Month: May 2019

There are some things I don’t quite get about Fleabag – like how a show about grief and guilt can be so damned funny, and how a story about failed relationships can be so uplifting. It’s a puzzle.

In its second season, Fleabag (Amazon Prime) picks up "371 days, 19 hours and 26 minutes" after the first ended. Our unnamed heroine (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) is still running a guinea-pig themed cafe but now it's thriving rather than failing. She has also sworn off getting smashed and using sex as a way of avoiding emotions. Or so she says.

That's not to say she's got everything under control; when we first see her, blood is streaming from her nose. She's in a bathroom, with another woman on the floor, also with a bloodied nose. And then Fleabag, because that's what we're meant to call her, turns to the camera and breaks the fourth wall and says: "This is a love story."

And so it is, over six beautifully weighted episodes that alternate from hilarious to heartbreaking and back again.

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Our heroine is still haunted by the death of her friend Boo (Jenny Rainsford), who walked into traffic after discovering her boyfriend had been cheating on her. She hasn't spoken to her sister Claire (Sian Clifford) since she revealed Claire's alcoholic husband Martin (Brett Gelman) had made a drunken pass, but the thaw is on, slightly. Even her emotionally constipated father (Bill Paterson) is trying to mend fences.

He's given her a voucher for a counselling session. Of course she's fine, she doesn't need that, so she takes it to the counsellor hoping to exchange it for cash. Before she knows it, she's in therapy.

"So why do you think your father suggested you come for counselling," the counsellor asks.

"I think because my mother died and he can't talk about it and my sister and I didn't speak for a year because she thinks I tried to sleep with her husband and because I spent most of my adult life using sex to deflect from the screaming void inside my empty heart," she says. And, to the camera: "I'm good at this."

Oh yes she is. Waller-Bridge, who also created Killing Eve, is merciless at self-excoriation. There's no self-pity here, but plenty of empathy. And gags galore.

"What's your favourite period film?" asks Kristin Scott Thomas in a delightful cameo.

"Carrie," she answers. Bloody funny.

When a hairdresser who's given Claire a cut she hates insists that "hair isn't everything", the sisters are aghast.

"Wow," says Fleabag. "Hair. Is. Everything. We wish it wasn't, so we could think about something else occasionally, but it is."

And to her sister she finally confesses the main point of the series. "I met someone."

"God, that's amazing," says Claire. "What does he do?"

"He's a priest."

Irishman Andrew Scott plays said priest (known only as Father or "the priest", in keeping with the fairytale-like naming conventions at play here) and he's wonderful. He's perfect for her too – apart from the small matter of the dog collar and the vow of celibacy, that is. Hell, he's so simpatico he even notices when she's breaking the fourth wall to address us, though he doesn't twig exactly what's going on.

The writing here is bitter, sweet, truthful and empathetic. The performances are brilliantly judged from top-notch actors who know exactly when to play it straight and when to go for the funny.

A special shout-out is in order for Olivia Colman, Oscar winner for The Favourite this year. As the Godmother to Fleabag and Claire and soon-to-be-wife to their father, she is the personification of middle-England hideousness lurking beneath a frosty smile and supercilious manners.

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When Fleabag gives her a wedding present she thanks her, then says: "I'm going to open it over a bin." Beat. "So I've got somewhere to put the paper."

That moment, like everything else about Fleabag, is just about perfect.

Follow the author on Facebook at karlquinnjournalist and on Twitter @karlkwin

Telstra demands a premium for Australia's first 5G smartphone but it's probably not worth paying top dollar for the handset if you won't see the full benefit for months or even years. That will depend very much on where you live and work.

On sale Tuesday, and exclusive to Telstra, the 256GB model Samsung S10 5G starts at $132 per month on a two-year plan, including handset payments.

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In return, you get unlimited calls and texts but only a measly 3GB of data.

Prices rise if you need more data or more on-board storage, up to a hefty $199 per month. Unless you're on this plan, you're paying an extra $15 to $36 per month for the benefit of 5G, compared to the 4G-capable Samsung S10+.

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Keep in mind, these prices are for mobile lease plans, where you don’t actually own the phone but you have the option to upgrade your handset after 12 months.

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Consumer pricing is due later in the week, which will likely add $10 to all but the most expensive plans. Telstra is also simplifying its plans by the end of June, so better deals could be on the way.

If you've already bought the S10+ from Telstra, you can upgrade to the S10 5G for free. In return the 5G model also offers a slightly bigger screen and larger battery, plus an improved rear camera, although this bumps up the weight by another 23 grams.

Prices will rise even further as, after 12 months, Telstra intends to slug 5G customers an extra $15 per month if you're not on one of the two most expensive plans. At this point, on a 50GB plan, you'd be paying a hefty $51 per month for the privilege of being on 5G.

