A nurse said the then-20-year-old told her ‘Yes, I am 15’.

Police say Gracie was last seen on January 17 around Fairmont St, Ngāruawāhia.

A solitary sunfish at an aquarium in southwestern Japan lost its appetite, began banging into the side of the fish tank and appeared unwell days after the facility closed last month for renovations.

As a last-ditch measure to save the popular fish, its keepers hung their uniforms and set up human cutouts outside the tank.

The next morning, the sunfish ate for the first time in about a week and has been steadily recovering, said Moe Miyazawa, an aquarist at the Kaikyokan aquarium in Shimonoseki.

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The large sunfish arrived at the aquarium in February 2024 from the southern coast of Kochi in the Pacific Ocean.

The sunfish, a member of the blowfish family known for its unique shape and big eyes, became one of the most popular attractions at the facility.

When the sunfish began looking unwell days after the aquarium closed on December 1 for a six-month renovation, its keepers suspected digestive problems, gave it less food and visited the fish tank to comfort the sunfish when there was construction noise, but to no avail.

Then at a staff meeting, one person suggested that the sunfish might have been affected by the sudden absence of an audience.

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"We were skeptical but decided to do anything we could," Miyazawa said.

They hung their uniforms and placed human-shaped cutouts with photos of smiling faces outside the tank to cheer on the fish, Miyazawa said.

"I knew (the sunfish) was looking at us when we were placing them, but I never thought it would start eating the next day," Miyazawa said, beaming. The staff now visit more often and wave at the sunfish.

The aquarium keepers say they hope many fans will return to see the sunfish when the aquarium reopens in the summer.

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There are calls for the government to pay for concert tickets for young people to help the struggling live music sector, which has been in the doldrums since the pandemic.

The "youth cultural pass", a proposal discussed in a recent inquiry into the challenges facing the industry, would subsidise ticket costs for young people.

Research from The Australia Institute, an independent policy think tank, found the pass could help revitalise the live music industry.

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The research found that 80 per cent of young Australians would attend more live music events if they had access to a $200 government-funded voucher.

The pass has already been implemented in European countries including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland, with positive results.

Evidence from France found that 66 per cent of pass holders discovered "new cultural venues", which they continued to revisit even after their pass expired.

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Multiple Australian festivals and music events have shut down post-pandemic, while rising living costs are forcing Australians to cut down on their non-essential spending, with younger generations hit particularly hard.

"The evidence from Europe shows that cultural passes are an effective way of getting young people to engage with the arts," The Australia Institute research manager Morgan Harrington said.

"For a small investment, the Commonwealth could give live music a huge boost.

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"Live music has not recovered from the blows that started with the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year was horrible for festivals, venues, and punters.

"If we want to turn things around, we need to invest in Australian artists and the communities that support them."

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A Melbourne woman undergoing chemotherapy has taken her local bowls club to a tribunal, claiming she was dropped to a lower league because she has cancer.

Darlene Badenoch claims she was told her cancer made her "unreliable" before she was demoted by selectors at Moonee Ponds Bowls Club.

Months after being diagnosed with lymphoma in September 2022, the 53-year-old was ready to compete in the division five finals at the club when she says she was contacted by selectors.

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"He said for qualification purposes, we're going to demote you to division seven," Badenoch said.

"I didn't need to qualify. I had been playing well."

Days later she said she was summoned to a meeting with club officials.

"He says your cancer makes you unreliable, or your illness, I couldn't remember which word," Badenoch said.

"I couldn't believe it, I was just shocked.

"I was so distraught. Like it was even worse than hearing the news I had cancer."

Badenoch's son, Jack Wardrope, called the selectors' conduct "atrocious".

"She was probably … one of the best in that side, she was playing her part even with chemo, she was still performing better than half their players. The fact they said she was unreliable was just outrageous to me," he said.

Badenoch escalated the matter to VCAT, where she is seeking $5000 and an apology for what she claims is "discrimination and victimisation".

The two-day hearing took place late last year and a verdict is expected in the next few weeks.

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"I knew I'd get a chance to at least cross examine them and at least ask them questions," Badenoch said.

The secretary at the Moonee Ponds Bowls Club has denied Badenoch's claims, saying she was supported throughout her treatment.

Badenoch has since taken her skills to nearby Moonee Valley Bowls Club.

"I've made it through to the final of the ladies' championships … I think I'll be here for a very long time," she said.

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Thousands of additional active duty US troops are being ordered to the southern US border with Mexico, just two days after President Donald Trump mandated that the US military step up its presence there, according to officials familiar with the matter.

There are already about 2200 active duty forces at the border as part of Joint Task Force-North, US Northern Command's border mission based out of El Paso, Texas.

They help support US Customs and Border Protection's work there, performing mostly logistical and bureaucratic tasks such as data entry, detection and monitoring, and vehicle maintenance.

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It is not yet clear which specific units are being ordered to the border.

There is also a National Guard contingent at the border called Operation Lonestar, headed by the Texas National Guard. There are about 4500 National Guardsmen currently assigned to the mission, according to the Texas Military Department.

The additional active duty troops being sent to the border this week would be doing much of the same, the officials said, and were expected to feed into and augment Joint Task Force-North.

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They will be helping to maintain operational readiness for Border Patrol, assisting in command-and-control centres, and providing more intelligence specialists to assess threats and migrant flows, according to sources familiar with the planning.

