Egypt on Wednesday rejected a proposal floated by Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid suggesting the Gaza Strip could be ruled and rebuilt by Egypt in exchange for debt relief.

In response to an Associated Press inquiry, Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Tamim Khalaf said any proposals that didn’t call for Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state “are rejected and unaccepted.”

Israel's prime minister's office said authorities have received the bodies of four hostages early Thursday, days before the first phase of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will end.

An Israeli security official confirmed that Hamas handed the bodies to the Red Cross. Israel said the caskets were delivered with the help of Egyptian mediators through an Israeli crossing and an identification process has begun.

Lebanon's new government on Wednesday won a confidence vote in Parliament, with the support of Hezbollah's bloc, even though the government statement adopted took a swipe at the group's weapons.

Ninety-five out of 128 lawmakers supported the government of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, a prominent jurist who previously headed the International Court of Justice. He was appointed last month to form a new government after a devastating war between Israel and Hezbollah, which killed over 4,000 people and caused widespread destruction.

Observant Muslims the world over will soon be united in a ritual of daily fasting from dawn to sunset as the Islamic holy month of Ramadan starts. For Muslims, it's a time of increased worship, religious reflection, charity and good deeds. Socially, it often brings families and friends together in festive gatherings around meals to break their fast.

Ramadan is followed by the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

The European Union executive on Wednesday announced plans for a major revamp of its economic strategy to meet demands of the bloc's captains of industry who have long complained about excessive taxation, sky high energy prices and an overbearing bureaucracy that makes the bloc unattractive.

At the same time, environmental groups say that far-reaching deregulation and the boosting of conditions for energy-intensive companies will come at the cost to the EU's ambitious climate targets.

Finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of 20 developed and developing nations gathered in South Africa on Wednesday for a two-day meeting marked by the absence of U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and several other high-profile figures.

Bessent's absence follows a boycott of a G20 foreign ministers meeting in South Africa last week by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the Trump administration has been openly critical of the country and its G20 themes. Bessent said he couldn't attend because of commitments in Washington.

Kylian Mbappé was not included in Real Madrid's squad for the Copa del Rey match against Real Sociedad on Wednesday.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti said Tuesday Mbappé was going to be available for the first leg of the semifinals in Basque Country, but the France star did not fully recover from a tooth problem and was left out of the traveling squad for the match.

For centuries, poets, scholars and theologians have flocked to Chinguetti, a trans-Saharan trading post home to more than a dozen libraries containing thousands of manuscripts.

But it now stands on the brink of oblivion. Shifting sands have long covered the ancient city's 8th-century core and are encroaching on neighborhoods at its current edge. Residents say the desert is their destiny.

Pope Francis was sitting upright and receiving therapy for double pneumonia Wednesday, the Vatican said, as Argentines, Romans and others kept up the steady stream of prayers for his recovery. Francis remained in critical condition but the Holy See machinery ground on, with the announcement of new bishops and a new church fundraising initiative.

The Vatican said that it hoped to have information later in the day about the results of a CT scan taken Tuesday evening to check on the status of the complex lung infection that has kept the 88-year-old pope hospitalized since Feb. 14. Francis has chronic lung disease and was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital after a bout of bronchitis worsened.

The number of Americans who identify as Christian has declined steadily for years, but that drop shows signs of slowing, according to a new survey Wednesday from the Pew Research Center.