Buy before June 30, or trade up from an S10+, and you won't pay the 5G surcharge for the life of your plan. Getting in early will save you $180 on the second year of your contract, although Telstra could always decide to scrap the surcharge next year.

So is it worth making the leap to 5G today? Not unless Telstra's fledgling 5G network is set to reach where you live and/or work.

Right now 5G is available in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart, Launceston, Toowoomba and the Gold Coast – but only if you live within a few kilometres of the centre of town.

In Melbourne, it stretches from Carlton down to South Melbourne and from Port Melbourne across to Richmond – which admittedly is better than the earliest days for 4G. Sydney is a lot of hit and miss, apart from the CBD you've got patches around Mascot, Randwick and Mosman.

Across the country, Telstra's 5G footprint currently includes areas "where more than four million people live, work or pass through every day," says Telstra consumer executive Kevin Teoh.

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It's hardly worth paying extra for 5G if you'll merely "pass through" the 5G coverage area for a few minutes each day and then fall back onto 4G with everyone else.

Over the next 12 months, Teoh expects Telstra's 5G coverage to "increase in area almost five-fold" and extend to at least 35 Australian cities.

If 5G coverage is unlikely to reach you in the next 12 months then you're better off waiting to see what next year's deals look like, when you'll have a wider choice of handsets and plans, plus perhaps even choice of mobile networks.

You always paying a premium for first-generation devices. Next year's 5G handsets could well be a little cheaper, while probably packing more grunt. There'll also be an improvement in battery life, and/or a reduction in bulk, once mobile processors have built-in 5G capabilities rather than relying on a standalone 5G chips.

Opting for the S10 5G today also means missing out on support for the faster millimetre wave 5G bands, which Telstra doesn't use yet but will switch on in the next few years.

Holding off on a 5G handset could see you get faster speeds down the track. Telstra demonstrated speeds of 1200Mbps down and 64Mbps up at Monday's launch, but that's obviously going to drop once there are more 5G users in your area.

Considering you'll squeeze 50 to 100Mbps out of the 4GX network on a range of cheaper handsets and plans, across a far wider area of your city, you really need to be sure you’ll have access to 5G soon – and you’ll put that speed boost to good use – before taking the plunge.

Tommy Raudonikis isn’t a supporter of Scott Morrison’s side of politics but, like the Prime Minister, he certainly believes in miracles.

Two weeks ago, Tom’s medical condition was dire. He was in Gold Coast hospital with breathing problems; fighting against sleep, perhaps fearful his next slumber would be one from which he would never awake.

His devoted partner, Trish Brown, together with family and close friends, were so concerned that some feared he would not be around on Monday night when it was announced at The Star he had been inducted into the NSWRL True Blues Hall of Fame alongside another great halfback, Steve Mortimer.

Tommy was irritable, even rebellious and irrational, demanding to see the hospital superintendent at midnight.

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But when he told a bemused doctor that "I’m going to give myself an uppercut", it was obvious he knew he was being "hard work" and needed to go home. He was discharged last Tuesday but not before he was scanned for evidence of his cancer.

On Friday, Tom and Trish visited his oncologist for the results. Two months earlier, the three of us met the oncologist who informed us the cancer had returned. Tom was told he could have no more radiotherapy and surgery was impossible because the insidious cancer, like a poisonous vine on a tree, was too close to the carotid artery in his neck. His last resort was to be accepted for an immunotherapy trial which he began shortly afterwards.

The highlighted sections of Friday’s report, showing comparisons to the March 12 scans, read: "The mass has reduced in size significantly … the nodules in the left perivertebral muscles have almost completely resolved."

The doctor explained that the aim of the treatment was to stop the cancer growing, yet, miraculously, it had shrunk.

Tom and Trish both cried and he ate four chocolates, right there in the surgery. (Beer unavailable).

It is now the fourth time he has cheated death. He has endured testicular cancer; quadruple heart surgery and, a few years ago, cancer of his throat where he was given a one-in-three chance of surviving.

We should have known this man, all heart and hustle, would survive this. After all, it was close friend John Singleton who said of the earlier one in three odds battle: "I’d hate to be the other two bastards he has to beat to survive."

How could we forget the come-from-behind victories he inspired on the football field, including the NSW versus Queensland match in Brisbane in pre-Origin days when Mortimer was selected as halfback and Tom was a reserve?

The Maroons were well ahead at half-time; Tommy replaced Turvey; ignited a brawl and the Blues came back to win. Even the first Origin match in 1980, when the NSW pack was weakened by withdrawals, Tommy, as captain, scored the final try in the 20-10 loss.

Ironically, Turvey was also inducted into the True Blues Hall of Fame at Monday night’s annual dinner, making them the 18th and 19th players to be so honoured.

