Lisa Wilkinson has responded to rumours of a feud between herself and her Today Show colleague Sylvia Jeffreys.
A piece published in Saturday’s Sydney Morning Heraldreported Lisa and Sylvia “barely speak off camera” making the set of the popular morning show a very uncomfortable place to be.
But Lisa has furiously denied the rift rumours, insisting she and Sylvia are extremely close.
“As you all know, Sylvia and I are great mates and love working together,” Lisa posted on Instagram, next to a selfie of the pair.
“But for some bizarre reason, a journalist at the Sydney Morning Herald decided to report on supposed ‘rumours of a rift’ between us.
“So let me tell you here what I told him – and I quote – ‘complete bullshit!’
“And when I suggested that the source that contacted him with this ‘rumour’ could be someone not happy with @thetodayshow now being the Number One breakfast show in the country, he agreed. But it was printed anyway.
“Sylvia and I couldn’t enjoy working together, be more supportive, or respect each other more. That, in fact, should be the headline! But obviously that sort of good news – or the crazy idea of women supporting women – doesn’t sell newspapers these days.”
Sylvia quickly re-tweeted Lisa’s post with the words: “And that is why I love working with Lisa! Nailed it. See you bright and early.”
When Susanne Kerns was offered the trip of a lifetime, her in-laws kindly offered to come and care for her one-year-old daughter for 10 days.
Although they had successfully raised two children themselves, Susanne decided to write a comprehensive list of “guidelines and explanations” to ensure that they were across all of the need-to-know matters that they and Susan’s daughter would need to survive.
When the letter fell out of a book eight years later, Susanne realised that perhaps she was a little pedantic in her list-making and she imagined what went through her in-laws minds as they read this instruction sheet.
This hilarious series of images is the result.
Extensive bedtime instructions –
“Say goodbye to things out the window and close drapes.”
The guidelines even extend to the direction to dog walking.
“Walk the dog – head north.”
Translation of baby sounds –
“Haaaa” means you have to sing happy birthday and “Uhtoh means Uhtoh.” Wait, what?
“Big Hungry Bear – you have to sniff when the bear sniffs.” Duh, naturally.
Complete dietary breakdown including sizes for cutting. Banana cut into pea size and blueberries cut into…what? 1/4s of 1/2s??
“She loves anything unexpected, put a cup on your head.”
Susanne is first mother to write a list such as this, and she certainly won’t be the last. Not only did the inlaws handle this letter with aplomb everyone survived the 10 day trip. Except the blueberries, which were well and truly mashed.
A new study has shown that despite strong warnings about the dangers of laundry detergent pods to young children, cases of poisonings are on the rise.
There has been an increase of nearly 20 per cent of children putting the bright-coloured packets in their mouths, which has caused serious illnesses and sometimes even death, according to a study published in Pediatrics Monday.
Study coauthor Dr. Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital told USA Today: “During the two years of this study we saw an increase in the number of exposures due to detergent, but especially among exposures to laundry detergent packets. In fact, a child is reported to a poison control center about every 45 minutes in this country.”
Of 62,254 calls made between 2013 and 2014 to US poison control centers reporting unintentional exposures to laundry or dishwasher detergent among children younger than 6, laundry detergent pods proved to be the most hazardous.
This is particularly true with packets containing liquid detergent, rather than granules.
“I’ve seen children in emergency departments for decades that have been exposed to laundry detergents,” Smith said.
“But we have never seen anything like this. These children have come in in a coma, they’ve stopped breathing. We’ve even had two deaths in the last two years due to exposure to laundry detergent packets.”
Attempts have been made to put safety standards for the products, plus adding a bitter tasting packet coating and make the containers harder to open.
“Anyone with common sense can see how dangerous it is to have liquid detergent in colorful, bite-sized packets that children will inevitably swallow,” said Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) in a statement.
It is recommended that parents not use laundry detergent packets if there are young children at home, and instead use traditional laundry detergent.
The American Association of Poison Control Centers says symptoms of ingesting a pod includes excessive vomiting, breathing problems, wheezing or sleepiness.
