Iran on Friday dismissed as "ridiculous" allegations by Israel's foreign minister while on a visit to Ankara that the Islamic republic was planning anti-Israeli attacks in Turkey.

"The baseless allegations... are ridiculous and part of a pre-designed plot to destroy relations between the two Muslim countries," foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a statement.

"It is expected from Turkey not to remain silent in the face of these divisive allegations," he said.

The Spanish prime minister on Saturday described a deadly migrant rush on the enclave of Melilla from Morocco as an attack on Spain's "territorial integrity", as human rights activists demanded an investigation.

At least 23 African migrants died in the latest drama on the doors of the European Union, when around 2,000 mostly sub-Saharan African migrants approached the Moroccan border with the tiny territory at dawn on Friday.

More than 500 people managed to enter a border control area after cutting a fence with shears, Melilla authorities said in a statement.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell was headed to Tehran on Friday for a surprise visit that could breathe new life into stalled talks on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Borrell was due to arrive in the Iranian capital at night to meet Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said.

"Diplomacy is the only way to go back to full implementation of the deal and to reverse current tensions," Borrell tweeted as the EU confirmed his two-day trip in a statement.

Iran said European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell will travel to Tehran on Friday for discussions on efforts to revive the country's 2015 nuclear deal.

Borrell would arrive in the Iranian capital at night before meeting Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials, foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a statement.

As a seven-year-old boy in Baghdad, Mohamed Ali dreamt of becoming a goalkeeper -- until a car bomb in the central Tahrir Square ripped away his left arm.

The child had become another casualty of the sectarian blood-letting that raged in Iraq in the years after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

"I was deprived of playing football," he said, recalling the traumatic event of 2007 that also ended his time with the junior football team of the Air Force Club in Baghdad.

A woman born in France to a Christian family was not an obvious candidate to become a trailblazing Orthodox rabbi in Israel, but 40-year-old former journalist Eliora Peretz has done just that.

After converting to Judaism and undertaking three intensive years of Jewish study, Peretz recently became one of the few women in Israel to receive an Orthodox rabbinical ordination.

Palestinians in the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip are rediscovering the pleasures of the Mediterranean Sea, after authorities declared the end of a long period of hazardous marine pollution.

"It has been a year since I entered the water," said 22-year-old surfer Sabah Abu Ghanem.

"As soon as I enter the water and ride the waves, I feel free and happy; all the negative energy is replaced with positive energy," she told AFP.

Marine pollution has worsened in recent years in Gaza, where insufficient wastewater solutions have turned the Mediterranean into a dump.

Covid vaccines prevented nearly 20 million deaths in the first year after they were introduced, according to the first large modelling study on the topic released Friday.

The study, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, is based on data from 185 countries and territories collected from December 8, 2020 to December 8, 2021.

It is the first attempt to estimate the number of deaths prevented directly and indirectly as a result of Covid-19 vaccinations.

Lebanon's lawmakers designated incumbent Prime Minister Najib Mikati to form a new government Thursday, more than a month after parliamentary elections that yielded no clear majority.

The 66-year-old billionaire, who had been widely expected to keep his job, secured 54 votes during parliamentary consultations, giving him a clear edge over other potential nominees.

President Michel Aoun subsequently asked him to form a new government, a task analysts fear could take weeks, if not months, despite the economic emergency facing the country.

Veterinarians are called in to inspect the sheep at an abattoir ahead of one of Islam's major holidays in Dubai, where the municipality is encouraging residents to use smart apps to order the sacrificial animals.

Muslims during Eid Al Adha, which falls in July this year to mark the end of the hajj pilgrimage season, traditionally buy a whole sheep to be slaughtered and distributed among friends, family and the poor.