Two months after the Berlin Wall fell, another powerful symbol opened its doors in the middle of Moscow: a gleaming new McDonald's.

It was the first American fast-food restaurant to enter the Soviet Union, reflecting the new political openness of the era. For Vlad Vexler, who as a 9-year-old waited in a two-hour line to enter the restaurant near Moscow's Pushkin Square on its opening day in January 1990, it was a gateway to the utopia he imagined the West to be.

Germany said Monday that it will replace some of its ageing Tornado bomber jets with U.S.-made F-35A Lightning II aircraft capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

Announcing the decision, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said Germany also will upgrade its Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets for electronic warfare — a capability that's also currently fulfilled by the Tornado jets. The Eurofighter will be replaced from 2040 with the Future Combat Air System, or FCAS, that's being jointly developed with France and Spain, she said.

Stocks on Wall Street are mixed Monday as waves of market-moving forces crash into each other and keep trading jumbled, from war in Ukraine to an upcoming Federal Reserve meeting on interest rates

The S&P 500 was 0.4% higher after flipping from an earlier loss in morning trading, as the yield on the 10-year Treasury touched its highest level since the summer of 2019. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 254 points, or 0.8%, at 33,198, as of 10:03 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% lower.

Israel is grappling with how to deal with dozens of Jewish Russian oligarchs as Western nations step up sanctions on businesspeople with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A worried Israeli government has formed a high-level committee to see how the country can maintain its status as a haven for any Jew without running afoul of the biting sanctions targeting Putin's inner circle.

The United States announced a ban on exports of American luxury goods to Russia and Belarus Friday, including jewelry, clothing, and vehicles, as Washington increased its pressure on Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine.

Washington and its allies moved Friday to end normal trade relations with Russia, as President Joe Biden vowed the West would make Vladimir Putin "pay the price" for his invasion of Ukraine.

The government has asked Economy Minister Amin Salam to intensify his foreign contacts to secure essential food stocks in order to enable the country to face the food security crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine, media reports said on Friday.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati has promised to help Salam in his endeavor to obtain wheat and cooking oil donations, especially from the United States, after other countries refrained from offering any promises in this regard due to their local markets’ need for these resources, ad-Diyar newspaper reported.

A $13.6 billion emergency package of military and humanitarian aid for besieged Ukraine and its European allies easily won final congressional approval, hitching a ride on a government-wide spending bill that's five months late but loaded with political prizes for both parties.

With Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion killing thousands and forcing over 2 million others to flee, the Senate approved the $1.5 trillion overall legislation by a 68-31 bipartisan margin late Thursday. Democrats and Republicans have battled this election year over rising inflation, energy policy and lingering pandemic restrictions, but they've rallied behind sending aid to Ukraine, whose stubborn resilience against brutal force has been inspirational for many voters.

President Joe Biden will announce Friday that, along with the European Union and the Group of Seven countries, the U.S. will move to revoke "most favored nation" trade status for Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

That's according to a source familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the announcement. The person said each country would have to follow its own national processes. Stripping most favored nation status from Russia would allow the U.S. and allies to impose tariffs on Russian imports, increasing the isolation of the Russian economy in retaliation for the invasion.

Mount Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun on Thursday issued travel bans against the chairmen of five Lebanese banks in connection with a financial corruption complaint, the state-run National News Agency said.

NNA identified the five chairmen as Salim Sfeir of Bank of Beirut, Samir Hanna of Bank Audi, Antoine Sehnaoui of SGBL, Saad al-Azhari of BLOM Bank and Rayya al-Hassan of BankMed.