While most Canadian students head back to school next week, classes in Quebec have already resumed. But, just a few days in, there are already COVID-19 cases being recorded in schools, and teachers and parents voicing frustrations and fears about the province’s back-to-school plans.

All this comes against the backdrop of rising coronavirus cases in the province.

Today, host Josh Bloch talks to Allison Hanes, city columnist with the Montreal Gazette, as we explore what Quebec’s experience so far might tell us about back-to-school challenges ahead for the rest of the country.

Schools reopen in Quebec amid rise in COVID-19 cases

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 Visit https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner for show descriptions, links, and transcripts. 
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Earlier this month, the Ontario legislature banned the keffiyeh, a checkered black and white scarf long worn by Palestinians and often seen at pro-Palestinian protests. 
 The ban was brought in because of a longstanding policy against clothing items that make overt political statements. But that decision has ignited a massive debate. 
 So, is the keffiyeh a political statement? Is it traditional regalia? Is it both?  
 Today, we unpack those questions with Vox correspondent Abdallah Fayyad. 
 He recently wrote a piece called "How the keffiyeh became a symbol of the Palestinian cause."

The keffiyeh’s history of culture and conflict

Donald Trump's first of four criminal trials is underway in New York, where he is accused of improperly disclosing money supposedly paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016 to cover up an alleged affair. It's the first time a former U.S. president has been tried criminally. 
 Washington Post court reporter Shayna Jacobs has been covering the trial. She walks us through what the court has heard in the opening week, what to expect as the prosecution builds its case, and how the defense plans to counter it.

What to expect from Trump's 'hush money' trial

For some time now, there’s been a growing trend on TikTok and Instagram of young women sharing about their daily lives as “trad wives.” “Traditional wives” forego the workplace, extol the virtues of homemaking, and often talk about the ways they “submit” to their husbands. 
 So why do these women say they’ve chosen a life at home? How does their messaging cross into religion and politics? And is this “movement” a reaction to the burdens on modern women, or a threat to feminism’s progress? 
 Journalist Sophie Elmhirst recently published a piece in the New Yorker titled “The Rise and Fall of the Trad Wife.” 
 For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts 
 Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

The ‘trad wives’ glamorizing life at home

Today we are joined by Beirut-based journalist Kim Ghattas, author of the bestselling book Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry that Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East. She is also a contributing editor at the Financial Times. 
 We’re speaking to Kim about the unprecedented, overt attacks exchanged this month between Israel and Iran — most recently an Israeli strike on Friday near the Iranian city of Isfahan.  
 Where is this dangerous tit-for-tat headed next, and what’s at stake? What do Iran and Israel’s leaders actually want here? And what does it mean for the wider region? 
 For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts 
 Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

After the airstrikes: Where do Iran and Israel go from here?

The single biggest election in the history of democracy is happening right now in India. Just shy of one billion people are eligible voters, but it's not just big from a numbers perspective. It's also being called one of the most pivotal elections in Indian history. 
 Incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi is projected to win. But Modi's commitment to Hindu nationalism has many questioning what a third term might mean for the future of India’s democracy, and the idea of a pluralistic Indian society. 
 Salimah Shivji is the CBC's South Asia correspondent. She’s also working on a new CBC podcast about Modi and the fundamental ways he’s changing his country. It’ll be part of our Understood feed, you can subscribe here.  
 Salimah spoke to host Jayme Poisson about why the stakes of this election are so high.

Schools reopen in Quebec amid rise in COVID-19 cases

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