Belgium on Wednesday rejected a plan to use frozen Russian assets to help prop up Ukraine's economy and war effort over the next two years, saying that the scheme poses major financial and legal risks.

Ukraine's budget and military needs for 2026 and 2027 are estimated to total around 130 billion euros ($150 billion). The European Union has committed to fill the gap. It has already poured in over 170 billion euros ($197 billion) since the war started in 2022.

China on Wednesday blasted the U.K. government's latest delay in deciding whether to approve the construction of a huge Chinese Embassy in London.

U.S. President Donald Trump's push for a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine is intensifying.

Officials from the U.S., Ukraine and Russia have crisscrossed the globe in recent weeks in a flurry of meetings aimed at negotiating a deal. Here's a look at the key negotiators in those talks.

Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday shared for the first time what he was thinking when the votes started going his way during the conclave that elected him, saying he resigned himself to the inevitable and put the rest in God's hands.

"I took a deep breath. I said 'Here we go Lord. You're in charge and you lead the way,'" Leo told reporters during a wide-ranging airborne press conference coming home from his inaugural trip to Turkey and Lebanon.

The U.S. stock market held steady on Tuesday as both bond yields and bitcoin stabilized.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2% following its first loss in six days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 185 points, or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.6%.

Emmanuel Macron arrived in China on Wednesday for a three-day state visit focusing on trade and diplomatic talks as the French president seeks to enlist Beijing in pressuring Russia toward a ceasefire with Ukraine.

Macron will advocate for an agenda of cooperation in economic and trade matters aimed at achieving a balance that ensures "sustainable, solid growth that benefits everyone," his office said.

Talks between Russia and the U.S. on ending the nearly four-year war in Ukraine were constructive, but much work remains, Yuri Ushakov, a senior adviser to President Vladimir Putin, told reporters on Wednesday.

Putin met U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner in the Kremlin in talks that began late Tuesday as part of a renewed push by the Trump administration to broker a peace deal. Both sides agreed not to disclose the substance of the talks.

Southeast Asia is being pummeled by unusually severe floods this year, as late-arriving storms and relentless rains wreak havoc that has caught many places off guard.

Israel said Wednesday that partial remains returned by militants did not match the hostages remaining in Gaza, while it announced plans to reopen a key Gaza border crossing for the exit of Palestinians from the strip.

While the DNA findings marked a setback for ceasefire efforts, the reopening of the Rafah border crossing indicated that the U.S.-backed plan is still moving ahead.

Pope Leo XIV prayed Tuesday at the site of a deadly 2020 Beirut port explosion that has become a symbol of dysfunction and official impunity and called for justice to prevail, as he offered words of consolation to Lebanon's people on the final day of his first overseas trip.

Relatives of some of the 218 people killed by the blast held up photos of their loved ones as Leo arrived at the scorched site. They stood side by side as Leo prayed silently first at a monument to the dead, then greeted each one, grasping their hands.