Pilgrims from around the world flocked to Bethlehem on Monday for what was believed to be the biblical West Bank city's largest Christmas celebrations in years. Palestinian Tourism Minister Rula Maaya said all Bethlehem hotels were fully booked, and the city was preparing to host an "astounding" 10,000 tourists overnight. "We haven't seen numbers like this in years," she said, adding that the 3 million visitors to Bethlehem this year exceeded last year's count by hundreds of thousands.

The latest on political developments in Israel: while Gaza's Hamas rulers are sticking to Egypt-brokered cease-fire with Israel by keeping border protests widely restrained, they say that 40 Palestinians have been wounded by Israeli fire and tear gas. More than 170 Palestinians have been killed since March.

Is it a bird? A plane? No, it's a French inventor flying over the English Channel on his hoverboard. Looking like a superhero, Franky Zapata successfully completed the famed 22-mile journey in just 22 minutes Sunday morning, reaching speeds of up to 110 mph on the flyboard that has made him a French household name.

U.S. and Chinese negotiators are holding high-level talks aimed at settling a six-month trade war that has weakened both sides, shaken financial markets and clouded the outlook for the global economy. Yet the odds seem stacked against any substantive resolution this week to the standoff between the world's two biggest economies.

Don't mess with China and its growing cadre of powerful luxury consumers — that's the lesson Dolce&Gabbana learned the hard way when it faced a boycott after Chinese netizens expressed outrage over what were seen as culturally insensitive videos promoting a major runway show in Shanghai and subsequent posts of insulting comments in a private Instagram chat.

Resort developer Genting Malaysia's lawsuit seeking $1 billion in damages from Walt Disney Co. and Fox Entertainment Group for alleged breach of contract related to a theme park, is "without merit," Disney said Tuesday.

Twenty million people in war-torn Yemen are hungry — a staggering 70 percent of the population and a 15 percent increase from last year — and for the first time 250,000 are facing "catastrophe." For the first time, 250,000 Yemenis are in Phase 5 on the global scale for classifying the severity and magnitude of food insecurity and malnutrition — the severest level, defined as people facing "starvation, death and destitution."

A Louisiana couple were among those who leapt into action when a man with a hammer tried to steal the Magna Carta at Salisbury Cathedral, considered the best preserved specimen of the document.

A Kremlin ban on direct flights between Russia and Georgia took effect Monday, affecting thousands of travelers and dealing a serious blow to Georgia's tourism industry. The flight ban impacted dozens of flights operated by six Russian airlines and one Georgian airline. President Vladimir Putin introduced it following a wave of anti-Russian protests in the Georgian capital sparked by a Russian lawmaker's appearance at the Georgian parliament. The nation's scenic mountains, lush sea coast and renowned wine culture have drawn more than 1 million Russian tourists a year.

The era of Japan's next emperor, which begins May 1, will be named "Reiwa," connoting pursuit of harmony, the government said Monday after selecting the phrase from ancient Japanese poetry instead of Chinese classics as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promotes national pride. The current "Heisei," or "achieving peace," era will end with Emperor Akihito's abdication on April 30. His son, Naruhito, is to ascend the throne the following day.