Nov 30 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has submitted an official request for his pardon to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, the Israeli president's office said on Sunday.

"The Office of the President is aware that this is an extraordinary request which carries with it significant implications. After receiving all of the relevant opinions, the President will responsibly and sincerely consider the request," Herzog's office said.

There was no immediate comment from the prime minister's office.

Visiting Pope Leo XIV urged the Lebanese people on Sunday to embrace reconciliation and remain in their crisis-hit country, while calling on its leaders to put themselves fully at the service of their citizens.

The pope, bearing what he described as a message of peace, had previously visited Turkey, where he kicked off his first overseas tour since being elected leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics in May.

Long hailed as a model of coexistence, multi-confessional Lebanon is nonetheless plagued by sectarian and political rifts, and has seen waves of emigration.

BAGHDAD, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Operations restarted at Iraq's Khor Mor gas field, with the transmission of gas to power stations starting at 2:00 a.m. Sunday (2300 GMT Saturday), the Kurdish regional government's electricity ministry announced, days after a drone attack halted production and led to extensive power cuts.

The Khor Mor gas field, one of the largest in the Kurdistan region, provides supplies for regional power generation.

By Joshua McElwee

ISTANBUL, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Pope Leo travels to Lebanon on Sunday, where he is expected to appeal for peace in a country that is a continued target of Israeli air strikes, on the second and final leg of his first overseas trip as leader of the Catholic Church.

The first U.S. pope will arrive from Turkey, where he has been visiting for four days and warned that humanity's future was at risk because of the world's unusual number of bloody conflicts and condemned violence in the name of religion.

A Dubai restaurant has opened that prides itself on having the world's "first AI chef", the latest ostentatious dive into new technology in a city obsessed with being on the cutting edge of the future.

The Emirati city has become increasingly known for its growing culinary scene, with thousands of restaurants on offer from luxurious Michelin-starred eateries to greasy spoons serving up bona fide street food from across the Middle East and Asia.

Ministers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied nations (OPEC+) are expected to keep current output levels unchanged when they meet for online meetings on Sunday, analysts told AFP.

The biannual ministerial meeting comes as uncertainty remains over how oil prices will develop in the near future, with traders looking for signs that indicate progress in ongoing negotiations on resolving the conflict in Ukraine, which could lead to the return of Russian crude to markets.

Pope Leo XIV wraps up a four-day trip to Turkey Sunday after a warm welcome by its tiny Christian community, before heading to Lebanon with a message of peace for the crisis-mired nation.

On his first overseas trip since being elected leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, Leo met President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before travelling to Iznik for a celebration marking 1,700 years since the First Council of Nicaea, one of the early Church's most important gatherings.

By Humeyra Pamuk

WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered its diplomats worldwide to stop processing visas for Afghan nationals, according to a State Department cable seen by Reuters, effectively suspending the special immigration program for Afghans who helped the United States during its 20-year-long occupation of their home country.

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

CAIRO, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The number of people confirmed killed in Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip has passed the 70,000 mark, the enclave's health ministry said on Saturday.

A total of 301 people have been added to the toll since Thursday, taking it to 70,100, the ministry added. Two died in recent Israeli strikes, the rest were identified from remains buried for some time in the rubble, according to the statement.

A prominent Tunisian activist was arrested on Saturday as hundreds protested in the capital against the curtailing of freedoms, an AFP journalist and lawyers said.

The protest in Tunis came a day after a mass appeal trial saw some 40 public figures, mainly critics of President Kais Saied, handed hefty sentences over plotting against the state.

Poet and political figure Chaima Issa, who was handed a 20-year sentence during the trial on Friday, was arrested during the rally, lawyers and witnesses said.