Sirāt  

Luis is traveling through southern Morocco with his son, Esteban. They're searching for his daughter, who has been missing for five months, last seen at a dance festival in the desert. As the pair travel from party to party, they hear of a semi-mythical rave near the border of Mauritania. Descending into the scorched terrain as a not-so-distant global conflict encroaches, Luis and Esteban are soon drawn into a primal landscape in which they must walk a tightrope between heaven and hell. 

Tenor: My Name is Pati 

The story of Pene Pati and his brother Amitai Pati's journey from Samoa to platinum-selling success in the trio Sol3 Mio, and the world's great opera stages. 

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My wife is Iranian. The only reason she is in New Zealand, the only reason we’re together, the only reason we’re living our safe, peaceful life is her parents had the courage and good fortune to escape a terrible regime. They faced extraordinary persecution in Iran for their beliefs. They still have family back home. To say it’s been an interesting week in our household would be an understatement.  

I have been buried in the news – even more than usual. But with all of the confusion and noise that comes in the immediacy of the conflict, there are three components I want to mention this morning which I think are underappreciated.  

The first is the asymmetric component. My sense —at least from the US side of things— is that Donald Trump sees this as a conventional war with conventional armies. His jets are bombing their military institutions and defences. His military is targeting their military. His submarine is torpedoing their warship. He said this morning the war will only end when Iran unconditionally surrenders.  

Except of course, even if Iran does decide to ‘unconditionally’ surrender (which seems unlikely), that won’t be it. In terms of conventional military firepower, Israel and the US are vastly better-resourced than Iran. But what Iran or its proxies can do is attack soft targets. What it can do is resource small pockets of radicalised people to inflict outsized pain and terror in the West. There are billions of Muslims, hundreds of millions of Shia who’ll be watching the war. And while many may abhor the Iranian regime, I’m sure some will view this as a war on Islam. Sadly, I think if we’ve learnt anything this century, it’s that the conflict is very likely to inspire terrorism in the West. It might not come in the next few weeks. It might not come in the next few months. But that’s almost the point, you never quite know.  

The second is the nuclear component. If I were another country watching the events of this week, there are two ways I might look at things. I draw a direct line between Iran’s nuclear program and the war and conclude that even entertaining the idea of a bomb might get me assassinated. Or I might compare the fate of Iran or Libya or Ukraine with that of North Korea and conclude the only way to guarantee and fully protect my sovereignty in a messed-up world is to get a nuclear weapon. I think it’s very likely this war will lead to other countries pursuing the bomb.  

The third is international law. Maybe the US will try and present some evidence about Iran posing an imminent threat, but the relative futility of Iran’s response so far has proved they didn’t. It was telling that when he made his video address announcing the strikes, Trump didn’t even bother trying to make a legal case.  

And yet, the same Western countries that have been wittering on about the importance of international law and the rules-based order have explicitly supported the strikes, or in the case of New Zealand, lamely refused to be drawn on their legality. I don’t understand why people can’t appreciate it’s possible to both abhor the Iranian regime and demand the likes of the US live up to the most basic elements of international law. 

Imagine a scenario a few weeks or months from now where a Chinese fleet occupies a reef within the exclusive economic zone of a Pacific nation. What would we do? Bleat about international law? Lol. Sorry.  

I think there’s every reason to think the concept of international law is basically dead. But from New Zealand’s perspective... what else do we have? What other levers? If we cannot demand our friends and partners play by the rules, why on Earth should we expect anyone else to? 

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The Gambler by J P Pomare 

PI Vince Reid is visiting an old friend when he's offered a case he can't refuse: Why did a respected local woman open fire at a political rally, killing a promising young university graduate? It's easy money, he's told. A sure thing. 

Spies and Other Gods by John Wolff 

This spy thriller is set apart from others by being narrated by a kind of collective voice of MI5 - it's the spies watching the spies. 

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Kate Hall shares her tips for environmentally-conscious hiking, making sure that New Zealand's hiking tracks remain green for those who follow.

Sustainable tramping & hiking 

• Borrow or hire gear instead of buying for one trip if you don't hike frequently.
• Buy second-hand outdoor clothing and equipment.
• Choose durable, repairable gear over ultracheap options.
• Pack food in reusable containers or beeswax wraps.
• Avoid single-serve snack packaging where possible.
• Take all rubbish home, including food scraps.
• Stick to tracks to protect ecosystems.
• Use biodegradable soap and only away from waterways.
• Choose merino or natural fibres that don’t shed microplastic

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We built a new Tunnel house around Christmas – meaning: we were far too late with our summer crop – just a few plants waited patiently in their pots to be put in the new facility and yes… they are having a go.  

Relative warmth in February, March and April gives them ability to grow fruit well into autumn and when they are inside glass houses or tunnel houses they’ll even carry on in early winter. (that’s the situation in Canterbury) 

In warmer areas it is usually a lot easier to keep on going; Auckland was a great place to keep the climbers on track. 

