Tributes are pouring in from the worlds of entertainment and politics for Aretha Franklin, the US singer known as the Queen of Soul, who died on Thursday at 76.
Her family confirmed her death had been due to advance pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type.
Franklin performed at inauguration events for three US presidents and was a powerful advocate for the civil rights movement.
“For more than 50 years, she stirred our souls,” Bill and Hillary Clinton said in a joint statement.
Barack Obama said her music had “helped define the American Experience.”
Remembered for hits like Respect and I Say A Little Prayer, Franklin won 18 Grammys and had 17 Top Ten US chart hits over a musical career spanning seven decades.
She was diagnosed with cancer in 2010, and announced last year she was retiring from music.
The singer died at her home in Detroit surrounded by family and loved ones, her family said in a statement.
In 2005, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W Bush, when she was saluted for “capturing the hearts of millions of Americans.”
She was “one of America’s greatest national treasures,” the Clintons said. “She was elegant, graceful, and utterly uncompromising in her artistry.”
Former President Barack Obama said in a joint statement with his wife Michelle: “In her voice, we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade – our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect.
“She helped us feel more connected to each other, more hopeful, more human. And sometimes she helped us just forget about everything else and dance.”
The current President, Donald Trump, tweeted that Franklin had been a “great woman, with a wonderful gift from God, her voice.”
The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) said Franklin had made sure “black women wouldn’t be ignored.”
The singer was praised by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) as an “iconic symbol of black pride whose music touched so many hearts and souls.”
Civil rights leader Al Sharpton said he was “deeply saddened by the passing of a beloved friend and queen/warrior” while fellow civil rights figure Jesse Jackson remarked, “Earth has lost a lot of music today.”
Nasa, the US space agency, noted that the asteroid bearing her name would keep on orbiting.
In a statement announcing her death, her family said: “In one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our heart.
“We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family. The love she had for her children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins knew no bounds.”
Franklin gave her final performance last November at a gala in New York held in aid of the Elton John Aids Foundation.
India monsoon floods ‘kill 106’ in Kerala
More than 100 people are thought to have died in devastating monsoon floods in India’s southern state of Kerala, the worst in almost a century.
Rescuers battled torrential rains to save residents, with nearly 150,000 reportedly left homeless.
The state government said many of those who died were crushed under debris caused by landslides.
With more rains predicted and a red alert in place, the main airport has reportedly been shut until August 26.
A state official told AFP that 106 people had now died, while the Economic Times in India reports 114 have been killed.
Hundreds of troops have been deployed to rescue those caught up in the flooding, alongside helicopters and lifeboats.
The government has urged people not to ignore evacuation orders.
It is distributing food to tens of thousands who have fled to higher ground.
“We’re witnessing something that has never happened before in the history of Kerala,” Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters.
“Almost all dams are now opened. Most of our water treatment plants are submerged. Motors are damaged.”
He added that the failure of the state government of neighbouring Tamil Nadu to release water from a dam had made the situation worse.
Kerala has 41 rivers flowing into the Arabian Sea.
Parts of Kerala’s commercial capital, Kochi, are also underwater, snaring up roads and railways across the state – a popular tourist destination.
India’s Prime Minister and Home Minister have both offered federal support.
Schools in all 14 districts of Kerala have been closed down and some districts have banned tourists citing safety concerns.
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US military parade ordered by Trump postponed ‘to 2019’
US defence officials have postponed a planned Veterans Day weekend military parade through the streets of Washington DC until at least 2019.
The parade was originally conceived to commemorate the centenary of the end of World War 1 and to honour veterans.
But a Pentagon official said it had been delayed at least one year.
Provisional figures released earlier on Thursday said the event could cost about $90 million (£71m) – more than three times an original estimate.
US President Donald Trump requested a parade after seeing France’s Bastille Day event in 2017 and expressing a desire to “top it”.
A Pentagon spokesperson, Colonel Rob Manning, said in a statement that the Department of Defence and the White House “have now agreed to explore opportunities in 2019.”
Earlier on Thursday, a US official told the AFP news agency the planning estimate for the event had ballooned to as much as $92m (£72m).
The parade’s budget director had offered an estimate of between $10m (£7.8m) and $30m (£23.6m) when the White House announced its request in February.
A memo at the time said no tanks would be used so as not to damage the roads of the nation’s capital.
The city’s governing District of Columbia Council was critical of the plan when announced, voicing its displeasure on Twitter.
Members of the Democratic Party were similarly sceptical, with congressman Jim McGovern declaring it “an absurd waste of money” on Twitter and saying Mr. Trump “acts more like dictator than president.”
The Pentagon said the parade was planned to travel from the White House to the Capitol, and would feature a “heavy air component at the end.”
It was planned to include “wheeled vehicles only.”
The focus was to be on the work of US military veterans through the ages, starting with the American Revolutionary War.
US media pointed out that Donald Trump cancelled planned military exercises with South Korea in June after his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on the grounds it would “save a fortune.”
Critics have also compared the parade plan unfavourably to spectacles favoured by autocratic nations.
The US had a military parade in 1991 following the end of its successful campaign to force Saddam Hussein’s troops out of Kuwait.
Some social media users questioned the purpose of the parade at all, and said instead the money should be used to directly help veterans.
NYU offers free tuition for all its medical students
The New York University School of Medicine will provide free tuition for all present and future students, the university announced.
Citing the risk of “overwhelming” debt, it said every student would qualify regardless of merit or financial need.
NYU said financial worries were driving graduates to more lucrative specialties, pushing doctors away from more general positions.
The scholarship covers annual tuition costs of up to $55,000 (£43,000).
A study produced by the Association of American Medical Colleges estimated that in 2017 75% of medical students graduated in debt.
The average debt level was $190,000 (£149,000).
The university has reportedly been working for more than a decade to accrue the necessary funds to pay for tuition, and hopes to raise a total of $600 million (£472m) to make the scholarships available permanently.
Students must still however cover the cost of living expenses and accommodation.
NYU School of Medicine made the surprise announcement at its annual White Coat Ceremony on Thursday – when new students receive a white lab coat as they begin their studies.
In their statement, the university said debt is “fundamentally reshaping the medical profession in ways that are adversely affecting healthcare.”
Graduates move towards higher-paying areas of Medicine over paediatrics, primary care or gynaecology due to their “staggering student loans.”
Dr Robert Grossman said that “aspiring physicians and surgeons should not be prevented from pursuing a career in Medicine because of the prospect of overwhelming financial debt.”
NYU thanked more than 2,500 supporters who helped bring the scheme to fruition.
It said it was the only top 10 US medical school to offer such help.
