International

BERLIN — Helmut Kohl, the physically imposing German chancellor whose reunification of a nation divided by the Cold War put Germany at the heart of a united Europe, died Friday at his home in Ludwigshafen. He was 87.

BEIJING — A 22-year-old man made the bomb that exploded at the front gate of a kindergarten in eastern China, killing eight people, including himself, investigators said Friday.

MOSCOW — The ministry said Friday that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in a Russian strike in late May along with other senior group commanders.

BANGKOK — The junta chief issued an order using his absolute power Thursday night to remove all legal obstacles preventing China from taking charge of every step in the construction of the high-speed railway project.

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia's police chief said the death of a teenager who was allegedly assaulted for being effeminate is being investigated as a murder.

MARIEL, Cuba — Church bells rang out and Cubans strung American flags from their windows when President Barack Obama announced in December 2014 that the U.S. would stop trying to push Cuba toward collapse.

BEIJING — Police: Explosion strikes entrance to kindergarten in eastern China; reports of casualties.

NEW YORK — Thailand’s ambassador to Russia was elected Wednesday to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

LONDON — With smoke still swirling around the charred remains of Grenfell Tower in west London, residents and community leaders demanded to know Wednesday how a ferocious fire could have swept through the high-rise apartment block with such speed that it killed at least 12 people.

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Gunmen posing as military forces were holding an unknown number of hostages inside a popular restaurant in Somalia's capital in an attack that began when a car bomb exploded at the gate, police and a witness said, while the extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility. At least 17 people, including foreigners, were dead, police and an ambulance driver said.