Israel has eased some restrictions on the Gaza Strip that have threatened a fragile cease-fire, Palestinian officials said. Hamas, however, said the move was really Israel's attempt to pressure the militant group into making concessions.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, said 11 truckloads of clothes were exported through Kerem Shalom crossing for the first time in 40 days. On Sunday, Israel said it will allow limited agricultural exports from Gaza.

The Israeli military said it has successfully tested an airborne high-power laser that can shoot down drones, technology it hopes to deploy on a larger scale in the coming years.

Israel already boasts a large and sophisticated air defense system, which the military says had a 90% interception rate against thousands of rockets fired from Gaza during last month's 11-day war. The laser technology would complement that system.

The Palestinian Authority arrested a prominent activist and held him overnight after he criticized its policies in a series of online posts and accused it of arresting another individual for political reasons.

The PA, which has limited autonomy in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has come under intense criticism in recent weeks after canceling the first elections in 15 years and being largely sidelined during last month's 11-day Gaza war.

The Philippine president has threatened to order the arrest of Filipinos who refuse COVID-19 vaccination and told them to leave the country if they would not cooperate with the efforts to contain the pandemic.

President Rodrigo Duterte, who is known for his public outbursts and brash rhetoric, said in televised remarks Monday night that he has become exasperated with people who refuse to get immunized then help spread the coronavirus.

Biden administration officials are insisting that the election of a hard-liner as Iran's president won't affect prospects for reviving the faltering 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran. But there are already signs that their goal of locking in a deal just got tougher.

Optimism that a deal was imminent faded as the latest talks ended Sunday without tangible indications of significant progress. And on Monday, in his first public comments since the vote, incoming Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi rejected a key Biden goal of expanding on the nuclear deal if negotiators are able to salvage the old one.

Palestinians and Jewish settlers hurled stones, chairs and fireworks at each other overnight in a tense Jerusalem neighborhood where settler groups are trying to evict several Palestinian families, officials said Tuesday.

The threatened evictions fueled protests and clashes in the runup to last month's 11-day Gaza war and pose a test for Israel's new governing coalition, which includes three pro-settler parties but is hoping to sideline the Palestinian issue to avoid internal divisions.

Tiny and bowed by age, Marie Orfali makes the trip five times a week from her Beirut apartment to the local church, a charity and a nearby soup kitchen to fetch a cooked meal for her and her 84-year-old husband, Raymond.

Their only support — Raymond's $15,000 one-time end-of-service payment from when he retired more than 20 years ago — long ago ran dry.

Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida pleaded for patience from disgruntled shareholders Tuesday and promised a turnaround at the Japanese automaker, which is projecting a third year of losses as it struggles to distance itself from a scandal over its former chairman, Carlos Ghosn.

"What we have worked on during years of hardship will bear fruit," Uchida said at the annual regular shareholders' meeting.

Demonstrators blocked a highway connecting Lebanon and Syria on Monday with burned tires and metal bars, protesting a decision by Lebanese authorities aimed at curbing smuggling into Syria, Lebanon's official news agency reported.

The outcry was particularly striking because it comes amid a worsening fuel shortage in Lebanon that many blame on increased smuggling into Syria from the tiny country.

A struggle for power and strong mistrust is at the heart of the fight between Lebanese political leaders and the deadlock over government formation, the European Union's foreign policy chief said Sunday.

"It is clear a fight for the distribution of power and I have to say there is also strong mistrust," Josep Borrell told a group of reporters before leaving Beirut. "It is difficult to get an agreement between people that don't trust each other."