Month: April 2023

Legendary talk-show host Jerry Springer has died at age 79. Bradley Singer, a representative for Springer, confirmed that Springer died peacefully at his home in Chicago on Thursday morning following a brief bout with pancreatic cancer.

Jene Galvin, a lifelong friend and spokesman for the Springer family, said in a statement: “Jerry’s ability to connect with people was at the heart of his success in everything he tried whether that was politics, broadcasting, or just joking with people on the street who wanted a photo or a word. He’s irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart, and humor will live on. To remember Jerry, the family asks that in lieu of flowers you consider following his spirit and make a donation or commit to an act of kindness to someone in need or a worthy advocacy organization. As he always said, ‘Take care of yourself, and each other.’”

Springer is best known for hosting his talk show ‘The Jerry Springer Show,’ which ran from 1991 to 2018. Guests shared their problems on the talk show, which ranged from accusations of infidelity to demands for paternity tests (and often culminated with physical altercations that had to be stopped by the show’s director of security). The series featured audience members chanting, “Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!” upon Springer’s entrance.

In addition to his time on television, Springer had a prolific career as a politician, starting out as a councilman in Cincinnati before becoming the city’s mayor from 1977 to 1978. He then switched up his career, working for WLWT as an anchor. Later on during the time hosting his talk show, Springer also made cameos in numerous films including 1999’s Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, and on television shows, including Sabrina the Teenage Witch, The Simpsons, and The X-Files.

The final episode of The Jerry Springer Show aired in July 2018. The following year, Springer made his return to TV with ‘Judge Jerry’, a reality court show which ran for three seasons until August 2022.

Springer is survived by his daughter Katie Springer, and his older sister Evelyn.

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Carolyn Bryant Donham, the white woman who accused Black teenager Emmett Till of making improper advances before he was lynched in Mississippi in 1955, has died in hospice care in Louisiana at age 88. Donham died Tuesday night in Westlake, Louisiana, according to a death report filed Thursday in the Calcasieu Parish Coroner’s Office in Louisiana.

In August 1955, Till traveled from Chicago to visit relatives in Mississippi.  Bryant Donham (then named Carolyn Bryant) accused Till of making improper advances on her at a grocery store in the small community of Money; she was 21-years-old at the time. The Rev. Wheeler Parker, a cousin of Till who was there, has said 14-year-old Till whistled at the woman, an act that flew in the face of Mississippi’s racist social codes of the era.

Evidence indicates a woman identified Till to her then-husband Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam. Till was later abducted from his great-uncle Moses Wright’s home by Bryant and Milam. Till’s remains were found days later in the Tallahatchie River.  Roy Bryant and Milam were charged with Till’s murder; however, the two men were acquitted by an all-white jury. They later confessed to the killing in a paid magazine interview. Till’s kidnapping and killing became a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement when his mother insisted on an open-casket funeral in their hometown of Chicago after his brutalized body was pulled from a river in Mississippi.

Till’s cousin filed a federal lawsuit against the current Leflore County, Mississippi, sheriff a few months ago, seeking to compel him to serve an arrest warrant on kidnapping charges that was issued for Donham in 1955 but never served. A team searching a Mississippi courthouse basement for evidence about the lynching found the warrant in June 2022, which prompted calls from Till’s relatives for authorities to arrest Donham. However, a grand jury in Leflore County declined to indict her on charges of manslaughter and kidnapping last August.

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The U.S. Navy announced Thursday that Iran seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman. The Navy’s 5th Fleet said the oil tanker Advantage Sweet, which is registered under a Marshall Islands flag, was seized by Iranian forces after leaving Kuwait on its way to Houston, Texas, and issued a distress call. The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet said: “Iran’s actions are contrary to international law and disruptive to regional security and stability. Iran should immediately release the oil tanker.”

US Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) also released a statement attributing the vessel’s seizure to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy:  “Advantage Sweet was seized by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy while transiting international waters in the Gulf of Oman. Iran’s continued harassment of vessels and interference with navigational rights in regional waters are a threat to maritime security and the global economy. In the past two years, Iran has unlawfully seized at least five commerical vessels sailing in the Middle East.

Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior fellow and Iran expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said: “The Islamic Republic continues to prove that its terrorism and regional destabilization is not limited to land, air, or even international waters. Tehran’s threat to international shipping is almost as old as the Islamic Republic itself. Iran’s continued hostage taking of oil tankers and harassment of other vessels blows a hole through the theory that greater Chinese involvement in the Persian Gulf might restrain the regime’s bad behavior.”

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/us-navy-iran-seized-marshall-islands-flagged-oil-98901669

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President Joe Biden met with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at the White House on Wednesday, announcing that he would have nuclear-armed submarines dock in South Korea for the first time in more than 40 years.  According to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Yoon’s visit comes “at a critical moment as North Korea continues to develop its nuclear and missile capabilities.”

Biden and Yoon spoke in the Rose Garden, where Biden pledged to uphold the country’s nuclear defense treaty with South Korea in the face of threats from North Korea.  Said Biden: “Our nuclear defense treaty is ironclad. They are particularly important in the face of DPRK’s increased threats and blatant violations of U.S. sanctions. At the same time we are continuing to seek diplomatic breakthroughs with the DPRK.”

Yoon arrived in Washington on Monday along with South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee for the six-day visit, which also included a state dinner Wednesday night at the White House, and a Thursday address before Congress, where he will speak on the continued threat posed by North Korea. North Korean President Kim Jung Un has ordered nuclear rocket tests at an unprecedented pace over the past year and recently launched the country’s first solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, which analysts say could severely challenge missile-defense systems.

In recent months, Yoon’s administration has sought greater input from the U.S. while anticipating the need for a strong nuclear response to North Korea. Yoon’s visit was timed to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the South Korea-U.S. alliance that emerged in the wake of the 1950-53 Korean War.

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The Walt Disney Co. sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday, alleging unconstitutional political retaliation against the entertainment giant after it disagreed with Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” legislation. In its lawsuit, Disney said it had no choice but to sue after exhausting other efforts at a resolution, aiming to protect Disney World’s employees, guests and developers “from a relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint unpopular with certain State officials.”

The Disney suit said: “A targeted campaign of government retaliation — orchestrated at every level by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney’s protected speech — now threatens Disney’s business operations, jeopardizes its economic future, and violates its constitutional rights” The suit added that DeSantis has made it clear that he won’t stop and plans to escalate punitive actions against Disney for expressing political free speech.

Disney’s lawsuit also points out how DeSantis recently declared that he also planned to look at things such as taxes on hotels, tolls on the roads, and developing some of the property Disney owns with more amusements parks. The lawsuit alleges that a newly formed DeSantis-appointed tourist board violated the company’s contract rights, and did so without just compensation or due process. The company is asking the court to declare Florida’s legislative action unlawful.

DeSantis has argued that Disney, which employs roughly 75,000 people in the Florida, had been operating with unfair advantages for decades. DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern said Wednesday on Twitter:  “We are unaware of any legal right that a company has to operate its own government or maintain special privileges.”

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President Joe Biden pitched his economic vision and promised to deliver for American workers during a speech to labor leaders in Washington, D.C., just hours after announcing his 2024 reelection bid.

Biden said he was proud to be considered a pro-union president and will continue to push policies that will produce more union jobs, while chastising Republicans for not voting for the American Rescue Plan, the Inflation Reduction Act and other initiatives, which he said will cut the debt while supporting jobs that will construction and other jobs that boost the middle class. Speaking over the chants of “four more years”, Biden addressed the labor federation at the North America’s Building Trades Unions at the Washington Hilton, which represents 14 unions and nearly three million workers. He said “We’re on the cusp of major change. We’re creating jobs again. Manufacturing has come alive again. People can afford decent health care. Towns that have been forgotten and left behind are coming to life again because of you all — what we’re doing … Now we’ve just got to keep going. Finish the job… Wall Street did not build America, the middle class built America and unions built the middle class.”

The speech was Biden’s first public event after making his 2024 re-election bid official in a video message on Tuesday morning. Biden said that unions were responsible for growing jobs and the economy alongside him since he entered the White House, and urged workers to stick by his side: “Folks, trickle-down economics doesn’t work. We’ve got a very different plan for the economy, we, you and I together, we’re turning things around, and we’re doing it in a big way.”

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