The United States and its allies have clashed with Iran and its ally Russia over Western claims that Tehran is supplying Moscow with drones that have been attacking Ukraine. And the U.S. accused the …

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte apologized Monday on behalf of his government for the Netherlands’ role in slavery and the slave trade, in a speech welcomed by activists as historic. “Today I apologize,” Rutte said in a 20-minute speech that was greeted with silence by an invited audience at the National Archive.

BEIJING (AP) — China's health authorities on Monday announced two COVID-19 deaths — the country's first reported fatalities in weeks — amid an expected surge of illnesses after it eased its strict “zero-COVID” approach. Unofficial reports point to a widespread wave of new coronavirus cases, and relatives of victims and people who work in the funeral business said deaths tied to COVID-19 were increasing.

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai navy ships and helicopters searched Monday for more than 30 sailors still missing more than 17 hours after a warship sank in rough seas in the Gulf of Thailand. As of Monday afternoon, 75 sailors from the HTMS Sukhothai corvette had been rescued and 31 were still missing, the navy said. The high waves that caused the accident had lessened since Sunday night's sinking, but were still high enough to endanger small boats, the navy said.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Multiple explosive drones attacked Ukraine's capital before dawn Monday, local authorities reported, as Russian President Vladimir Putin prepared to visit ally Belarus, which provided the Kremlin's forces with a launch pad for Russia's invasion of Ukraine almost 10 months ago. The drone attack came three days after what Ukrainian officials described as one of Russia's biggest assaults on Kyiv since the war started and as Moscow presses on with its effort to torment Ukraine from the air amid a broad battlefield stalemate.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa’s coastal city of Durban has closed its North Beach after three people died when they were hit by a large wave, emergency officials said on Sunday.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Monday it fired a test satellite in an important final-stage test for the development of its first spy satellite, a key military capability coveted by its leader Kim Jong Un along with other high-tech weapons systems.

BEIJING (AP) — Outside a funeral home in eastern Beijing, dozens of people were bundled up in parkas and hats against the freezing temperatures Friday evening as workers in full protective suits wheeled out coffins one by one. When an employee with a clipboard shouted the name of the dead, a relative trundled up to the coffin to examine the body. One of the relatives told The Associated Press their loved one had been infected with COVID-19.

BERLIN (AP) — A huge aquarium in Berlin burst, spilling debris, water and more than a thousand tropical fish out of the AquaDom tourist attraction in the heart of the German capital early Friday. Police said parts of the building, which also contains a hotel, cafes and a chocolate store, were damaged as 264,000 gallons of water poured from the aquarium shortly before 6 a.m. Berlin's fire service said two people were slightly injured.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's capital came under one of the biggest attacks of the war Friday as Russia's invading forces fired dozens of missiles across the country, Ukrainian officials said, reporting strikes in at least four cities that triggered emergency power outages. Gunfire from air defense systems and thudding explosions combined with the wail of air raid sirens as the barrage targeted critical infrastructure in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih and Zaporhizhzhia.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Business is bouncing back in Bethlehem after two years in the doldrums during the coronavirus pandemic, lifting spirits in the traditional birthplace of Jesus ahead of the Christmas holiday. Streets are bustling with tour groups. Hotels are fully booked, and months of deadly Israeli-Palestinian fighting appears to be having little effect on the vital tourism industry.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Patriot missile systems have long been a hot ticket item for the U.S. and allies in contested areas of the world as a coveted shield against incoming missiles. In Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific, they guard against potential strikes from Iran, Somalia and North Korea. So it was a critical turning point when news broke this week that the U.S. has agreed to send a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine — something Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has sought for months to augment his country’s air defenses.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia's Foreign Ministry warned Thursday that if the United States confirms reports that it plans to deliver sophisticated air defense missiles to Ukraine, it would be “another provocative move by the U.S.” that could prompt a response from Moscow. Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a weekly briefing Thursday that “the U.S. has effectively become a party” to the war in Ukraine, following reports that it will provide Kyiv with Patriot surface-to-air missiles, the most advanced the West has yet provided to help Ukraine's military repel Russian aerial attacks.

