LONDON (Reuters) -Britain is facing an escalating threat from hostile states such as Russia, Iran, and China while the terrorism risk is "huge" with al Qaeda and Islamic State seeking to incite would-be attackers, the UK's domestic spy chief said on Thursday.

MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said there had been a 35% increase in the number of people being investigated over state threat activity, saying hostile nations were consistently descending into the "ugly" methods usually employed by terrorists.

A former Israeli hostage has said that all Gaza captives could have returned home "a long time ago", as relatives of newly released hostages described the torment endured by their loved ones.

Arbel Yehud was held in captivity for nearly 500 days before being freed earlier this year under a previous Gaza truce.

She spoke on Wednesday at a press conference alongside families of newly freed hostages, including her partner Ariel Cunio, released this week along with the remaining living captives.

"We could have brought them back a long time ago," Yehud said.

By Saeed Shah

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -Hanging over the recent eruption of fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the most serious clash between the neighbours in decades, is the spectre of a militant leader Islamabad accuses of directing near-daily attacks on its soil.

An uneasy ceasefire took hold on Wednesday, but Pakistan’s main grievance endures: the presence of Noor Wali Mehsud in Afghanistan, along with his top lieutenants.

Hamas handed over to Israel the remains of one more hostage on Friday night, after insisting it was committed to returning all the dead captives still unaccounted for under Gaza's ruins after two years of war.

"Israel received, via the Red Cross, the coffin of a deceased hostage who was returned" to its security forces in Gaza and would be identified at a medical analysis centre in Israel, the prime minister's office said in a statement.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Dozens of people have been killed in airstrikes and ground fighting between South Asian neighbours Pakistan and Afghanistan this month - their deadliest confrontation since the Afghan Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021.

As the former allies seek to resolve the crisis during a 48-hour ceasefire that began at 1300 GMT on Wednesday, here is a look at how their military forces and arsenals compare, according to data from the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

OVERVIEW

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Alexander Cornwell

CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel said on Thursday it was preparing for the reopening of Gaza's Rafah crossing with Egypt to let Palestinians in and out, but set no date as it traded blame with Hamas over violations of the U.S.-mediated ceasefire.

A row over the return of bodies of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza retains the potential to upend the truce along with other major planks of the plan yet to be resolved, including disarmament of militants and Gaza's future governance.

ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey has put a former head of its disaster management agency in charge of its aid to Gaza, a Foreign Ministry source said, a sign it intends to ramp up its role as a guarantor of the new ceasefire after sitting out earlier rounds of diplomacy.

President Tayyip Erdogan, a critic of Israel's assault on Gaza, joined long-term mediators Qatar and Egypt this week in signing off on U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to end the war, after largely steering clear of negotiations for two years.

By Emma Farge

KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (Reuters) -The father of 18-year-old Hassan who says his son was shot in the head over two months ago in Gaza while out seeking food hopes that the reopening of the Rafah border point will save him.

"The Rafah crossing is our lifeline, for patients and for the Gaza Strip," Ibrahim Qlob told Reuters in Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis where Hassan lies motionless in bed, his eyes covered with bandages.

"I'm waiting. One day passing for me feels like a year."

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -At least 18 people have been killed and more than 360 wounded in Afghanistan in military clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan since Oct. 10, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a statement on Thursday.

"UNAMA calls on all parties to bring a lasting end to hostilities to protect civilians," the statement added.

(Reporting by Saeed Shah; Writing by Surbhi Misra; Editing by YP Rajesh)

Iraqi farmer Umm Ali has watched her poultry die as salinity levels in the country's south hit record highs, rendering already scarce water unfit for human consumption and killing livestock.

"We used to drink, wash and cook with water from the river, but now it's hurting us," said Umm Ali, 40, who lives in the once watery Al-Mashab marshes of southern Iraq's Basra province.

This season alone, she said brackish water has killed dozens of her ducks and 15 chickens.

"I cried and grieved, I felt as if all my hard work had been wasted," said the widowed mother of three.