Latest news with #NPR
Indian Express
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Michelle Obama reacts to divorce rumours: ‘We're 60, y'all!'
In an attempt to shut down persistent divorce rumours, former US First Lady Michelle Obama has revealed the real reason she and her husband, former President Barack Obama, are rarely seen together in public anymore. Speaking on NPR's Wild Card podcast with Rachel Martin on Thursday, the 61-year-old said that speculation around her marriage stems from people not seeing the couple photographed together. But she explained this is simply a reflection of their age and lifestyle, not trouble in their relationship. 'The fact that people don't see me going out on a date with my husband sparks rumours of the end of our marriage. It's like, 'OK, so we don't Instagram every minute of our lives. We are 60. We're 60, y'all,'' Michelle said, according to The Independent. 'You just are not gonna know what we're doing every minute of the day,' she added. Rumours of a rift between the Obamas first gained traction earlier this year when Michelle did not attend former President Jimmy Carter's funeral or Donald Trump's second inauguration in January. At the time, she defended her decision, saying it was part of redefining her own priorities. 'One of the major decisions I made this year was to stay put and not attend funerals and inaugurations and all the things that I'm supposed to attend,' she said. 'That was a part of me using my ambition to say, 'Let me define what I want to do, apart from what I'm supposed to do, what the world expects of me.'' 'Whatever the backlash was, I had to sit in it and own it. But I didn't regret it, you know? It's my life now, and I can say that, now.' Michelle Obama has spoken earlier about stepping back from public life to focus on her own well-being. On the Work In Progress podcast with actress Sophia Bush, she spoke about how her priorities have shifted since leaving the White House. With her daughters now adults, she said, she finally feels free to make decisions for herself. 'I could have made a lot of these decisions years ago, but I didn't give myself that freedom,' she admitted. 'Maybe even as much as I let my kids live their own lives, I use their lives as an excuse for why I couldn't do something.'
Fox News
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Michelle Obama mocks rumors that her marriage is in trouble
Former First Lady Michelle Obama scoffed at gossip that she and former President Barack Obama were on the verge of divorce in a new interview published Thursday. "The fact that people don't see me going out on a date with my husband sparks rumors of the end of our marriage," Obama told NPR's "Wild Card" podcast host Rachel Martin. "It's like, OK, so we don't Instagram every minute of our lives. We are 60," she joked. "You just are not going to know what we're doing every minute of the day." "Yes, I guess we're famous, but we're 60. We don't take selfies," she added. Obama opened up about the public scrutiny that still follows her family years after leaving the White House. Earlier this year, the former first lady's decision to skip former President Jimmy Carter's funeral and President Donald Trump's inauguration – both of which her husband attended – fueled speculation her marriage was in trouble. Obama explained that she hade made a personal choice this year to only attend events she wants to go to rather than go along with expectations. "One of the major decisions I made this year was to stay put and not attend funerals and inaugurations and all the things that I'm supposed to attend," she told NPR. "That was a part of me using my ambition to say, 'Let me define what I want to do, apart from what I'm supposed to do, what the world expects of me.' And I have to own that. Those are my choices. Whatever the backlash was, I had to sit in it and own it. But I didn't regret it, you know? It's my life now, and I can say that, now." Obama, who co-hosts a podcast with her brother, Craig Robinson, said she would still use her platform, but she was over politics and wouldn't be "campaigning for another candidate" in the future. "If it's not fun for me, selfishly, then let's not do that," she explained of the life philosophy she's embraced as of late. The former first lady dismissed divorce rumors during other interviews this year. "If I were having problems with my husband, everybody would know about it. My brother would know it. I'd be problem-solving in public. I'm not a martyr," she said on "The Diary of a CEO" podcast in May. She also slammed the divorce speculation during an interview in April. "[T]hat's the thing that we as women, I think we struggle with, like disappointing people. I mean so much so that this year people were, they couldn't even fathom that I was making a choice for myself, that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing, you know?" she told actress Sophia Bush. "This couldn't be a grown woman just making a set of decisions herself, right? But that's what society does to us."
