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Actress hospitalised after motorcycle accident

<p>Actress Nina Dobrev has been hospitalised after a dangerous motorbike accident, telling her fans she has a "long recovery ahead". </p> <p>The 35-year-old star of the <em>Vampire Diaries</em> shared photos from her hospital bed, which show her hooked up to various machines while in a hospital gown, and being supported by a neck brace, as well as a brace around her knee. </p> <p>Dobrev posted the hospital photo alongside a photo of her on her motorcycle before the accident to her 26 million followers, captioned, "How it started vs. how it's going."</p> <p>The actress then posted an explanation on her Instagram story, telling her followers "I'm ok, but it's going to be a long road of recovery ahead."</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/C7MuGm4Rue2/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C7MuGm4Rue2/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Nina Dobrev (@nina)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Shaun White, Dobrev's boyfriend, joked on her post "Just keeping things on brand."</p> <p>Just days before the accident, the couple shared that they had been travelling to tick things off their bucket lists.</p> <p>"It's been really fun having time together. Normally I'm off competing and she's shooting a project or something … but now we've got some time together," White, who is an Olympian, told publication <em><a title="Us Weekly" href="https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/shaun-white-has-a-post-retirement-bucket-list-with-nina-dobrev/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">US Weekly</a></em>.</p> <p>"We went to Antarctica, Dubai, visited her mum in France, went to Monaco, went to Indonesia. We've kind of been all over."</p> <p><em>Image credits: Instagram </em></p>

Caring

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Climate scientist warns a deadly bushfire season is "likely"

<p>An early climate model has suggested a hot and dry El Niño could form once La Niña - the event responsible for three years of flooding rains - comes to a slow close.</p> <p>Should this be on the horizon, a summer of drought, heatwaves and bushfires are all but certain according to a climate expert.</p> <p>The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) released its latest climate driver update on Thursday, stating ocean temperatures "remain warmer than average in the western Pacific".</p> <p>Models indicate sea-surface temperatures may exceed El Niño thresholds in the equatorial Pacific by June.</p> <p>Dr Wenju Cai, a climate scientist with the CSIRO, said an El Niño is "likely" to form.</p> <p>"We have been through three years of La Niña, during each of which heat is stored in the equatorial Pacific," he told 9News.com.au.</p> <p>"With so much heat charged in the equatorial Pacific, an El Niño is readily triggered by relaxation of the trade winds over the region."</p> <p>"(The) majority of prediction models are predicting an El Niño by the summer.”</p> <p>After extreme wet weather conditions and soaking rains, Cai holds fears for the next bushfire season - warning it could recall the grim scenes of Black Summer of 2019 and early 2020.</p> <p>The World Health Organisation (WHO) says heatwaves are among the most dangerous of natural hazards.</p> <p>Cai said Australia should know for certain what the summer will hold by June.</p> <p>"Between March and May, predictability is low as this is a period in which there is high noise, the so-called autumn predictability barrier," he said.</p> <p>One thing is for certain though, La Niña is drawing to a close.</p> <p><em>Image: Getty</em></p>

Travel Trouble

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The wild weather of La Niña could wipe out vast stretches of Australia’s beaches and sand dunes

