World News

BERLIN — The Rev. Georg Ratzinger, the older brother of Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI who earned renown in his own right as a director of an acclaimed German boys’ choir, has died. He was 96.

PARIS — France announced Wednesday that it is suspending its involvement in a NATO naval operation in the Mediterranean Sea after a standoff with a Turkish warship, amid growing tensions within the military alliance over the conflict in Libya.

WASHINGTON — U.S. construction spending fell 2.1% in May with both home building and nonresidential activity declining. The Commerce Department said on Wednesday the May decline followed an even larger 3.5% fall in April.

DENVER — A pistol-packing restaurant owner who has expressed support for a far-right conspiracy theory has upset five-term U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton in Colorado's primary elections.

ANKARA, Turkey — Up to 60 migrants may have been trapped in a boat that sank in an eastern lake last week, Turkey’s interior minister said Wednesday.

LONDON — Britain announced Wednesday that it was extending residency rights to up to 3 million Hong Kongers eligible for the British National Overseas passport, stressing that it would uphold its historic duty to a former British colony after Beijing

BANGKOK — Thailand has begun a fifth phase of relaxations of COVID-19 restrictions, allowing the reopening of schools and high-risk entertainment venues such as pubs and massage parlours that had been shut since mid-March.

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan on Wednesday opened an office to facilitate migration from Hong Kong following China’s passage of a national security law for the former British colony seen as sharply restricting political opposition and freedom of speech.

BEIRUT — With Beirut’s airport partially reopening from a three-month virus shutdown, the government is hoping thousands of Lebanese expatriates will return for the summer — and bring dollars desperately needed to prop up the crashing economy.

MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s oldest legacy airline, Aeromexico, said Tuesday it has filed for Chapter 11 reorganization, a form of bankruptcy in which the carrier can keep operating while its debts and obligations are sorted out.