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By James Gregory and Noor Nanji, BBC News Alain Delon in 1967's Le Samourai. Photo: FILMS BORDERIE - FIDA CINEMATOGR / AFP French film legend Alain Delon has died at the age of 88. The actor was a star of the golden era of French cinema, known for his tough-guy persona on screen in hits including Le Samourai and Borsalino. "He passed away peacefully in his home in Douchy, surrounded by his three children and his family," a statement released to AFP news agency said. Delon has been in poor health in recent years and become a virtual recluse. More recently, the breakdown of his family had been making headlines in France. Once described as the most beautiful man in the movies, Delon starred in hits from the 1960s including The Leopard, Purple Noon and Rocco and his Brothers. Alain De...

By Imogen Foulkes, BBC Geneva correspondent Munitions are buried beneath Lake Brienz in the Swiss Alps. Photo: AFP / Fabrice Coffrini Tourists enjoying the picture postcard views of Lakes Lucerne, Thun or Lake Neuchatel might be surprised to learn what lies beneath those pristine alpine waters. For years the Swiss military used the lakes as dumping grounds for old munition, believing it could be disposed of safely there. In Lake Lucerne alone there are an estimated 3,300 tonnes of munition, and 4,500 tonnes in the waters of Neuchatel, which the Swiss air force used for bombing practice until 2021. Some munitions are at depths of 150 to 220 metres, but others in Lake Neuchatel are just six or seven metres below the surface. Now, the Swiss defence department is offering 50,000 francs (...

X is owned by billionaire Elon Musk. Photo: Beata Zawrzel / NurPhoto via AFP Media platform X said on Saturday it would close its operations in Brazil "effective immediately" due to what it called "censorship orders" by Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes. X, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, claims Moraes secretly threatened one of the company's legal representatives in the South American country with arrest if it did not comply with legal orders to take down some content from its platform. The social media giant published pictures of a document allegedly signed by Moraes which says a daily fine of 20,000 reais (NZ$6000) and an arrest decree would be imposed against X representative Rachel Nova Conceicao if the platform did not fully comply to Moraes' orders. "To protect the safety of ou...

By George Sandeman & Brandon Drenon, BBC News Former US President Donald Trump shortly after the assassination attempt. Photo: JEFF SWENSEN / AFP / GETTY A police sniper potentially saved lives by shooting the rifle of Donald Trump's would-be assassin and knocking him down, an investigation says. According to a report by Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins, the sniper's bullet damaged Thomas Matthew Crooks's gun and disrupted his aim after he took his first shots in Butler, Pennsylvania. Moments later, a Secret Service sniper killed him. Read more: The report comes as the Secret Service temporarily reassigns some bodyguards from President Joe Biden to Trump, according to US media. Trump will also be given bulletproof glass protection to allow him to resume outdoor rallies. The fo...

By Nidal Al-Mughrabi, Ramadan Abed and Jaidaa Ahmad for Reuters Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike in al-Zawayda in the central Gaza Strip on 17 August. Photo: MAJDI FATHI / NurPhoto via AFP At least 17 Palestinians have been killed and dozens wounded in an Israeli strike in the central Gaza town of Zawayda, health officials say, as Israel issued new evacuation orders, citing Hamas rocket fire nearby. Israel also announced the names of two soldiers Israeli media reported were killed on Saturday afternoon when a roadside bomb exploded in the central Gaza Strip, and an air strike in the occupied West Bank that it said killed two senior Hamas militants involved in the killing of an Israeli. The violence occurred before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was expected to...

By Nathan Layne and Joseph Ax, Reuters Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/AFP Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says he believes Democrat Kamala Harris will be easier to beat than President Joe Biden even as some polls show her edging ahead in the race for the 5 November presidential election. Trump, the former president, spoke on Saturday (local time) at a rally in Wilkes-Barre in northeastern Pennsylvania, a state looming large in the campaign. Vice President Harris will conduct a bus tour of western Pennsylvania starting in Pittsburgh on Sunday, ahead of the kickoff of the Democratic National Convention on Monday in Chicago. "I believe she will be easier to beat than him," said Trump, referring to her as "radical" and a "lunatic". Trump has sought to portray Har...

Photo: Photo12 via AFP The hat worn by actor Harrison Ford in the second instalment of the Indiana Jones film franchise has sold for over $US600,000 at auction. The brown felt fedora - specifically made for the Temple of Doom film - fetched $US630,000 ($NZD1.040 million) in Los Angeles on Thursday. Other items of movie memorabilia were sold at the same time including props from Star Wars, Harry Potter and James Bond productions. Jones, an adventuring archaeologist, is seen with the hat early on in the movie where he and his companions jump from a crashing plane in an inflatable raft. During the scene, he is on board a plane with nightclub singer Wilhelmina "Willie" Scott, played by Kate Capshaw, and his 12-year-old friend Short Round, played by Ke Huy Quan, while escaping the clutches of...