Shohei Ohtani's dog, Decoy, made an appearance at the World Series victory parade.

A Rembrandt discovered in a Maine attic has sold for $1.4 million.

The Dutch data protection watchdog has slapped a 290 million euro ($324 million) fine on ride-hailing service Uber for allegedly transferring personal details of European drivers to the United States without adequate protection.

Sweden has dropped its investigation into a backstage altercation in May involving a Dutch contestant in the Eurovision Song Contest who was expelled from the competition hours before the final.

Police say five people have been injured in clashes between fans of England and the Netherlands ahead of the Euro 2024 semifinal game between the two teams.

A Southwest Airlines jet that was damaged after experiencing an unusual “Dutch roll” during a flight is back in service.

The Netherlands came from behind to beat Turkey 2-1 on Saturday and book its place in the European Championship semifinals.

Investigators say a Southwest Airlines plane suffered damage to parts of the structure after it went into a “Dutch roll” during a flight last month.

The king and queen of the Netherlands are taking a day of their U.S. trip to visit Savannah, Georgia — a city that is both a historic gem and a growing powerhouse in global trade.

A summary of the top storylines in the sport of field hockey that have taken place since the Tokyo Olympics, focusing on the biggest personalities looking ahead to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The Netherlands has opened a National Holocaust Museum in a ceremony presided over by the Dutch king and Israel's President Isaac Herzog, whose presence triggered protests by pro-Palestinian groups.

Dutch music producer DJ Tiësto has withdrawn from performing at Sunday's Super Bowl due to an undisclosed family matter.

A beloved Detroit donut shop that closed in 2021 will reopen next year with a new owner at the helm.

Upgrade holiday cooking or gifting with this cast iron, enamel-coated cookware set by Basque with a skillet, saucepan, and two Dutch ovens.

Court records filed Friday indicate the chief suspect in Natalee Holloway’s 2005 disappearance intends to plead guilty in an extortion case.

Salma Paralluelo has scored deep in extra time to give Spain a 2-1 win over the Netherlands and send the sixth-ranked nation into the semifinals of the Women’s World Cup for the first time.

The United States’ hold on the Women’s World Cup is over, and two-time champion Germany also exited the tournament.

Netherlands has advanced to the quarterfinals of the Women’s World Cup after a 2-0 win over South Africa.

Three powerhouse teams play on the second day of the Women’s World Cup knockout stage and at least one of the best will be eliminated.

Salvage crews have started towing a burning cargo ship loaded with thousands of new cars to a temporary anchorage location off the northern Dutch coast after smoke from the stricken vessel eased.

One of the two giant inflatable ducks floating in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor has deflated, just a day after they were unveiled to revelers.

Dutch Girl Donuts had been a Detroit favorite since the 1940s, but during the pandemic, times got tough, and the business closed down. But there's good news for the small donut company as they're officially back.

The Supreme Court of the Netherlands has ordered that a Dutch museum’s trove of historical treasures from Crimea be sent to Ukraine.

Two giant inflatable ducks are making a splash in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor, in the return of a pop-art project that sparked a frenzy in the city a decade ago.

The blockbuster exhibition of paintings by Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer has closed its doors for the final time.

China’s foreign minister has pressed his Dutch counterpart for access to advanced chipmaking technology that has been blocked on security grounds and warned against allowing what he said were unfounded fears of Beijing to spoil relations.

A Dutch salvage company has reached agreement with the United Nations to pump oil from a rusting tanker off the coast of war-ravaged Yemen.

Comedian Trevor Noah, has won the prestigious Dutch Erasmus Prize.

A Jewish group that commissioned a survey on Holocaust awareness in the Netherlands says the results show “a disturbing lack of awareness of key historical facts about the Holocaust.”.

Dutch colonizers kidnapped men, women and children and enslaved them on plantations growing sugar, coffee and other goods that built wealth at the price of misery.

The Netherlands remains without a World Cup title, losing to Argentina 4-3 on penalty kicks following a 2-2 draw in the quarterfinals.

