January

The world's eyes were on New Zealand - and nothing happened. The Y2K bug was either, depending on the point of view, tamed or never a threat.

Local millennium celebrations were also a bit of a damp squib – it rained across much of the country as time ticked past midnight.

A ducking for the crew of a waka at Waitangi and the fatal capsize of another on Lake Rotorua started a debate over whether to add life jackets to traditional features of Maori canoes.

The weather drowned the highlight of New Year's Day, a deluge at Ellerslie forcing the postponement of the Auckland Cup until January 3, when the Zabeel stayer Able Master showed his appreciation for the delay by winning the $500,000 race.

Wellingtonians had a new stadium - and revolted against a mindless no-food-past-the-gates edict.

Russians woke up to the New Year with a new president, Boris Yeltsin having handed over power to his Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, six months before the end of his term.

Eight days of misery came to an end for 155 passengers on a hijacked Indian Airlines plane, freed in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar after the Indian Government gave in to the hijackers' demands to release three prisoners jailed for links with challenges to New Delhi's rule over Kashmir.

The former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, under house arrest after being arrested in Britain in October 1998 in response to a Spanish extradition request, was ruled unfit for health reasons to stand trial. His return home came as Chileans elected their first socialist leader since the death of the man Pinochet ousted, Salvador Allende, in 1973.

Sri Lankan suicide bombers claimed 12 lives in a blast near the Prime Minister's office in Colombo. Thai military units killed 10 gunmen after a day-long siege at a hospital 120km west of Bangkok when members of a breakaway Burmese rebel faction led by 12-year-old twins held more than 700 staff and patients hostage. Nineteen people died when two trains collided at speed 160km north of Oslo.

Vice-President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush signalled an early end to the aspirations of any other candidates in the first primary vote of the United States presidential campaign in Iowa.

In the courtroom, a tug of war began over whether a six-year-old Cuban boy, the survivor of an ill-fated refugee run, should stay with relatives in Florida or be returned to his father in Cuba. And, at home, name suppression became a cause celebre in the wake of a judge's invitation to "enjoy the fresh air" and a defence lawyer's dire warning about the consequences of identity publication after the discharge without conviction of an American billionaire who admitted importing cannabis.

Listeners went to bat for the axed "dull and predictable" Top o' the Morning show but with no success. No more waking up on Saturday to "Brian's Week." No more police commissioner for Peter Doone, either, the country's leading policeman resigning his position after reports criticised his conduct in a driving incident.

In business, the Dow set another record high while the Nasdaq continued on its roller coaster as the New York Stock Exchange had its fourth-busiest day, 1.2 billion shares changing hands. Merger mania got away to an early start with the Internet giant America Online's takeover of the world's largest entertainment and media company, Time Warner.

A private arbitrator ruled that TVNZ owed sacked newsreader John Hawkesby but the question of the month was: how much?

Yachting and cricket dominated sport. The Black Caps became only the second team after the West Indies to complete a 5-0 one-day international series whitewash ---- and it was the West Indies they beat.

And the America's Cup continued on its merry way. Dennis Conner lost a point for having his rudder made in Australia and AmericaOne skipper Paul Cayard ("We tried really hard to win") was given the Prada Pinocchio nose treatment as his failure to beat Stars and Stripes kept Conner in the race. That was until Dawn Riley's America True gave Mr America's Cup his marching orders. The Louis Vuitton series eventually spat out Prada and AmericaOne as the challenger finalists. But Auckland's weather had the first say, strong winds postponing the opening semi-final race, before Prada began the series the eventful way it would continue, incurring a penalty before securing the win. By the end of the month, amid a rash of blown spinnakers, Prada led the best of nine series 3-1.