<p>Australians along the east cost are bracing for yet another round of heavy rainfall this weekend, after a band of stormy weather soaked <a href="https://theconversation.com/on-our-wettest-days-stormclouds-can-dump-30-trillion-litres-of-water-across-australia-191949">most of the continent</a> this week.</p> <p>The Bureau of Meteorology has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUsNQ_-fNbM&amp;ab_channel=BureauofMeteorology">alerted</a> southern inland Queensland, eastern New South Wales, Victoria and northern Tasmania to ongoing flood risks, as the rain falls on already flooded or saturated catchments.</p> <p>This widespread wet weather heralds <a href="https://theconversation.com/la-nina-3-years-in-a-row-a-climate-scientist-on-what-flood-weary-australians-can-expect-this-summer-190542">Australia’s rare third</a> back-to-back La Niña, which goes hand-in-hand with heavy rain. There is, however, another pressing issue arising from La Niña events: coastal erosion.</p> <p>The wild weather associated with La Niña will drive more erosion along Australia’s east coast – enough to wipe out entire stretches of beaches and dunes, if all factors align. So, it’s important we heed lessons from past storms and plan ahead, as climate change <a href="https://theconversation.com/2022s-supercharged-summer-of-climate-extremes-how-global-warming-and-la-nina-fueled-disasters-on-top-of-disasters-190546">will only exacerbate</a> future coastal disasters.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QUsNQ_-fNbM?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption><span class="caption">Ongoing flood risk for eastern Australia | Bureau of Meteorology.</span></figcaption></figure> <h2>How La Niña batters coastlines</h2> <p>La Niña is associated with warmer waters in the western Pacific Ocean, which increase storminess off Australia’s east coast. Chances of a higher number of tropical cyclones increase, as do the chances of cyclones travelling further south and further inland, and of more frequent passages of east coast lows.</p> <p>Australians had a taste of this in 1967, when the Gold Coast was hit by the largest storm cluster on record, made up of four cyclones and three east coast lows within six months. 1967 wasn’t even an official La Niña year, with the index just below the La Niña threshold.</p> <p>Such frequency didn’t allow beaches to recover between storms, and the overall erosion was unprecedented. It <a href="https://impact.griffith.edu.au/seawall-engineering/">forced many</a> local residents to use anything on hand, even cars, to protect their properties and other infrastructure.</p> <p>Official La Niña events occurred soon after. This included a double-dip La Niña between 1970 and 1972, followed by a triple-dip La Niña between 1973 and 1976.</p> <p>These events fuelled two cyclones in 1972, two in 1974 and one in 1976, wreaking havoc along the entire east coast of Australia. Indeed, 1967 and 1974 are considered <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/northern-beaches/one-of-the-storms-that-hit-us-in-1974-was-among-the-three-worst-since-white-settlement/news-story/0cd5ca874d6b37206762d8485e4eb442">record years</a> for storm-induced coastal erosion.</p> <p>Studies show the extreme erosion of 1974 was caused by a combination of large waves coinciding with <a href="https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1066&amp;context=scipapers">above-average high tides</a>. It took over ten years for the sand to come back to the beach and for <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4300263">dunes to recover</a>. However, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00437-2">recent studies</a> also show single extreme storms can bring back considerable amounts of sand from deeper waters.</p> <p>La Niña also modifies the direction of waves along the east coast, resulting in waves approaching from a more easterly direction (<a href="https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/forecaster-blog-la-nina-conditions-mean-surf/97904">anticlockwise</a>).</p> <p>This subtle change has huge implications when it comes to erosion of otherwise more sheltered <a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/how-la-nina-may-damage-queensland-tourist-hot-spots-041805874.html">north-facing beaches</a>. We saw this during the recent, and relatively weaker, double La Niña of 2016-18.</p> <p>In 2016, an east coast low of only moderate intensity produced extreme erosion, similar to that of 1974. Scenes of destruction along NSW – including a collapsed backyard pool on <a href="https://www.wrl.unsw.edu.au/news/wrl-coastal-engineers-document-the-worst-erosion-at-collaroy-since-1974">Collaroy Beach</a> – are now <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-06/nsw-weather-large-waves-hit-collaroy-coast/7479846#:%7E:text=NSW%20weather%3A%20Collaroy%20swimming%20pool%20collapses%20as%20giant%20waves%20hit%20beachfront%20houses,-Posted%20Sun%205&amp;text=Waves%20up%20to%208%20metres,as%20wild%20weather%20battered%20NSW.">iconic</a>.