LONDON (Reuters) -The British government said on Friday it is working with police and looking at the additional resources needed so that fans of Israeli soccer team Maccabi Tel Aviv can attend a match in Birmingham next month, after an earlier ban, which had sparked criticism from Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other politicians.

English soccer team Aston Villa said travelling Maccabi fans would be barred from the Europa League match on November 6 after West Midlands Police expressed concerns about public safety from potential protesters outside the stadium.

Thousands of worshippers returned on Friday to the Gaza Strip's few intact and many damaged mosques, where for the first time in months loudspeakers blared the Islamic call to prayer.

"God is the greatest, glory to God, Lord of worlds," echoed through mosques at roughly the same time Friday, one week after a ceasefire took place in the devoutly Muslim coastal Palestinian territory.

To be united for prayer again "is an indescribable feeling after two years of privation", Ghalid al-Nimra told AFP at Gaza City's Sayed Hachem mosque.

(Reuters) -Venezuelan opposition leader and newly crowned winner of the Nobel Peace Prize Maria Corina Machado voiced support for Israel in a phone call with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister's office said on Friday.

Machado welcomed the return of Israeli hostages under a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and voiced appreciation for Israel’s efforts against Iran, which she described as a threat to both countries, the statement said.

Netanyahu congratulated Machado on her Nobel win and commended her efforts to promote democracy and peace.

By Ahmed Jadallah and Andrew Mills

DOHA (Reuters) -Hamas intends to maintain security control in Gaza during an interim period, a senior Hamas official told Reuters, adding he could not commit to the group disarming - positions that reflect the difficulties facing U.S. plans to secure an end to the war.

Hamas politburo member Mohammed Nazzal also said the group was ready for a ceasefire of up to five years to rebuild devastated Gaza, with guarantees for what happens afterwards depending on Palestinians being given "horizons and hope" for statehood.

LISBON (Reuters) -Portugal's parliament approved on Friday a bill to ban face veils used for "gender or religious motives" in most public spaces that was proposed by the far-right Chega party and effectively targets burqas and niqabs worn by Muslim women.

Under the bill, proposed fines for wearing face veils in public would range between 200 euros and 4,000 euros ($234-$4,671). Forcing someone to wear one would be punishable with prison terms of up to three years.

Face veils would still be allowed in aeroplanes, diplomatic premises and places of worship.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) -Pakistan and Afghanistan mutually agreed on Friday to extend their 48-hour ceasefire until conclusion of planned talks in Doha, according to three Pakistani security officials and one Afghan Taliban source.

A Pakistani delegation had already arrived in Doha while an Afghan delegation was expected to reach the Qatari capital on Saturday, said the sources, who did not want to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

PESHAWAR (Reuters) -Seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in a suicide attack near the Afghanistan border on Friday, Pakistani security officials said, as a temporary truce that paused days of intense fighting between the neighbours ended without any word on its extension.

The South Asian neighbours engaged in fierce ground fighting, and Pakistan also launched airstrikes across their contested frontier, killing dozens and wounding hundreds, before they reached a 48-hour truce that ended at 1300 GMT on Friday.

(Reuters) -Hamas called on mediators on Friday to push for the next steps under the ceasefire in Gaza, including reopening the border, letting in aid, beginning reconstruction, setting up an administration and completing Israel's withdrawal.

Fighting has largely stopped in Gaza under U.S. President Donald Trump's plan, endorsed by mediators Egypt, Qatar and Turkey. But further steps have been held up in part by Israeli accusations that the militants were too slow in handing over bodies of dead hostages.

LONDON (Reuters) -The British government on Friday lost its bid to block the co-founder of pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action bringing a legal challenge over the banning of the group under anti-terrorism laws.

Huda Ammori, who helped found Palestine Action in 2020, was given permission to challenge the group's proscription, with her case due to be heard next month.

Britain's Home Office (interior ministry) asked the Court of Appeal to overturn that decision and rule that any challenge to proscription should be heard by a specialist tribunal.

After nearly a decade of pre-trial detention in Lebanon, Hannibal Kadhafi, one of longtime Libyan ruler Moamer Kadhafi's sons, was ordered by a Lebanese court on Friday to be released on bail.

Since a NATO-backed revolt toppled and killed Moamer in 2011, the Kadhafi family have scattered across different parts of the world.

Here's a look at where some of its members are today.

- HANNIBAL KADHAFI -

Hannibal Kadhafi was arrested in Lebanon in 2015 and has since been detained pending trial.