilbydesign

Shares of the video game retailer GameStop soared by 1,000 per cent in less than two weeks, thanks in part to a popular subreddit called r/WallStreetBets. This, at the expense of several Wall Street investment funds that bet against GameStop and lost billions of dollars.

Today on Front Burner, business reporter Pete Evans is here to explain the GameStop saga, and what it reveals about the stock market writ large.

Following a massive international investigation led by Australia, an alleged meth kingpin was arrested by Dutch authorities at an Amsterdam airport.

Chinese-Canadian Tse Chi Lop is accused of running a syndicate that commands the $70 billion-a-year Asia-Pacific drug trade. He's been compared to Pablo Escobar and called Asia's El Chapo.

Today, we hear from Reuters chief correspondent in Southeast Asia, Tom Allard. He's been a leading reporter on the story and he's here to explain how Tse has allegedly revolutionized and dominated the underground industry.

One woman’s story of how two of her loved ones got sucked into conspiracy theories — and how she fought to bring them back from the brink.

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Moscow, St. Petersburg and across Russia to demand the release of prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny this past weekend. Police used force to break up the protests and detained more than 2,500 people.

Navalny is best known for his anti-corruption investigations and was recently the subject of an assassination attempt. After recovering from his poisoning in Germany, Navalny returned to Russia only to be arrested and imprisoned in Moscow.

CBC Russia correspondent Chris Brown talks to host Jayme Poisson about the growing movement in support of Navalny, and whether it might actually challenge President Vladimir Putin’s hold on power in Russia.