The Current from CBC Radio (Highlights)

The support for Syrian refugees has been remarkable. But for those who have spent years trying to bring refugees from other parts of the world, it's beyond frustrating. The Kroesbergens have been been trying to sponsor a family from Congo since 2011.

This week, Saudi Arabia promised to lead a coalition of 34 Muslim countries in the fight against terrorism in the region. But critics say Saudi Arabia is as much a part of the problem as the solution and should start its campaign at home.

It's Thursday, time to check-in with listeners. Plus we hear about a very revealing week at the trial of Senator Mike Duffy and we speak to a family spokesperson of Reverend Hyeon Soo Lim who has been sentenced to life and hard labour in North Korea.

Zaina Erhaim is a Syrian who once had a good job in the UK but went back home to Syria because as a journalist, she says has work to do. Today, Zaina Erhaim brings us into her troubled world. (Podcast includes full interview, originally aired in 2 parts)

Last February, the SOC ruled Canadians with severe medical conditions have a right to ask a doctor to help them die. The court gave the federal government a year to come up with a way to comply. Now an Advisory Group has advice to implement a law.

Journalist Paul Salopek has walked nearly six-thousand kilometres in a trek that reveals places and people others miss in their haste to meet a deadline. We've been following Paul's journey and check-in for an update.

Thousands of First Nations children never came home from residential schools. As their stories re-emerge, the final report of the TRC raises serious questions about the well being of new generations of First Nation, Metis and Inuit children.

Last week, we spoke to "Neurotribes" author Steve Silberman, who told us it's time to stop thinking of autism as a problem to be cured, and start seeing it as a valuable way of thinking and being. We continue this conversation on rethinking autism.

From Plato to Freud... to that tattooed guy in the toque who insists pour-overs are the only way to make a decent cup of coffee. Historian Christopher Oldstone-Moore says beards speak volumes about the wearer, and the society they live in.

COP21 gave the world targets, promises, deadlines and questions. Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and Naomi Klein, author of "This Changes Everything" sort through the good, the bad and what's missing in the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

It's not just Canada's big cities that new Syrian refugees will be calling home soon. Smaller communities across the country are banding together to roll out the welcome mat, but they don't always have the same support systems in place as big cities do.

After months or years of life in a refugee camp, what could be more welcome than Canadian health care. We hear from a panel of medical professionals on how they are preparing to meet the health care needs of Syrian refugees, dilemmas and what's working.

As Syrian refugees come to Canada, Federal Minister of Health Jane Philpott, who also chairs the cabinet committee in charge of the government's response to the refugee crisis, shares details about the operation and what new arrivals can expect.

Following the countries financial crash in 2008 and a tiredness of traditional, conservative values they feel no longer define them, Iceland is undergoing a profound identity shift that is playing out in politics and society.

A new book about Janusz Korczak and his way of caring for kids in his orphanage in Poland leading up to WW2 is being hailed as a model for a possible solution to Canada's child welfare problems.