A Salvadoran judge has ordered the provisional arrest of several retired high-ranking members of the armed forces accused of having participated in the killings of four Dutch journalists in 1982 while they were covering the Central American nation’s civil war.

Authorities say in an arrest affidavit that the 22-year-old man accused of fatally shooting a Dutch soldier and wounding two others in downtown Indianapolis over the weekend told a friend who was with him that morning that he opened fire because he “just spazzed."

Indianapolis police have arrested a man in connection with a shooting over the weekend that left one Dutch soldier dead and two wounded.

The Dutch defense minister has expressed concern about gun violence in the United States in the aftermath of a shooting in Indianapolis over the weekend that left one Dutch soldier dead and two wounded.

Before three Dutch soldiers were shot, one fatally, in downtown Indianapolis, they were training in a southern Indiana military camp where international soldiers enter highly specialized urban combat simulations they might not be able to get in their own country.

A massive fire at a container depot near a port city in southeastern Bangladesh has killed at least 49 people including nine firefighters and injured more than 100 others.

A documentary about discrimination within the ranks of Dutch police has sparked a national conversation in the Netherlands about racism.

The office of Albania's prime minister says the country has offered to NATO a naval base in an effort to highlight the tiny country’s value in the alliance “in these difficult times."

Albanian police say dozens of soccer fans have been deported back to Italy following violent clashes in Tirana ahead of Wednesday’s Europa Conference League final.

The Justice Department has announced its largest-ever financial seizure — more than $3.5 billion — and the arrests of a New York couple accused of conspiring to launder billions of dollars in cryptocurrency.

Dutch media report that a man who stood outside the home of a former Dutch foreign minister shouting and waving a burning torch has been sent to prison for six months.

A Dutch appeals court has upheld a lower court’s decision to throw out a civil case against Israel’s defense minister and another former senior military officer over their roles in a deadly 2014 airstrike.

Greece has accused Turkey's coast guard of escorting and trying to push into Greek waters a boat with migrants that was trying to illegally reach Greece.

Talks to hammer out a new ruling Dutch coalition have broken the record for the longest post-election government formation negotiations.

An Amsterdam appeals court has ruled that a trove of historical treasures from Crimea that have been stored for years at a Dutch museum must be given to Ukraine.

Dutch political party leaders are meeting to force a breakthrough in deadlocked negotiations to form a new ruling coalition.

A group of Dutch students has reimagined van life and is hitting the road to Portugal.

The Dutch king has outlined a pared-back government plan for the coming year in the traditional speech opening the new parliamentary term.

Middleweight world champion Lauren Price was among the boxers guaranteeing themselves a medal Saturday at the Tokyo Olympics.

French-Dutch airline group Air France-KLM says that the “first signs of recovery are visible” in bookings amid easing pandemic travel restrictions.

Team USA's second-seeded beach volleyball team of April Ross and Alix Klineman dumped Dutch duo Sanne Keizer and Madelein Meppelink in the rain, 20-22, 21-17, 15-5.

The data protection authority in the Netherlands has fined TikTok 750,000 euros for not offering its privacy statement in Dutch.

Reshmie Oogink was lost for words on Thursday after testing positive for COVID-19.

Dutch skateboarder Candy Jacobs, ranked No. 8 in the world in women's street skateboarding, is out of the Tokyo Olympics after testing positive for COVID-19

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands have started a three-day visit to Germany that was delayed from last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Millions of Europeans have freely lived, worked and studied in the U.K. for decades, but Brexit means that those rights are no longer automatically granted.

A painting donated to Greece by Pablo Picasso will go back on display at the newly renovated National Gallery in Athens after its recovery nine years after it was stolen and the arrest of a 49-year-old construction worker as a suspect.

A Dutch consumer organization is launching a 1.5 billion euro ($1.8 billion) claim against TikTok over what it alleges is unlawful harvesting of personal data of users of the popular video sharing platform.

The trial in a Dutch court of three Russians and a Ukrainian accused of involvement in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 has moved to the crucial merits phase when evidence will be discussed by lawyers and judges.

