Front Burner

"If you just say 'vote for me because I'm Chinese-Canadian', it didn't work. It hasn't worked, and it won't work." Former NDP MP Olivia Chow is a seasoned politician who has strong connections to the Chinese-Canadian community. She reflects on ex-Liberal candidate Karen Wang's race-based comments against NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, and the role of race in Canadian politics.

Yemen's brutal civil war has produced the worst humanitarian crisis on the planet, with thousands dead and millions facing starvation. But there's another dimension to the conflict - the battle over who controls the country's internet. CBC technology reporter Matthew Braga explains how that conflict could influence future wars.

The debate over a natural gas pipeline in Wet'suwet'en territory continues this week following protests over the arrest of 14 people at a blockade in the remote B.C. community. CBC reporter Chantelle Bellrichard recounts the moment the RCMP broke the barricade and explains why a pipeline project is dividing a number of B.C. Indigenous groups.

Canada has granted asylum to Rahaf Mohammed, a Saudi teenager who fled to Thailand to escape alleged abuse from her family. CBC's senior correspondent Susan Ormiston shares the inside story of Mohammed's plight and her plans for the future.

A Chinese court has sentenced Canadian Robert Schellenberg to death for drug smuggling. His retrial was announced a few weeks ago, amid growing tensions between Canada and China. The CBC's Asia correspondent Sasa Petricic explains how this death sentence is being seen as retribution for the arrest of Huawei's Meng Wanzhou.

Maxime Bernier says the People's Party of Canada will be on the ballot across the country in the upcoming federal election. But for a lot of people, the new fiscally-conservative libertarian party is still a big mystery. To find out more, we went to one of his political rallies and spoke to three Canadians who showed up to hear the former cabinet minister speak.

As Venezuela struggles with food shortages and hyperinflation, journalists Adrienne Arsenault and Evan Dyer describe the conditions on the ground and how Canada is responding. Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland has condemned the country's government, saying it is "fully entrenched as a dictatorship."

As the debate rages in the U.S. over funding for Donald Trump's proposed wall on the country's southern border, we ask CBC correspondent Nahlah Ayed just how effective Europe's barriers have been in stopping the flow of migrants. Ayed has travelled across Europe to investigate the recent proliferation of border walls as part of her reporting on the migration crisis.

Why have benzodiazepines like Valium and Xanax been involved in a large number of Canadian opioid overdose deaths? Zachary Siegel, a journalist and fellow at Northeastern University, breaks down benzos, why they're having a moment in the rap world and what role the drug plays in the overall overdose crisis.

"By 2045, China wants to become the strongest space power and space technology-based power in the world," says Namrata Goswami, an expert on China's space program. One step towards that goal is the launch of a research mission to the far side of the moon, where right now a Chinese rover is at work exploring. It was a complicated technological feat, and Goswami says it's just the beginning of the country's plans.