The troops are also expected to augment air assets and help with air operations.

Even more active duty troops are expected to be deployed to the border in the coming weeks and months, one of the officials said, with this first wave laying the groundwork for a larger military footprint.

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It is not clear whether the troops will be armed. But none of the active duty troops are authorised to perform any kind of law enforcement role, like perform arrests or seize drugs, or engage with migrants other than to help transport them to and around different migrant facilities.

A law that dates back more than a century known as "posse comitatus" bars active-duty US troops from domestic law enforcement without authorisation. Other laws and regulations have further clarified that troops can't participate in activities such as making arrests and conducting searches, according to a Congressional Research Service analysis.

President Trump did say in an executive order on Monday, however, that he will decide within 90 days whether to invoke the Insurrection Act at the US-Mexico border, which would allow him to use active duty troops domestically for law enforcement.

Federal resources along the US southern border have been stretched thin for years amid an influx of migrants.

The number of migrants crossing the southern border has dropped recently—there are between 1100 to 1300 migrants illegally crossing the border daily, according to a Homeland Security official.

But by adding more Pentagon personnel, sources expect Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has been assisting along the border, will be able to go back to the interior to focus on arrests of undocumented immigrants already inside the US.

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It's been 15 years since the foul-smelling flower showed its petals in Sydney, but the rare Amorphophallus titanum – also known as a corpse flower – is finally blooming.

The flower, known for its smell of rotting flesh, blooms for about 24 hours, and can take three or four hours to completely unfurl.

As of 2pm, the plant was blossoming at Sydney's Botanic Gardens, which will remain open until midnight tonight.

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Sydneysiders can smell the flower, which has been dubbed by fans as "Putricia", at the Palm House in the Botanic Gardens.

According to the Botanic Gardens, the smell is similar to that of wet socks, hot cat food, or a rotting possum.

An audience of thousands of people have been watching a livestream of the plant for days in anticipation of the rare bloom.

"If you've got some wet teenage socks, throw that into a blender, then you get some cat food you've left out in the sun, whack that in your blender, and then get some day-old vomit. Put that in the blender, blend it all up, rip the lid off," Paul Nicholson, manager of volunteer programs, said of the plant.

"That's the kind of smell you're getting.

"It's actually stunningly beautiful as well."

After the petals or "spathe" have finished blooming, they will collapse and shrivel.

A single new leaf will emerge from the underground part of the plant, and the plant will continue to grow.

It will be years before the plant flowers again.

The Botanic Gardens will be open until midnight tonight, and open again at 8am tomorrow.

Another corpse flower bloomed in Melbourne in January, months after another one had done the same in Geelong.

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A surfer has described the moment he fought off a shark that charged at him in the water.

Dale Kittow had paddled over a wave at Cheynes Beach yesterday, about 68 kilometres east of Albany, when he saw the three-metre bronze whaler 10 metres away.

The apex predator started to circle the 37-year-old about 150 metres offshore before it charged at him.

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"I jumped off the back of my board and put it in between me and the shark," Kittow told 9News.

Kittow used his surfboard as a shield and punched back.

"The shark bit into the board, we got tangled in my leg rope, went under and got dragged for a bit. I hit it a few times," he said.

"I'm just lucky, mate. I was pretty rattled at the time but all good now."

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Experts have suggested the shark may have been investigating a nearby school of fish and considered Kittow to be a rival in the water.

"I think that Dale reacted really well in this situation," University of Western Australia shark researcher Dr Oliver Jewell said.

"He kept his arms and legs on his board, and he kind of pushed the shark away as it came close. That's usually enough to deter a shark."

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An 18-year-old man has been injured after a car was allegedly driven into the front yard of an Adelaide home.

Witnesses say the incident marks an escalating feud between neighbours on Bubner Street at Elizabeth South.

A silver commodore was captured on video driving across the road, and into the home's front yard before braking suddenly about 12pm today.

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It was then seen accelerating towards a group of people, who had allegedly been hurling abuse moments before the incident.

They were allegedly armed with machetes.

Across the road, there was a man with what witnesses said was a sledgehammer also hurling insults back.

Footage showed the car pulling out of the opposite front yard.

The driver was seen allegedly ramming the group again, this time appearing to hit two men.

The driver then drove away.

An 18-year-old man was taken to hospital with abdominal and leg injuries.

"I know I got the —- you know?" one person could be heard saying on audio recorded after the chaotic scene.

"I f—ing got him in the heart mate."

"I know I got him. He may have got me but I f—ing got him too."

Police seized a number of machetes from the home.

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Witnesses claim the group used them to smash the car's windows.

"When I came out I saw the people yelling and jumping around and stuff," a witness told 9News.

"Then I saw one of the dudes hitting the car with the big machete."

Witnesses said today's violence is part of an ongoing feud between neighbours.

The escalation is so severe that some are now considering moving out of the street.

"It's not safe here anymore, I'm moving out," one local told 9News.

Police are yet to make any arrests.

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An 88-year-old man has been charged with allegedly firing a bullet into the property of Manly Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold.

Police said they found a pistol, a rifle and ammunition at the home of Seibold's neighbour in North Curl Curl, Sydney.

Seibold said fortunately no one was injured.

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"We've got a lovely neighbour who … unfortunately an accident occurred where a bullet went through the garage," Seibold told 9News.

"Look, it wasn't anything sinister."

The man is due to appear in court in March.

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