An 18th century burial ground has been discovered at a former sugar plantation on the Dutch Caribbean island of St. Eustatius, officials, and archaeologists say it likely contains the remains of slaves and could provide a trove of information on their lives.

Crowds have gathered in cities across the Netherlands despite authorities urging people to stick to coronavirus social distancing regulations as the country marks the King’s Day national holiday.

Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte has defended his decision to ease his country’s lockdown next week even after the Netherlands recorded 9,648 new coronavirus infections.

The Dutch caretaker prime minister has announced a significant easing in his country’s months-long coronavirus lockdown.

Dutch bank ABN AMRO says it has agreed to pay 480 million euros ($574 million) as part of a settlement with prosecutors who accused it of “serious shortcomings” in tackling money laundering.

The Dutch government has presented a roadmap for relaxing coronavirus lockdown measures, but caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte is stressing that it's still too early to ease restrictions.

Dutch police have arrested a suspect in the theft last year of two valuable paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Frans Hals from separate museums.

The Dutch government says it is temporarily halting AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccinations for people under the age of 60.

Caretaker Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s political future is in doubt after lawmakers passed a motion of censure against him that was filed by two parties in his own outgoing coalition.

FILE- In this Feb. 25, 2021, file photo, Sotheby's personnel display Scene de rue Montmartre (Street scene in Montmartre), a painting by Dutch master Vincent van Gogh at Sotheby's auction house in Paris. A rare painting by Vincent Van Gogh is being put up for auction by Sotheby's Paris on Thursday, and is expected to sell for many millions. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)PARIS – A rare painting by Vincent Van Gogh was sold at auction Thursday by Sotheby’s Paris for 13.1 million euros ($15.4 million). The auction house had expected it to sell for between 5 million euros and 8 million euros. It was painted in 1887, one year after Van Gogh moved to Paris and lived in Montmartre while he was lodging with his brother Theo.

Brian Kemp said all Georgians 16 and older will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Greg Abbott said Thursday that he’s hoping to increase the number of Texans getting COVID-19 vaccines after seeing a drop in people showing up for the shot. That’s a big jump from the roughly 1.8 million doses a week the state is currently getting. ___PHOENIX — Arizona on Thursday reported 138 confirmed coronavirus cases, the smallest daily increase reported in more than six months. The U.K. says its vaccination program has given at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to more than half the adult population.

Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte speaks with the media following exit polls in the general election in The Hague, Netherlands, March 17, 2021. (Piroschka van de Wouw/Pool via AP)THE HAGUE – What is expected to be a complex process to form a new Dutch government got underway Monday with leaders of parties that won seats in last week's parliamentary elections laying out their preferred coalition options. Rutte's VVD won 35 of the 150 seats in the lower house of parliament; D66 won 23. AdIf, as expected, Rutte leads the next government, the 54-year-old would head his fourth coalition and will be in line to become the longest-serving Dutch prime minister. D66 leader Sigrid Kaag said she wants to look at issues rather than potential coalition partners.

Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte speaks with the media following exit polls in the general election in The Hague, Netherlands, March 17, 2021. The VVD selected Senator Annemarie Jorritsma, while D66 chose Kajsa Ollongren, who was interior minister and deputy prime minister in Rutte's last Cabinet. AdBaudet, arriving at parliament for a meeting of party leaders, told reporters he “was actually hoping for more” seats in the election. The Green Left party, a big winner in the 2017 election, was forecast to lose half of its 14 seats. The Dutch election, coming just months after Britain's Brexit divorce with the European Union came into full force, saw gains among pro-EU parties.

Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the VVD Liberal party votes in the Dutch general election in The Hague, Netherlands, March 17, 2021. Ad”“The agenda ahead of us is enormous,” Rutte said in his first reaction to the poll results. “This shows that the Netherlands trusts the VVD and Mark Rutte to continue in this unprecedented crisis,” said VVD lawmaker Sophie Hermans. Rutte indicated it would be the obvious partner to talk to first to lay the foundation for a new coalition. Another party on the far-right of the Dutch political spectrum, Forum for Democracy, did better, according to the poll, gaining 6 seats to reach 8.

(AP Photo/Mike Corder)AMSTERDAM – Sylvana Simons is campaigning for the Dutch general election on a platform of what she calls radical equality. It remains to be seen if Simons' BIJ1 party — a wordplay that translates as Together — will get enough votes to win a seat. Others include DENK, a party she once belonged to and that already has three seats in the 150-seat lower house. The experience has destroyed their trust in the Dutch government to the extent that they may not even vote. Simons wants to be a voice for the marginalized.

A woman prepares to cast her ballot in ride through polling station for bicycles in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Monday, March 15, 2021. “I think Rutte has done well," said Guido van den Elshout, 72, after voting in the Dutch parliament building in The Hague. The pandemic's ongoing effects were clearly visible in the Dutch capital Amsterdam, where a drive-thru polling station for cars and bicycles opened at a conference center. Far more polling stations will be open on Wednesday, the official date of the election. For Kastelein, the key issues were “the climate crisis and growing racism but I also think Europe is very important.

Dutch riot police kick a man during a demonstration to protest government policies including the curfew, lockdown and coronavirus related restrictions in The Hague, Netherlands, Sunday, March 14, 2021. Thousands of people took part in the rally ahead of three days of voting starting Monday in a general election. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)THE HAGUE – Dutch police used a water cannon and officers on horseback galloped across a park in The Hague on Sunday to break up a protest against the government and its tough coronavirus lockdown on the eve of three days of voting in the general election. Hague police tweeted that they deployed riot officers to break up the protest after hundreds of people defied repeated calls to go home. A record 37 parties are taking part in the election for the 150 seats in Parliament's lower house.

Many voters approve of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Ruttes handling of the crisis but his popularity has waned in recent weeks. Dutch voters have plenty of issues to consider in next week's election but one towers over all others: the COVID-19 pandemic. “I do indeed think that the elections this year are really about the coronavirus, of course,” said student Ayoub Aouragh. If the VVD captures the largest cut of the vote, Rutte will be first in line to begin talks to form the country's next ruling coalition, a process that could take months. "So the economy is back on top, whereas in the previous four or five elections, immigration was the core issue.”The virus also has altered the entire Dutch election campaign and voting process.

Belgium's federal prosecutor's office says a police operation of an unprecedented scale targeting organized crime is taking place across Belgium on Tuesday, March 9, 2021. With thousands of containers reaching Antwerp every day, the Belgian port city is one of Europe's main ports of entry to Europe for cocaine. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)BRUSSELS – Belgian police made 48 arrests Tuesday during an operation of unprecedented scale targeting organized crime, after investigators cracked an encrypted communications network popular with criminals, prosecutors said. With thousands of shipping containers reaching Antwerp every day, the Belgian port city is one of Europe’s main entry ports for cocaine. AdDutch police and prosecutors seized 28 firearms in the port city of Rotterdam.

FILE - In this file photo dated Saturday, July 18, 2020, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte arrives for an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels. The Netherlands is holding a general election over three days starting March 15 2021 because of fears that busy polling stations could spike infections, which comes after Prime Minister Mark Rutte has spent more than a decade in power. The pandemic is casting a long shadow over other issues in the countdown to three days of voting that start on March 15. A group representing nonfood retailers across the country went to court Monday seeking an order allowing them to reopen to the public. And on Tuesday the country's umbrella organization for the hospitality industry is launching separate legal proceedings over delays in the payment of government support to businesses hit by the lockdown.

Emergency services attend the scene close to a coronavirus test station after a homemade firework was detonated in Bovenkarspel, Netherlands, Wednesday March 3, 2021. The homemade firework, a so-called "pipe" firework, was fired near to the Covid test station Wednesday and broke some windows but no people are reported injured. (Stefanie ter Koele / AP)THE HAGUE – A blast caused by a “homemade device” smashed windows at a coronavirus testing center in a small Dutch town early Wednesday, police said. Nobody was hurt in the explosion, which was condemned by the government and health officials. In January, rioters torched a coronavirus test facility in the fishing village of Urk on the first night of a 9 p.m.-to-4:30 a.m. nationwide curfew imposed as part of the government’s latest coronavirus lockdown.

