RNZ: Sunday Morning

This week marked seven years since the start of the conflict in Syria. World Vision has released a report on the impact the conflict has had on children. Their Syria crisis response director Wynn Flaten discusses what's happening to the youngest victims of the war.

A petition calling for an inquiry into New Zealand's role in the death of six people in Afghanistan has been handed over. The House looks at the rules for petitioning Parliament and its new e-Petition system. 

Russia analyst Stephen Dalziel and former British Ambassador to Russia, Sir Tony Brenton, discuss the diplomatic fallout between the UK and Russia following the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal in Salisbury.

Feedback from listeners to the Sunday Morning programme.

Jimmy Cliff is one of the key figures in reggae, along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. He's performing in New Zealand on March 31st – the day before his 70th birthday. He spoke to Wallace Chapman ahead of his visit.

Armando Iannucci is the brains behind some of the most potent and funny political satire on TV, film and radio. He created acclaimed political satire The Thick of It, and his latest film is about the power struggle following the death of Joseph Stalin.

Harmon Leon is bringing his standup comedy show to the Wellington Fringe Festival. He describes his show "Harmon Leon Infiltrates Trump America" as a multimedia extravaganza featuring his true-life exploits going undercover and infiltrating all facets of "the horrors that are Trump America".

Summerhill is an alternative free school in Suffolk, England, started by educational leader A.S. Neill in 1921. The pupils are free to come to lessons as they choose, and students and teachers have an equal voice in decision making. The principal of the school is Zo Readhead, daughter of A.S. Neill.

Professor Phil Fisher is an expert in children's neurobiological and psychological development. He was in NZ as the keynote speaker for a conference run by the Brainwave Trust. He says withholding feedback from babies can affect how their brains function. "The process of serve and return... where children serve as they look at the world around them and vocalise and adults return the serve by noticing what the child is doing and responding."

Recently Treasury announced it plans to measure the wellbeing of the nation as part of its Living Standards Framework. Secretary to the Treasury, Gabriel Makhlouf, outlines how it will work.

Around 2.2m tourists headed to Iceland last year putting pressure on the environment and infrastructure, as tourism does in NZ. Lynn Freeman travelled to Iceland to ask if both nations can learn valuable lessons from each other.

Each port visited by the Volvo Ocean race includes a beach clean as part of Volvo's ongoing commitment to keep oceans free of plastic. Today they are doing a clean up at Takapuna beach and their head of sustainability Lucy Hunt explains more about the damage being done to the environment by single use plastic items.

Campaigns on single-use plastic bags often target retailers but the Bags Not initiative is looking to change shoppers’ behaviour, as James Blackwood explains.

For the first time there have been official services and events held to mark historical Maori conflict and NZ land wars. Te Mana Korihi Editor Shannon Haunui-Thompson talks tbout the commemorations.

More than $75 billion in tax revenue was collected in the last financial year but who keeps tabs on whether the money is well spent? The House takes a look at annual reviews.