Latest news with #age
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
David Muir fans stunned to learn anchor's real age as they beg him to drop skincare routine
David Muir fans have been left gobsmacked by his age after he shared his response to affectionately being called 'Daddy.' The World News Tonight anchor has cultivated a huge fanbase thanks to his good looks - and now he has stunned them with his deceptively youthful visage. In a recent interview, Muir casually revealed his age as he admitted that he is taking all the online attention in his stride. 'People will forward TikTok videos, but only because they are laughing out loud at them and making fun of me and saying, "When did you become Daddy?"' he told People. 'So, I don't know whether that happens when you hit 50 or what, but I'll take it as a compliment, I think.' He continued to the publication: 'Anyone who works with me knows that I am so uncomfortable even having to put on the tux. So, the fact that I survive those events is still a surprise to me without looking like a total nerd. 'So maybe it's lost on me, but I guess Daddy's better than the alternative.' Muir, who was born in 1973, turned 51 on November 8. Social media were completely distracted by Muir's remark about his age and begged him to drop his skincare routine. Taking to X, formerly Twitter, one said in disbelief: '50? He should drop the skincare.' 'He's 50!!?!??' another quizzed while a third noted, 'He looks good for 50.' A fourth continued: '50??? In human years???' 'He does not look 50,' a fifth said. Another added in shock: 'I'm sorry FIFTY???????' In January, Muir was viciously mocked for using clothes pegs to cinch in his jacket and emphasize his physique during an LA fire report. At the time, he had been reporting live from the Pacific Palisades, when he turned around to point out the rubble behind him, revealing the fashion faux pas in the process. Social media were completely distracted by Muir's remark about his age Muir had been sharing his response to being called 'Daddy' when he made a comment about his age The moment sparked heavy criticism from viewers and celebrities across the country, 'Nice jacket bro. Glad you look nice and svelte with those clothes line pegs, while our city burns to the ground,' Jack Osbourne posted. Others also chimed in, calling Muir 'pathetic' and 'narcissistic.' Although the network did not explain Muir's fashion choice, ABC claimed he was 'solely focused' on the fires - not his appearance. 'Here's an anchor standing in the middle of horrific wildfires where people have lost everything,' a spokesperson said in a statement to Page Six. 'David is solely focused on the people who are suffering and the heroic efforts of the firefighters — and that's what everyone should be focused on.'
Time of India
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
The 25-year quest to find Miss Atomic Bomb ends. Here's what we know about this iconic ‘nuclear tourism' photograph
The mystery behind Miss Atomic Bomb (X/ @BeschlossDC ) For 25 years, one question consumed retired scientist Robert Friedrichs: Who was the woman behind the most famous photograph in Las Vegas' history? The mysterious showgirl captured in a 1957 promotional photograph became an enduring symbol of atomic-age America. Posed in a mushroom cloud-shaped swimsuit with arms outstretched against the Nevada desert, she was known only by her stage name "Lee A. Merlin'. A city built on 'nuclear tourism' The iconic photograph emerged from a unique moment in American history when the display of nuclear power captured public attention between 1951 and 1992. Las Vegas sought to capitalise on the trend, and sent in a photographer in 1957 to shoot a promotional ad for 'nuclear tourism'. Nuclear tourism refers to travel focused on atomic history, where visitors explore nuclear test sites, reactors, and related museums to experience and learn about the Atomic age. The photographer shot the model in a fluffy, mushroom-shaped swimsuit, immitating a nuclear cloud, in high-heels and a smiling face, strectching her arms as the desert unfolded behind her. It became one of the most requested photographs, shaping Las Vegas' identity as a city of fantasy and spectacle. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Добро пожаловать в Аравию SAUDI Забронировать Undo Yet little was known about the model in th photo. The start of the quest Friedrichs in 2000 started his quest for the lady when the Atomic Museum was preparing to open in Las Vegas. As a founding member, he hoped to locate Miss Atomic Bomb for the grand opening ceremony. What started as simple curiosity evolved into an all-consuming obsession. His investigation filled stacks of binders with clues and potential leads. He tracked down the original photographer, Don English, and interviewed former showgirls who confirmed the stage name "Lee A. Merlin." But the woman's true identity remained elusive, with leads drying up and months turning into years. The breakthrough came unexpectedly last winter. After Friedrichs delivered a presentation about his search at the