Deaths of note from around the world:

Vince Flynn, 47: Best-selling author who wrote the Mitch Rapp counterterrorism thriller series and sold more than 15 million books in the U.S. alone. Died Wednesday in Minnesota after a more than two-year battle with prostate cancer, according to friends and his publisher.

Gyula Horn 80: Former Hungarian prime minister who played a key role in opening the Iron Curtain. He was best known internationally for his announcement as foreign minister in 1989 that Hungary would allow East German refugees to leave the country for West Germany, one of the key events that helped bring an end to communism in Eastern Europe. Died Wednesday in Budapest.

Sherwood Ross, 92: Turned his father’s Brooklyn galvanizing company into Ross Bicycles, for many years America’s third-largest bicycle manufacturer. Died on June 4 in Pembroke Pines, Fla.