McDonald's has begun the process of selling its restaurants in Russia after more than 30 years in the country.

The Chicago burger giant said its existing licensee Alexander Govor, who operates 25 restaurants in Siberia, has agreed to buy McDonald's 850 Russian restaurants and operate them under a new name. McDonald's didn't disclose the sale price.

Another member of Israel's parliament said Thursday she was quitting the ruling coalition, leaving embattled Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in control of a crumbling minority government.

Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi's announcement further whittles away Bennett's hold on Israel's 120-seat parliament, reducing the coalition to 59 seats. Two other legislators from his own party have already bolted.

The Israeli military has identified a soldier's rifle that may have killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, but said it cannot be certain unless the Palestinians turn over the bullet for analysis, a military official said Thursday.

The announcement marked a small sign of progress in the investigation into the killing of Abu Akleh, who was fatally shot on May 11 while covering an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank.

A Russian soldier facing the first war crimes trial since the start of the war in Ukraine testified Thursday that he shot a civilian on orders from two officers and pleaded for his victim's widow to forgive him.

Sgt. Vadim Shishimarin told the court that the officer insisted that the Ukrainian man, who was speaking on his cellphone, could pinpoint their location to the Ukrainian forces.

President Joe Biden on Thursday welcomed the leaders of Sweden and Finland to the White House, as he hailed the application of the once-neutral countries to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Biden greeted Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson of Sweden and President Sauli Niinistö of Finland at the White House with handshakes and laughter as they met for trilateral conversations on the NATO mutual defense pact as well as broader European security concerns. His administration has professed optimism for their applications to join the alliance, which would mark a significant embarrassment to Russia, despite continued opposition from Turkey.

Prague's zoo has introduced a pair of critically endangered Chinese pangolins to the public. It is only the the second animal park on the European continent to have the animals.

The arrival of the rare acquisition from Taiwan follows a political fallout with China that prevented the expected arrival of a pair of giant pandas.

Faced with rising violence, Pakistan is taking a tougher line to pressure Afghanistan's Taliban rulers to crack down on militants hiding on their soil, but so far the Taliban remain reluctant to take action — trying instead to broker a peace.

Last month came a sharp deterioration in relations between the two neighbors when Pakistan carried out airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan. Witnesses said the strikes hit a refugee camp and another location, killing at least 40 civilians. UNICEF said 20 children were believed to be among the dead.

President Joe Biden departs on a six-day trip to South Korea and Japan aiming to build rapport with the two nations' leaders while also sending an unmistakable message to China: Russia's faltering invasion of Ukraine should give Beijing pause about its own saber-rattling in the Pacific.

Biden departs Thursday and is set to meet newly elected South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Their talks will touch on trade, increasing resilience in the global supply chain, growing concerns about North Korea's nuclear program and the explosive spread of COVID-19 in that country.

Sweeping U.S. sanctions imposed on Iran have badly impacted the country's economy and worsened the humanitarian situation in the Persian Gulf nation, a United Nations special envoy said Wednesday.

According to Alena Douhan, the U.N. special rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures, the sanctions have affected Iran's main export groups, banks and also several companies and nationals, including some pharmaceuticals and food production.

Thousands of worshippers have flocked to a Jewish holy site in northern Israel to light bonfires, pray and dance Wednesday under heavy police presence, a year after a stampede there left 45 people dead.

This year's Lag BaOmer holiday festivities at Mount Meron appeared orderly, but were overshadowed by last year's deaths, the largest civilian disaster in the country's history. A prominent rabbi lit 45 candles in memory of those who perished.