Atomic Museum, an audience member sent him an obituary the following day. One detail jumped out: the deceased woman had once been the lead dancer at the Sands Hotel. Her name was Anna Lee Mahoney. Who was Anna Lee Mahoney? Born on August 14, 1927, in the Bronx, Mahoney was trained in ballet in New York before transitioning to stage performances under her professional name, 'Lee A. Merlin'. By 1957, she had become the lead dancer at the famous Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. After retiring from dance, Mahoney reinvented herself as a mental health counselor, working in the field for 30 years. She later moved to Hawaii, married, and lived quietly until her death from cancer in 2001 in Santa Cruz, California. More than just a photograph The Miss Atomic Bomb photograph transcended its original promotional purpose to become a touchstone. For Friedrichs, solving the mystery represented more than satisfying personal curiosity. "The missing name was a gap in the historical record, and I wanted to fix it," he explained, comparing it to knowing someone was the first US president but forgetting their name. "It's something I always hoped would be completed in my lifetime". A temporary exhibit showcasing his decades-long investigation opens this June 13 at the Atomic Museum, celebrating both Anna Lee Mahoney's life and the determined historian who refused to let her story disappear into the atomic dust of history.
CNA
26-05-2025
- Sport
- CNA
'Never too old to do the things that you love': Despite vision loss, this 93-year-old bowler keeps going
Sport Mr William Thong is possibly one of the oldest bowlers in the world. CNA finds out what's kept him in the sport for the last seventy years. SINGAPORE: On a Tuesday morning at a Bukit Batok bowling alley, the sound of clattering pins echoes off the walls. At one end, a couple of youngsters celebrates strikes exuberantly. At the opposite, a group of older men are racking up the points in more stoic fashion. And then there is Mr William Thong. A familiar fixture - he bowls here multiple times a week - Mr Thong has his own locker, his own bowling shoes and a flask of teh-o to keep him going. Mr Thong stands out from the other amateur bowlers. His gait is slower and his technique guided more by feel than vision, but he is no less adept at picking up the odd strike or two. Eyes locked on the target, Mr Thong sends an eight-pound ball swirling down the lane. This time, there are still a few stubborn pins left standing, but he keeps at it for the next hour or so. After all, what keeps the 93-year-old going is not the score flashing on the electronic screen, but his love for the sport. BOWLING WITH HALF AN EYE In his younger days, Mr Thong was an all-rounder in sports, who ran cross-country and played basketball and football. His foray into bowling only began in his early 20s, after joining an American firm. "I wanted to please the president (of the company) that I could I also bowl. I joined him and he was happy," he recalled. He eventually grew into the sport and competed at local amateur tournaments. "I enjoy getting strikes, getting spares. Especially the speed (of the ball)," said Mr Thong. 93-year-old William Thong bowling at Starbowl in HomeTeamNS Bukit Batok on Apr 15, 2025. (Photo: CNA/Lan Yu) According to Mr Alfred George Pillay, a fellow bowler who has known Mr Thong for close to a decade, the latter was also a bowling captain in his fourties. "He used to have national bowlers under his team," recalled Mr Pillay, who has partnered Mr Thong in several competitions. But a glaucoma diagnosis about three decades ago threatened to put a stop to things. Mr Thong would eventually go completely blind in one eye. He was told by a doctor there was a "50-50" chance of going blind in his other eye, if he did not take appropriate care. "I always prayed that I could see and that it would not deteriorate (further)," he said. Mr Thong has continued to bowl, relying on his one good eye which he guessed to now have about 55 per cent vision left. Asked how he does it, he said: "You just estimate ... (the pins are) 'dead', waiting for you to bowl the ball." But it has not been without difficulty. There were three or four times when Mr Thong tripped on the lane. "I had to break the fall (with my hand)," he said. These days, he stands further away from the foul line so he does not slip on the oiled flooring. "Closing one eye and bowling is near-impossible. I don't know how he does it," said Mr Pillay, 61. "(Initially) I didn't know he (was using just) one eye because he used to wear sunglasses ... The day he took out his glasses, I got a shock." Mr Thong has other passions. He uses the computer regularly, and is a fixture in his church choir. "Every Sunday I sing in church, I like singing," he said. "They like my voice." The nonagenarian still looks as sprightly as he is active. He attributed this to a diet which he keeps to fastidiously. "Fish, eggs and chicken," he revealed. "I take fruits every day too: Papaya, bananas and oranges." But nothing comes close to bowling for Mr Thong. He visits the alley up to five days a week, going for about three to five games each time. He typically travels by bus from his home in Choa Chua Kang, a journey of about 30 minutes. "(I'm) not tired and my body is not aching. It's okay," he said. In the past, his wife would often accompany him, but now that she has dementia, she stays at home with their domestic helper. "(She came) all the time ... She would ask: 'Why you miss the ball?' ... She was like an advisor!" said Mr Pillay. "She was always here supporting him. They would sometimes argue and she would tell him: 'Your ball is too slow, your ball is too fast', that kind of thing. The two of them looked very cute together." 