Correspondents Report

NASA, America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration, recently held a competition in the hope that someone would devise a space suit with an in-built waste management system that could allow astronauts to stay in their suits for up to six days. The winner was Dr Thatcher Cardon, a family doctor, flight surgeon and Air Force colonel. His system utilises a fold-out bedpan and uses the vacuum of space to aid the process.

You may not have heard, but Britain is currently in the midst of a crisis. The nation is suffering a shortage of green vegetables after floods and frost in Spain - the source of about 80 per cent of certain produce to the UK - led to slashed imports, empty supermarket shelves and a 300 per cent rise in the price of some varieties of lettuce.

Over the last month, Iraqi Government forces have focussed their attack on Islamic State and seized control over all of the eastern half of Mosul. The victory is a demonstration of a stronger Iraqi military, after its rebuilding and retraining. But reports of human rights violations on both sides of the conflict highlight both the lack of justice and accountability plaguing Iraq and the fragile hold on legitimacy that the Government has. Middle East correspondent Matt Brown has just returned from the front lines of the battle where he saw reason for hope - and for fear.

The ABC's new North America correspondent, Conor Duffy, arrived in Washington DC just after last year's election. In the 10 weeks since it's been non-stop news, as President Trump implements an ambitious and divisive agenda. Conor speaks with protesters against the administration and reflects on adjusting to a new hyper-partisan world mired in insults, 'fake news' and 'alternative facts'.

At the start of each year Thailand celebrates Children's Day, a chance to give thanks for the precious lives of Thailand's children - and to let them play with guns and tanks. While zoos and museums are open for free and kids can visit the Prime Minister's office, the main attraction for many Thai children is to climb on a tank or to hold an M16 assault rifle. This year the military free-for-all took a dark and tragic turn at an air show put on especially for Children's Day.

The extraordinary story of Saroo Brierley, the Indian-born Australian businessman who was separated from his family as a five-year-old and adopted by a Hobart couple, has come to the screen with the Oscar-nominated 'Lion', adapted from Brierley's memoir, 'A Long Way Home'. Brierley speaks with the ABC's South Asia correspondent, James Bennett, about his story and how audiences in India and Australia have reacted to the film.

US President Donald Trump was sworn in just over a fortnight ago - and has not left the media headlines since. North America correspondent Stephanie March looks at some of the big stories around the President over the last two weeks and reflects on what role the mainstream media - openly called 'the opposition' by Trump and his advisers - can play, when the truth itself is a matter for dispute.

Protests continue in the United States over President Trump's move to ban refugees and travellers from seven predominantly Muslim nations. But in the American heartland, Trump's supporters are celebrating the executive order which they say is long overdue. North America correspondent Conor Duffy speaks to Republican supporters in Fredericksburg, Virginia, who are right behind the President.

In Indonesia, the most populous Muslim nation in the world, Donald Trump's executive orders to ban immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim nations are a big disappointment to people who've grown up admiring the United States. One of Indonesia's top political analysts says the new US President's actions will help extremists and that his immigration directives have destroyed years of work to avoid conflict between Muslims and non-Muslims.

A 97-year-old Australian World War II veteran and former prisoner of war has travelled to Japan as part of a reconciliation trip organized by the Japanese Government. Jack Hopgood served in the Royal Australian Air Force in Sumatra and Java, before he was captured by the Japanese and held prisoner in Singapore.