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Kris Kristofferson, the country music legend and A Star Is Born actor, has died at the age of 88.

The singer-songwriter died peacefully at his home in Maui, Hawaii, on Saturday, family spokesperson Ebie McFarland said.

No cause of death was given but the musician had been suffering from memory loss since he was in his 70s.

Born in Brownsville, Texas, Kristofferson started his music career in the mid-1960s.

Despite being a singer himself, many of his songs were best known as performed by others, including Ray Price’s US number one hit For the Good Times and Janis Joplin’s 1971 single Me And Bobby McGee.

In the mid-1980s he joined forces with Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings to create the country supergroup The Highwaymen, releasing three albums before all four returned to their solo careers.

FILE - Kris Kristofferson poses for a portrait in Nashville, Tenn., Aug. 15, 1995. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)
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Pic: AP

Former bandmate Nelson said there was “no better songwriter alive” when talking about Kristofferson during a 2009 awards ceremony.

“Everything he writes is a standard and we’re all just going to have to live with that,” Nelson said.

Kristofferson won a Grammy Award for hit Help Me Make It Through The Night and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004.

FILE - In this Dec. 23, 1976 file photo, producer Jon Peters, from left, Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson appear at a  preview of the film, "A Star is Born," in New York. Streisand is giving an early thumbs-up to the remake of ...A Star Is Born... with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. Streisand and Kristofferson topped the 1976 version of the romantic drama about a rising performer and a fading star.  (AP Photo/Suzanne Vlamis, File)
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Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson at a preview of A Star is Born in 1976. Pic: AP

Kris Kristofferson, left, and Barbra Streisand present the award for album of the year at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
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The pair together again at the Grammy Awards in 2011. Pic: AP

As an actor, he won the 1976 Golden Globe Award for best actor after his performance in the romantic drama A Star Is Born opposite Barbra Streisand.

The film was a remake of the 1937 original with Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, and was later adapted into a musical starring Judy Garland and James Mason – and subsequently again in 2018 starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.

FILE - Members of The Highwaymen, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash appear on stage in October 1985. Kristofferson has retired after five decades. A statement from his publicist said the Country Music Hall of Famer and Grammy winner retired in 2020. His son, John, stepped in last year to oversee his father's business including his record label. The Texas-born Oxford scholar brought introspective and poetic lyrics to country music with songs like “Sunday Mornin' C
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Members of The Highwaymen, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash in 1985. Pic: AP

Kristofferson also appeared opposite Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s 1974 film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore and alongside Wesley Snipes in Marvel’s Blade in 1998.

From caretaker to hitmaker

Before the stage and screen, Kristofferson was a boxer with US organisation Golden Gloves, he also gained a master’s degree in English at the University of Oxford, later turning down an opportunity to teach at a US military academy in New York to pursue songwriting in Nashville.

Hoping for a break into the industry, he worked as a part-time caretaker at Columbia Records’ Music Row studio.

NEW YORK, NY ... May 23: Kris Kristofferson performs during the Country Music Takes Manhattan Music Festival held in Central Park on May 23, 1993 in New York City. Credit: Joseph Marzullo/MediaPunch /IPX
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Kristofferson performs at the Country Music Takes Manhattan music festival in 1993. Pic: Joseph Marzullo/MediaPunch /IPX

In a 2006 interview, Kristofferson said he might not have had a career without Cash, who he said put him on stage for the first time.

Joplin, who he had a close relationship with, changed the lyrics to make Bobby McGee a man and cut her version just days before she died in 1970 from a drug overdose. The song became a posthumous number one hit for Joplin.

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In 1973, Kristofferson married fellow songwriter Rita Coolidge with whom he had a successful duet career, earning two Grammy Awards. They divorced in 1980.

The singer is survived by his wife Lisa, his eight children and seven grandchildren, Sky News’ US partner network NBC reported.

Tributes to country music legend

Dolly Parton led fans and fellow musicians and actors in paying tribute to Kristofferson.

She described his passing as a “great loss” and said: “I will always love you.”

Streisand paid tribute to Kristofferson in a post on social media, saying: “The first time I saw Kris performing at the Troubadour club in L.A. I knew he was something special.

“Barefoot and strumming his guitar, he seemed like the perfect choice for a script I was developing, which eventually became A Star Is Born.

“My thoughts go to Kris’ wife, Lisa who I know supported him in every way possible.”

Chief executive for the Country Music Hall of Fame Kyle Young said Kristofferson left “a resounding legacy.”

The likes of Grammy-winning singer Travis Tritt, Larry Gatlin and Wynonna Judd all paid tribute as well.

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Two killed and nine injured in Philadelphia shooting

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Two killed and nine injured in Philadelphia shooting

Two people have been killed and nine injured in a shooting in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park on Memorial Day.

Police said a large number of people were gathered near Lemon Hill Drive and Sedgley Drive at around 10.30pm local time on Monday when shots were fired.

A man and a woman were killed, and three teenagers – aged 15, 16 and 17 – were among the injured, all of whom were said to be in a stable condition.

“We have not recovered any weapons at this time,” a police officer told reporters.

“This is significant. It’s Memorial Day… we understand the significance of this event and we will make sure to provide an update on Tuesday.”

Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States, usually observed on the last Monday of May.

The day is dedicated to honouring and mourning military personnel who have died in the performance of their duties.

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Police said they have made no arrests so far and they have not yet released information on any suspects.

Fairmount Park was closed late on Monday evening following the shooting.