</p> <p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-05792-1">This is largely</a> because wave direction deviated from the average by 45 degrees anticlockwise, during winter solstice spring tides when water levels are higher.</p> <h2>All ducks aligned?</h2> <p>The current triple-dip La Niña started in 2020. Based on Australia’s limited record since 1900, we know the final events in such sequences tend to be the weakest.</p> <p>However, when it comes to coastal hazards, history tells us smaller but more frequent storms can cause as much or more erosion than one large event. This is mostly about the combination of storm direction, sequencing and high water levels.</p> <p>For example, Bribie Island in Queensland was hit by relatively large easterly waves from ex-Tropical Cyclone Seth earlier this year, coinciding with above-average high tides. This caused the island to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-27/bribie-island-changes-could-create-new-caloundra-bar/100777038#:%7E:text=Ex%2DTropical%20Cyclone%20Seth%20has,splitting%20the%20island%20in%20two.">split in two</a> and form a 300-metre wide passage of seawater.</p> <p>Further, the prolonged period of easterly waves since 2020 has already taken a toll on beaches and dunes in Australia.</p> <p>Traditionally, spring is the season when sand is transported onshore under fair-weather waves, building back wide beaches and tall dunes nearest to the sea. However, beaches haven’t had time to fully recover from the previous two years, which makes them more vulnerable to future erosion.</p> <p>Repeated <a href="https://www.usc.edu.au/about/structure/schools/school-of-science-technology-and-engineering/coast4d">elevation measurements</a> by our team and citizen scientists along beaches in the Sunshine Coast and Noosa show shorelines have eroded more than 10m landwards since the beginning of this year. As the photo below shows, 2-3m high erosion scarps (which look like small cliffs) have formed along dunes due to frequent heavy rainfalls and waves.</p> <p>On the other hand, we can also see that the wet weather has led to greater growth of vegetation on dunes, such as native spinifex and dune bean.</p> <p>Experiments in laboratory settings show dune vegetation can dissipate up to 40-50% of the water level reached as a result of waves, and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272771418307583">reduce erosion</a>. But whether this increase in dune vegetation mitigates further erosion remains to be seen.</p> <h2>A challenging future</h2> <p>The chances of witnessing coastal hazards similar to those in 1967 or 1974 in the coming season are real and, in the unfortunate case they materialise, we should be ready to act. Councils and communities need to prepare ahead and work together towards recovery if disaster strikes using, for example, sand nourishment and sandbags.</p> <p>Looking ahead, it remains essential to further our understanding about coastal dynamics – especially in a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-03/gold-coast-no-stranger-to-beach-erosion/101381812#:%7E:text=a%20huge%20challenge-,Millions%20spent%20to%20protect%20Gold%20Coast%20beaches%2C%20but,change%20poses%20a%20huge%20challenge&amp;text=In%201967%2C%20Gold%20Coast%20beaches,and%20ruined%20the%20tourist%20season.">changing climate</a> – so we can better manage densely populated coastal regions.</p> <p>After all, much of what we know about the dynamics of Australia’s east coast has been supported by coastal monitoring programs, which were implemented <a href="https://www.publications.qld.gov.au/dataset/coastal-observation-program-engineering">along Queensland</a> and NSW after the 1967 and 1974 storms.</p> <p>Scientists predict that La Niña conditions along the east coast of Australia – such as warmer waters, higher sea levels, stronger waves and more waves coming from the east – will become <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-fuelled-wave-patterns-pose-an-erosion-risk-for-developing-countries-184064">the norm under climate change</a>.</p> <p>It’s crucial we start having a serious conversation about coastal adaptation strategies, including implementing a <a href="https://www.usc.edu.au/about/unisc-news/news-archive/2022/january/coastal-erosion-may-force-retreat-from-the-sea#:%7E:text=Giving%20up%20land%20to%20the,of%20the%20Sunshine%20Coast%20researcher.">managed retreat</a>. The longer we take, the higher the costs will be.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191941/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/javier-leon-262182">Javier Leon</a>, Senior lecturer, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-the-sunshine-coast-1068">University of the Sunshine Coast</a></em></p> <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-wild-weather-of-la-nina-could-wipe-out-vast-stretches-of-australias-beaches-and-sand-dunes-191941">original article</a>.</p>

