The Current from CBC Radio (Highlights)

Canada assigns women to combat roles, but the U.S. Pentagon still upholds a policy that makes more than 200-thousand combat-related jobs unavailable to female military personnel. Those in support of the Pentagon site everything from pregnancy to strength to putting a damper on teamwork in the argument to uphold its gender exclusion policy. Now, the legal fight against the Pentagon is going to court.

Canadians know Frank Stronach as the founder and longtime chair of Magna International. It began as a small tool and die company and became a giant auto parts corporation. He's stepped down from the board of Magna, but he's still creating. This time he's trying to build a political party in his home country of Austria. Frank Stronach on his humble beginnings in Canada and the economic system he calls Fair Enterprise.

This week a public inquiry began into 'queue jumping' in Alberta's health care system. Premier Alison Redford ordered the inquiry after concerns were raised about the quality of care in Alberta hospitals. That includes allegations that some Albertans used their political connections to leap frog to the front of the line for medical procedures.

Feeling melancholic? Unfulfilled? Wondering where the years went and what it all means? Good chance you're a middle-aged primate. Chimps may not seek out sports cars or date mates half their age, but apparently they get the same sort of middle age blues that seem to affect many people. We'll hear why a midlife crisis may really be a big hairy deal.

Bracing for the U.S. to fall off the fiscal cliff is nothing compared to the financial free fall predicted by Laurence Kotlikoff. The Boston University economist and failed U.S. presidential candidate joins us with his thoughts on the economic end of times. So, never mind the melting ice caps, the perfect storms or even the zombie apocalypse. Kotlikoff believes Washington has been running a Ponzi scheme for six decades and higher taxes and belt tightening won't be enough to stop the coming Greek tragedy.

Our lead story today raises disturbing questions about everything from public safety ... to individual rights ... to the scope and the limitations of our criminal justice system. It is the story of a young woman whose actions - though upsetting and even criminal ... pale in comparison to her words. * We warn you four discussion will get graphic. This story is not for young children *

We are looking at many aspects of crime and punishment ... justice and corruption today. We hear from journalist Alain Gravel on the Radio-Canada investigation that triggered the inquiry into corruption in Quebec with its tentacles reaching from organized crime ... to business ... to politics. We also hear from a high school teacher in Mumbai on the students who think Gandhi is to be reviled and Hitler admired. And as always, we've got your tweets, emails and postings on stories of the past week.

Shane Bauer spent four months in solitary confinement, an experience he says was the most traumatic part of two years in captivity in Iran's most notorious prison. But then he walked into a California prison and saw its solitary confinement cells where prisoners can spend years in isolation. His research on the treatment of prisoners who end up in the state's Security Housing Units has convinced him conditions are worse in the U.S. than Iran.

Rape and pregnancy became explosive issues during the last U.S. election. And the statistics that emerged were startling. It's estimated that about 32,000 women become pregnant as a result of rape in the United States each year. About a third of those women choose to keep the babies. Whatever the emotional cost of that decision, many women face a further blow. Rapists in the U-S may use the constitutionally protected right of a biological father to demand access to their child. And that begs the question ... how vulnerable are women in Canada?

We're back on the fallout over the U.N. vote that gave Non-Member Observer State Status to the Palestinian Authority. We speak to a member of the Israeli Knesset, Einat Wilf about Israel's response to the Palestinian Authority's new status at the U.N. and the way forward.

The Vancouver School Board wants Media reporting on teen suicide to follow guidelines created by the Canadian Psychiatric Association. There's concern about copycat suicides, repetition, use of language. But there was a time not so long ago when Journalists didn't even cover teen suicide. So where's the line? What's the role of the journalist? What's the fallout around incessant coverage in a 24 hour news cycle? And with so much information, discussion and comment swirling on Social Media who will take Guidance from Guidelines?

Seven years ago he ran against Yasser Arafat for the Presidency of the Palestinian Authority and got 20-percent of the vote. He's a medical doctor seeking a non-violent way toward Palestinian statehood and peace, vocal at home and abroad. Mustafa Barghouti weighs in after the UN vote.

Canada was one of nine countries to vote against upgrading the Palestinian authority's status at the UN. Neither did it condemn Israeli plans for new settlements in areas claimed by the Palestinians. We hear from Ottawa about what it believes lies ahead.

Today, we are looking at acts of domestic violence among professional football players. You can't have missed the news this weekend ... a Kansas City linebacker killing his partner then taking his own life at the stadium where his team would still play the next day. Of the 32 teams in the NFL this year, 21 have had at least one player facing charges of sexual assault or domestic violence. We hear from the man tracking those numbers as well as Chris Cvetkovic of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as we ask about the connection to domestic violence and sport.

The animated infants who opened a prime time television special in the U.S. 40 years ago were borne of one women's desperation to find something other than the usual princess stuff to read to her young niece. Free to Be You and Me began as the first record in children's entertainment to contain no sex or race stereotypes. It had children across North America singing the praises of the women's movement, diversity and respect. Forty Years on ... Free To Be is considered a turning point and we are tracking it's influence today.