WHO 23 December 2019

The fire alarm in the WHO office kept going off on Tuesday this week. But there was no fire in sight – it was the thick blanket of smoke that has hung over Sydney for the last two weeks seeping inside the building. Looking out of the windows, I could barely make out the row of trees across the road. The air quality was officially the worst on the planet – 11 times the levels considered hazardous. And it could linger for weeks. It was a stark reminder of the vast bushfires still burning out of control across the state, and the hundreds of brave first responders battling them. They are such heroes, and I really hope they get respite over Christmas to spend time with their families after such an exhausting…

With Victoria’s Secret’s annual fashion show officially canned for 2019 amid backlash over its lack of body diversity and claims that it promotes an unrealistic body type, supermodels Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid seem to be making the most of their freed-up time. In sunny Florida to attend fashion events ahead of Miami’s A-list-packed Art Basel weekend, the super-slender supermodel pals had all eyes on them as they hit the beach on December 4. Hadid previously shut down critics who accused her of being too thin after she posted a pic of herself ahead of the 2018 Victoria’s Secret parade. “All body types are different and react differently to a great workout routine and a healthy diet,” she wrote on Instagram. “Feeling happier and healthier than ever.” In Miami, as Jenner…

Boxing is Hadid’s favourite way to stay in shape. “I run nonstop for 20 minutes followed by a boxing session and finally a series of weights targeting the abs and glutes,” she has told Vogue Paris. “We keep the routines varied, so the sessions are always fun.” And hard. “I train and I work out hard for two hours,” she told E! News. “I don’t like to do the whole yoga thing. I think yoga is calming, it’s amazing, but if I’m going to go for it, I’m going to go hard.” Her diet, however, is more balanced. “If I have the morning off, I’ll either make eggs and sausage and eat breakfast at home or go to the bagel store below my apartment,” she told Harper’s Bazaar. “For lunch,…

At 179cm tall, the supermodel has said her favourite body part is“her height” but says that“sometimes I’m self-conscious about my broad shoulders”. Starting her day with a sweat session is essential, she says.“I prefer to work out in the morning,”she has told Harper’s Bazaar.“I do a lot of ab work and occasionally I’ll take a kickboxing class.”Other moves include“anything core-related”.“I typically eat lean chicken and brown rice and am always snacking on raw vegies with dip and hummus,”she’s said.“I wish I had more time to do grocery shopping because I like picking out my own vegetables.”Starvation, she says, is not on the menu.“I have low blood sugar, so I definitely need things to keep me going (aka lots of food!),”she shared on her app.“Here’s what will forever and always make…

AS NEW ZEALAND REELS FROM Monday’s eruption on White Island, the families of those killed and injured are questioning how tour companies were still running excursions when the danger level had just been raised, and volcanologists had warned the area was unstable. As WHO went to press, 13 were feared dead, most of them Australians. Kiwi Geoff Hopkins was on a boat that rescued survivors. “There wasn’t anyone who wasn’t horrifically burnt,” he said. “People were in shorts and T-shirts so there was a lot of exposed skin that was massively burnt.” Honeymooners Matthew and Lauren Urey managed to leave a voicemail with Matthew’s mother in the US saying they were “burned very bad”. Matthew is reported to have burns to 80 per cent of his body. Lauren’s mum, Barbara hit out…

HE’S RETURNING TO THE TODAY SHOW NEXT month, and now Karl Stefanovic will also have to find time to decorate a nursery! His wife Jasmine, 35, sent pregnancy rumours into overdrive this week when she appeared on a friend’s Instagram story, cradling an apparent baby bump. She was at an intimate baby shower with a small group of girlfriends in New York. Tellingly, the designer was tagged in several pictures accompanied by the baby emoji, with one friend confirming that she and Stefanovic, 45, are ‘over the moon’ to be expecting. “They’ve told their closest friends,” another source revealed to The Daily Telegraph. “They couldn’t be happier.” It hasn’t been a smooth journey to pregnancy for the couple, with Stefanovic reportedly having to undergo two surgeries to reverse a vasectomy procedure he had in…