Domestic Travel

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Big change to weather in 2018

<p>Despite a heatwave currently sweeping across parts of Australia, the rain-bringing La Nina event will see 2018 experience much cooler temperatures in most areas.</p> <p>This week, the low-intensity heatwave is expected to engulf Brisbane, northeast and central Queensland, parts of NSW, Tasmania and inland parts of Western Australia.</p> <p>In Western Australia, from Thursday to Sunday temperatures will soar in the Pilbara district.</p> <p>In NSW, the heatwave will last from Thursday to Sunday in large parts of the state.</p> <p>Once the heatwave subsides, the next three months will be followed by wetter and cooler than average temperatures due to a La Nina event.</p> <p>The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has signalled the La Nina alert, saying there is three times the normal chance of the event which generally brings above average rainfall.</p> <p>BOM senior hydrologist Dr Paul Feikema said, “While La Nina looks likely during summer, it’s expected to be short-lived and have less effect on rainfall and temperatures than recent La Nina events.”</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img width="500" height="345" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7266282/2_500x345.jpg" alt="2 (43)"/></p> <p><span style="text-align: center;">The 2010 to 2012 La Nina brought significant rain to large parts of Australia.</span></p> <p>Due to the event, temperatures will be cooler in the last two months of summer compared with the hot start at the end of 2017.</p> <p>The parts of Australia that are expected to be unaffected by the La Nina are far south-western and southeastern Australia, including Tasmania.</p>

Domestic Travel

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Inside “Offspring” star Asher Keddie's $2.4 million home

<p><span>We know her as the somewhat scatty obstetrician Nina Proudman on the Australian hit drama </span><em><span>Offspring</span></em><span>.</span></p> <p><span>But Asher Keddie's real life is rather different, of course. Keddie, her artist husband Vincent Fantauzzo and children Luca, 6, and Valentino, 2, have been living at two addresses – a city pad in Melbourne and this sprawling 43ha ranch property in Hesket, near Mount Macedon, Victoria.</span></p> <p><span>Now they have decided to put Ravenswood, as it is named, on the market.</span></p> <p><span>In an interview with Fairfax Media in 2014, Fantauzzo, an Archibald Prize-winning artist, spoke fondly of time spent at the farm riding horses and being with nature. </span></p> <p><span>"I love it because it snows in winter and it's beautiful in summer," he said. "I can go for a meal at the pub and when I'm driving home I drive really slowly because there are kangaroos and wombats crossing the road."</span></p> <p><span>After the birth of Valentino in 2015, the couple bought their city pad, splitting their time between the two properties.  </span></p> <p><span>Keddie, a Gold Logie winner, has often spoken about her love of horses, and she has been able to indulge her passion at Ravenswood – there are even two large stables on the ground floor of the house, directly beneath the main living room, plus tackle and storerooms.</span></p> <p><span>And the three-bedroom house itself is styled like a barn, in a "fresh, Scandinavian style" with a lofty cathedral ceiling enhancing a sense of space and airiness. While the stable complex takes up the entire ground floor, the upper level is given over to family living and maximising the spectacular country views.</span></p> <p><span>The property also features a beautiful lake, the original barn, mature English trees, two dams, a spring-fed mountain creek, bore, huge water tanks, horse fencing and a fully (high) fenced vegetable garden with fruit trees and hen house, built to keep out the pesky wildlife.</span></p> <p><span>Listing agent Sandi Barry-Mueller of <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.domain.com.au/849-romsey-road-hesket-vic-3442-2014034580" target="_blank">Keatings Real Estate</a></strong></span> says it's easy to fall in love with the area because it's "one of our most popular locations in the Macedon Ranges, only minutes from iconic Hanging Rock and from the ever-popular and thriving Woodend village". </span></p> <p><span>She describes the property as a great lifestyle weekender that is also suitable as a permanent home. </span></p> <p><span>The property is listed for A$2,150,000 <span>(NZ$2.38m).</span><br /></span></p> <p><span>Scroll through the gallery above to get a look inside the property.</span></p> <p><em><span>Republished with permission of <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Stuff.co.nz</strong></span></a>. </span></em></p>