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Turvey was given warning of Tommy’s fierce competitive spirit ahead of that game where he was replaced at half-time. The NSWRL management allocated them the same room in a Brisbane hotel. Turvey, seven years younger but awarded the No.7 jumper, claimed the double bed. Tommy began throwing Turvey’s clothing out the hotel window until Mortimer shifted his case to the single bed and said, "Would you like a cup of tea, Mr Raudonikis?"

Tommy played 24 games for NSW as well as 29 Tests for Australia between 1971 and 1980, including two as Kangaroo captain. Mortimer played in seven interstate matches from 1977 to 1981, and then nine Origins from 1982 to 1985.

That included the breakthrough 1985 series when NSW rolled back the Maroon tide and the Blues won the series for the first time. The images of Mortimer collapsing to his knees in tears in sheer relief, and then being chaired from the field by his teammates, remain two of most enduring in Origin history.

Tommy didn’t make it to last night’s dinner, with Trish saying, "It would take too much out of him. But he was keen to go right up until about three weeks ago when he had the big setback."

Like the Immortals concept, only playing records count towards induction into the Hall of Fame. But Tommy’s time as Blues coach for the 1997 and 1998 series fits the legend, immortalising the word "cattledog" forever after it became code for his players to break from a scrum and start a fight.

Through a raspy voice, he passed on a message to coach Brad Fittler’s 2019 Blues who attended the dinner: "If I can beat cancer three times, you blokes should be able to beat Queensland in three games.

"If you need a miracle to win in Brisbane, remember they always work best when you have a go."

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A takeover by Chinese regulators of a troubled lender with links to a missing tycoon jolted markets on Monday, lifting interbank financing costs for some smaller banks and raising worries about broader risks to the country's financial system.

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) will take control of Inner Mongolia-based Baoshang Bank for a year from May 24, as it posed serious credit risks, the regulator and the central bank said on Friday, in a rare move to seize direct control of a bank.

The seizing of Baoshang fanned concerns about indebted small banks across the country, pushing up yields on some negotiable certificates of deposit (NCD) issued by regional banks by more than 10 basis points on Monday, traders said.

"We recommend paying close attention to the impact on liquidity that could be triggered by this event," analysts at China Merchant Securities said in a note, referring to the Baoshang takeover.

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Selling pressure on Baoshang debt would not only affect the deposit yield curve, but could also lead to pressure on instruments from "Baoshang-like" city commercial banks that have not released financial results in several years and have significant interbank borrowings, they said.

The bank's own bonds were suspended from trading following the takeover, said an official at the China Foreign Exchange Trading System and National Interbank Funding Centre, China's interbank market trading platform.

The regulator's Beijing branch issued a notice on Monday asking banks not to try to grab clients from Baoshang, two banking sources with acknowledge of the matter said.

In Baotou, the regulator has made similar requirements, and warned of "severe punishment" of any breaches, a Baotou banking regulator told Reuters.

Financial crackdown

Baoshang, partly owned by Chinese financial group Tomorrow Holdings, has not published any annual reports since 2016, citing a plan to seek strategic investors.

Tomorrow has been in the process of divesting some assets since its chairman Xiao Jianhua was investigated more than two years ago amid a government crackdown on systemic risks posed by financial conglomerates. The billionaire has not been seen since 2017.

Baoshang Bank has 206 outstanding bonds worth a total of 73.83 billion yuan ($15.5 billion), according to Refinitiv data.

Baoshang's last filing on its assets and liabilities shows the bank had a total of 156.5 billion yuan of outstanding loans by the end of 2016, a 65 per cent jump from the end of 2014.

China's central bank said on Sunday that it would offer "timely and sufficient funds to ensure that (Baoshang Bank's) payment system is operating smoothly."

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) also said that it and the CBIRC would give more policy support to improve small- and mid-sized banks' corporate governance.

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Chinese financial magazine Caixin, citing sources, reported on Monday that at least 70 per cent of interbank debts exceeding 50 million yuan owed by Baoshang Bank will be initially guaranteed by regulators.

The PBOC on Sunday said it would guarantee all principal and interest of corporate deposits and interbank liabilities below 50 million yuan, which analysts said helped to contain the market reaction.

"The reaction of the (interbank) capital market is relatively calm due to the guarantee offered to NCDs," said Dai Zhifeng, a banking analyst at Zhongtai Securities.

Traders said weakness in China's interbank market on Monday reflected broader concerns about the economy in the absence of clear signs for more policy stimulus.

Benchmark Chinese 10-year Treasury futures for September delivery, the most-traded contract, fell as much as 0.71 per cent to a low of 96.12.

Heavy borrower

NCDs are short-term debt instruments traded in China's interbank market, which are used by smaller banks to borrow from larger lenders, and which have in the past attracted regulatory scrutiny as they were used to fund speculative investments.

