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months of conflict between the elected government and a fierce opposition protest movement, and the junta has been pleading for patience.
• Troops fanned out Sunday in one of Bangkok's busiest shopping districts and blocked access to the city's Skytrain in an attempt to prevent a third day of anti-coup protests. They were soon met by a crowd that swelled to about 1,000 people shouting, "Get out, get out, get out!"
• Tensions ran high, and at one point a group of soldiers was chased away by the crowds at the Ratchaprasong shopping district. By midafternoon, soldiers were blocking off elevated walkways linking the upscale malls, and Skytrain stops to the area were suspended. Soldiers also barricaded the road to the U.S. Embassy about 2 kilometers (1 mile) away on reports that a rally was planned there.
• The junta's leader, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, had warned people earlier Sunday not to join anti-coup street protests, saying normal democratic principles cannot be applied.
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• BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) -- Pope Francis landed Sunday in the cradle of Christianity in a symbolic nod to Palestinian aspirations for their own state, calling the stalemate in peace talks "unacceptable" and stopping briefly to pray at the Israeli separation barrier surrounding this biblical West Bank town.
• Jubilant Palestinians cheered Francis on the second day of his Mideast pilgrimage as he arrived for Mass in Bethlehem's Manger Square, shouting "Viva al-Baba!" or "Long live the pope!" Giant Palestinian flags in red, white, green and black and the Vatican's yellow-and-white flags decorated the square, which is home to the Church of the Nativity, built over Jesus' traditional birth grotto.
• A smaller crowd waving Vatican flags also surrounded Francis as he made a brief stop en route to the square at the Israeli separation barrier surrounding three sides of Bethlehem. Francis got out of his open-topped car and bowed his head in silent prayer before the massive concrete wall that Israel says is necessary for its security and the Palestinians say has stifled life in Bethlehem and engulfed land across the West Bank.
• Previous popes always came to the West Bank after first arriving in Tel Aviv, Israel. Francis, however, landed at a Bethlehem helipad from Jordan aboard a Jordanian helicopter and immediately headed into an official welcoming ceremony and meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

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