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Stars including Nicole Kidman, Elton John and LL Cool J have paid tribute to singer and songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who has died aged 76.

The performer – known for his laid-back approach to life and credited with creating the tropical rock genre – died at his home in Sag Harbor, on Long Island, in America, according to a statement on his official website.

Jimmy Buffett dies

Best known for his 1970s hit Margaritaville – named after the popular cocktail – Buffett had last performed during a surprise appearance in Rhode Island, in early July.

He had been fighting Merkel cell skin cancer – a rare and aggressive cancer which tends to first develop on the face, head or neck before spreading to other parts of the body – for four years.

Nicole Kidman, whose country singer husband Keith Urban had previously performed with Buffett, shared photos in her Instagram story which showed them chatting, along with the message: “Remembering the good times. You will be missed xx.”

Elton John wrote in his Instagram story: “Jimmy Buffett was a unique and treasured entertainer. His fans adored him and he never let them down.

“This is the saddest of news. A lovely man gone way too soon. Condolences to (his wife) Jane and the family from (my husband) David (Furnish) and me.”

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Rapper LL Cool J wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Rest in power Jimmy Buffett, I’m glad we had time to vibe. You were and always will be a truly inspiring human.”

Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson posted a picture of one of Buffett’s album covers on social media with the message: “Love and mercy, Jimmy Buffett.”

Actor Miles Teller shared photos taken with Buffett, with the poignant messages, “‘I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination’ – the legend Jimmy Buffett,” and “Where it all ends, I can’t fathom, my friends. If I knew I might drop my anchor” which he shared on social media.

Music was about ‘fishing, diving, dreaming’

Founding his group, the Coral Reefer Band, in 1975, Buffett earned two Grammy Award nods, two Academy of Country Music Awards and a Country Music Association Award over his seven-decade career.

With his fans dubbed the Parrot Heads, much of his music portrayed a sun, sea and sand-loving lifestyle in a tropical tourist location.

Living the life he portrayed in his songs, he accepted an honorary doctorate in music from the University of Miami in 2015 wearing flip-flops and sunglasses.

A canny businessman as well as a singer, he used the title of his 1977 hit Margaritaville as the brand of his billion-dollar empire, which encompassed restaurants, clothing, casinos, a radio station and more.

The song itself was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2016.

A former journalist, his musical writing had been praised by Bob Dylan, and he had also written bestselling books of both fiction and non-fiction.

A man of many talents, he was also a skilled pilot and sailor.

His ethos: ‘Take every good opportunity and go live it’

Paying a very personal tribute to Buffett on Instagram, professional surfer Kelly Slater, 51, said that since he met Buffett in France in 2010, eight years after his own father had died, the singer and songwriter had “kind of became a surrogate” father to him.

He summed up the themes of Buffett’s music as “fishing, diving, dreaming about being in the tropics, playing music, and just living the dream”, going on to describe the impact the star had had on his life.

Slater wrote: “He told me life was too short not to take every good opportunity that came along and go live it.

“I’m not sure I’ve met many people with as positive an attitude who were as welcoming and giving as Jimmy has been to me, just one of the many thousands of friends he’s had around this world… I really don’t want to believe such a fine man is gone but I’m thankful and lucky for the times we had.”

He ended his post, “Fins Up!”, a phrase he said Buffett always signed off with.

Announcing his death on Saturday, a message on Buffett’s Instagram read: “Jimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1 surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs.

“He lived his life like a song ’til the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.”

Buffett is survived by his wife Jane, daughters Savannah and Sarah, son Cameron, and his six devoted dogs.

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Five soldiers injured in shooting at US Army base in Georgia

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Five soldiers injured in shooting at US Army base in Georgia

Five soldiers have been injured in a shooting at an army base in the US – with authorities placing the location in “lockdown”.

“The installation was locked down at 11.04am and law enforcement is on the scene,” the Fort Stewart base in Georgia wrote on Facebook.

It said the incident took place at the 2nd Armoured Brigade Combat Team area and casualties had been reported.

The gunman has been arrested and there is “no active threat to the community”, the base added.

“The incident remains under investigation and no additional information will be released until the investigation is complete,” it said. The lockdown was lifted at 12.10pm local time.

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Governor Brian Kemp said he and his family were “saddened by today’s tragedy”.

“We are keeping the victims, their families, and all those who answer the call to serve in our hearts and prayers, and we ask that Georgians everywhere do the same,” he wrote on X.

Fort Stewart is around 25 miles (362km) southeast of Atlanta and is the largest US Army base east of the Mississippi River. It houses thousands of soldiers assigned to the army’s 3rd Infantry Division and their family members.

The fort’s three schools, which have nearly 1,400 students, were also placed under lockdown. Three schools outside the base also took steps similar to a lockdown “out of an abundance of caution”.

Donald Trump has been briefed on the shooting and the US president is monitoring the situation, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X.

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RFK Jr announces US is scrapping $500m of vaccine projects

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RFK Jr announces US is scrapping 0m of vaccine projects

America’s vaccine-sceptic health secretary has announced $500m (£375.8m) worth of cuts to their development in the country.

