The Biden administration has launched an intense drive to persuade Hamas and Israel to accept a new cease-fire proposal in the nearly eight-month-old war in Gaza while it also presses Arab nations to get the militant group to go along with the terms.

It comes as President Joe Biden suggested in a Time magazine interview published Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be prolonging the war against Hamas to ensure his political survival. Biden, who gave that interview a week ago, seemed to dial back his criticism in a brief exchange with reporters following an immigration speech at the White House.

Israel's announcement that four more hostages died in Hamas captivity, including three men in their 80s, stoked fears that time is running out for captives in Gaza who are still alive.

It set off protests across Israel calling for an immediate cease-fire deal that would secure the release of the dozens of remaining captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

A Syrian was arrested after a shooting near the U.S. embassy in Beirut on Wednesday, the Lebanese army said, with the embassy saying its staff were safe.

The embassy, in the northern suburb of Awkar, "was subjected to gunfire by a person holding Syrian nationality," the army said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.

A global human rights group said that Israel has used white phosphorus incendiary shells on residential buildings in at least five towns and villages in conflict-hit southern Lebanon, possibly harming civilians and violating international law, in a report published Wednesday.

Human Rights Watch said in its report that there was no evidence of burn injuries due to white phosphorus in Lebanon, but that researchers had "heard accounts indicating possible respiratory damage."

The struggling Washington Post found itself in some turmoil following the abrupt departure of the newspaper's executive editor and a hastily announced restructuring plan aimed at stopping an exodus of readers over the past few years.

Post publisher Will Lewis and Matt Murray, a former Wall Street Journal editor named to temporarily replace Sally Buzbee, met with reporters and editors at the Post on Monday to explain changes that had been outlined in a Sunday night email.

Romania's minister of culture says she will ask French luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton to acknowledge that a traditional Romanian blouse directly inspired items in one of its 2024 collections.

"We will request that Louis Vuitton recognize the heritage and cultural value of the traditional blouse model with ribbons," Raluca Turcan wrote on Facebook late Monday, adding it's an opportunity for international recognition of the "inestimable value" of Romanian tradition.

In a lush jungle at the foothills of a volcano in Indonesia's Aceh province, the song of gibbons in the trees mixes with the laughter of the seven forest rangers trekking below them. An hour into their patrol, the rangers spot another mammal in the forest with them.

"Where are you going? What are you doing?" they pleasantly ask a man walking past, farming tools in hand. "Remember to not cut down trees wherever you go, OK?"

Enzo Maresca, a former assistant to Pep Guardiola, was hired as Chelsea head coach on Monday, just weeks after leading Leicester back to the Premier League.

The 44-year-old Italian signed a five-year deal as the replacement for Mauricio Pochettino, who left by mutual consent at the end of the season, and is Chelsea's fourth permanent manager since the club came under American ownership midway through 2022.

Host Germany and England kicked off the true buildup to the European Championship with their first warmup games on Monday, only after Real Madrid capped the club season by signing Kylian Mbappé.

About 90 minutes after France captain Mbappé finally confirmed he was joining the new Champions League winner, Germany put national team action on midsummer's center stage in an enterprising 0-0 draw with Ukraine.

Kylian Mbappé is finally a Real Madrid player.

Madrid said on Monday it reached a deal with the France star for the next five seasons, bringing together one of soccer's top talents and its most successful club.