Reuters reported last year that interbank borrowings at Baoshang Bank, including NCD issuance, accounted for 48 per cent of its total liabilities at the end of the third quarter of 2017 – far exceeding a 33-per cent cap stipulated by the authorities.

While rare, regulatory takeovers aimed at cracking down on systemic financial risks are not unprecedented. The CBIRC took over Anbang Insurance Group in February 2018.

The takeover of Baoshang is not unexpected due to the risks it poses, Xing Wei, secretary of the Communist Party Committee at the Insurance Association of China, said at a forum on Saturday.

Xing cited a spot check five years ago in which he found that a Hangzhou-based small insurer had "colluded with" Baoshang. He did not elaborate.

At a Baoshang Bank branch in Beijing, customers had mixed reactions to the takeover.

Li Yan, whose parents had purchased a dozen short-term wealth management products at Baoshang, said bank staff had used the regulatory move as a selling point.

"They even comforted me with the possibility of Baoshang becoming a state-owned bank…they're daydreaming," she said, adding she would not let her parents invest in more Baoshang products.

An elderly client, who did not give his name, was more sanguine.

"Under the leadership of the Party, there will be no problem. The PBOC and CBIRC all promised that the takeover won't hurt the interests of normal people. I believe in the bank and will continue to put my money there," he said.

Reuters

Australian startup Morse Micro has secured almost $24 million in funding to take its 'HaLow' chips to the mass market as it looks to revolutionise Wi-Fi for the internet of things.

Investors include the private investment fund for Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar, Skip Capital, headed by Kim Jackson, Blackbird Ventures, Ray Stata and Main Sequence Ventures’ CSIRO Innovation Fund, Right Click Capital, Uniseed, and the Clean Energy Innovation Fund.

Founders Andrew Terry and Michael De Nil launched the startup in 2016 after meeting at networking chip giant Broadcom developing the Wi-Fi chips that go into the Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy.

"Wi-Fi has been around for a while and it is all about getting faster, but we saw an opportunity to really go after the internet of things market where you need a reliable connection and longer range with lower power," Mr De Nil said.

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The internet of things means everyday objects such as lights and alarm systems in the home or office will be internet enabled allowing them to send and receive data.

The pair said the Wi-Fi chips for phones have a powerful battery but they have to be recharged every night with little regard for power consumption.

"We saw an opportunity to design from scratch with low power which is low-cost," Mr Terry said.

Morse Micro's Wi-Fi HaLow chip has greater range and lower power consumption than conventional wi-fi and can connect more than 8000 devices to a single access point, with data rates of many megabits-per-second.

Mr De Nil said this has a huge range of applications in smart homes, retail signs and displays and sensor networks.

The pair started Morse Micro in August 2016 using $25,000 each in savings and were accepted into the Startmate accelerator by the end of that year which helped them raise an initial seed round of $450,000.

"It was a big leap of faith," Mr De Nil said. "We always thought it was going to be inevitable that we would be successful but in the early days we were not making any money and taking money out of our mortgages.  We didn’t draw a salary for half a year then the minimum wage afterwards."

However, they knew they were on to something and came up with a working prototype which enabled them to raise $4.5 million in 2017.

"We went out for months to the US fundraising there. We spent many night in the bars in Pao Alto cursing the VCs [venture capitalists] over there," Mr De Nil said.  "We were staying at Startuphouse which was like a hostel in San Francisco in the dodgiest neighbourhood there, we were sleeping in bunk beds for way too long."

Mr De Nil said the latest funding round was a much smoother process and the company would use the investment to take their Wi-Fi chips to the mass market, in the process increasing Morse Micro's staff from 24 to 54 people, mainly based in Sydney.

"We design chips and there is a lot of development work but now we need to turn the company around and manufacture them in high volumes with high reliability," he said.

"[The investors] are a good balance between people who have built massive companies themselves helping us out, and venture firms that lend a different perspective to the business."

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Morse Micro has the backing of Nick Crocker of Blackbird Ventures, who said the company was involved in  world-first innovation.

"I have been so impressed at the quality of the team they've recruited, the speed at which they've built the chip, the way the market has turned for them since the seed investment, and the quality of both their characters – resilient, high-integrity, brilliant."

Key employees at Morse Micro include two of the inventors of Wi-fi – Neil Weste and John O'Sullivan.

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"Wi-Fi was invented over 20 years ago in Australia and over that time we have seen it go into every laptop, phone and tablet, and all of that came from people in Australia," Mr Terry said. "Today we are opening it up and expanding Wi-Fi so it can go into everything, every smoke alarm, every camera."

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Track good 4 and rail true so should play on-pace early before levelling out.