93-year-old bowler William Thong cheering after knocking down 9 pins at Starbowl in HomeTeamNS Bukit Batok on Apr 15, 2025. (Photo: CNA/Lan Yu) Mr Thong and Mr Pillay now have each other for company in the bowling alley. "He told me most of his friends have all passed on. He's got not many friends that he can relate to. We share things, we talk about things, we are friends," said Mr Pillay. "He's an inspiration to me ... I hope that I can bowl until at least 70. You're never too old to do the things that you love." Mr Thong does see himself as an ambassador for the sport. "(Bowling) is to reach out to people. This is how you start a conversation with people who do not know anything about bowling," he said. "Some of them ask me: 'What do you eat?'" Bowling is also how Mr Thong keeps occupied and clocks his exercise minutes, and he hopes to keep at it for as long as he physically can. The longest he has stayed away from the alley was a six-month hiatus due to knee and shoulder pain. He is not done competing either. Mr Thong recently joined a weekly "Fun Bowl" competition with other bowlers, taking place every Wednesday. He, of course, is the oldest there. "When I stop bowling, I'll be very sad ... If God allows me, I will bowl until 100." active ageing bowling
New York Times
22-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Biden's Cancer and a Lawmaker's Death Keep Focus on Democrats' Age Problem
In the last three months alone, three Democratic House members have died in office, former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. announced a serious cancer diagnosis and a new book stoked fresh scrutiny of his declining abilities while serving as commander in chief. For a party struggling with a litany of problems, perhaps no subject in recent years has been more painful, delicate or politically perilous than the matter of age — an issue that keeps rearing its head in 2025 as party leaders now acknowledge the problem but remain hesitant to directly call out aging colleagues. The subject arose yet again on Wednesday, as the family of Representative Gerald E. Connolly, a Democrat from Virginia, announced that he had died at 75. He was the sixth House Democrat to die in office in the last year or so, according to what the House press gallery calls its 'casualty list' of deaths, resignations and retirements. Just a few months ago, Mr. Connolly beat out one of the youngest members of Congress, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, 35, in an internal contest to lead their party on the House Oversight Committee. He said at the time that the idea that there was generational change underway in the caucus was a 'false narrative.' His death, after a public battle with esophageal cancer, prompted an outpouring of grief from colleagues. But as Democrats strain to project energy in fighting President Trump, some in the party also saw it as another harsh reminder of the risks the party faces when it prizes seniority and loyalty above all else. Former Representative Joe Cunningham, 42, a South Carolina Democrat, supports age and term limits for political office and publicly urged Mr. Biden not to seek re-election. In an interview, he spoke warmly about Mr. Connolly. But, he said, emphasizing that he was speaking more broadly, 'a lot of these elected officials should have another escape hatch from politics other than death.' 'You can take a look at folks who are up there, who've been up there for 30, 40, 50 years, and say, 'Look, it's probably best time that you move on and create a bit of a room for some new leadership,'' he said. 'Considering where the Democratic Party is now, I think it's a big problem.' He cited the deaths of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, and alluded to Mr. Biden's decision to seek a second term, which he would have concluded at the age of 86. Polling long showed that voters, including many Democrats, had grave worries about Mr. Biden's age and believed he was too old to seek re-election. But party leaders defended him and went to great lengths to emphasize his vigor. They changed course only after a disastrous debate roughly four months before Election Day, when it was too late for a robust and competitive primary campaign. All of those issues are being re-litigated now with the release of the book 'Original Sin' by Jake Tapper of CNN and Alex Thompson of Axios, which aims to illuminate how Mr. Biden's advisers shut down discussion of his age-related limitations. 