DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran's Foreign Ministry on Thursday branded the U.S. saying it wanted a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear programme as a "deception".

U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff said on Wednesday Washington was talking to Iran and that the U.S. had a "desire" to realise a permanent solution to the dispute.

The United States, its European allies and Israel accuse Tehran of using its nuclear programme to conceal efforts to try to develop the capability to produce weapons. Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.

(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump will host Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan at the White House on Thursday, seeking to agree arms and trade deals that could help ease a series of diplomatic disputes that have dogged U.S.-Turkish ties for years.

Though the leaders' good personal relations have helped ease bilateral strains, issues still linger between the NATO allies. Here are the main ones:

ARMS AND SANCTIONS

ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey temporarily deployed a warning and control aircraft to Lithuania as part of NATO security measures, the defence ministry said on Thursday, following repeated airspace violations by Russian drones.

Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark and Poland have all said Russian drones or fighter jets have violated their airspace in recent weeks, prompting the NATO alliance to beef up defence around Europe's eastern flank.

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

Palestine Action has increasingly targeted Israel-linked companies in Britain, often spraying red paint, blocking entrances or damaging equipment. It accuses Britain's government of complicity in what it says are Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli police said on Thursday they had arrested a man for threatening to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Police said that just before the Jewish New Year holiday began on Monday evening, a man in his forties from the southern town of Kiryat Gat walked into the local police station saying he would kill Netanyahu.

"The suspect told officers that he planned to purchase a firearm and shoot the Prime Minister three times," police said.

By Mike Stone and Tuvan Gumrukcu

WASHINGTON/ANKARA (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump will host President Tayyip Erdogan at the White House on Thursday, where the Turkish leader hopes to leverage the countries' warmest bilateral ties in years to convince Washington to drop U.S. sanctions and allow it to purchase F-35 fighter jets.

Erdogan's first visit to the White House in about six years comes at a time when Ankara is keen to take advantage of a U.S. administration eager to make deals in return for big-ticket arms and trade agreements.

Adrien Guihal, who claimed the 2016 Nice attack for the Islamic State group, will be tried in Iraq alongside 46 other French nationals recently transferred from Syria, a source close to the investigation told AFP.

"Adrien Guihal, known as Abu Osama al-Faransi, is still under investigation," said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not allowed to speak to the media.

Guihal "was brought to Iraq two months ago with another 46 French nationals that will be tried here," the source added.

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Steven Scheer

CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli forces advanced deeper into Gaza City on Thursday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu headed to New York to address the United Nations General Assembly, with U.S. President Donald Trump pursuing a deal to end the Gaza war.

Israeli strikes killed at least 19 people across the Palestinian enclave on Thursday, local health authorities said. They included 11 people from two families in Zawayda town in the central Gaza Strip, where planes hit a residential building.

ROME (Reuters) -Italy has sent a second navy ship in support of the international aid flotilla that has come under drone attack while trying to deliver aid to Gaza, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said on Thursday.

The Global Sumud Flotilla is using about 50 civilian boats to try and break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza. Many lawyers and activists, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, are on board.

"We have sent one ship and another is on its way, ready for any eventuality," Crosetto said in a speech to the lower house of parliament.

In Morocco's High Atlas mountains, shepherds Hammou Amraoui and his son hardly need words to speak. Across peaks, they whistle at each other in a centuries-old language, now jeopardised by rural flight.

"The whistle language is our telephone," joked Hammou, 59, the elder of a family known for the tradition in Imzerri, a hamlet in the remote commune of Tilouguit, about a two-hour drive from the nearest city.

In Tilouguit, Hammou said people learn it "like we learn to walk or to talk".