RACE 1 – 12.35PM: EGROUP PROTECTIVE SERVICES MAIDEN PLATE (1500m)

Pace and tactics will be vital in the opener, although Randwick filly 8. Smart Decision looks tough to beat. Had two improving runs back from a spell, but ideally suited up in trip third-up with the blinkers on.

Dangers: Randwick 3YO gelding 2. Disco Mo (accepted for Warwick Farm on Wednesday) found the class a little rich in town before overwhelmed when leading in a good quality maiden at Scone over the carnival. Newcastle filly 6. Autumn Rain hasn't been suited by the tempo in last couple and needs a decent speed on to chase. Has the ability, but inside draw against her best pattern. Wyong colt 3. Gunzel is fit enough second-up after a modest debut over the mile at Taree when backed at a big price; while Newcastle 4YO gelding 1. Another Sonette is hard fit after four runs this prep, but still looking to break the duck at 14th start.
How to play it: First 4: 8/2-6/1-2-3-6.

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RACE 2 – 1.10PM: EGROUP EVENTS AUSTRALIA CLASS 1 HANDICAP (1500m)

Rosehill 3YO gelding 1. Rexx bolted in his maiden from the front at Gosford, but found the pressure too much stepping up in grade at Warwick Farm. Draws nicely, and better ridden with a sit.

Dangers: Randwick mare 5. One Fire Beach improved nicely second up at big odds, and should be ready to peak. Randwick colt 2. Saving has found the line okay in his last two, and extra trip an advantage third-up; while Muswellbrook 3YO gelding 7. Asudem is screaming for this longer trip after hitting the line hard in his last couple at Taree, and while this is tougher, drops in weight and was scratched from Dubbo to be saved for this.
How to play it: Rexx to win.

RACE 3 – 1.50PM: EGROUP ELECTRONICS CLASS 1 HANDICAP (1860m)

Keen on lightly-raced Rosehill filly 4. Our Fun getting to this trip third-up. Resumed with a dominant maiden win at Kembla before solid to the line over the mile at Wyong. Track and distance look ideal being by former Group 1 staying star Dundeel.

Dangers: Rosehill mare 2. Frascati Miss is another strong finisher who will drift back and look to find a tail to take her home. Hit the line hard resuming in a good BM 64 at Kembla, and extra journey ideal.
How to play it: Our Fun to win and quinella 2 and 4.

Race 4 MAIDEN HCP (1300m):
Looks a nice race for Randwick 4YO gelding 1. This Is So who got home nicely on debut at Kembla behind a smart youngster who won again in dominant fashion at Nowra on Sunday. Any extra ground is a plus being by So You Think out of a Dehere mare.

Dangers: Resuming Rosehill filly 7. Exoplanet took on smart maiden metro company in a brief first prep, and has trialled okay.
How to play it: This Is So to win.
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Race 5 MAIDEN PLATE (900m):

No loafing over the short course, and supremely bred 2YO Randwick gelding 7. Enforcement looks a good thing off two dominant winning trials. Jumped a $4.80 favourite on debut at Randwick when well beaten behind high class sprinters Accession and Strasbourg. The one to beat.

Dangers: Doubt there are any but watch the debut of 3YO Goulburn gelding 1. Full Of Fire who has trialled okay.
How to play it: Enforcement to win.

RACE 6 – 3.40PM: EGROUP SECURITY CLASS 2 HANDICAP (900m)

Another short-course affair that is much tricker to assess. Settled on Warwick Farm filly 9. Vinci Lady first-up off two nice trials and well in at the weights. Will go forward from a wider alley, and be hard to match fresh over this trip.
Dangers: Plenty of them headed by four-year-old Muswellbrook gelding 6. Bullseye Score which won three back in a BM58 at Inverell before fighting on OK in a much stronger Highway at Hawkesbury behind a smart galloper. Back in trip and down in weight, will give a big sight for a long way. Smart Port Macquarie mare 1. Maid Marilyn resumes with a crucial 3kg claim. Was good early in her last prep, and while this is obviously short of her best, draws to get a lovely run midfield and finish hard. Another Port Macquarie visitor 2. Tikkitala also resumes with a 3kg apprentice claim. Drawn the fence, and generally shows up fresh. Randwick filly 8. Starry was solid through the line resuming at Kembla and looks very well in at the weights for leading metro stable but draws the widest barrier.
How to play it: Vinci Lady each way and first four 1-6-9/1-2-6-8-9.