'All of that hammers home how important it is to have this conversation in public, even when it's messy, even when it's walking over land mines, even when it can feel painful, because we can't assume that it's happening in private,' said Amanda Litman, who leads Run for Something, a progressive group that recruits younger Democrats to seek local office. 'We can't assume that the individual elected is going to know when it's their time.' She praised several older Democrats who have decided to retire on their own terms. 'They are being patriots, and when they do move on, they open up the floodgates for new leaders up and down the ballot,' she said. 'The ones that are refusing are being primaried, and those primaries are going to be personal. Like, it's not going to be a fun primary that they're going to romp to victory on.' Mr. Connolly, for his part, had said late last month that he would not seek re-election and would step aside from his leadership position on the Oversight Committee. In a statement, Mr. Connolly's family emphasized a long list of his accomplishments during his decades in public service. 'We were fortunate to share Gerry with Northern Virginia for nearly 40 years because that was his joy, his purpose and his passion,' the statement said. 'We are proud that his life's work will endure for future generations.' While voters and pundits often express enthusiasm for term limits or age limits, a common practice in the corporate world, many politicians on both sides of the aisle continue to recoil from the idea, stressing instead the value of experience. And concerns about age are nothing new in Congress, where Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, a Republican and for decades an avowed segregationist, stoked questions about his health and abilities toward the end of his nearly half-century in office. (He died at age 100 and was eulogized by Mr. Biden.) More recently, Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, has had several health scares. He stepped down as his party's leader and plans to retire. Mr. Trump will be 79 next month and has faced his own questions about age. Some next-generation Democrats are already thinking about the next presidential primary race, which is expected to be a raucous and crowded contest featuring a long list of younger party leaders. But first, the party owes voters a transparent conversation about age, suggested Mr. Cunningham, whose state is likely to be influential in deciding Democrats' 2028 nominee. 'Now, even, some people say it's not a good time to speak out, but this is a family meeting that needs to occur,' he said. 'The party has to go through some form of counseling or something. You know? Like, these areas have to be acknowledged, and there has to be some honest conversations.'
New York Times
17-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
‘Watch Me,' Biden Said. But Hearing Him in Hur Interview Is More Revealing.
For much of his time in the White House, former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. offered a quick rebuttal to those raising concerns about his age: 'Watch me,' he said. Yet, in the end, it may be the sound of Mr. Biden's own voice that proves what his aides worked furiously, and spent hundreds of millions of campaign dollars, to try to keep the public from seeing with its own eyes. The five-hour-and-10-minute audio recording of a special counsel's interview with Mr. Biden on Oct. 8 and 9, 2023, shows a president struggling to recall dates and details, whose thoughts seem jumbled as he tries to recreate events that had occurred just a few years earlier. The information in the audio recording, which Axios published on Saturday, is not new. The 258-page transcript of the interview of Mr. Biden by Robert K. Hur, the special counsel who investigated his handling of classified documents, was released in March 2024. His report set off a political firestorm in the midst of the president's re-election campaign. But the sound of Mr. Biden's fragile voice and unsteady responses offers a revelation of its own. The Hur tapes reveal the president exactly as a majority of Americans believed him to be — and as Democrats repeatedly insisted he was not. In the days after Mr. Hur released his report, Democrats fanned out across the news media to vouch for the president, assuring the public of their eyewitness vantage point on his deep knowledge and sure-handed command of the nation and the world. He was 'sharp' and at the 'top of his game,' they said almost in unison. He was 'focused, impressive, formidable and effective,' as Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia, one of the youngest leading Democrats, put it memorably. Biden administration officials declined to release the audio recording of his interview, asserting executive privilege. But behind the closed doors of the White House's map room, where Mr. Biden answered Mr. Hur's patient queries over the beat of a ticking grandfather clock, the former president offers responses that trail off midsentence and jumbled thoughts that appear unrelated to the question. There are pauses as he struggles for details and extended digressions on the moldings in his home, the importance of Gutenberg's printing press and the storage of his prized Corvette. In the audio recording, Mr. Hur's conclusion — that a jury would see Mr. Biden as a 'sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory' — is not merely valid, it is irrefutable. 