• Always keep detergent containers closed, completely sealed and out of reach of children.
• Call the Poisons Information Australia Centre on 13 11 26 immediately if your child has come into contact with a detergent or laundry pod.
Five years after his ex took their daughter to India and cut contact, James Gorry still pays child support and waits for the day he'll hold his daughter.
International custody battles have made headlines lately and although the Sally Faulkner case has been explosive and dividing she is not alone. There are millions of parents worldwide wishing they could hold their babies.
Australian father James Gorry has not seen his daughter, Alice, 14, in almost five years reports news.com.au.
His ex-wife took their young daughter to India and James has not been able to see or speak to Alice since her departure in August 2011.
Even though James has been allowed no contact, and has no legal recourse as India is not a signatory to the Hague Convention he is still required by the Child Support Agency to pay $1700 per month to his ex-wife.
“I want to make it very clear I have absolutely no problem paying child support because my daughter is my responsibility,” James told news.com.au.
“I’m not a disgruntled father … I want the money put aside for Alice or until such time as we can provoke contact to be made.”
James has remarried and has two small sons whom he wishes his daughter could meet, however James understands that if he attempted to take Alice back he would jeopardise his life here with his family.
“I’m not after a recovery for my daughter, I’m not trying to do what Sally Faulkner did in Beirut. I just want to speak to her once in a while and ask, ‘are you happy?’ and ‘how are you going?’” James said.
“I just want to have the opportunity to be her father and spend holidays with her and let her share some time with her half brothers.”
James set up a Facebook page for Alice in hope that one day she will see it and know that he was trying to reach his little girl the whole time.
“I think I probably will see Alice again because curiosity is always there among children,” he said.
“That’s one of the reasons I did the Facebook page because I think, wrongly or rightly, it will give her visibility and if I die (before we meet again) she’ll be able to look back and say ‘he did care’ and ‘he did want to find out about me’.”
We hope that Alice sees the page and can one day make contact with her father.
Bindi Irwin has shared a cryptic message on social media about family and loyalty just days after her dad’s brother-in-law Frank Muscillo was given the boot out of Australia Zoo (where he was the long-serving manager) allegedly by her mum Terri Irwin.
There was said to be some growing animosity between Terri and Frank.
Bindi’s cryptic Instagram post read ‘Blood makes you related, loyalty makes you family’, with the caption ‘#ThoughtToday’.
Bindi’s Instagram post
It’s got her followers wondering the context of the post.
It could also be about Bindi’s estranged grandfather Bob Irwin who has been supporting Wildlife HQ – a rival of Australia Zoo – in public appearances lately.
Bindi last year admitted she hadn’t spoken to her grandfather Bob in years.
Telling Daily Mail, she said: “Everyone deals with grief differently.When my dad passed away he chose to distance himself from everything that dad loved the most.”
“At the moment we’re really just respecting his wishes because he hasn’t had anything to do with us for a long time and he decided his own path. That’s important so good for him.”
Barack Obama and his wife Michelle announced over the weekend that their daughter, Malia will commence her studies at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2017.
“The President and Mrs. Obama announced today that their daughter Malia will attend Harvard University in the fall of 2017 as a member of the Class of 2021. Malia will take a gap year before beginning school,” the White House said in a statement.
“She’s one of my best friends!” the proud papa quipped on The Ellen Show.
The 17-year-old is currently a senior student at the prestigious Sidwell Friends School in Washington, which is the same high school where the children and grandchildren of former US Heads of State, Bill Clinton and Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt attended.
Harvard accepted only 5.2 percent of applicants this year, making the admissions cycle the most selective year yet in its almost four-century history.
Malia, who will turn 18 on the fourth of July, visited at least a dozen colleges before she finally settled on Harvard, including the Ivy-league Princeton and Columbia, where both of her parents earned undergraduate degrees.
Barack and Michelle pictured with their two beautiful daughters, Malia, 17, and Sasha, 14.
While her parents are obviously thrilled that their daughter has chosen to attend the elite school, President Obama admitted to Ellen DeGeneres in a recent interview that he declined an invitation to speak at her graduation ceremony, as he will probably be spending the formality in tears.
