The U.S. Embassy said Monday it was "deeply concerned" by Israel's plans to build hundreds of new homes in the West Bank following a deadly attack on a settler family, calling Israeli settlements "illegitimate" and an obstacle to peacemaking.

In a rare interview to the Israeli media, the Palestinian president reached out to the Israeli public, decrying the weekend attack in the settlement of Itamar as "despicable, immoral and inhuman." But he rejected the Israeli suggestion that his government was indirectly to blame.

Pilots on an Alaska Airlines flight from Mexico City to Los Angeles locked down the cockpit and alerted authorities Sunday when a flight crew grew alarmed at the behavior of three men who turned out to be conducting an elaborate orthodox Jewish prayer ritual, officials said.

The men, all Mexican nationals, began the ritual that involves tying leather straps and small wooden boxes to the body, and the crew of Flight 241 alerted the cockpit, airline spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said.

Soccer great David Beckham and wife Victoria are expecting their fourth child, and a spokesman said Sunday that the couple has learned that it will be a girl.

In January the former England captain announced via Facebook that his wife was due this summer.

Kuwaiti telecommunications firm Zain has tentatively accepted a $950 million bid for its Saudi operations, the division's joint suitors said Monday in a deal that could lead to further consolidation for the Mideast's mobile service providers.

Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's Kingdom Holding Co. said in a regulatory filing that it and bid partner Batelco Group of Bahrain received "preliminary acceptance" for their non-binding offer from Zain's board. Completing the deal is expected to take weeks.

Two Chinese dissidents who were sentenced to 10 years in prison for getting together to talk about political reform and posting their views online have been released after completing their jail terms, their fathers said Sunday.

Xu Wei, a former reporter, and Jin Haike, a writer, were detained in 2001 and convicted of subversion in 2003 after taking part in an informal study group in Beijing that met privately to talk about democratic reform.

The Vatican will unveil the latest installment in its social media transformation next week — a Facebook page dedicated to the upcoming beatification of Pope John Paul II, officials said.

The site, which will link to video highlights of John Paul's 27-year papacy, is designed to promote the May 1 beatification. But it may well continue beyond given the global and enduring interest in the late pontiff, Vatican officials told The Associated Press.

A ferocious tsunami spawned by one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded slammed Japan's eastern coast Friday, killing hundreds of people as it swept away boats, cars and homes while widespread fires burned out of control.

Tsunami warnings blanketed the entire Pacific, as far away as South America, Canada, Alaska and the entire U.S. West Coast.

Women who enjoy a daily dose of coffee may like this perk: It might lower their risk of stroke.

Women in a Swedish study who drank at least a cup of coffee every day had a 22 to 25 percent lower risk of stroke, compared to those who drank less coffee or none at all.

A senior officer in Israel's Southern Command has said Iran and Hizbullah frequently send experts to the Gaza Strip to train Hamas forces, crossing through illicit tunnels on the Gaza-Egypt border.

Some foreign experts are even stationed in Gaza, he said.

India has tested the naval version of a short-range missile capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads, a defense ministry official said Friday.

The missile was test fired Friday from a navy warship in the Bay of Bengal off the coast of eastern Orissa state, said defense ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar.