JAKARTA, Indonesia — At least 23 people were killed and 17 others were missing after a ferry caught fire Sunday off the coast of Indonesia's capital, officials said.

The vessel was carrying more than 230 people from Jakarta's port of Muara Angke to Tidung, a resort island in the Kepulauan Seribu chain, when it caught fire, officials said.

Most of the passengers were Indonesians celebrating the New Year's holiday, according to local media reports.

Seply Madreta, an official from the Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency, said the fire gutted about half the vessel. He said that about 22 injured victims were rushed to hospitals, and that 23 bodies had been recovered.

Twenty bodies that were found inside the vessel were burned beyond recognition and were transferred to a police hospital for identification, said Col. Umar Shahab of the Jakarta police health department.

A search involving about 10 ships was underway to find those who were missing, the Disaster Mitigation Agency said.

Witnesses told MetroTV that the fire broke out about 15 minutes after the ferry left Muara Angke.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear. Some passengers told local media that they first saw smoke coming from the ferry's engine.

TV footage showed people in the water with the ferry in flames in the background.

A woman in the water could be heard screaming. Another woman told the TV station that she and other passengers were rescued by a small boat.

Denny Wahyu Haryanto, head of the Disaster Mitigation Agency, said the vessel's captain was under police investigation over the incident.

New U.N. chief takes reins, appeals for world peace

UNITED NATIONS — Antonio Guterres took the reins of the United Nations on New Year's Day, promising to be a “bridge-builder” but facing an antagonistic incoming U.S. administration led by Donald Trump who has criticized the world body.

The former Portuguese prime minister and U.N. refugee chief told reporters after being sworn in as secretary-general on Dec. 12 that he will engage all governments — “and, of course, also with the next government of the United States” — and show his willingness to cooperate on “the enormous challenges that we'll be facing together.”

In the first minute after taking over as U.N. chief on Sunday, Guterres issued an “Appeal for Peace.” He urged all people in the world to make a shared New Year's resolution: “Let us resolve to put peace first.”

U.S. general praises Iraqi forces fighting Islamic State in Mosul

IRBIL, Iraq — A senior U.S. military commander Sunday praised Iraqi forces fighting to recapture the northern city of Mosul from the Islamic State group, saying they were “at their peak” and adjusting well to changing realities on the battlefield.

Brig. Gen. Rick Uribe said he agrees with the forecast given by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi that it would take an additional three months to liberate Mosul, the last Iraqi urban center still in the hands of the extremist group.

“We are ... pretty close to where we want to be,” Uribe said, adding that military planners knew that while the initial push toward the city would be quick, progress would become “significantly” slower on the city's fringes.

Uribe said Iraqi forces north and south of Mosul have made progress.

Queen Elizabeth II misses church due to ‘heavy cold'

LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II missed a traditional New Year's Day church service Sunday because of the effects of a lingering cold.

Buckingham Palace said the queen “does not yet feel ready to attend church as she is still recuperating from a heavy cold.” There was no indication she is suffering from a more serious illness.

It was unusual for Elizabeth, 90, not to attend the service, long part of her New Year's Day routine. The inclement weather may have been a contributing factor in her decision to stay indoors. It was cold with a steady rain in the Norfolk area 110 miles north of London where the queen was staying at her private estate called Sandringham.

Elizabeth also missed the Christmas church service last week for the first time in decades.

Italian bomb-squad expert wounded in blast

ROME — Police say a bomb squad officer lost an eye and had to have a hand amputated after a suspicious package he was examining exploded before dawn Sunday in Florence.

Florence Police Chief Alberto Intini told reporters that the package left outside a shuttered bookshop with links to a group of extreme right activists, CasaPound, had caught the attention of a passing police patrol.

The explosives squad was called to intervene, at about 5 a.m., and that's when the officer was gravely injured, police spokesman Cesare Taraschi said.

The blast was under investigation.

Italy occasionally sees explosions that authorities have blamed on political extremists. The country suffered a period of domestic terrorism in the 1970s and early 1980s. Spain: 1,100 migrants try to breach African border fence

BARCELONA, Spain — More than 50 Moroccan and Spanish border guards were injured repelling about 1,100 African migrants who attempted to storm a border fence and enter Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta, Spanish authorities said Sunday.

A regional government spokesman said two migrants managed to reach Spanish soil.

Both were injured in scaling the 20-foot-high border fence and were taken to a hospital by Spanish police.

The government spokesman spoke anonymously in line with government policy.

A further 100 migrants climbed the fence, but Spanish agents sent them directly back to Morocco.

Last month, more than 400 migrants succeeded in breaching Ceuta's fence in one of the biggest crossing attempts of recent years.

Oh, oh: It wasn't hangovers playing tricks on residents of Los Angeles. The Hollywood sign did read “HOLLYWeeD” for a few hours New Year's Day. Police were investigating Sunday after a prankster used giant tarps to turn the iconic sign's two white Os into Es sometime overnight.

Pipeline protest: Protesters trying to stymie the Dakota Access Pipeline sneaked up on a truss connected to the roof and rappelled down to unfurl a banner inside U.S. Bank Stadium during the Minnesota Vikings' season finale Sunday against the Chicago Bears. Play was not interrupted and the protesters were arrested.