“I’m going to be wearing dark glasses, sobbing,” he told the talk show host earlier this year. “I’m going to cry.”
“I’m not ready for her to leave,” he added. “She’s one of my best friends. It’s going to be hard for me not to have her around all the time, but she’s ready to go. She’s just a really smart, capable person and she’s ready to make her own way.”
See the touching moment in the video player below! Post continues…
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The first lady has opened up about her daughter’s aspirations in the past, revealing that Malia has expressed her desire to become a filmmaker.
The 17-year-old stunner last year interned on the set of the HBO series, Girls in New York, and previously spent time as a production assistant with CBS.
When you become a mother something happens to your heart. You take a piece of your living beating heart and you give it to another person and you know that a piece of you will forever be theirs- come what may.
When Perth mother, Isabella Darch, was told that her baby boy had cancer and only had weeks to live, her heart broke for the first time reports DailyMail.
Her son, Bede, was diagnosed with aggressive terminal brain cancer at four months old and three years on after watching him struggle and suffer every day Isabella’s heart is still breaking for her child.
Months of chemotherapy in hope of buying him time, have done so, but they have not increased his quality of life with constant infections ravaging the little boy. He requires 24-hour care, and feeds through a tube but often requires sedation as he cannot tolerate food.
Bede cannot see or talk and the toll on the family is heavy as they love their little battler as best as they can.
The brave mum penned a beautifully moving post on her blog, The Bede Update, admitting that she just wants her toddler to die so he can be finished with the pain and suffering he has endured in his short life.
“My heart is raw. Because the truth is I want my son to die”’ the mother of three wrote.
“I’m tired. He is tired. I want peace for him, rest. But I instantly hate myself because I know then that is all there will be.
“He will have no more growth, no more moments tenderly reaching out to his brother, laying next to his sister. He won’t squawk away at his dad anymore, he won’t let me kiss him in the way only I can.
“He will just be gone. That is not enough for my special light filled boy. Life is hard but death seems worse.”
The toll on the family has not just been emotional with the expenses for care being stratospheric. Their friends and family have set up a fundraising page on GoFundMe in hope of alleviating a little of the financial stress that is adding pressure to the already stretched family.
“His parents Issy and Roy have been by his side helping him make the most of his life, every step of the way. Trying to make sure every day has good times to counter the bad”, the page reads.
“They have put their whole worlds on hold, Roy lost his job due to Bede’s high care requirement. They have been dedicated to providing him with as many happy, peaceful, loving moments as possible to try and add some balance to his life.”
“Issy and Roy have now used all their resources and support to get through the last three years, holding their family together and providing Bede with as happy a life as possible.
“We are fundraising to support Bede in having the best quality of life for whatever time he has left.”
Bede’s latest scans revealed that his cancer has progressed once again, and the family have been told he does not have much longer to live, but they know their child has a lion heart and he may continue to fight against the odds.
It’s been five years since the horrific bushfire that nearly claimed her life, but Turia Pitt has continued her incredibly inspiring story by completing an ironman triathlon over the weekend.
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The 28-year-old suffered burns to 65 per cent of her body in the fire in 2011 during an ultra-marathon in Western Australia and was told she’d never walk again but she’s never given up her dream to cross that finish line once again.
That moment finally came yesterday in Port Macquarie, New South Wales when the courageous Aussie crossed the finish line after a gruelling 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42.2km run.
“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” she explained to The Daily Telegraph.
Turia was expected to finish the race in 14 and a half hours but she smashed that time out of the park, instead doing it in 13 hours, 24 minutes and 41 seconds.
The Duchess of Cambridge made her magazine debut this weekend, appearing on the cover of British Vogue to mark its centenary year.
Kate looked effortlessly elegant and stylish in a wide-brimmed hat and suede jacket, modelling other casual looks inside.
But while many people praised the stunning shots, several media outlets were quick to label the images “boring”.
