BEIJING (AP) — Rainstorms battering southern China have killed at least seven people and allowed dozens of crocodiles to escape from a farm. Nearby residents were advised to stay at home after more than 70 crocodiles escaped in Maoming, a city near the coast in western Guangdong province, according to Chinese media reports.

BAHIA SOLANO, Colombia (AP) — Every summer, thousands of tourists descend on the Colombian town of Bahia Solano to experience the thrill of watching humpback whales as they migrate from the frigid waters of the southern Pacific to Colombia’s warm waters.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Joined by his top military officials handling his nuclear-capable weapons and munitions factories, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Russia on Tuesday, where he is expected to hold a rare meeting with President Vladimir Putin that has sparked Western concerns about a potential arms deal for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

TASELI PLATEAU, Turkey (AP) — Rescuers pulled an American researcher out of a Turkish cave early Tuesday, more than a week after he became seriously ill more than 3,000 feet below its entrance, officials said. Teams from across Europe had rushed to Morca cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains to aid Mark Dickey, a 40-year-old experienced caver who became seriously ill on Sept. 2 with stomach bleeding.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has cleared the way for the release of five American citizens detained in Iran by issuing a blanket waiver for international banks to transfer $6 billion in frozen Iranian money from South Korea to Qatar without fear of U.S. sanctions. In addition, as part of the deal, the administration has agreed to release five Iranian citizens held in the United States.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A major rescue operation is underway in Turkey’s Taurus Mountains to bring out an American researcher who fell seriously ill nine days ago at a depth of some 3,000 feet from the entrance of one of the world’s deepest caves. An experienced cave rescuer himself, Mark Dickey is being assisted by teams of international rescuers who by Monday had brought him to nearly 600 feet from the surface.

CAIRO (AP) — Mediterranean storm Daniel caused devastating floods in Libya that swept away entire neighborhoods and wrecked homes in multiple coastal towns in the east of the North African nation. As many as 2,000 people were feared dead, one of the country's leaders said Monday.

CAIRO (AP) — A drone attack Sunday on an open market south of Sudan's capital, Khartoum, killed at least 43 people, activists and a medical group said, as the military and a powerful rival paramilitary group battle for control of the country. More than 55 others were wounded in the attack in Khartoum’s May neighborhood, where paramilitary forces battling the military were heavily deployed, the Sudan Doctors' Union said in a statement.

TAFEGHAGHTE, Morocco (AP) — Moroccan soldiers and aid teams in trucks and helicopters battled Monday to reach remote mountain towns devastated by a monstrous earthquake that killed more than 2,400 people, with survivors desperate for help to find loved ones feared trapped under the rubble.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hurricane Lee whipped up waves of more than 15 feet (5 meters) on Monday as the Category 3 storm cranked through open waters just north of the Caribbean region. The storm is not expected to make landfall this week, although forecasters said those in New England and nearby areas should keep a close eye on Lee, whose future path is uncertain.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will visit Russia, both countries said Monday, and he is expected to hold a highly anticipated meeting with President Vladimir Putin that has sparked Western concerns about a potential arms deal for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

AMIZMIZ, Morocco (AP) — People in Morocco slept in the streets of Marrakech for a third straight night as soldiers and international aid teams in trucks and helicopters began to fan into remote mountain towns hit hardest by a historic earthquake. The disaster killed more than 2,100 people — a number that is expected to rise — and the United Nations estimated that 300,000 people were affected by Friday night’s magnitude 6.8 quake.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Two foreign aid workers were reportedly killed in eastern Ukraine on Sunday as Russian shelling hit a van carrying a team of four working with a Ukrainian nongovernmental organization, while dozens of Russian drones targeted Kyiv and wounded at least one civilian.

CAIRO (AP) — A drone attack Sunday on an open market south of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, killed at least 23 people, activists and medical workers said, as the military and a powerful paramilitary group battle for control of the country.

The ground shook with a force few had ever felt, thundering through the remote Moroccan village in the dark of night. When the earthquake was over late Friday, the town carved into the Atlas Mountains lay in devastation — possibly dozens dead, scores of homes crumpled and walls reduced to rubble.

STOCKHOLM (AP) — As young children went back to school across Sweden last month, many of their teachers were putting a new emphasis on printed books, quiet reading time and handwriting practice and devoting less time to tablets, independent online research and keyboarding skills. The return to more traditional ways of learning is a response to politicians and experts questioning whether the country's hyper-digitalized approach to education, including the introduction of tablets in nursery schools, had led to a decline in basic skills.

The United Nations atomic watchdog warned of a potential threat to nuclear safety due to a spike in fighting near Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine, whose forces continued pressing their counteroffensive on Saturday.

MARRAKECH, Morocco (AP) — A rare, powerful earthquake struck Morocco, sending people racing from their beds into the streets and toppling buildings in mountainous villages and ancient cities not built to withstand such force. More than 2,000 people were killed, and the toll was expected to rise as rescuers struggled Saturday to reach hard-hit remote areas.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hurricane Lee on Friday charged through warm Atlantic waters as the season's first Category 5 storm, threatening to unleash heavy swells across the northeast Caribbean. The hurricane is not expected to make landfall, but meteorologists warned it would generate dangerous waves of up to 15 feet across the northern coast of Puerto Rico and other nearby islands.

LONDON (AP) — With gun salutes and tolling bells, Britain is marking the first anniversary of the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the ascension of King Charles III, who remembered his mother as a symbol of stability during her 70-year reign.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Friday its new submarine has nuclear attack capabilities after years of development. Leader Kim Jong Un described the milestone as crucial in his efforts to build a nuclear-armed navy to counter the United States and its Asian allies. The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said the vessel, named “Hero Kim Kun Ok,” is designed to launch tactical nuclear weapons from underwater but did not specify the number of missiles it could carry and fire.

HONG KONG (AP) — Heavy rain in Hong Kong and southern China overnight flooded city streets and some subway stations, with hundreds evacuated and two deaths reported in Hong Kong. Hong Kong authorities said during a joint news conference Friday that the extreme weather was expected to last until at least midnight, with widespread flooding and heavy disruptions to public transport in multiple districts.

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Russian authorities are holding local elections this weekend in occupied parts of Ukraine in an effort to tighten their grip on territories Moscow illegally annexed a year ago and still does not fully control. The voting for Russian-installed legislatures in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions has already begun and concludes Sunday. It has been denounced by Kyiv and the West.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Floodwaters were rising around one of Greece's largest cities on Friday after a river burst its banks, while fire department and military helicopters were plucking people from villages inundated by tons of water and mud that have left at least six people dead, six missing and many people clinging to the roofs of their homes.

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Two attacks by Islamic insurgents in the restive north of Mali on Thursday killed 49 civilians and 15 government soldiers, according to a provisional death toll given by the country's military junta. A passenger boat near the city of Timbuktu on the Niger River and a Malian military position in Bamba further downstream in the Gao region were targeted, according to a statement from the military junta read on state television.