Checking-In: Bubonic Plague, Granting Animals Rights, Violence in Sudan and How social media is helping youth at risk

Our Friday host, Piya Chattopadhyay joined Anna Maria in studio to look back on some of the stories we've been following this week.

Syria's Weapons: And much of what's in it has to do with the influential blogger Eliot Higgins -- or how he's known online -- Brown Moses. Mr. Higgins tracks Syria's Weapons online and on Monday we heard how social media has changed journalism and our understanding of war.

David Clearwater from Lethbridge, Alberta says:

Brown Moses does validate the use of social media as an investigative tool. But I don't think it does so because it is social media but because he is using a new tool and submitting the information to rigorous analysis ... just like good, traditional, investigative journalism. And I don't think that Brown Moses can be then used to validate each and every use of social media by journalists ... the vast majority of which is simply bad or lazy journalism.

Aboud Dandachi is a displaced Syrian from Homs. He tweeted this:

We owe a great deal to Mr Higgins, I wish certain Syrian expats would follow his example.

Personhood for Chimps: Last week we looked at a legal challenge in the United States to win the rights of personhood for chimpanzees.

Monica Towle of Vancouver BC wrote:

Thank you for raising this question. It is rare in mainstream media that the oppression of other animals is discussed at all, let alone with the seriousness that it deserves.

And Marion Leithead from Bawlf Alberta wrote:

What a waste of airtime that "chimp" program was! How can you be that hard up for meaningful content for The Current? What's next? My brilliant budgie? Sam's talking dog?

Jodi Castricano tweeted:

Animals are not things but sentient beings. It's time to recognize that speciesism is wrong-headed.

And someone who uses the handle A-lovely-lady-bird tweeted:

Well, if corporations are considered people, why not chimps?

Sudan Violence: It's only been on the map for two and half years but a power struggle in South Sudan is claiming hundreds of lives and threatens to tear apart the country.

At least 500 people have been killed in clashes in the world's youngest state this week prompting fears the country could be dragged into a civil war.

The violence erupted Sunday after President Salva Kiir announced he had put down an attempted coup by his former vice president Riek Machar. Twenty thousand South Sudanese have sought refuge in the United Nations facilities in Juba and fighting has spread to rural parts of the country.

Matthew LeRiche is a professor of political science who has been living and working in South Sudan for the the past 10 years. He is currently a visiting professor at Memorial University in St. John's, Newfoundland.

Bubonic Plague: Centuries after Europe's Black Death -- a plague believed long gone -- still survives in some parts of the world. Last year, Madagascar had more cases of the bubonic plague than anywhere else in the world. Experts say unhygienic conditions in the country's prisons contribute to the spread of the disease.

Glenn Black writes from Providence Bay, Ontario:

It isn't just in Madagascar, it's here in North America too. Antibiotics can stop it, but what happens if an antibiotic strain appears because of excessive or inappropriate use of antibiotics? What will stop its spread then?

Many of our listeners were shocked that the plague was still around, at all. Pam Lloyd Bergeron tweeted:

Wow! I had no idea. Shows how out of touch from the rest of the world we can be.

For one of our listeners, there are still important questions about how the plague has changed over the years:

Richard Raiswell from Charlottetown, PEI, writes:

It was noted that there are only minor differences in the genetic profile between modern plague and the disease that hit Europe in 1347. If that is the case, then the onus is on the geneticists to explain why the disease that haunted the late Middle Ages behaved in a very different way to what we know about bubonic plague. To lump the two diseases together in such an uncritical fashion is sloppy history.

Social Media & Youth at Risk: As part of our Project Money series we have been tracking a number of stories about poverty in Canada. An Alberta youth worker has turned to twitter to try and improve the lives of youth facing addiction, poverty, homelessness and abuse in Edmonton and Northern Alberta.

Mark Cherrington has been working with Legal Aid Alberta for two decades now. But 18 months ago he started tweeting candid observations and opinions about his experience as a youth worker and quickly surpassed his goal of reaching 3,000 followers. We spoke to Mark Cherrington yesterday.

• For more on this story, including examples of photos that Mark has tweeted, visit CBC Aboriginal website, focussing on news and stories from aboriginal communities across the country.

Yesterday, we spoke with Conservative Senator Hugh Segal ... who last week announced he would retire from the Senate and take up a new position as Master of Massey College at the University of Toronto.

We covered a lot from Senator Segal's push for a minimum income for Canadians, to his take on the difference between traditional conservatism and neo-conservatism to the Senate scandal.

And then you had your say about that interview.

Cathie Chapman of Chatham, Ontario wrote:

What a wonderful interview with Mr. Segal this morning! He reminded me why I once voted for a Conservative.

Elizabeth Redfern of Murillo, Ontario, had this to say:

You had me in the palm of your hand for so long, Hugh. You have been the voice of "true" conservatism in my mind, a hope that there are measured and honest people of that political point of view. With your sad little defense of the "humanity' and the "everyman-ness" of Harper this morning on your departure from the senate, you finally opened your fist and showed your real hand. A con is a con, neo or otherwise it seems. If even you can spin and spin, there is no hope for your party.

Brenda Smith of St. Albert, Alberta wrote:

How disappointing that this man is leaving our Senate. It has been a long time since I've listened to a political figure at either the federal or provincial level, that caused me to feel like I wanted to stand up and cheer. His vision for our Canada is one that I think many Canadians hold, but our current leaders seem to stand only for themselves and their rich and influential friends.

Syria by the Numbers: It has been two-and-a-half years since the civil war there began. This week, came news that the number of refugees and internally displaced people fleeing the fighting is growing sharply. Here's a check-in on that crisis, by the numbers.

Thanks to all who wrote. To join the conversation:

Tweet us @thecurrentcbc. Follow us on Facebook. Or e-mail us through our website. Call us toll-free at 1 877 287 7366. And as always if you missed anything on The Current, grab a podcast.

This segment was produced by The Current's Josh Bloch.