“While Kate looks beautiful, and happy, there is nothing ‘fashion’ or even aspirational about the shot: she is wearing a far-too-wintry suede Burberry trench we’ve seen everywhere, a white shirt, also by Burberry, that will never cause retail sites to crash, and a hat, of the sort Camilla might wear to muck out,” Liz Jones wrote on The Daily Mail.
“It is all a far cry from Diana’s seminal Vogue images shot by Patrick Demarchelier in 1991. They transformed her from a Sloane with too much puppy fat and a fondness for heavy jewellery (as in her first posed Vogue cover in 1981) into a goddess: elfin, crop-haired, mischievous, confident.
This is what a Vogue cover should look like.
“The opposite has happened here: Kate is transformed from statuesque beauty into a parody of Meryl Streep in Out Of Africa.”
The Sun also evoked Diana, claiming the late princess’ Vogue was “so much better” than Kate’s.
Even more hurtful is the suggestion that Kate has sacrificed her children’s hard-won privacy by posing for the glossy images.
“Like Diana, who wanted to be a mother, a Princess, a charity worker, an everywoman, a pin-up, Kate has sold her soul to the devil that is vanity and elitism, and those fashionistas who judge others only by their BMI,” Liz Jones wrote.
“Kate, who up to now has protected her privacy and that of her children ferociously, has opened the floodgates to the sort of forensic scrutiny her late mother-in-law endured. There is no going back. Pandora’s dressing-up box has burst open.”
The 28-year-old’s sheer determination and talent prevailed on Sunday as she competed in the ironman triathlon in Port Macquarie, New South Wales.
Since suffering burns to 65 per cent of her body in 2011, which she sustained from a bushfire during the West Australian ultra-marathon, Turia has been resolute on one day participating in an ironman triathlon.
Watch the incredible moment Turia crosses the finish line in the player below!
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And this weekend, that moment finally arrived for the inspirational Aussie, who put herself through the ultimate test with a 3.8 kilometre swim, 180 kilometre cycle and a 42.2 kilometre run.
With her fiancé Michael Hoskin cheering her on every step of the way, Turia even managed to finish the gruelling course ahead of her predicated time of 14 hours.
“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” she explained to The Daily Telegraph of the challenge, which saw her rake in a time of 13 hours, 24 minutes and 41 seconds.
Photographer Delly Carr shared this powerful image of Turia crossing the finish line, it has since been shared nearly two thousand times. (Image/ Delly Carr Sports Photographer Facebook)
“I don’t have to do anything else anymore,” Turia reflected.
Meanwhile, Michael couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.
“She couldn’t walk five years ago – look at her now,” he beamed to The Daily Telegraph.
“It has brought a tear to my eye and I don’t normally cry. It has been an amazing journey. It’s the indomitable spirit of the human being.”
After being told she would never run again, this marks a huge milestone in the motivational speaker’s recovery.
“I’ll never forget that moment – it was like something switched inside my brain and I thought ‘I’ll show you, I’m going to do an IRONMAN one day’. Now, in just a few months I’ll be competing in the Port Mac IRONMAN comp,” Turia penned a few months ago on Facebook.
And true to her word, she’s done exactly that.
Taking to Instagram shortly after the incredible moment, Turia shared a powerful photo of her crossing the finish line.
“I am an #IRONMAN! Swim: 3.8km Bike: 180km Run: 42km,” she captioned it.
Turia has captivated the nation with her resilience and her refreshing outlook on life. Here, Michael gives his wife-to-be a congratulatory hug. (Image/Samantha Townsend Twitter)
Despite her brush with death in 2011, which saw her suffer burns to 65 per cent of her body, lose several fingers and spend five months in hospital after she was trapped in a grassfire during a 100 kilometre ultra-marathon in the Kimberleys, Turia has one of the most optimistic attitudes you’ll ever come across.
“I know it’s hard to say I’m lucky, but I am lucky cause the situation could have been a lot worse,” she told 60 Minutes in 2012 when reflecting on her life-changing accident.
Congratulations Turia on this massive achievement!
Fans and well-wishers cheered the 28-year-old on from the sidelines (Image/Spartachicks Instagram)
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