BEIRUT: Lebanon’s only functioning power plant has been shut down as a result of a worsening political dispute between caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the rival Free Patriotic Movement, which controls the country’s energy ministry.

The closure threatens to plunge Lebanon into almost complete darkness.

Electricite du Liban, known as EDL, urged the authorities to solve the issue by opening the necessary credits to unload fuel ships after a row over advanced payments led to a delay in gas oil shipments.

AL-MUKALLA, Yemen: The internationally recognized government of Yemen has flatly denied a statement by international oil company Zenith Netherlands regarding the acquisition of oil fields managed by OMV in Yemen’s southern province of Shabwa, saying that the company is ineligible to acquire oil assets in the country.

Yemen’s Oil Ministry said that it had not authorized the sale of OMV oil facilities in Yemen to the Dutch company, accusing both companies of releasing “misleading” information.

CAIRO: A deterioration in religious values was one of the main drivers of war and violence around the world, a prominent Egyptian faith leader has claimed.

Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayyeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, made his comments during a recent meeting with Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Al-Tayyeb said: “The wars we are witnessing today are mainly caused by the deviation from the morals of religion, the spread of atheism, and disbelief in God.”

ANKARA: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has announced that he will visit the US this month, as Ankara starts the new year with a diplomatic push in Washington.

He will arrive on Jan. 17 and, among other engagements, meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken the following day. He might also travel to Houston to open Turkiye’s new consulate there.

It will be the first official visit to the US by a senior member of the Turkish government since President Joe Biden took office two years ago.

ROME: Mustapha Aroui, a former Tunisian environment and local affairs minister, has been sentenced to three years in prison for his role in the illegal shipping of household waste from Italy to Tunisia.

The Criminal Chamber of the Tunis Court of First Instance sentenced three other defendants to the same term and also jailed a ministry official for 10 years.