RACE 7 – 4.20PM: CONCIERGE ONE CONDITIONAL BENCHMARK 70 HANDICAP (1400m)

Open battle to finish, although this looks bang on for promising three-year-old local gelding 4. Time Raid if he gets any sort of cover early from a tricky gate, with the blinkers going on. Just missed in a good BM64 two back at Gosford, and then finished strongly again over the mile at Warwick Farm behind Fun Fact which has since won the group 3 Grand Prix at Eagle Farm.
Dangers: Stablemate four-year-old mare 5. High Rush flopped last start at Wyong after a strong closing win two runs back. Can be hard to catch, but plenty of ability on her day. Improving Taree five-year-old gelding 3. Subtle Grey won stylishly two back in a BM66 at Grafton before overrun late under a big weight this track. Gets in here with lightest weight for some time after rider’s 3kg claim, and will take up a forward position from the draw. Stablemate five-year-old gelding 2. Sniponet is honest and will be right there from the good gate, just struggles to see out a strong 1400m. Five-year-old Scone gelding 6. Barricade flew home late at massive odds to land the Country Cup on home track and hard fit now after four runs this prep. Can plot a similar course on a track that also suits.
How to play it: Time Raid to win.

BEST BETS:
R3 4. OUR FUN
R7 4. TIME RAID

BEST VALUE:
R6 9. VINCI LADY

Supplied by Racing NSW.
Full form and race replays at www.racingnsw.com.au

A few years ago, I was looking for some kind of large and indestructible plant that would make our house seem like a lush oasis in the dead of winter. Perhaps it was a bit of a tall order. My children tagged along, distracted by the bird feeders and whirligigs. "A plant! A living thing!" I reminded them. At one point I lost track of my 11-year-old daughter, only to eventually find her stroking the leaves of the saddest, most miserable-looking plant I had ever seen.

"It needs us!" she pleaded. And I knew I was sunk.

Every pet we have is a rescue, many of them acquired after she ran one of her influence campaigns, complete with PowerPoint presentations, propaganda posters, and not-so-subtle dinner-table speeches. I knew if we walked out of the store without this sickly-looking tree, I'd simply be signing myself up for weeks of infotainment about the benefits of half-dead hibiscus plants.

The children named it Hibby, and it took over a corner of the dining room as I scrambled to learn enough about hibiscuses to save it from what seemed a certain death. The first thing it did was drop every one of its leaves.

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Fantastic; now I was going to be responsible for the demise of this pathetic plant, which surely would have died anyway if we'd just left it in the garden centre under the "75 per cent off!" banner where we'd found it.

And so I watered and I fertilised and slowly, slowly, new leaves began to emerge, large and shiny green, however sparse. A few tentative buds developed, then bloomed spectacularly into improbable pink flowers. When the weather got warm enough, I moved Hibby onto the back deck.

It promptly dropped all of its leaves.

Over the past few years, I've learned that Hibby needs attention, but not too much. Over watering will do as much damage as neglect. It gets stressed by changes in its environment, even if the change ultimately turns out to be beneficial. And just when it looks so skeletal and lifeless that I'm sure there's no hope, it will summon up whatever resources it has and burst into bloom.

"You're so sensitive."

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"Oh, for heaven's sake, can't you pull it together?"

"I don't know what you want from me!"

These are all things I've said to Hibby recently. But they're also things I've wanted to say to my now 14-year-old daughter. Like the plant she rescued, she can be temperamental and is prone to acting out dramatically when stressed. These days she spends hours in her room, ear buds plugged in, her closed door shutting the rest of us out. I spend endless amounts of energy trying to interpret her various silences. Sometimes I wish she would simply drop her leaves.

The thing about a house plant is that it can't talk. It can't tell you that the sunlight is too weak in that corner, or that its nitrogen levels are dangerously low, or that its roots are crowded in its plastic pot. Despite how much I might talk to it – inquiring after its health, or praising it when it blooms – Hibby never responds. Its woody stalks and slick green leaves remain frustratingly mute.

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It's also hard to know what changes might be working. Like the proverbial steering of an ocean liner, it takes a long time for a small change to have any visible effect. Did adding fertiliser to the water help? What about turning the pot 90 degrees? It might be a month before I notice any change, and by then I won't know what to attribute it to.

Though my teenager is blessed with the power of speech, she struggles sometimes to articulate what she needs. Her stormy interior life can seem both too complex and too murky to communicate to me. Meanwhile, the very process of establishing her own identity requires her to pull away, expanding the distance between us so she can figure her own self out. Finding a language to bridge that distance has been a tricky process of trial and error.

Together, we try to negotiate a balance. How much nagging is just enough? Where is the line between providing her with enough autonomy to succeed on her own terms and providing a safety net to protect her from the more dangerous stumbles? Where does my care feel warm and comforting, and where does it stifle? The answers to these questions are fluid, ever-changing. And who's to say I'm ever getting it right?

Once upon a time, my daughter gave us PowerPoint presentations; a bullet-pointed guide to her heart's desire. Life was easier when making her happy was as simple as opening the door of our home a little wider, making room for someone new to love.

