Barack Obama Joining Michelle Obama for ‘Intimate Conversation’ in First Episode of Her Podcast

As for why the former first lady chose her husband and to join for the episode?

“I asked a special someone to join me for this conversation, because he’s navigated these questions throughout the course of his entire life,” she says.

Other guests that will be featured in later episodes include Mrs. Obama's brother, Craig Robinson, late-night host Conan O’Brien and the Obamas' former senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.

LeAnn Rimes, Pharrell Williams and Jon Bon Jovi To Keynote DOJ Event On Music Licensing

LeAnn Rhimes, Pharrell Williams and Jon Bon Jovi will be keynote speakers next week at a Justice Department workshop on the future of the nearly 80-year-old consent decrees that have governed how works are licensed.

The virtual event on July 28 and 29 comes as the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division reviews the ASCAP and BMI decrees, a move that would have huge implications on songwriters, artists and publishers. The workshop will be open to the public.

The event also will include panels on an array of issues related to music licensing and industry competition. Makan Delrahim, chief of the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, will deliver opening remarks, and others speaking include David Israelite, president and CEO, National Music Publishers’ Association; Michelle Lewis, Executive Director, Songwriters of North America; Elizabeth Matthews, CEO of ASCAP; Michael O’Neill, president and CEO of BMI; and Gordon Smith, president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters.

The DOJ last reviewed the consent decrees during the Obama administration, but concluded that “the current system has well served music creators and music users for decades and should remain intact.”

But the DOJ under Delrahim has been reviewing consent decrees across all industries to gauge their continued effectiveness and relevance.

The full lineup of panels and participants is here.

Apple starts sales of India-made iPhone 11

Foxconn begins assembling device

Apple’s contract manufacturer Foxconn has started assembling the iPhone 11 in India. The U.S. company’s flagship device is being assembled at Foxconn’s Chennai plant, an industry source said.

A small batch of ‘assembled-in-India’ iPhone 11 smartphones had been dispatched to the retail market, and were now on sale, the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, added.

Currently, iPhone XR and iPhone 11 are being assembled by Foxconn in Chennai, while iPhone 7 is being made by another partner, Wistron, in Bengaluru.

Terming the move as a significant boost to ‘Make in India’, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted, “Apple has started manufacturing iPhone 11 in India, bringing a top-of-the-line model for the first time in the country.” Union Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad tweeted that Apple’s iPhone SE was manufactured in India in 2017, iPhone 6S in 2018, iPhone 7 and XR in 2019 and iPhone 11 in 2020.

“This chronology is a statement in itself as to how the @narendramodi govt. has developed the mobile phone manufacturing ecosystem in India. It’s only a humble beginning.”

The move comes as India looks to woo manufacturers, especially those mulling a move out of China, to set up shop in India.

Ex-Pemex Boss Testified That Lawmakers Took Bribes, AMLO Says

A former head of Mexico’s state oil giant Petroleos Mexicanos is testifying that lawmakers were bribed to pass a 2014 reform that opened the energy sector to private investment, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday.

Lopez Obrador said that Emilio Lozoya, who was extradited from Spain this month to face corruption charges in Mexico, is shining light on how money was distributed to legislators.

“It will be very important to find out how much and to whom,” the president, known as AMLO, said in his morning press conference.

Lopez Obrador has attacked the energy reform as a failure and halted auctions of oil blocks, focusing instead on trying to revive the heavily-indebted state oil company, known as Pemex. The corruption case may also boost his ruling party’s campaign ahead of mid-term elections next year.

Divided States podcast: Person. Woman. Man. President.

Donald Trump is cognitively brilliant – at least that’s what he says. It’s been an interesting week at the White House, as the president grapples with coronavirus cases soaring, and his election poll numbers going in the opposite direction.

Robert E. Lee High School Drops Confederate General's Name for Icon John Lewis: 'True Hero'

The Fairfax County School Board said the school will immediately adopt the new name for the 2020 fall semester.

"Our schools must be places where all students, staff, and members of the community feel safe and supported," said school board member Tamara Derenak Kaufax, who proposed the name change alongside fellow board member Karen Keys-Gamarra.

Kaufax added: "I believe that John Lewis’ extraordinary life and advocacy for racial justice will serve as an inspiration to our students and community for generations to come.”