FILE - In this file photo dated Saturday, July 18, 2020, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte arrives for an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys, file)THE HAGUE – After more than a decade in power and a year spent battling the virus, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's popularity — boosted by his handling of the pandemic — remains high two weeks before a general election. But amid a tough COVID-19 lockdown, that support is showing signs of eroding as the Dutch grow weary of pandemic restrictions. “The popularity of Mark Rutte ... got a big boost last year due to the COVID-19 crisis,” Van der Meer said. That would make him the longest-serving Dutch prime minister, overtaking the 12-year tenure of Ruud Lubbers.

Sotheby's personnel display Scene de rue Montmartre (Street scene in Montmartre), a painting by Dutch master Vincent van Gogh at Sotheby's auction house in Paris, Thursday, Feb. 25, 202. It has remained in the same family collection for over 100 years, according to the auction house which did not reveal the identity of the owner. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)PARIS – A rare painting by Dutch impressionist master Vincent van Gogh of a street scene in the Parisian neighborhood of Montmartre will be publicly displayed for the first time before its auction next month. Sotheby's auction house said the work, painted in 1887, has remained in the same family collection for more than 100 years — out of the public eye. Van Gogh moved to Paris in 1886 and lived in Montmartre.

The government is appealing a ban on the curfew imposed earlier this week by a judge in The Hague. (AP Photo/Mike Corder)THE HAGUE – Dutch senators late Friday approved hastily drawn up legislation underpinning the country's coronavirus curfew, ensuring that it will remain in force at least until early March despite a court order on Tuesday that it be scrapped. AdA clear majority of lawmakers in the lower house of parliament, including a number of opposition parties, approved the legislation Thursday. “Just before the introduction of the curfew, the water was splashing against the dike,” he told the appeals panel. Ad“In those circumstances, the Cabinet believed it had to take emergency measures in the form of a curfew,” Veldhuis said.

Air France-KLM plunged to a 7.1 billion euro ($8.5 billion) loss in 2020 as the global pandemic grounded planes and halted travel plans worldwide causing a 67% slump in passenger numbers at the French-Dutch aviation giant. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere, File)PARIS – Air France-KLM plunged to a 7.1 billion euro ($8.5 billion) loss in 2020 as the global pandemic grounded planes and halted travel plans worldwide causing a 67% slump in passenger numbers at the French-Dutch aviation giant. The year 2020 “tested the Air France-KLM Group with the most severe crisis ever experienced by the air transport industry," CEO Ben Smith said Thursday. Both the French and Dutch governments pledged billions in support last year to help the carriers survive the brutal downturn in air traffic caused by the coronavirus. The massive loss included some 2.1 billion euros in restructuring and other charges.

The deep freeze gripping parts of Europe served up fun and frustration with heavy snow cutting power to some 37,000 homes in central Slovakia. The man and three others had made holes in the ice to go ice swimming. But the southern nation is set to join the rest of Europe in the deep freeze in the coming days, with snow possible even in the capital, Athens. Even if the polar conditions persist, a legendary Dutch ice skating race over frozen canals and lakes in the northern Friesland province will not go ahead. A row of twigs jutting out of the frozen surface served as a warning for dangerously thin ice.

FILE - In this July 13, 1995 file photo, Dutch U.N. peacekeepers sit on top of an armored personnel carrier while Muslim refugees from Srebrenica, eastern Bosnia, gather in the village of Potocari, just north of Srebrenica. In 2019, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that the Netherlands was partially liable in the deaths of some 350 Muslim men murdered by Bosnian Serb forces during the massacre. The U.N. also has been criticized for failing to authorize NATO air strikes to support the lightly-armed Dutch troops in July 1995 as they came under attack. Prime Minister Mark Rutte made the same point in a video message last year marking the 25th anniversary of the massacre. An organization of Dutchbat III veterans also did not immediately respond to a request for a reaction.