The kittens that showed up on a neighbor's back porch. The hyperactive mutt from the shelter, who came complete with a list of fears and neuroses as long as my arm. The guinea pigs that had to be adopted together because they were a bonded pair. And of course, a certain nervous hibiscus plant.

Maybe that was her plan all along. Here, Mum, let's bring home this plant. It will drive you crazy, and it will make you doubt your ability to properly care for it, but when it blooms? It'll knock your socks off.

And then you'll be ready for me.

The Washington Post

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Kobe Duck had almost finished his first year of school.

He was a sporty kid who loved his fishing, loved his camping, and loved his soccer. He was named "Player of The Year" after his first season for the mighty Morriset Strikers near Newcastle in NSW, and was the kind of child who would pick building bike jumps and mud pits over playing video games.

But in November 2018, Kobe went to bed a fit, healthy, five-year-old, and woke up paralysed and struggling to breathe.

"That's what makes it so scary. He literally just woke up paralysed," his mother, Kristie Duck, said.

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In the days before the "devastating" turn of events, Mrs Duck said Kobe had a bit of a sniffle and a cough, and had been off his food.

"He complained of a sore neck and started to get temperatures, so I gave him some Panadol," she said. "But the next day he was the same – high-ish temperatures and complaining of a sore neck. So I took him to emergency, thinking he might have had meningitis. They reassured me it wasn't meningitis, and sent us home."

Mrs Duck put him to bed with some paracetamol and kept an eye on him.

"At about four in the morning he got up and met my husband in the hallway and said, 'I have a floppy neck', but he went back to bed.

"The next morning he was crying in his bed, saying he couldn't get up. He couldn't lift his head off the pillow."

Kobe's breathing had become laboured, and he was rushed to John Hunter Children's Hospital in Newcastle where his paralysis worsened.

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More than six months later, Kobe remains a resident of the hospital, diagnosed with acute flaccid myelitis – a rare disease that affects the spinal cord and caused, in his case, by a "close relative" of the polio virus.

It had affected his ability to eat, to breathe, and to swallow; the movement in his arms, and the muscles that support his back.

He uses a wheelchair to get around the hospital, a brace to support his neck and his back, and a ventilator to breathe.

Kobe's sixth birthday, Christmas, New Year's Eve, Easter, his older brother and sister's birthdays – had all been celebrated at the hospital.

"It has been devastating," Mrs Duck said. "Life changing, for him and the entire family. I haven't heard his voice for six months.

"He can mouth words. But we can't hear him. We're getting better at lip reading. But there are words we don't understand, and he gets frustrated.

"I'd give anything to hear his voice again."

Mrs Duck said there was a lot of "don't knows".

"We don't know where the end point is. We don't know how much recovery he will get," she said. "But the rehab has been helping. He is able to walk short distances now.

"In the beginning we didn't think he would ever breathe again, walk again, on his own. So he is making small gains."

Kobe's doctor, paediatric neurologist Dr Rob Smith, said acute flaccid myelitis was "incredibly" rare.

"In 25 years in this job, I've only seen two children with this severity, and Kobe is one of them," he said. "It is very similar to what we used to see in polio. It is a rare complication of infection with that virus, and it can affect the nervous system. Over the years, we've probably seen half a dozen children here with it – most with minor forms."

Dr Smith said a lot of children get the virus and it did not affect them.

"This is incredibly rare. Most people who are exposed to that virus will not know they have had it, and it will cause minimum symptoms," he said.

"But every now and then someone gets this really bad response and gets an infection in the nervous system.

"We don't know why some children get it and some don't. It does tend to come in epidemics, so our colleagues in Sydney will be looking out for this. Kobe is the first reported this season with this pattern."

Dr Smith said in helping Kobe, they planned for the worst, and hoped for the best.

"He has certainly made some gains," he said.

"We think Kobe will end up with residual disability, but our next step is trying to get him off his ventilator.

"There is no active treatment for this virus now that it has done the damage, although he had fairly aggressive treatment at the very beginning.

"But the virus has come and gone now, and this is what it has left in its wake."

Mrs Duck said either herself or her husband, Michael Duck, was always at the hospital with Kobe.

It had meant they had not been able to work as much as they had prior to Kobe's illness, and they needed to make some modifications to their home to accommodate Kobe's new needs.

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There is a fundraiser on June 2 at Dora Creek Workers Club from midday.

"There will be live entertainment and raffles," Mrs Duck said.

A Go Fund Me campaign, called Bring Kobe Home, has also been set up to support the family.

"Don't take anything for granted, you don't know what the future holds," Mrs Duck said.

"Kobe woke up paralysed, and that's something you can't prepare for. You feel blessed to get three kids to the age they were without any problems, and then something like this can devastate you overnight.

