WHO 10 February 2020

It was the unexpected news that rocked Hollywood, sporting communities and the world alike, when Kobe Bryant’s death was announced. At 41, the basketball legend, alongside his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven other passengers, died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. The LA Lakers superstar touched so many lives and since his death, huge outpourings of love and admiration have followed, including many musicians paying tribute to him at the Grammys which took place hours after the tragedy (for more, see pg. 8-11). On social media, close friend David Beckham took to Instagram, saying: “It’s taken me hours to work out what to write and still my words won’t ever be enough to describe how I am feeling after the tragic loss of Kobe. This was one special athlete,…

You are responsible for how people remember you – or don’t. So don’t take it lightly,” basketball legend Kobe Bryant once said. “If you do it right, your game will live on in others … and when it comes time for you to leave, leave a legend.” The basketball community – and, indeed, the rest of the world – is mourning the loss of one of sport’s biggest heroes, with Bryant tragically killed at age 41 on Monday in a helicopter crash that also claimed the life of his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna. Bryant and ‘Gigi’ were among the nine people who died when their helicopter went down in thick fog in Calabasas, northwest of LA, shortly before 10am, having taken off from Bryant’s Orange County home. The other victims were pilot Ara Zobayan,…

Second-time host Alicia Keys opened the 62nd Grammy Awards paying tribute to basketball legend Kobe Bryant – who died the morning of the awards show – by addressing the sombre mood in the room before performing an emotional rendition of ‘It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye’ with Boyz II Men. “I know how much he loved music, so we gotta make this a celebration in his honour,” she said after her performance. “He would want us to keep the vibrations high.” To that end, Lizzo kicked off the show with a powerhouse performance of ‘Cuz I Love You’, bringing the entire audience to their feet. Going into the ceremony, Lizzo had earned eight nominations – the most of any artist nominated this year – and walked away with three trophies. Accepting…

News that celebrity personal trainer Michelle Bridges had been charged with drink driving on Australia Day, with her 4-year-old son, Axel, in the back seat, seemed uncharacteristic for the highly disciplined businesswoman and devoted mother. A statement issued on Tuesday, and seen by the Daily Telegraph, revealed the former Biggest Loser star has been going through a “very difficult time” after splitting from her partner of seven years, ‘Commando’ Steve Willis, with whom she shares Axel. “Turmoil impacted my decision making ”– Bridges Bridges, 49, said she was ashamed. “I would like to express my deep regret for breaking the law. This was a terrible mistake and an error of judgement,” she said. “This behaviour is inexcusable, and I’m absolutely devastated and embarrassed to find myself in this position. It has been a…

Confirmation that the deadly coronavirus had spread to Australia was news that the nation had been dreading – but bracing for – with the death toll from the contagious disease rising steeply worldwide since it first emerged from China in early December. “We can try and identify infected travellers using fever and questionnaires at the border,” University of Queensland associate professor Dr Ian Mackay, tells WHO. “But human-adapted respiratory viruses are just too good at spreading.” As WHO went to press, five patients in Australia had been identified as having the illness as Chinese authorities said the death toll from the outbreak had jumped to 81, with over 2700 confirmed cases worldwide including in France, the US, South Korea, Japan, Nepal, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and Hong Kong, as well as Australia. China’s…

MERS: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) was reported in the Middle East in 2012, thought by the World Health Organisation to have originated in camels. SARS: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was first identified in China in 2002 with scientists suspecting is was spread from civet cats. The outbreak spread to 26 countries and killed 774 people. BIRD FLU: Since the first human case in 1997, Bird flu H5N1, also called avian influenza, killed nearly 60 per cent of people who have been infected. EBOLA: The 2014 Western African epidemic was the most widespread outbreak of Ebola virus disease in history. Two and a half years after the first case was discovered, the outbreak ended after more than 28,600 cases and 11,325 deaths. SWINE FLU: According to a new analysis by an international group…