NDTV
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Michelle Obama Addresses Divorce Rumours, Reveals Why She's Rarely Seen With Husband Barack
In an attempt to shut down divorce rumours, former US First Lady Michelle Obama has revealed why she and her husband, Barack Obama, don't make public appearances together anymore. On Thursday, the 61-year-old appeared on NPR's Wild Card podcast with Rachel Martin, where she said that she is not photographed alongside her husband, former US President Barack Obama, because of their age. During the podcast appearance, she joked that the couple doesn't document their relationship on social media because they are "too old" for Instagram. "The fact that people don't see me going out on a date with my husband sparks rumours of the end of our marriage. It's like, 'OK, so we don't Instagram every minute of our lives. We are 60. We're 60, y'all," Michelle Obama said, according to The Independent. "You just are not gonna know what we're doing every minute of the day," she added. The couple first sparked divorce rumours when the former first lady did not attend Jimmy Carter's funeral and President Donald Trump's inauguration back in January. Back then, she defended her decision to skip the events, saying, "One of the major decisions I made this year was to stay put and not attend funerals and inaugurations and all the things that I'm supposed to attend." "That was a part of me using my ambition to say, 'Let me define what I want to do, apart from what I'm supposed to do, what the world expects of me.' And I have to own that. Those are my choices," she said, per The Independent. "Whatever the backlash was, I had to sit in it and own it. But I didn't regret it, you know? It's my life now, and I can say that, now," she added. Previously, the 61-year-old has also addressed her reduced presence in public and at political events, saying she is focusing on her well-being and making conscious choices to take back control of her time. In conversation with actress Sophia Bush on the Work In Progress podcast, she also dismissed the ongoing divorce rumours with Barack Obama and opened up about shifts in her life since leaving the White House eight years ago. With her daughters now adults, she said that she has found the freedom to reassess her priorities and focus on her well-being. "I could have made a lot of these decisions years ago, but I didn't give myself that freedom. Maybe even as much as I let my kids live their own lives, I use their lives as an excuse for why I couldn't do something," she said.
The Hill
11 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Trump defies the skeptics and conquers Europe
Remember how President Trump was going to destroy the NATO alliance? How Joe Biden was the trusted guardian of U.S. international relations? Remember Biden crowing, 'We're back?' It turns out that Trump is back, and thank Heaven for that. Trump has arguably just saved NATO, and possibly Europe. His triumphant return to the NATO stage — called by NPR the 'Trump-dominated NATO summit' — should be celebrated by every American. He stood up for our country, as opposed to acting as a functionary of the global world order, and it worked. NPR reported that the recent summit in the Netherlands is being called 'transformational' and 'historic.' They write, 'If there were doubts that the United States runs NATO, the summit removed them.' They also quoted Finland's President Alexander Stubb as saying, 'We're witnessing the birth of a new NATO.' Has NATO been bullied by Trump? Yes — bullied into becoming a stronger, more effective alliance that will draw on the treasuries of its 32 member countries to beef up its mutual defense. No longer will it rely so heavily on the U.S. to counter Russia or other adversaries. With the U.S. still providing a needed backstop, Europe is taking charge of its own destiny, at long last. NATO members have now agreed to hike their outlays on munitions and other defense items to 5 percent of GDP — an astonishing pivot from years of underinvesting, and also a huge win for Trump on an issue he has been raising for more than a decade. Europe's free ride is over. Further defying the incessant naysayers, Trump affirmed our country's commitment to the alliance in a press conference afterward, calling NATO essential for the 'safety of Europe and the safety of the world.' In 2023, former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton, whom Trump fired in 2019, predicted, 'In a second Trump term, we'd almost certainly withdraw from NATO.' In 2024 the Brookings Institute quoted Bolton's dire warning in a piece titled, 'Could NATO survive a second Trump administration?' Their conclusion? 