From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Steve Karesh reporting.

New UN sanctions on North Korea has won praise for President Donald Trump from a leading Democrat not known for his kind words for the president.

Maryland Senator Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, called the US sponsored resolution toughening sanctions "a good move" and a "major accomplishment."

The resolution that the Security Council passed unanimously on Friday puts more limits on the amount of gasoline and diesel North Korea can import.

The resolution also orders all North Koreans working in foreign countries to return home within two years - a move aimed at cutting off a source of revenue for the Kim Jong Un regime.

Here is Japanese ambassador Koro Bessho: "We are not trying to hurt the people of North Korea. We are pressuring the regime to change its policy."

For its part, North Korea is calling the latest sanctions an "act of war" and "tantamount to a complete economic blockade."

Spain's King Felipe VI has used his traditional Christmas Eve address to call on Catalonia's newly elected parliament to renounce further moves toward independence.

In a televised speech on Sunday night, the king said, "The way forward cannot once again lead to confrontation or exclusion."

He continued to say that the way forward must also also lead to the rebirth of trust, prestige and the best image of catalonia.

The king gave the address four days after a regional parliamentary election that resulted in [separatists] separatist parties being voted back into power. Spain's prime minister dissolved the previous parliament after it voted in October to declare catalonia an independent republic.

From Washington, this is VOA news.

Pope Francis in Christmas Eve remarks on Sunday likened the journey of Mary and Joseph to the migrations of millions of people today who are forced to leave their homelands for a better life and he expressed hope that no one will feel that "there is no room on this Earth for them."

The pope noted that Mary and Joseph arrived in a land "where there was no place for them" as he drew parallels to contemporary time.

Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny says he is qualified to innitiate a presidential bid to challenge incumbent leader Vladimir Putin.

Navalny said that we are going through these elections and will win despite all the differences in resources. We can oppose the current government successfully.

Navalny supporters rallied in mutiple cities across the country, including Moscow and StPetersburg.

Christmas celebrations are underway in Bethlehem. But as Robert Berger reports from the Palestinian-ruled town, President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has increased tensions and put a damper on this year's festivities.

Trump's decision has sparked violent Palestinian protests in Bethlehem and other parts of the West Bank and scared many pilgrims away. Security is tight. Turnoutis sparse. But pilgrims who made the Christmas journey to the Grotto of the Nativity were glad they came.

Sarah Dauda is from Nigeria. "I consider it a favor from God because this is the place that I can touch and sense in my spirit that really Christ was born in Bethlehem. I have heard about it since childhood but now I can see and touch."

For pilgrims, visiting Jesus' birthplace on Christmas is an experience of faith. But for Palestinians who live here, Christmas is a gloomy reminder that Bethlehem's message of peace on Earth has not been fulfilled 2,000 years on.

Robert Berger, for VOA news, bethlehem.

In a late breaking development to the story, on Sunday evening, guatemalan President Jimmy Morales said the he, too, has given instructions to move his country's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Turkey has dismissed more than 2,700 public sector employees on Sunday - the latest firings in a widescale crackdown since a failed military coup in July of 2016.

A wide range of people, including academics, soldiers and military personnel, were dismissed, accused of links to what Ankara has labeled as terror groups.

In a separate emergency decree, the country's defense procurement agency is ordered to report directly to the president.

I'm Steve Karesh in Washington.

That's the latest world news from VOA.