The US health department is cancelling contracts and pulling funding for jabs to fight viruses like COVID-19 and the flu, it was announced on Tuesday.

Robert F Kennedy Jr, known as RFK Jr, said 22 projects developing mRNA vaccines will be halted. It is the latest in a series of decisions to reduce US vaccine programmes.

Read more: Who is Donald Trump’s health chief?

The health secretary has fired the panel that makes vaccine recommendations, reduced recommendations for COVID-19 shots, and refused to endorse vaccines despite a worsening measles outbreak.

RFK Jr claims the US will now prioritise “safer, broader vaccine strategies, like whole-virus vaccines and novel platforms that don’t collapse when viruses mutate”.

Responding to the announcement of cuts, Mike Osterholm, a University of Minnesota expert on infectious diseases and pandemic preparations, said: “I don’t think I’ve seen a more dangerous decision in public health in my 50 years in the business.”

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Is US politics fuelling a deadly measles outbreak?

Dr Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said RFK Jr’s move was short-sighted and that mRNA vaccines “certainly saved millions of lives”, including during the pandemic.

MRNA vaccines work by delivering a snippet of genetic code into the body that triggers an immune response, rather than introducing a real version of the virus.

According to the UK Health Security Agency, the “leading advantage of mRNA vaccines is that they can be designed and produced more quickly than traditional vaccines”.

Moderna, which was studying a combo mRNA shot that can tackle COVID and flu for the US health department, previously said it believed mRNA could speed up production of flu jabs compared with traditional vaccines.

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The Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in a syringe before being administered to a
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A COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic. File pic: PA

Scientists are also exploring how mRNA could be used in cancer immunotherapies and in other illnesses.

At the White House earlier this year, billionaire tech entrepreneur Larry Ellison praised mRNA for its potential to treat cancer.

RFK Jr touts ‘effective’ alternative

The health department said the abandoned mRNA projects signal a “shift in vaccine development priorities.”

“Let me be absolutely clear, HHS supports safe, effective vaccines for every American who wants them,” Mr Kennedy said in a statement.

Later, he said work is underway on an alternative – a “universal vaccine” that mimics “natural immunity”.

“It could be effective – we believe it’s going to be effective – against not only coronaviruses, but also flu,” he said.

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Bill and Hillary Clinton subpoenaed in Jeffrey Epstein probe

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Bill and Hillary Clinton subpoenaed in Jeffrey Epstein probe

The US House Oversight Committee has issued subpoenas for depositions with former president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton relating to the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

The Republican-controlled committee also subpoenaed the Justice Department for files relating to the paedophile financier, as well as eight former top law enforcement officials.

Donald Trump has denied prior knowledge of Epstein‘s crimes, claiming he ended their relationship a long time ago.

Trump and Epstein at a party together in 1992. Pic: NBC News
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Mr Trump and Mr Epstein at a party together in 1992. Pic: NBC News

The US president has repeatedly tried to draw a line under the Justice Department’s decision not to release a full accounting of the investigation, but politicians from both major political parties, as well as many in Mr Trump’s political base, have refused to drop their interest in the Epstein files.

Epstein died in a New York jail cell in 2019 awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, and since then, conspiracy theories have swirled about what information investigators gathered on him and who else may have been involved in his crimes.

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee initiated the subpoenas for the Clintons last month, as well as demanding all communications between former president Joe Biden’s Democrat administration and the Justice Department about Epstein.

The committee previously issued a subpoena for an interview with Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, who had been serving a prison sentence in Florida for luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. She was recently transferred to another facility in Texas.

Mr Clinton was among those acquainted with Epstein before the criminal investigation against him in Florida became public two decades ago. He has never been accused of wrongdoing by any of the women who say Epstein abused them.

Mr Clinton previously said, through a spokesperson, that while he travelled on Epstein’s jet, he never visited his homes and had no knowledge of his crimes.

Read more:
All we know about Trump and Epstein’s ‘friendship’

This is a rare escalation

The subpoenaing of former president Bill Clinton is an escalation, both legally and politically.

Historically, it is rare for congressional oversight to demand deposition from former presidents of the United States.

Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend and accomplice, had already been summonsed.

But the House Oversight Committee has now added Bill and Hillary Clinton, several former Attorneys General and former FBI directors to its list.

It signals bipartisan momentum – Democrats voting with Republicans for transparency.

The committee will now hear from several people with known ties to Epstein, his connection with Bill Clinton having been well-documented.

But the subpoenas set up a potential clash between Congress and the Department of Justice.

Donald Trump, the candidate, had vowed to release them. A government led by Mr Trump, the president, chose not to.

If Attorney General Pam Bondi still refuses to release the files, it will fuel claims of a constitutional crisis in the United States.

But another day of Epstein headlines demonstrates the enduring public interest in this case.

The subpoenas give the Justice Department until 19 August to hand over the requested records.

The committee is also asking the former officials to appear for depositions throughout August, September and October, concluding with Hillary Clinton on 9 October and Bill Clinton on 14 October.

Although several former presidents, including Mr Trump, have been issued congressional subpoenas, none has ever appeared before members under compulsion.

Last month, Mr Trump instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi to release information presented to the grand jury that indicted Maxwell for helping Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls.

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