To resist, ignore or yield? Hollywood and the film industry, long a haven for progressive idealists, are braced for difficult choices in the era of US President Donald Trump.

At the Berlin film festival this week, the radical changes unfolding in the United States and on the world stage loomed over every discussion and led many films screening there to be viewed through a new political lens.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said that he rated talks between the U.S. and Russia held in Saudi Arabia "highly", describing them as a "first step" to restore relations with Washington.

Lebanese official media said Israel struck a vehicle in the south on Wednesday, killing one person -- the first death since Israeli troops withdrew from most of the border area a day earlier.

"An enemy drone struck a vehicle... in the town of Aita al-Shaab," near the southern border, the official National News agency said, reporting one person was killed.

The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday it is open to a new loan agreement with Lebanon following discussions with its recently-appointed finance minister.

Lebanon's civil defense recovered 23 bodies from several border towns on Tuesday after Israeli troops withdrew under a ceasefire deadline, according to a statement carried by official media.

"Specialized teams today... managed to remove 14 bodies from Mais al-Jabal, three from Markaba and three from Kfar Kila, in addition to three from Odaisseh," said the civil defense statement published by the state-run National News Agency.

Ali Qashmar walked into his south Lebanon hometown on the Israeli border Tuesday to find bulldozed fields and piles of rubble where there used to be neighborhoods brimming with life.

"We came back to breathe the air of our lands and village, and we found our homes destroyed," said Qashmar, 74, from Odaisseh.

Flights from Baghdad to Beirut are nearly at capacity as airlines increase services ahead of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's funeral, officials said.

The pro-Iran group has called for a huge turnout when Nasrallah, killed in a September Israeli strike, is laid to rest near the Lebanese capital on Sunday.

Hamas and Israel announced a deal for the release of six living hostages from Gaza and the return of four captives' bodies -- including, the militants said, the remains of two young boys seen as national symbols back home.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday criticized talks between U.S. and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia as talks about the war in Ukraine without Ukrainian participation.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said Turkey would be the "ideal host" for any talks to end the nearly three-year conflict between Russia and Ukraine.