A Heineken sign sits on the facade of a bar, closed because of the coronavirus lockdown in Amsterdam, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021. Dutch beer brewer Heineken said Wednesday it plans to cut 8,000 staff, nearly 10% of its global workforce, as part of a cost-cutting reorganization after a pandemic-dominated year that saw it sink to a net loss of 204 million euros ($248 million). (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)THE HAGUE – Dutch beer brewer Heineken said Wednesday it plans to cut 8,000 staff, nearly 10% of its global workforce, as part of a cost-cutting reorganization after a pandemic-dominated year that saw it sink to a net loss of 204 million euros ($248 million). With bars and pubs around the world closed during coronavirus lockdowns and alcohol bans in some of its markets, Heineken sold 8% less beer than in 2019. CEO Dolf van den Brink described 2020 as “a year of unprecedented disruption and transition” for the brewer.

Snow covers a houseboat in Amsterdam, as snow and strong winds blanketed much of the Netherlands, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)THE HAGUE – The Dutch government announced Monday it is extending the country's curfew until March 3, declaring that was necessary to slow the spread of the more infectious coronavirus variant first detected in Britain. The country's 9 p.m.-to-4:30 a.m. curfew was introduced Jan. 23 and triggered days of riots in towns and cities across the Netherlands. However, the unrest has since subsided and the vast majority of residents adhere to the curfew. Last week, Prime Minister Mark Rutte extended most of the country's tough lockdown measures, already in force since mid-December, until March 2.

A curfew imposed 10 days ago, which triggered widespread rioting in its first days, will remain in force, Rutte said. He said the government will weigh up the lockdown options again early next week. The premier spoke hours after the country's public health institute said new coronavirus infections fell 20% over the last week but more transmissible variants, in particular the one first identified in southern England, now account for two-thirds of Dutch infections. His ruling coalition “reached the conclusion that extending the current lockdown almost in its entirety until March 2 is unavoidable,” he said. In another minor easing of the lockdown, Rutte said that from Feb. 10 all stores will be allowed to sell their products and customers can collect them at pickup points outside the shops.

“Up until this morning, Dutch multinationals could act with impunity in developing countries ... and this has changed now,” Pols said. The court also ruled that Dutch-based mother company Royal Dutch Shell and its Nigerian subsidiary must fit a leak-detection system to a pipeline that caused one of the spills. However, the court cleared Shell of blame in pollution of the other three farmers' land and ruled that Shell's Dutch parent company could not be held liable. AdBoth sides appealed, and judges ruled in 2015 that Shell could be held to account in Dutch courts for its actions in Nigeria. After 13 years, we’ve won,” the Dutch branch of Friends of the Earth tweeted immediately after the decision was read out in court.

A police officers speaks to youths on scooters at a road block during a nation-wide curfew in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)THE HAGUE – Dutch police said Wednesday that the fourth night of the Netherlands' coronavirus curfew passed more peacefully than the previous three nights marred by rioting. Even so, officers arrested 131 people, mainly for public order offenses and incitement. “It was calmer around the curfew on Tuesday night than the days before,” police said in a statement. There was no such violence Tuesday night, but police detained 81 people in the port city as they sought to quickly stamp out trouble.

Police in the port city of Rotterdam used a water cannon and tear gas in an attempt to disperse a crowd of rioters who also looted shops. He said around 70 rioters had been arrested and police had used tear gas in the western city of Haarlem as well as Rotterdam. National broadcaster NOS showed video of police using a water cannon and reported that some shops had been looted. Police in the southern city of Den Bosch said that a shop was looted there and riot police were attempting to restore order. On Saturday night, youths in the fishing village of Urk torched a coronavirus testing facility.

