This week, India's masses rallied in support of a 23-year-old who died after being gang-raped, a First Nations chief spent her fourth week on a hunger strike, scientists shared how modern science is revamping our notions of how humans think, Canada's world junior hockey team failed to win a medal, and the U.S. narrowly avoided the "fiscal cliff."

Here are five stories from CBCNews.ca you may have missed:

India gang-rape victim galvanizes nation

Students at a candlelight vigil for a gang-rape victim who has sparked vigils and protests across India.Students at a candlelight vigil for a gang-rape victim who has sparked vigils and protests across India. (Amit Dave/Reuters)

Hundreds of thousands of Indians took to the streets in near daily protests across the nation after a 23-year-old woman was gang-raped for more than an hour on a moving bus. The woman's death moved people to call for stricter punishments for sexual assault in a nation known for its sluggish legal responses to attacks on women. Under intense public pressure, the government has responded by setting up special fast-track courts to tackle crimes against women. But will public momentum fizzle or will this be the moment that changes a culture?

WARNING: This story contains graphic details

Hunger strikes and the human body

Attawapiskat First Nations Chief Theresa Spence subsisted on tea and fish broth for a fourth consecutive week, hoping to pressure Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Gov. Gen. David Johnston to meet with her and other First Nations leaders to talk about deteriorating conditions in the community. Her camp called for solidarity protests and unity with the Idle No More movement, claiming increased urgency as the prolonged hunger strike took its toll on Spence's health. Without adequate nutrition, Spence's muscle and lean body tissue will be breaking down, doctors say, and eventually she could experience anemia, chronic diarrhea and protein deficiency.

Food addiction, relationships and dopamine

Neuroscientists, equipped with top-notch technology, are busily studying what makes humans do what we do. For some scientists, dopamine is emerging as the key to allowing us to interact with the environment, influencing food addiction, motivation and relationships. The story is part two of a four-part CBC series called Inside Your Brain exploring how modern neuroscience is changing the way we think about the way we think.

Canada's world juniors team loses bronze to Russia in OT

Canada's world juniors team reacts after being defeated 5-1 by the U.S. in Thursday's semi-final game.Canada's world juniors team reacts after being defeated 5-1 by the U.S. in Thursday's semi-final game. (Mark Blinch/Reuters)

There was more disappointment for Canadian junior hockey fans. The Russians defeated Team Canada 6-5 in overtime to take the bronze medal at the World Junior Hockey Championship in Ufa, Russia. It was the first time since finishing a worst-ever eighth in 1998 in Finland that Canada didn't win a medal of some colour in the tournament. After 14 straight years of Canadians leaving the tournament with medals around their necks, "unacceptable" was the first word out of some players' mouths post-game.

Obama's fiscal cliff crisis management

On New Year's Day, a divided U.S. Senate passed a House-approved bill to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff," a perfect storm of economic calamities including a tax-hike for all salaried workers and government spending cutbacks. It's being touted as a short-term Band-Aid solution to a problem that will resurface in a slightly varied form in the near future, as tough decisions about government spending were postponed. CBC's senior Washington correspondent Neil Macdonald asks if Obama will do the sensible thing: slightly raise everybody's taxes and cut government spending?