The Current

When the pandemic struck last March and stopped Brian Barnes from visiting his wife Joanne in her locked-down care home, he turned to paper and pen to stay in touch.

When a shipping company from the United Arab Emirates hit financial trouble in 2017 and abandoned its oil tanker off the coast of Dubai, it left a small crew still aboard, stranded at sea without pay or a way home.

Today on The Current: Ontario pushes to curb human sex trafficking; letter-writing offers connection in the pandemic; MPs vote to label China's persecution of Uighurs a genocide; and psychedelic therapy: a breakthrough tool in treating mental illness?

Canadian nursing schools are seeing a surge in interest amid the pandemic, but experts warn it may not be enough to alleviate the shortage of people working in the profession.

A Labrador woman who lost both of her parents in a murder-suicide when she was a child says more must be done to tackle the root causes of domestic violence in northern and Inuit communities. Warning: this story contains information about domestic violence that readers may find upsetting.

Today on The Current: The pandemic is inspiring more people to become nurses; concerns over human challenge trial that infects volunteers with COVID-19; a spike in ships abandoned at sea during the pandemic; and why a 60-year-old high school grad says you're "never too old to learn."

On a former industrial site in Kitchener, Ont., there are approximately two dozen brightly coloured cabins. At less than 100 square feet each, they are so small they don’t require a building permit. But for people facing homelessness, the small homes offer crucial features: privacy, a door to lock and a safe place to keep their belongings.

Facebook is drawing condemnation around the world for restricting news content in Australia, after the country announced plans to force tech giants to pay media companies for their work. Terry Flew, a communications professor in Sydney, Australia, and Dwayne Winseck, a journalism professor at Carleton University, explain why the case is a cautionary lesson for Canada.

Today on The Current: What Facebook’s spat with Australia means for Canada; advocates applaud funding for Inuit women impacted by violence; our national affairs panel on China, guns, and the pandemic; and health columnist Andre Picard gives a COVID-19 update.

The COVID-19 crisis has kept many of us away from family and friends. But in Stanstead, Que., that divide is even more acute, because the U.S-Canada border — closed tight during this pandemic — runs right through the town. On the latest stop in our Canada’s Road Ahead series, we hear how that border closure is impacting the community, and how residents came together for a rare long-term care success story.

Today on The Current: What we can learn from the Texas blackout; Canada’s Road Ahead: Stanstead, Que., and a border town divided; Brock University professor on NASA’s latest mission to Mars; and tiny homes offer shelter for the homeless in Kitchener, Ont.

As more countries look to adopt digital COVID-19 vaccine passports, one American tech expert says the certificates should be developed using a “privacy-preserving approach.”

Today on The Current: Vaccine passports are raising privacy and equity concerns; experts call for better supports after a Saskatchewan woman died following release from prison; and a New York Times investigation into online harassment.

A former CBC journalist who was taken hostage in Afghanistan says making a documentary about young girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram has helped her grapple with her own trauma.

Today on The Current: Quebec astronaut David Saint-Jacques on trading his space suit for scrubs; we look at the implications of AI that can detect your emotions; and journalist Mellissa Fung’s new documentary, Captive, explores the trauma of abduction.

The innovation sparked by the COVID-19 virus will better prepare the world for the next pandemic and could help eradicate global diseases in lower-income countries, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates told CBC's The Current.

American entrepreneur and philanthropist Bill Gates says Canada and the U.S. must set an example for the rest of the world in the fight against climate change in an interview with CBC's Matt Galloway.

Today on The Current: Bill Gates on climate change, the pandemic, and tackling big world problems; why we need early warning systems for future pandemics; and how COVID-19 is impacting birth rates.

The COVID-19 pandemic has slashed millions of jobs, and with it, many Canadians’ ability to put enough food on the table. But in one New Brunswick First Nation, where access to food has been an issue for years, a local food centre is bringing community members together and helping them build resilience.

Journalist and author Andrea Pitzer brings us a story of death and survival in the North more than four centuries ago. She tells us about Dutch explorer William Barents and his crew, who became trapped in the Arctic, surrounded by polar bears, during their third polar expedition. Her new book is called Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World.

Today on The Current: Our national affairs panel on the odds of a spring election; dismantling anti-Black racism in mental health-care; and historian Andrea Pitzer on a harrowing tale of survival in the Arctic.

It’s been a struggle for many people to keep six feet apart and stay home as much as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic. But a 16th-century manual on how to survive the bubonic plague shows it was just as challenging for people to follow those public health measures years ago.