Te Wananga o Aotearoa has continued to dominate the headlines over the last two weeks, with fresh allegations almost daily of mis-use of nearly $250 million the Government has provided to the "University of New Zealand." Latest claims include $500,000 to build a golf driving range for the 25 golf studies students, and $12 million to a company part-owned by the Wananga's boss's son. The Government's looking for ways to seize control while the Wananga continues to protest its innocence and vows to fight on without Government funding.

The Government's proposing to solve a serious shortage of workers by putting the serious surplus of prisoners into on-the-job training. Meanwhile, unions across the country are threatening strikes unless employers stump up 5% pay rises pronto.

John "The Voice" Farnham was banned from this year's Gallipoli commemorations by Helen Clark, even though she's never heard of him. Farnham was going to sing old soldiers' songs, not such smash hits as "You're the Voice" or "When Something is Wrong", until the PM voted that it wasn't the right time or place. Public opinion is largely on her side.

In a dramatic turn around from last year, when most New Zealanders were awarded an Oscar, none of the three Kiwis nominated for an Academy Award triumphed this time around. Hopefully fortunes will change following the release later this year of Peter Jackson's King Kong.

A cool snap's hit the country now, but the weather folk report that the February just disappearing over the horizon was the eighth warmest since records began. Although Wellington and Auckland were only slightly warmer than normal, Murchison recorded 10 consecutive days over 30 degrees, and Alexandra clocked up a toasty 38.7 high on February 5th.

It was certainly warm enough in Wellington on Saturday, with thousands turning out for NZ's answer to Rio de Janeiro, the Cuba St Carnival. Still, the organisers kept the event to just one day for a change, fearing people protesting against the bypass about to go through Te Aro and Cuba Street might disrupt a longer festival.

The Super 12 season got off to a so-so start for New Zealand teams last weekend:

- the Auckland Blues beat the Otago Highlanders, 30-14
- the Waikato Chiefs lost to the NSW Waratahs, 7-25
- the Canterbury Crusaders lost to the ACT Brumbies, 21-32
- but the Wellington Hurricanes beat the Queensland Reds, 24-10.

The picture's not as balanced when it comes to cricket, with the Aussies surging to a 4-0 lead in the 5-match one-day series. Yesterday's loss was the worst, with the Aussies needing just 35 overs to reach the target of 233 we set.

The only bright spot in the tour so far has been the 20 over friendly warm-up, in which the NZers got much more into the spirit of turning up with the uniforms and hair styles of 20 years ago. More photos

And we can't really take the credit for this one, but it happened here so we will: a new record has just been set for swimming Cook Strait. An 11 year old from Mumbai, India became the youngest person ever to swim the 26 km, in a time of just over nine hours. 

And Prince Charles, down in the mouth about lukewarm support for his looming marriage to sweetheart Camilla, will hopefully appreciate a stag night the townsfolk of Dunedin have organised to coincide with his visit there on March 5th. A bar and some council staff have organised the party, complete with a "royal riding gear" theme, and are hoping the mayor will pass on their invitation to the Prince.