Dutch police have clashed with protesters demonstrating against the countrys lockdown in the capital, Amsterdam and the southern city of Eindhoven. The unrest comes a day after rioting youths protesting on the first night of the countrys curfew torched a coronavirus testing facility in Dutch fishing village Urk. Dutch media reported unrest in other Dutch towns Sunday night caused by people protesting against the curfew. The violence came a day after anti-curfew rioters torched a coronavirus testing facility in the Dutch fishing village of Urk. The lockdown was imposed by the Dutch government to rein in the spread of the more transmissible variant of the coronavirus.

The district has been at the center of a worsening coronavirus outbreak, with over 160 cases reported over the first three weeks in January. As of Sunday, Hong Kong has reported 10,086 cases of the coronavirus, with 169 deaths recorded. The nation of 26 million people has reported fewer than 30,000 virus cases and a little over 900 deaths. There have been 373,090 total virus cases and a death toll of 3,279 since the pandemic began, according to the health department. The U.S. accounts for roughly one of every four cases reported worldwide and one of every five deaths.

The Dutch government said Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, that it wants to impose a curfew as part of beefed-up restrictions to rein in the spread of new more contagious variants of the coronavirus that already accounts for at least one in every 10 Dutch infections. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)THE HAGUE – A majority of Dutch lawmakers backed the government’s planned curfew Thursday, despite fierce criticism from some opposition legislators. Prime Minister Mark Rutte said a curfew is needed to rein in the spread of COVID-19, but some opposition lawmakers angrily denounced it as an excessive restriction of liberties. With the government in caretaker mode since resigning Friday, it needs approval from lawmakers to impose the curfew. After hours of debate in parliament, it remained unclear if a majority would support the measure.

The Dutch government said Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, that it wants to impose a curfew as part of beefed-up restrictions to rein in the spread of new more contagious variants of the coronavirus that already accounts for at least one in every 10 Dutch infections. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)THE HAGUE – The Dutch government wants to impose a curfew as part of beefed-up restrictions to rein in the spread of a new more contagious virus variant that already accounts for at least one in every 10 Dutch infections. Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Wednesday that his government also will ban flights from the U.K., South Africa and South America beginning Saturday for a month. It remains in office as a caretaker administration until a new coalition is formed following a March 17 general election. The Netherlands has counted 13,264 deaths in the pandemic, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

(AP Photo/Peter Dejong)BERGSCHENHOEK – Residents of a Dutch town filed into a sports hall Wednesday to take part in the country's first mass coronavirus testing program, which aims to find out more about the spread of a new more transmissible coronavirus variant. Dr. Ewout Fanoy, with the local health authority, said the testing would provide data about how and how fast the new variant is spreading. “Almost everybody will understand that there was no other choice, because numbers are not falling fast enough and we are now also have to face the threat of the British virus variant,” Rutte said. Confirmed new COVID-19 infections in the Netherlands over the last week fell 12% to 49,398, the Dutch public health institute said Tuesday. Hospital admissions for virus patients fell 18% and new COVID-19 patients in intensive care units declined by 12%.

"Almost everybody will understand that there was no other choice because numbers are not falling fast enough and we are now also have to face the threat of the British corona variant,” Rutte said, as he said the lockdown will last until Feb. 9. Under the lockdown, all schools and nonessential shops are closed, along with public venues such as cinemas, museums and libraries. Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said that the variant now makes up 2-5% of Dutch infections. Confirmed new COVID-19 infections over the last week fell 12% to 49,398, the institute said, while hospital admissions for people with the coronavirus fell 18% and new COVID-19 patients in intensive care units declined by 12%. The overall Dutch death toll from COVID-19 now stands at more than 12,500.

The Dutch government has come under fierce criticism for its late start to vaccinations. Prime Minister Mark Rutte told lawmakers in a debate Tuesday that authorities had focused preparations on the easy-to-handle vaccine made by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, which hasn't yet been cleared for use in the EU, and not the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. ”The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which requires ultra-cold storage before it's used, is the only shot that has been approved so far by the European Medicines Agency. Andre Rouvoet, chairman of the umbrella organization of local health authorities, welcomed the first vaccinations, which were aired live on Dutch television. “It is symbolic of the hundreds of thousands — millions — of vaccinations that will be administered in the Netherlands in coming months,” he said.