LONDON (AP) — German tennis legend Boris Becker has been freed from prison after serving eight months of his sentence and now faces deportation from the U.K. The 55-year-old German, who has lived in Britain since 2012, was released on Thursday morning ahead of his deportation, the British news agency Press Association reported, without citing sources.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru’s new government declared a national emergency Wednesday as it struggled to calm violent protests over President Pedro Castillo's ouster, suspending the rights of “personal security and freedom” across the Andean nation for 30 days. Acts of vandalism, violence, and highway blockades as thousands of Peruvians are in the streets “require a forceful and authoritative response from the government,” Defense Minister Luis Otarola Peñaranda said.

LONDON (AP) — Helicopters and lifeboats swooped to the English Channel off the coast of Kent in southern England to rescue a small boat that capsized in the freezing water, killing four people, authorities said Wednesday.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian authorities said they thwarted a Russian attack on Kyiv and the surrounding region Wednesday as their air defense system intercepted and destroyed 13 explosive-laden drones, although wreckage from some of them damaged five buildings. No casualties were reported. The attempted strikes underlined how vulnerable Ukraine's capital remains to the regular Russian attacks that have devastated infrastructure and population centers in recent weeks, mostly in the country's east and south.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is poised to approve sending a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine, finally agreeing to an urgent request from Ukrainian leaders desperate for more robust weapons to shoot down incoming Russian missiles, U.S. officials said Tuesday. The approval is likely to come later this week and could be announced as early as Thursday, said three officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision is not final and has not been made public.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Supporters of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro clashed with police Monday, setting fire to several vehicles and allegedly attempting to invade the federal police’s headquarters in the capital city of Brasilia. Images of chaos as a small number of protesters, many wearing the yellow and green of Brazil's flag that has come to symbolize Bolsonarismo, roamed the city, circulated on local television channels and social media.

Iran executed a second prisoner on Monday convicted over crimes committed during the nationwide protests challenging the country's theocracy, publicly hanging him from a construction crane as a gruesome warning to others. The execution of Majidreza Rahnavard came less than a month after he allegedly fatally stabbed two members of a paramilitary force after purportedly becoming angry about security forces killing of protesters.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru's newest president, Dina Boluarte, gave in to protesters' demands early Monday announcing in a nationally televised address that she will send Congress a proposal to move up elections. Boluarte's decision came after thousands of demonstrators took to the streets around Peru for another day on Sunday to demand that she resign and schedule elections to replace her and Congress. The protests turned deadly, with at least two reported deaths in a remote community in the Andes, according to officials.

BOYARKA, Ukraine (AP) — Bice is an American pit bull terrier with an important and sensitive job in Ukraine — comforting children traumatized by Russia's war. The playful 8-year-old gray dog arrived on time this week to a rehabilitation center on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital, ready to start his duties. As Bice waited in a hallway, inside what looked like a school classroom with paintings and some books, a dozen children were seated around a table listening to Oksana Sliepova, a psychologist.

BEIJING (AP) — China planned to stop tracking some travel on Monday, potentially reducing the likelihood people will be forced into quarantine for visiting COVID-19 hot spots, as part of an uncertain exit from the strict pandemic policies that helped fuel widespread protests. At midnight, a smartphone app that recorded a person's travel between cities and provinces will be disabled.

LONDON (AP) — Three young boys who fell through ice covering a lake in central England have died and a fourth remains hospitalized as weather forecasters issued severe weather warnings for large parts of the United Kingdom. Police in full uniform jumped into the water and broke through the ice using their bare hands to pull the boys, ages 8, 10 and 11, from the icy waters Sunday afternoon and rushed them to the hospital in the West Midlands, about 100 miles north of London. But they could not be revived after suffering cardiac arrest.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A hotel catering to foreign visitors in Afghanistan's capital of Kabul was attacked Monday and three of the assailants were killed, a Taliban official said. Two foreign residents were injured when they jumped out of windows to escape, said Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government's spokesman. Residents reported explosions and gunfire and photos and video posted on social media showed smoke rising from the building.