Following is a summary of current people news briefs.
Flap over Ann Romney shows campaigns’ anxiety on women
voters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – It began with a Democratic pundit’s
comment late Wednesday on cable news that seemed to criticize
Mitt Romney’s wife, Ann, for choosing to stay home and raise
their five sons rather than work. Thanks to social media, the
remark quickly escalated into a fracas over the role of women
in American society.
Mel Gibson fires back at anti-Semitism claim
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Mel Gibson fired back Thursday at
screenwriter Joe Eszterhas for accusing the ”Braveheart” star
of anti-Semitism, calling the writer’s comments ”utter
fabrications” and saying he was angry over a rejected film
script. Gibson, who has been dogged by similar criticism since
making an anti-Semitic statement in 2006 to police in a drunken
rant, had been working with the ”Basic Instinct” screenwriter
on a movie about the ancient Jewish hero Judah Maccabee.
Renowned contralto Lili Chookasian dies, age 90
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Lili Chookasian, a renowned contralto
who sang at the Metropolitan Opera for more than two decades
and taught at the Yale School of Music, has died at her home in
Connecticut. She was 90. Chookasian, who died on Tuesday,
enjoyed a long career that included 290 performances with The
Metropolitan Opera from 1962 through 1986, and she appeared
with many of the world’s major conductors, symphony orchestras,
opera and recording companies.
Marc Anthony files for divorce from Jennifer Lopez
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Latin pop singer Marc Anthony has
filed for divorce from singer and actress Jennifer Lopez,
ending their seven-year marriage. Anthony filed the petition
under his real name Marco Muniz on Monday in Los Angeles
Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences. The couple
announced in July that they were splitting up.
”Northeast Kingdom” a treasure trove for writer
TOKYO (Reuters) – The writer Howard Frank Mosher has lived
for nearly half a century in such a remote part of the northern
U.S. state of Vermont that Internet connections are very slow
and even landline phone reception can be terrible at times. Yet
the area known as the ”Northeast Kingdom” – the three
northeasternmost counties in the state – proved to be such a
fertile source of inspiration that Mosher, born in 1942 and
with 12 books behind him, has ended up spending most of his
life there.
Axl Rose has no appetite for Rock Hall of Fame
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Axl Rose, the mercurial front man
for rockers Guns N’ Roses, has declined his induction into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this week saying he does not feel
wanted or respected at the ceremony. In an open letter made
available on Wednesday by Rose’s spokeswoman, he said other
members of the L.A. band were welcome to attend and be honored
at Saturday’s event, but not the lead singer of the band that
gained fame in the late 1980s with smash hit album ”Appetite
for Destruction.”
A Minute With: Martin Scorsese on time running out
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Time slipping away seems to be on
Martin Scorsese’s mind. After the critical success of his
recent ”Hugo,” the luminary director says he would make every
future film in 3D, but approaching age 70, he is more concerned
with movies that perfect his take on American life than with
technology.
German author Grass likens Israeli travel ban to Stasi
BERLIN (Reuters) – Nobel Prize-winning German author
Guenter Grass, embroiled in a war of words with Israel, has
likened its decision to prevent him from entering the country
to a similar ban once imposed on him by the leader of East
Germany’s dreaded Stasi secret police. In a comment sent by
Grass to be published in Thursday’s edition of the Sueddeutsche
Zeitung newspaper, the author said Israel, former communist
East Germany and Myanmar were the only countries to have
imposed travel bans on him.