A Sunny patch in the vegetable garden is probably one of the most important contributing factors. Six or even more hours a day is needed to keep it all going. 

This year has been a pain – everything needs adjustment.  

In our garden everything is late. But planting sizable tomatoes in early January is rather ridiculous… But there are some things you can do to get some crops in late summer.  

It is important to trim the bottom new side shoots and let air circulate as much as possible. Trim off he yellow leaves too. 

This is what it looks like after trimming. 

The air movement reduces relative humidity and that allows the leaves below to dry much quicker. No fungal troubles ahead! 

Keep on removing the “laterals” that form in between the new leaves – laterals attempt to make more and more side shoots, but too many of them result in too many small fruits all over the plants. 

We had to plant our late tomatoes in excellent soil that looked and acted like compost-rich material. This allowed a quick and useful, fertile soil around the main stalk. This in itself made the roots grow fast and in all sorts of directions.  

Every week or 10 days I made sure that the plants were well watered with a decent amount of water over the plant’s area of growth. Nitrophoska Blue is a brilliant complex of fertilizer in the form of a granular mixture. When plants are watered the granules are slowly released and deposited around the root zone. 

Every 2 days I aim to gently water the plants; not too much… just keeping up with the liquid fertiliser which allows the tomatoes to grow new, deep-green leaves and healthy new fruits. My secret is SeaWeed Tea from Wet and Forget. I dilute the Seaweed Tea in the watering can (or an old plastic drinking bottle) to make the liquid look like a week tea.  

The brilliant trick is to water the plants and root zones every 2 days or so and add some liquid fertiliser at the same time. 

The tomatoes will reward you with great, tasty fruit while growing with Vapour Trails, so to speak. That means keeping an eye on the density of foliage, which needs to be trimmed regularly – give the plants space! 

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On the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast for Saturday 28 February 2026, kiwi acting legend Karl Urban joins Jack to discuss his latest action-packed project The Bluff.Jack shares his experience vibe-coding.

Nici Wickes delivers a delicious gnocchi recipe.

Ruud Kleinpaste chats keeping your tomatoes good for next summer.

And, Chris Schulz is at Electric Avenue - he shares how the epic Split Enz reunion went down.

Get the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast every Saturday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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The Wine: Askerne Semillon 2021, Hawke's Bay RRP from $23.99 

A perfect bouquet of waxy citrus peel and yellow flowers, apple and peach. A seam of dry stone minerality and a gentle fruit spice quality adds complexity and charm. A dry wine with a satin-cream touch on the palate followed by flavours of tree and citrus fruits, quince and a developing complexity.  

Lanolin – waxy oily smell and taste- very positive in wine, but zero to do with lanolin oil from woolly animals like sheep. 

This wine has great integrity for several days in the fridge and will age well in the cellar also. 

The Season: 2025 in Hawkes Bay has the potential to be one the better vintages for most varieties cultivated. A warm and dry Spring led to some early flowering delivering an early harvest and some significant volume. Overall the fruit quality was high and from what I have tasted so far from producers has ranged from very good to down-right outstanding. 

The food match: With a young Semillon – oysters can work well, I prefer to eat sushi or prawn dishes with rice. Chicken and Pork dishes tend to work also, the real trick is aim for dishes that have a salt lick about them and definitely very low to no spice.  

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'Beyond the bright lights, city buzz and gorgeous gardens of Hamilton, the mighty Waikato is pitch-perfect for leisurely roadies. It’s a province generously endowed with so many enticements, from Middle-earth in Matamata to wonderland underground in Waitomo. But it’s also the fact that so many of Waikato’s towns are drive-to, not drive-through destinations.'

Read Mike's full article here.

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The AI companies are in a battle with the US Department of Defense/War 

The US government has plans to use AI and wants to work with Anthropic but anthropic isn't so sure. The government wants unrestricted access, no guardrails, no safety protection that is usually built into the Claude chatbot to prevent misuse. Anthropic is especially concerned about using AI to survey the public, and carry out lethal strikes without human involvement. 

The DOD/W is threatening to invoke the Defence Production Act - which would force the company to make its product available - or label it a 'supply chain risk' to prevent military suppliers from using it. Anthropic has pointed out that it's a little contradictory to say that it is both essential and not to be used in the same threat. 

Open AI is backing Anthropic. 

Open AI raised more money - more circular money merry-go-rounds 

This time Amazon is throwing them tens of billions of dollars in exchange to use their in-house made chips and the AWS products. Bloomberg created a graphic showing all the AI deals and investments and it's wild just how many arrows are pointing every which way. Some analysts are nervous that if the AI boom turns to bust, there will be massive ripple effects. 

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Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model - (Netflix) Models, judges and "ANTM" insiders — including Tyra Banks — look back at the reality show's complicated legacy in this eye-opening documentary series. 

Man on the Run - (Prime Video) Documenting Paul McCartney's extraordinary life following the breakup of The Beatles and how the love he shared with Linda became his bedrock and influenced a journey that would lead to the formation of Wings. 

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