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Trump criticises Putin after deadly strikes across Ukraine

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Trump criticises Putin after deadly strikes across Ukraine

Donald Trump has threatened Russia with more sanctions after a series of deadly strikes across Ukraine, as he said of Vladimir Putin: “What the hell happened to him?”

The US president appeared aghast at the conduct of his counterpart in the Kremlin after drone and missile attacks in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities left 12 people dead and dozens more injured.

Trump criticises Putin – latest updates

Speaking to reporters at an airport in New Jersey ahead of a flight back to Washington, Mr Trump said: “I’m not happy with Putin. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”

“He’s killing a lot of people,” he added. “I’m not happy about that.”

Mr Trump – who said he’s “always gotten along with” Mr Putin – told reporters he would consider more sanctions against Moscow.

“He’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all,” he said.

Ukraine said the barrage of strikes overnight into Sunday was the biggest aerial attack of the war so far, with 367 drones and missiles fired by Russian forces.

It came despite Mr Trump repeatedly talking up the chances of a peace agreement. He even spoke to Mr Putin on the phone for two hours last week.

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Hundreds of drones fired at Ukraine

‘Shameful’ attacks

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is ready to sign a ceasefire deal, and suggested Russia isn’t serious about signing one.

In a statement after the latest attacks on his country, he urged the US and other national leaders to increase the pressure on Mr Putin, saying silence “only encourages” him.

Mr Trump’s envoy for the country, Keith Kellogg, later demanded a ceasefire, describing the Russian attacks as “shameful”.

Three children were among those killed in the attacks, explosions shaking the cities of Kyiv, Odesa, and Mykolaiv.

Ukrainian siblings Tamara, 12, Stanislav, eight, and Roman, 17, killed in Russian airstrike. Pic: X/@Mariana_Betsa
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Ukrainian siblings Tamara, 12, Stanislav, eight, and Roman, 17, were killed in Russian airstrikes. Pic: X/@Mariana_Betsa

Before the onslaught, Russia said it had faced a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday. It said around 100 were intercepted and destroyed near Moscow and in central and southern regions.

The violence has escalated despite Russia and Ukraine completing the exchange of 1,000 prisoners each over the past three days.

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The anniversary of George Floyd’s murder is a reminder of America’s racial divides

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The anniversary of George Floyd's murder is a reminder of America's racial divides

In Minneapolis, the spot where George Floyd was murdered has been turned into a mural.

His face is depicted in street art on a pavement covered in flowers, rosaries, and other trinkets left by people who have come to pay their respects in the last five years.

His final moments, struggling for breath with white police officer Derek Chauvin’s knee on his neck, were captured in a viral video that provoked anger, upset, and outrage.

Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd's neck
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Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck

In Minneapolis and other parts of America, there were protests that at points boiled over into unrest.

The events to mark the fifth anniversary of his death took on a very different tone – one of celebration and joy.

Behind a wooden statue of a clenched fist on one end of a junction now renamed George Perry Floyd Square, people gathered in the morning.

There was a moment of prayer before a brass band began to play and the group marched, while singing and chanting.

George Perry Floyd Square, a makeshift memorial area
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George Perry Floyd Square, a makeshift memorial area

‘It made us want to fight harder’

Among those gathered in front of a makeshift stage built in the square were two of Floyd’s family members – his cousin Paris and aunt Mahalia.

To them, the man whose death sparked a racial reckoning in America and further afield, was simply “Perry,” a larger-than-life figure whose presence is missed at family gatherings.

Speaking to me while the speakers behind them thumped and people danced, they didn’t just reflect with sadness though.

There was also pride at a legacy they felt has led to change.

“It made us want to fight harder,” said Mahalia, “and it’s a feeling you cannot explain. When the whole world just stood up.”

George Floyd's aunt Mahalia and cousin Paris
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George Floyd’s aunt Mahalia and cousin Paris

Referring to Chauvin’s eventual murder charge, Paris added: “I think that from here on out, at least officers know that you’re not going to slide through the cracks. Our voices are heard more.”

The tapestry of items outside the Cup Foods convenience store, now renamed Unity Foods, is not the only makeshift memorial in the area.

A short walk away is the “Say Their Names” cemetery, an art installation honouring black people killed by the police.

Meeting me there later in the day, activist Nikema Levy says the installation and George Floyd Square are called “sacred spaces” in the community.

As someone who took to the streets at the time of Floyd’s death and a community organiser for years before that, she’s constantly stopped by people who want to speak to her.

Activist Nikema Levy speaking to Sky News
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Activist Nikema Levy speaking to Sky News

‘White supremacy on steroids’

Once we do manage to speak, Levy reminds me of a wider political picture. One that goes beyond Minneapolis and is a fraught one.

In the week of the anniversary, the US Department of Justice rolled back investigations into some of the largest police forces in the country, including in Minneapolis – a move she calls “diabolical.”

“That type of cruelty is what we have seen since Donald Trump took office on January 20th of this year,” she continued.

“From my perspective, that is white supremacy on steroids. And it should come as no surprise that he would take these types of steps, because these are the things that he talked about on the campaign trail.”

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Has US changed five years after George Floyd’s death?

‘True healing has never taken place’

Trump has argued his policing reforms will help make America’s communities safer.

Even on a day of optimism, with a community coming together, Levy’s words in front of headstones bearing the names of black people who have died at the hands of the police are a reminder of how deep the racial divides in America still are – a sentiment she leaves me with.

“From the days of slavery and Jim Crow in this country, we’ve just had the perception of healing, but true healing has never taken place,” she says.

“So the aftermath of George Floyd is yet another example of what we already know.”

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