'Most likely not — at least not with the United States as a committed ally and alliance leader.' The Brookings author explained that Trump 'believes allies use their defense savings to bolster their industries, out-compete the United States in trade, and take American jobs.' And of course, the Brookings author was all wrong, even though Trump is right in all of those beliefs. Yes, Europe has been freeloading for decades, relying on the U.S. to pay for the bulk of its defense and — to rub salt in the wound — also erecting tariffs and non-trade barriers to advantage its own industries. But those days are over. Both on defense and trade, Trump has lowered the hammer. In 2017, the U.S. accounted for 51.1 percent of the allies' combined GDP and 71.7 percent of their combined defense expenditures. More shocking: in 2017, the U.K. spent some $55.2 billion on defense, Germany $45.4 billion and France $45.9 billion; the United States shelled out $685.9 billion. What's reasonable about that? Eventually, some European countries got on board with the need to up their militaries. Earlier this year, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk addressed the European Parliament and said, 'Don't ask America what it can do for our security. Ask yourselves what we can do for our own security.' Poland is one of the few countries in Europe spending 5 percent of its GDP on defense because, as Tusk said, 'Poland … has such a long border with Russia and Belarus, and the friendly one with Ukraine, but a war border in a way at the moment.' He made the case: 'If Europe is to survive, it needs to be armed. It is not our choice.' Early in his 2016 presidency, Trump attended his first NATO meeting, and began a years-long push to get members to raise their spending. In 2014 the alliance had committed to raise defense spending to 2 percent of GDP by 2024, but only six countries at the time of the 2017 gathering had met that goal or even indicated a willingness to do so. Thanks in part to public shaming by Trump, by 2023, more than two-thirds of alliance countries were expected to hit that target. Trump not only embarrassed NATO, he also refused to reflexively support Article Five of the 1949 Washington Treaty, which affirms that an attack against one 'shall be considered an attack against them all.' That set off alarm bells. The Brookings analyst noted that endorsing 'Article Five is something American presidents ritualistically do, in part because Article Five does not commit allies to a specific action. However, American presidents other than Trump made clear the United States would come to the aid of an attacked ally with U.S. military force. That bolsters deterrence.' He noted that Trump, at a campaign stop last year, threatened that if NATO members did not raise their defense outlays, he would 'absolutely not' defend them, adding 'I would encourage [the Russians] to do whatever the hell they want.' What has been the fallout from Trump's bullying of NATO? They have done exactly as he correctly wanted them to do, taking on an increasing share of the collective defense budget. In 2014, members other than the U.S. accounted for roughly 24 percent of total defense spending. By 2024 that portion had jumped to about 36 percent. That is a win, not only for the U.S. but for Europe as well. Forcing Europe into self-reliance is essential to our ability to counter China. As Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in February, 'We also face a peer competitor in the communist Chinese with the capability and intent to threaten our homeland and core national interests in the Indo-Pacific. The U.S. is prioritizing deterring war with China in the Pacific, recognizing the reality of scarcity, and making the resourcing tradeoffs to ensure deterrence does not fail.' NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte texted Trump as he traveled to the NATO gathering, saying 'Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win.' Indeed. Liz Peek is a former partner of major bracket Wall Street firm Wertheim and Company.
NBC News
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- NBC News
Lalo Schifrin, composer of the 'Mission: Impossible' theme, dies at 93
Lalo Schifrin, the composer who wrote the endlessly catchy theme for "Mission: Impossible" and more than 100 other arrangements for film and television, died Thursday. He was 93. Schifrin's son Ryan confirmed that Schifrin died due to complications from pneumonia. He died peacefully in his home in Los Angeles, surrounded by family. The Argentine won four Grammys and was nominated for six Oscars, including five for original score for "Cool Hand Luke," "The Fox," "Voyage of the Damned," "The Amityville Horror" and "The Sting II." "Every movie has its own personality. There are no rules to write music for movies," Schifrin told The Associated Press in 2018. "The movie dictates what the music will be." He also wrote the grand finale musical performance for the World Cup championship in Italy in 1990, in which the Three Tenors — Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti and José Carreras — sang together for the first time. The work became one of the biggest sellers in the history of classical music. 'The most contagious tune ever heard' Schifrin, also a jazz pianist and classical conductor, had a remarkable career in music that included working with Dizzy Gillespie and recording with Count Basie and Sarah Vaughan. But perhaps his biggest contribution was the instantly recognizable score to television's "Mission: Impossible," which fueled the just-wrapped, decades-spanning feature film franchise led by Tom Cruise. Written in the unusual 5/4 time signature, the theme — Dum-dum DUM DUM dum-dum DUM DUM — was married to an on-screen self-destruct clock that kicked off the TV show, which ran from 1966 to 1973. It was described as "only the most contagious tune ever heard by mortal ears" by New Yorker film critic Anthony Lane and even hit No. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968. Schifrin originally wrote a different piece of music for the theme song but series creator Bruce Geller liked another arrangement Schifrin had composed for an action sequence. "The producer called me and told me, 'You're going to have to write something exciting, almost like a logo, something that will be a signature, and it's going to start with a fuse,'" Schifrin told the AP in 2006. "So I did it and there was nothing on the screen. And maybe the fact that I was so free and I had no images to catch, maybe that's why this thing has become so successful — because I wrote something that came from inside me." When director Brian De Palma was asked to take the series to the silver screen, he wanted to bring the theme along with him, leading to a creative conflict with composer John Williams, who wanted to work with a new theme of his own. Out went Williams and in came Danny Elfman, who agreed to retain Schifrin's music. Hans Zimmer took over scoring for the second film, and Michael Giacchino scored the next two. Giacchino told NPR he was a hesitant to take it on, because Schifrin's music was one of his favorite themes of all time. "I remember calling Lalo and asking if we could meet for lunch," Giacchino told NPR. "And I was very nervous — I felt like someone asking a father if I could marry their daughter or something. And he said, 'Just have fun with it.' And I did." "Mission: Impossible" won Grammys for best instrumental theme and best original score from a motion picture or a TV show. In 2017, the theme was entered into the Grammy Hall of Fame. U2 members Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. covered the theme while making the soundtrack to 1996's first installment; that version peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 with a Grammy nomination. A 2010 commercial for Lipton tea depicted a young Schifrin composing the theme at his piano while gaining inspiration through sips of the brand's Lipton Yellow Label. Musicians dropped from the sky as he added elements. Early life filled with music Born Boris Claudio Schifrin to a Jewish family in Buenos Aires — where his father was the concertmaster of the philharmonic orchestra — Schifrin was classically trained in music, in addition to studying law. After studying at the Paris Conservatory — where he learned about harmony and composition from the legendary Olivier Messiaen — Schifrin returned to Argentina and formed a concert band. Gillespie heard Schifrin perform and asked him to become his pianist, arranger and composer. In 1958, Schifrin moved to the United States, playing in Gillespie's quintet in 1960-62 and composing the acclaimed "Gillespiana." The long list of luminaries he performed and recorded with includes Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz, Dee Dee Bridgewater and George Benson. He also worked with such classical stars as Zubin Mehta, Mstislav Rostropovich, Daniel Barenboim and others. Schifrin moved easily between genres, winning a Grammy for 1965's "Jazz Suite on the Mass Texts" while also earning a nod that same year for the score of TV's "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." In 2018, he was given an honorary Oscar statuette and, in 2017, the Latin Recording Academy bestowed on him one of its special trustee awards. Later film scores included "Tango," "Rush Hour" and its two sequels, "Bringing Down The House," "The Bridge of San Luis Rey," "After the Sunset" and the horror film "Abominable." Writing the arrangements for "Dirty Harry," Schifrin decided that the main character wasn't in fact Clint Eastwood's hero, Harry Callahan, but the villain, Scorpio. "You would think the composer would pay more attention to the hero. But in this case, no, I did it to Scorpio, the bad guy, the evil guy," he told the AP. "I wrote a theme for Scorpio." It was Eastwood who handed him his honorary Oscar. "Receiving this honorary Oscar is the culmination of a dream," Schifrin said at the time. "It is mission accomplished." Beyond film and TV Among Schifrin's conducting credits include the London Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, the Mexico Philharmonic, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He was appointed music director of Southern California's Glendale Symphony Orchestra and served in that capacity from 1989-1995. Schifrin also wrote and adapted the music for "Christmas in Vienna" in 1992, a concert featuring Diana Ross, Carreras and Domingo. He also combined tango, folk and classical genres when he recorded "Letters from Argentina," nominated for a Latin Grammy for best tango album in 2006. Schifrin was also commissioned to write the overture for the 1987 Pan American Games, and composed and conducted the event's 1995 final performance in Argentina. And for perhaps one of the only operas performed in the ancient Indigenous language of Nahuatl, in 1988 Schifrin wrote and conducted the choral symphony "Songs of the Aztecs." The work premiered at Mexico's Teotihuacan pyramids with Domingo as part of a campaign to raise money to restore the site's Aztec temple. "I found it to be a very sweet musical language, one in which the sounds of the words dictated interesting melodies," Schifrin told The Associated Press at the time. "But the real answer is that there's something magic about it. ... There's something magic in the art of music anyway." He's survived by his sons, Ryan and William, daughter, Frances, and wife, Donna.
