Max Nash, AP photographer who covered war, dies at 77

Photographer Max Nash, who covered the conflicts in Southeast Asia and the Middle East and helped nurture a new generation of female photojournalists during more than 40 years with The Associated Press, has died after collapsing at home. He was 77.

Known in his youth for a mop of flaming red hair, eccentric colour combinations in his clothes and the Gitanes he smoked until giving them up later in life, Nash also shot Formula One auto racing, celebrity Red Carpet events and politics before retiring from the AP in 2004.

He didn’t want to hang up his cameras, though, and continued working as a freelancer for more than a decade.

Charles Aznavour, the French crooner and actor whose performing career spanned eight decades and who seduced fans around the world with his versatile tenor, lush lyrics and kinetic stage presence, has died. He was 94.

One of France’s most recognized faces, Aznavour sang to sold-out concert halls until the end, resorting to a prompter only after having written upwards of 1,000 songs by his own estimate, including the classic “La Boheme.”

His death was confirmed by the singer’s producer, Gerard Drouout Productions, and the French Culture Ministry. “Thank you, M. Aznavour,” government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux tweeted.

Often compared to Frank Sinatra, Aznavour started his career as a songwriter for Edith Piaf. The French chanteuse took him under her wing. Like her, his fame ultimately reached well outside France: Aznavour was named entertainer of the century in an online poll by CNN and Time magazine in 1999.

In a career that spanned 80 years, Aznavour sold more than 180 million records, according to his official biography.

He broke an arm last May but was set to start a new tour in November in France, starting in Paris.

BFMTV, the French news station, said he had just returned from a tour of Japan.

Aznavour was one of the Armenian diaspora’s most recognized voices and vocal defenders, but he sang in numerous languages, particularly English. His reputation in the United States spanned generations.

In a 2013 interview Aznavour suggested he would sing until the age of 100.