Israel and Sudan Reach US-Brokered Deal to Normalize Ties
Israel and Sudan agreed on Friday to take steps to normalize relations in a deal brokered with the help of the United States, making Khartoum the third Arab state to set aside hostilities with Israel in the last two months. U.S. President Donald Trump sealed the agreement in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and Transitional Council Head Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. “The leaders agreed to the normalization of relations between Sudan and Israel and to end the state of belligerence between their nations,” a joint statement issued by the United States, Sudan, and Israel. (L) Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (not pictured) address the media at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Feb. 14, 2020. (Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters),…
Jerry Jeff Walker, a Texas country singer and songwriter who wrote the pop song “Mr. Bojangles,” has died at age 78.
Walker died Friday of cancer, family spokesman John T. Davis told The Associated Press.
“He had battled throat cancer for many years, and some other health issues,” Davis said Saturday.
Walker emerged from New York’s Greenwich Village folk scene in the 1960s and he was a founding member of the band Circus Maximus. He moved to Texas in the 1970s and in 1972 scored a hit with his version of the Guy Clark song “L.A. Freeway.”
Walker and the Lost Gonzo Band in 1973 recorded an album live in Texas called “Viva Terlingua” that became a classic of the country-rock scene. Walker had since released more than 30 albums.
In 1986, he formed independent music label Tried & True Music and released albums under it.
Walker was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2017, undergoing chemotherapy and radiation, he told the Austin American Statesman in 2018.
“I guess I took my singing for granted, and now I don’t,” he told the newspaper.
In 2017, it was announced that Walker had donated more than 100 boxes of his music archives to The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University, including tapes, photographs, hand-written lyrics, and artifacts.
Walker’s survivors include his wife, Susan, son, Django, and daughter, Jessie Jane.
By Ken Miller
Focus News: Jerry Jeff Walker, Texas Singer and Songwriter, Dies at 78
California Prosecutors Again Seek Death for Scott Peterson
SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Northern California prosecutors said Friday they will again seek the death penalty for Scott Peterson in the slaying of his pregnant wife and unborn son nearly 19 years ago, even as a county judge considers throwing out his underlying conviction because of a tainted juror. Stanislaus County Assistant District Attorney Dave Harris announced that it is prosecutors’ intention to retry the penalty phase of the case, spokesman John Goold said after a court hearing. He said prosecutors otherwise won’t comment or discuss the decision. Peterson, 47, wearing a buzz haircut and a mask designed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, appeared remotely in the Modesto courtroom from San Quentin State Prison north of San Francisco, home to the state’s death row. District Attorney Birgit Fladager acted after the…
