National security, personal insecurity. The Transport Minister announces that, as of March, full-body scanners will turn our airports into derrière-ports.

Going rogue on proroguing. In the wake of the Prime Minister's decision to put Parliament on hold, grassroots groups spring up in protest.

Location, location, dislocation. California researchers find that, in ten regions of the state, the rate of autism is double that of neighbouring areas.

A defensive offensive. Under pressure from the United States, Yemen's government sends thousands of troops out to combat al-Qaeda.

The progressives versus the oppressive. A look back at Iran's election crisis -- and the tension remaining in the country six months later.

And...rolling over in his gravy. A conversation with perhaps the greatest athlete in Britain: champion gravy wrestler, pea-shooter, and wife carrier Joel Hicks.

As It Happens, the Tuesday edition. Radio that believes you can't criticize this man until you've walked a mile in his jus.

In reaction to the failed Christmas terror attack, countries across the world are tightening their airport security. And at the top of most of those countries' shopping lists are full-body scanners. Canada is no exception. Today, Transport Minister John Baird announced that his government would install forty-four such scanners in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax.

The scanners are revealing -- extremely revealing. They produce a three-dimensional outline of a person's naked body. It's impressive technology, beyond a doubt -- but there are questions about how effective the machines will be in protecting us from a terrorist attack.

Bruce Schneier is a security technologist and author who has written and commented extensively on the subject. We reached him in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

It's every traveller's nightmare: getting caught in a vicious cycle of delayed flights and missed connections. That was the distressing scenario that eighty-year-old Elsie Clarke found herself in over the holidays. She was trying to get home to Winnipeg after a visit with her daughter in Texas. But just when it looked like the octogenarian would have to spend a long night in Chicago's O'Hare Airport, a man with shiny shoes appeared and saved the day.

On last night's programme, we heard from both Elsie Clarke and her good Samaritan, Dean Germeyer. Tonight, we hear from Talkback.

The neighbourhood where you raise your kids doesn't just dictate what school they'll go to. It may also dictate whether they'll get diagnosed with autism.

Researchers from the University of California Davis have just published a new study in the journal "Autism Research". The study focused specifically on California -- where, according to the study, autism is being diagnosed in ten geographical clusters. That is to say, there are ten areas where cases of autism are higher than anywhere else in the state.

Irva Hertz-Picciotto was a senior author of the study. We reached her today in New York City.

The words "athlete" and "gravy" might not seem to belong in the same sentance. But for Joel Hicks in Britain, it's a winning combination.

Mr. Hicks holds the world championship title in "Gravy Wrestling". You knew that, of course. But did you also know that he's also a champion pea-shooter? And wife-carrier?

For obvious reasons, some have argued that he deserves the title of Britain's sports personality of the year. But he says it's all about making people smile. He attends every bizarre sporting event he can find, in the most bizarre costumes he can find -- all to raise money for charity.

We reached Mr. Hicks at his home in Leicestershire.

And incidentally, some footballer named Ryan Giggs was named Britain's Sports Personality of the Year. We called the PR people at Manchester United to see how far Mr. Giggs can throw an egg. No one has returned our call.

That's the first part of tonight's show, from cradle to gravy. We'll be back right after the news with more. When we return:

Oh what prorogued and peasant slaves are we! Well, not all of us -- some Canadians are fighting back about the Parliamentary break.

Stay tuned. I'm CO.

And I'm BB.

Hello again, I'm CO.

And I'm BB. This is As It Happens, Part Two.

Coming up:

The United States, in particular, hopes that an anti-al-Qaeda offensive is a good omen in Yemen.

A look back at our coverage of the controversial election in Iran -- and the continuing fight for reform.

Those stories are still to come on As It Happens.

Prorogation. You can think of it as a Parliamentary reset button. Last week, Stephen Harper pushed that button for the second time in just over a year, bringing the legislative works to a grinding halt.

Well, it turns out that wasn't the only button Mr. Harper pushed. There are plenty of people across the country who are baffled, nonplussed and downright miffed about the re-prorogation. In fact, folks are upset enough that several anti-prorogation organizations have spontaneously sprouted up across the country.

Justin Arjoon has organized one of those groups -- the Toronto chapter of Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament. Mr. Arjoon is also a botany student at the University of Toronto. We've reached him at his home in Ajax.

Today, more than ten thousand security troops were dispatched to three provinces in Yemen. Their mission: to flush out Al-Qaeda operatives.

International pressure has forced the Middle Eastern nation to launch the offensive. Applying the most pressure is the United States: yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that instability in Yemen could lead to "global instability". And so, with the world watching to see what happens next, the stakes couldn't be higher for Yemen's government.

Dr. Ali Muthana is the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Yemeni government. We reached him in Sana.

"Negligence and breach of trust".

Those are the primary charges at the heart of yet another lawsuit alleging sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church of Nova Scotia. This is the archdiocese that, last year, settled a fifteen-million-dollar class-action settlement involving the abuse of many altar boys. It's also the archdiocese of former Bishop Raymond Lahey, who is still awaiting trial on charges of possession and importation of child pornography.

The latest alleged victim is a woman named Linda Deschamps. John McKiggan is her lawyer, and he has a second client with a complaint against the Church too.

We reached him in Halifax.

That's the sound of Iranians marching in downtown Tehran this summer. It's just a few days before the presidential election. Many of the marchers are wearing green -- the campaign colour of their candidate, Mir Hossein Moussavi.

In the days leading up to the ballot, tens of thousands of people jam the streets of the capital and other cities throughout Iran calling for change.

They are not demanding the overthrow of the Islamic system headed by Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They want an end to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency. But almost before the polls have closed, the incumbent president is declared the winner.

What follows is a battle to overturn those results -- on the streets, in the media and within the county's powerful political circles.

As It Happens is there, speaking with Iranians inside and outside the country throughout the crisis as it unfolds. Tonight, we revisit "the green revolution" of 2009 -- beginning a few days before the votes are cast.

That's when we first reach reporter Saeed Kamali Dehghan on the streets of Isfahan.