National Obituaries

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Nikola Pokrivač, a former Croatia national team midfielder who played at the 2008 European Championship, has died in a car accident, his country's soccer federation said. He was 39.

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Joe Thompson, a former Manchester United academy player who made more than 200 appearances for local club Rochdale, has died. He was 36.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Nora Aunor, who became one of the biggest stars of Philippine cinema during a career that spanned seven decades, has died. Aunor died Wednesday, according to social media posts from her children. She was 71.

LIBREVILLE, Gabon (AP) — The Gabonese soccer federation announced Wednesday that Aaron Boupendza, a striker for its men's national team, has died after falling from the 11th floor of a building in China.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Wink Martindale, the genial host of such hit game shows as “Gambit” and “Tic-Tac-Dough” who also did one of the first recorded television interviews with a young Elvis Presley, has died. He was 91.

Former NFL tight end Don Hasselbeck, who won a Super Bowl in his nine-year career and was the father of two NFL quarterbacks, died Monday. He was 70. Hasselbeck's son, Matt, said his father died after going into cardiac arrest at his home.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel literature laureate and a giant of Latin American letters, died Sunday. He was 89.

VANCOUVER — Larry Donovan, a former head coach of the B.C. Lions, has died. He was 84. The Lions confirmed Donovan's death Monday. The cause was not divulged. Donovan joined the Lions as special-teams and defensive-line coach in 1986.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Tommy Helms, the slick-fielding infielder for the Cincinnati Reds who was the 1966 NL Rookie of the Year and had two short stints as the team's manager, has died. He was 83.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Former Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, a moderate who extended the country’s political freedoms but was criticized for lackluster leadership, has died of heart disease. He was 85.