The Current from CBC Radio (Highlights)

Christine Harron disappeared nearly 2 decades ago. There's never been any trace of her. And although a man has confessed he's the murderer, the case is still ongoing. It's a perplexing case, one that we revisit in today's documentary.

Julian Assange is a warrior for freedom of expression. But for the past two months, freedom of movement is something that has evaded Julian Assange. The Wikileaks founder has been holed up---essentially imprisoned---- in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, England. Last week, Ecuador granted him full asylum. And now it's steeped in a diplomatic tussel with Britain. Today, we talk about the tricky maneuvering of diplomacy.

It's been 30 years since an offshore oil rig disaster in Newfoundland. And when the Ocean Ranger sank, the 84 workers on board, drowned with her. We revisit a documentary about the legacy of the Ocean Ranger.

We examine why some scientists say there's not enough time to study the environmental risks of the proposed northern gateway pipeline project. And why they say Ottawa's mind is already made up.

For many Canadians, this has been one stinking hot summer. And for some residents in Vancouver STINK is the operative word. Imagine for a moment, basking in your backyard, the air wafting with the smell of rotting compost and animal parts. It's more than enough to turn your nose up. And residents want something done about it.

Canadian couples struggling with infertility are increasingly booking a passage to India. A surrogate can be hired there for a few thousand dollars. But the Indian authorities face their own struggle over whether this is empowerment -- or exploitation.

Winston Churchill believed the results of Canada's raid on Dieppe, France justified the heavy cost. Many Canadians would disagree. But Churchill may have known a secret about Dieppe. A secret so vital to the Allied cause that obtaining it would shorten the war. We hear how newly accessed documents may transform our understanding of one of Canada's darkest days.

The news out of Lebanon this week... a rash of kidnappings in retaliation for the kidnappings of Lebanese citizens in Syria, has the international community worried about just how much the battle for control of Syria will spill over into Lebanon. The two countries are very closely linked and the sectarian divides very similar in both. Today we start off in Lebanon to get a sense of the situation there.

Forget about student protesters, identity is becoming the defining issue in the Quebec provincial election campaign. The mayor of Saguenay has publicly complained about a candidate of Algerian descent, whose name, he says, he can't even pronounce. The Parti Quebecois has announced that -- if elected -- it will prohibit the children of immigrants and francophones from attending English-language CEGEPs, and now we have PQ leader Pauline Marois' plans to essentially ban most religious symbols and articles of clothing from the public sector. Today we hear arguments both for and against her so-called secular charter.

The New York Times reports there's more money in the banks of the Cayman Islands than in all the banks of New York City combined. What's it all doing there? Avoiding taxes for one. But perhaps even more seriously, offshore banking starves the world's economy of cash at a time when it could really use a few extra bucks.

By the end of 2012, Stephen Harper has promised Canada will have completed negotiations on a comprehensive free-trade agreement with the European Union. This week's visit to Canada by the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, is being looked at as an opportunity for her and Prime Minister Harper to work out any final problems with the deal. Supporters say a lot is riding on this agreement, when it comes to growing Canada's economy internationally. But critics have been raising some major concerns.

Doctors who rush to battlefields or disaster zones would prefer to spend their time helping the injured. But they often end up dealing with local politics and greed. After forty years in the humanitarian aid business, the organization Doctors Without Borders has some astonishing stories to tell of soothing egos and defusing crises.

How did El Salvador cut its murder rate in half in just four months? It organized a truce between major gangs. How did it do that? That's an even more interesting question - and we have the answers.

In a speech in 2005, the U.S. Republican PartyVice-Presidential nominee Paul Ryan said: The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand. All eyes have been on the congressman from Wisconsin since Mitt Romney named him as his running mate over the weekend. Today, we cast our eyes on the person many have already started calling the third name on the ticket... the controversial founder of Objectivism, Ayn Rand.

For many, the Oscar Pistorius story is a story about technology. Very cool technology. But others see something else. Pointing to Pistorius and other athletes, such as Canmore cross-country skier Brian McKeever, a multiple gold medal winner in Paralympic games who qualified for Canada's Olympic team in 2010. Some say it's time to re-think the distinctions we make between competitors in the Olympics and Paralympics. It's time to start thinking about integrating the games. With the Olympics just ended and the Paralympics set to begin, we discuss that idea today.