"It has shifted our priorities.

"Family time has always been valuable, but even more so now for us. Cherish every moment with your children, your family."

Newcastle Herald

Tokyo: A man carrying a knife in each hand and screaming "I will kill you" attacked a group of schoolchildren waiting at a bus stop just outside Tokyo on Tuesday, wounding at least 19 people, including 13 children, Japanese authorities and media said.

The victims were lined up at a bus stop near Noborito Park in Kawasaki City when a man in his 40s or 50s attacked. NHK national television, quoting police, said that the suspect died after slashing himself in the neck.

Police wouldn't immediately confirm the report or provide or other specific details.

It wasn't immediately clear how many others had died.

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An official with the Kawasaki fire department told The Associated Press that one person had been killed. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorised to speak to the media.

Some Japanese media outlets were reporting at least three deaths, while some were saying two, including the attacker.

Kyodo news agency reported that all 13 children who were stabbed were girls at a nearby private school in Kawasaki City.

A witness told the Mainichi newspaper that he heard children shrieking after walking past a bus, and when he turned around, he saw a man wielding a knife in each hand, screaming "I will kill you" and that several children were on the ground.

NHK, citing police, said that a bus driver told officials that a man holding a knife in each hand walked toward the bus and started slashing children. NHK also interviewed a witness who said he saw the suspect trying to force his way onto a bus.

The attacker's identity and motives weren't immediately known.

Television footage showed emergency workers giving first aid to people inside an orange tent set up on the street, and police and other officials carrying the injured to ambulances.

Although Japan has one of the lowest crime rates in the world, it has had a series of high-profile killings, including in 2016 when a former employee at a home for the disabled allegedly killed 19 and injured more than 20 others.

In 2008, seven people were killed by a man who slammed a truck into a crowd of people in central Tokyo's Akihabara electronics district and then stabbed passers-by.

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Also in 2016, a man stabbed four people at a library in northeastern Japan, allegedly over their mishandling of his questions. No one was killed.

AP

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Support can be found at Lifeline (13 11 14 and lifeline.org.au) and the Suicide Call Back Service (1300 659 467 and suicidecallbackservice.org.au).

Eight people have been rescued after becoming trapped in heavy snow near Mount Hotham with "terrible" conditions forecast to get worse.

The alarm was raised following heavy snowfall on Monday afternoon.

The four adults and four children, aged between six and 12, spent a chilly night in their vehicles on the Blue Rag Range Track west of the Dargo High Plains Road. Temperatures got down to minus five overnight and are currently sitting on minus two.

There were fears they would be trapped there as conditions in the area worsened, with wind gusts of up to 110km/h forecast for later on Tuesday.

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But at midday police announced they had got them out, safe and well.

The vehicles were stuck in thick snow, which locals say is up to half a metre deep in some places after heavy falls on Sunday.

“It started on Sunday evening, it started coming down quite heavily," a local told The Age.

"We had 30 centimetres over Sunday night, and since then we have had maybe 10 centimetres on top of that. The weather has been terrible, howling winds.”

Police say one group of travellers in two 4WDs got stuck in the snow after failing to bring appropriate snow gear with them. A second group them came across them, tried to get them out, and also became stuck – leading to all needing to be rescued.

Blue Rag Range is an extremely remote track through Victoria's High Country but is popular because of its panoramic mountain views. There is only one way in or out, and the sides of the track drop off steeply on both sides.

Tuesday's rescue attempt follows an incident on Monday morning where eight students and two teachers from Beechworth Secondary College were rescued from Mount Bogong.

That group were in the final day of a five-day hike and got caught out in thick snowfall.

Earlier, Senior Sergeant Doug Incoll said the hikers had set off in the morning and were forced to turn back to a hut, before being recovered about 2pm.

‘‘There was 20 centimetres of snow yesterday,’’ he said.

‘‘We’re expecting another 25 centimetres today above 1200 metres, which is where the group of 4WDs are.

‘‘There is an increase in strong winds forecast throughout today.’’

He said those in the vehicles had adequate shelter, food and water.

Rescue crews gathered about 6am on Tuesday to resume the search, which is being hampered by the deep snow.

‘‘We’re making progress and we’re continuing to assess the road conditions,’’ Senior Sergeant Incoll said.

‘‘If the snow get insurmountable, we will have to get a bulldozer or other equipment in.’’

He said the conditions were ‘‘terrible’’, but those in the vehicles were safe and warm.

‘‘The weather can change in the alpine environment at any time of the year, but at this time of the year the snow can be extreme and last a few days,’’ he said.

‘‘People need to be aware of the conditions and undertake a risk assessment of whether they need to change their plans.

‘‘You need to determine whether it’s a good idea to go out in the first place.’’

With Border Mail

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