'Well, if it was 2013 — when did I stop being vice president?' Mr. Biden wonders in a weakened voice, when asked by Mr. Hur to identify papers stored in the home he rented after he left office in 2017. 'They didn't get to Wilmington until 2022 or something, right? Or 20-whatever. I don't know.' For Democrats, the audio recording's release puts party leaders in the uncomfortable position of having to reconcile the man heard in Mr. Hur's interview with the forceful president they described in response to their voters' insistent questions. For months after the election, Democrats hoped to avoid the questions of what they knew and when about Mr. Biden's fitness to serve a second term. Hearing the recording may further a kind of truth-and-reconciliation moment for a party that has only begun to let go of its denials. It does not take much for Mr. Hur to uncover what Democrats had tried so hard to conceal. At first, Mr. Biden sounds fairly capable. He describes the binders packed with classified and unclassified information that he read through during his eight years as vice president. And he discusses his goals after leaving that office in 2017, including his desire to remain involved with 'consequential' foreign policy matters and cancer research. Then, about an hour into the recording, Mr. Biden's answers take a sharp turn. A simple question about the documents that were stored at the Naval Observatory elicits an 11-minute response. It begins with a young Mr. Biden winning an international tort competition in law school, winds through an early legal case involving a 23-year-old man who lost part of his penis in an oil-refinery accident and concludes with Mr. Biden winning a seat on the New Castle, Del., County Council in 1970. Again and again, Mr. Biden answers the prosecutor not as someone under federal investigation but as an aging politician recounting his life story for posterity. Like many people as they age, Mr. Biden remains himself. He cracks jokes about his wife looking hot in a bikini and about how he is still a 'young man.' He displays the flashes of ego and self-aggrandizement that have been staples of his political career, boasting about 'fundamentally changing' the nation's strategic position in the Indo-Pacific. And he luxuriates in his own long-winded stories about his political influence, describing being handed an archer's bow by the leader of Mongolia and nonchalantly shooting a bull's-eye. But now, the details elude him. Mr. Biden's lawyers step in to supply the date when his son Beau died — an event that devastated the former president and defined his final years in public life. They remind Mr. Biden of the year that he left the vice president's office and Donald J. Trump was first inaugurated as president. 'This is, what, 2017, 2018, that area?' Mr. Biden asks Mr. Hur, in response to a question about where Mr. Biden had stored his papers after leaving the vice presidency. 'My son is either been deployed or is dying.' Beau Biden deployed to Iraq in 2008. He died in 2015, when Mr. Biden was still vice president. For his part, Mr. Hur is generous and professional, hardly the political villain that the White House made him out to be after his report was released. He gently and repeatedly tries to refocus the president on the storage of his classified documents. At times, he sounds almost like a grandson trying to get accurate information from an elderly relative, trying to prompt his memory with photos and reminders of the timeline. And even so, there is so much that Mr. Biden can no longer recall. From the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office to Air Force One, the American presidency is cloaked in the symbolism of power and authority. In his halting voice, Mr. Biden cannot command the details of his move from the 72-acre, fortified grounds of the Naval Observatory to a rental home in Northern Virginia. He cannot recall who unpacked his boxes or arranged his belongings there. He does not know how his belongings were organized, what papers were preserved or precisely which staff members made those decisions. He draws a blank when asked about loading some of his personal belongings into Steve Ricchetti's minivan, after his long-serving aide offered to help him move. 'Is that how the stuff got in the garage?' he asks Mr. Hur at one point. 'There was stuff one day. I came home, and all of it was on the garage floor. This was later, though.' With his final campaign and his four years in the White House now behind him, Mr. Biden has plenty of time to uncover what, exactly, is in his 'beat-up box' in the garage. It is left to Democrats to sift through all the baggage the former president left behind.