Home & Garden

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"Rare" weather alert threatening Australia

<p>Southern Australia may be in the midst of a heatwave right now, but experts are warning the warm, sunny conditions won’t last much longer.</p> <p>The Bureau of Meteorology has upped its prediction of a “rare” form of La Niña (which usually occurs in Autumn or winter) to “alert”, revealing there’s now about a 70 per cent chance (triple the normal chance) of La Niña this year.</p> <p>What does that mean for you? Well, we could be in for a cooler summer than usual, and we’re likely to start feeling the effects as soon as next month. However, BOM believe this year’s weather event will probably be weaker and shorter than the La Niña that brought devastating floods to Australia between 2010 and 2012.</p> <p>Despite this, it seems unlikely that the country would experience the same heavy rainfall. “The climate outlook for this summer is, if anything, leaning slightly towards the dry side despite the likelihood of a weak La Nina,” BOM senior climatologist Dr Blair Trewin told the ABC.</p> <p>Sea temperature levels are likely to feel the impact, however, with surface temperatures dipping to -0.8C below the average 1961 to 1991 levels – the Australian threshold for a La Niña.</p> <p>“Oceanic indicators of ENSO [El Niño Southern Oscillation] show a clear progression towards La Niña,” the Bureau explained in a statement <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/?utm_source=tw&amp;utm_medium=009&amp;utm_campaign=38" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">on their website</span></strong></a>. “Tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures (SSTs) have cooled since late winter, and waters beneath the surface remain cooler than average in the eastern Pacific. However, they are currently just shy of La Niña thresholds.”</p>

Domestic Travel

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How George and Amal Clooney first met

<p>George and Amal’s love story is something of a modern fairytale – two people, from seemingly opposite walks of life, falling head-over-heels in love. So just how did a Hollywood heartthrob find himself in the same room as one of the world’s most distinguished international human rights lawyers? Well, according to George’s father Nick, it’s quite the story.</p> <p>He revealed to <a href="http://people.com/movies/the-romantic-untold-story-of-the-day-george-and-amal-clooney-first-met/" target="_blank"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">People</span></em></strong></a> that the couple first met back in 2013 at a dinner party also attended by George’s parents, and the whole family – especially George – was instantly smitten with the barrister.</p> <p>“[George’s mother] Nina and I were actually the ones who answered the door when Amal came in,” Nick recalled. “She introduced herself to us and we talked. She was obviously very charming, gorgeous and so clearly accomplished, but by the time we had supper that night, it was clear there was a kindness to her and an inclusiveness.”</p> <p>Nick could see instantly that his notorious bachelor of a son was already falling hard for Amal. “By the end of supper, I started looking over at Nina and saying, ‘Look ouuuut, this could be trouble for this young man!” he said. “I really think by the time that first [meeting] was over, his and her fates were sealed, both of them. She was so remarkable and he was so remarkable around her.”</p> <p>Less than a year later, they were engaged, and on September 27, 2014, the pair tied the knot in a romantic ceremony at Ca’ Farsetti palace on the banks of Venice’s Grand Canal. Just last week, the lovebirds welcomed twins Ella and Alexander into the world, whom <a href="/lifestyle/family-pets/2017/06/george-clooneys-father-gushes-over-grandchildren/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Nick describes</span></strong></a> as “gorgeous”.</p>

Relationships

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George Clooney’s father gushes over new grandchildren

<p>Yesterday, George and Amal Clooney <a href="/news/news/2017/06/george-and-amal-clooney-welcome-their-twins/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">welcomed two gorgeous new bubs</span></strong></a> into the world, twins Ella and Alexander, and the newborns’ grandparents couldn’t be more thrilled. Nick Clooney and Nina Warren first laid eyes on the two-hour-old babies over Skype, since the star couple had arranged the birth to take place in London. Nevertheless, they’re clearly proud as punch.</p> <p>“They’re gorgeous,” Nick told <a href="http://www.fox19.com/story/35605437/george-clooneys-father-says-amal-and-sons-twins-alexander-and-ella-look-like-dad" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">FOX19</span></strong></a>. He revealed that while both babies have dark hair, one in particular appears to have taken after their heartthrob dad.</p> <p>“Nina swears they have George’s nose,” Nick said. “Not both of them – one of them. The little boy looked like he had [George’s] nose, his little profile.”</p> <p>And as for the names? The new grandparents “love” them. “Both sound terrific.”</p> <p>Nick confirmed that the new parents-of-two are doing “wonderfully well,” albeit exhausted, naturally. “George, well, his eyes were glazed so I’m not sure that he was sober,” he joked.</p> <p>Amal’s parents have also spoken out about their excitement for the new arrivals. Baria Alamuddin, who was present with her daughter for the birth, said the family is “over the moon”. “It was a beautiful delivery,” she told AFP. “The babies are beautiful and are doing well.”</p> <p>Ramzi Alamuddin, Amal’s father, also issued a statement from his home in Beirut. “They are in great heath,” he said. “All is perfect.”</p> <p>We don’t know about you, but we can’t wait to see the first snaps of the beautiful, newly-expanded family together!</p> <p><em>Image source: WireImage.</em></p>

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George Clooney’s mother “extremely happy” after baby news

<p>Nina Clooney told <em>Us Weekly</em> on Friday her 55-year-old son and the human-rights lawyer will be "great" parents, after it was announced the couple are expanding their brood. </p> <p>"We are extremely happy for George and Amal, and I cannot imagine two people who would be better parents," Nina said. "We (Nina and husband Nick Clooney) were with them and they told us together. We were all together, and it was lovely. It was just a personal moment."</p> <p>The Clooneys have yet to confirm the baby news, which comes one week after the couple celebrated Amal's 39th birthday in Spain, along with Clooney's parents.</p> <p>Nina, who is also mother to the <em>Ocean's Eleven</em> star's sister Adelia, has every faith her son and Amal will tackle their new parenting challenge head-on.</p> <p>"I think he'll be great, and I think she'll be a great mum," she told<em> Us Weekly</em>. </p> <p>The 39-year-old's pregnancy news was announced by Julie Chen on US chat show <em>The Talk </em>on Thursday, who also revealed the babies are due to arrive in June. "Beyoncé is not the only superstar expecting twins. Congratulations are in order for George and Amal Clooney!" Chen said.</p> <p>The news was then confirmed on Friday by Clooney's long-time friend Matt Damon, who said he had been keeping the couple's baby news secret for months. </p> <p>Clooney told Damon his big news on the set of their latest movie collaboration <em>Suburbicon </em>last year. "I was working with him last fall and he pulled me aside on set and I mean, I almost started crying," the actor told TV show <em>ET Canada</em>.</p> <p>"I was so happy for him. I was like, 'How far along is she?' And he goes, 'Eight weeks'."</p> <p>Damon then reprimanded his pal for telling him the news before the end of his wife's first trimester, when babies are considered safe from harm.</p> <p>"(I said), 'Are you out of your mind? Don't tell anybody else! Don't tell anybody else! Don't you know the 12-week rule?'" Damon recalls.</p> <p>"I'm thrilled for him," he added. "She's amazing. He hit the jackpot. Just on every level. She is a remarkable woman. They're gonna be great. They're gonna be awesome parents. Those kids are lucky."</p> <p>George and Amal wed in Italy in September, 2014.</p> <p><em>First appeared on <a href="http://Stuff.co.nz" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz</span></strong></a>.</em></p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><a href="/news/news/2017/02/amal-clooney-wife-of-george-clooney-pregnant-with-twins/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Amal Clooney, wife of George Clooney, pregnant with twins</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="/news/news/2017/02/star-confirms-pregnancy-with-twins/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>This star has just confirmed she’s pregnant with twins</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="/news/news/2017/01/mel-gibson-welcomes-ninth-child/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Mel Gibson welcomes ninth child with 26-year-old girlfriend</strong></em></span></a></p>

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