KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov submitted a letter of resignation on Monday after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would be replaced and named his successor.

Oleksii Reznikov’s removal follows a scandal around the defense ministry’s procurement of military jackets. It was not the first similar case during the ongoing war.

MADRID, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Madrid's mayor on Sunday advised all residents to stay at home as the capital braced itself for torrential rain and storms affecting parts of Spain.

National weather agency AEMET issued a maximum red alert, which means possible extreme danger, for Sunday in the Madrid region, Toledo province, and the city of Cadiz.

It said up to 120 litres per square metre of rain could fall over 12 hours in Madrid.

BAGHDAD, Sept 3 (NNN-NINA) – A total of 18 people were killed and 15 others wounded, after two buses carrying Shiite pilgrims collided on Friday night, in Iraq’s central province of Salahudin, local sources said yesterday.

One of the buses, heading to the Shiite holy city of Samarra, about 120 km north of Iraq’s capital Baghdad, collided with the other bus returning from the city, a traffic police, who asked to remain anonymous said, adding, the accident took place on the main road near the town of Balad, some 80 km north of Baghdad.

BEIJING, Sep 3 (APP): Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has introduced connected flights between Pakistan and 16 captivating cities of China via Beijing in partnership with Air China, PIA Country Manager, Bilal Afzal said on Sunday.

These Chinese cities include Guangzhou, Wuhan, Urumqi, Shenzhen, Xian, Shenyang, Shanghai, Ningbo, Nanjing, Harbin, Hangzhou, Hohhot, Dunhuang, Chengdu, Changchun, and Chongqing, he told APP on the sidelines of China International Fair for Trade in Service (CIFTIS) in Beijing.

KUWAIT CITY, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait's Crown Prince issued Sunday a decree appointing Adel Al-Mane as minister of education and Fahad Al-Jarallah as minister of finance, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported.

The decree was issued on the proposal of Prime Minister Fahd Abdul Aziz Hassan Al-Jarallah, said the report, adding the appointment takes immediate effect.

The two ministers took the oath at the Bayan Palace in front of the Deputy Emir of Kuwait and Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — When Gabon’s longtime leader was detained in the latest coup in Africa last week, France condemned the takeover but did little to intervene — despite having hundreds of troops in the country. It was a striking break from the past.

African and French observers say that France, under pressure, is finally shedding its postcolonial tradition of “Françafrique” — an unflattering term that smacks of paternalistic influence and quiet deal-making among elites — as its economic and political powers wane and an increasingly self-confident Africa looks elsewhere.

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Sept 4 (NNN-BBN) – Brunei recorded 1,745.8 million Brunei dollars (1,290.1 million U.S. dollars) total trade in May, this year, a 41.2 percent year-on-year decrease, due to a drop in both export and import value.

The latest International Merchandise Trade Statistics, released yesterday by the Department of Economic Planning and Statistics, at the Ministry of Finance and Economy, showed that, Brunei’s exports in May decreased by 42.3 percent yearly, to 1,078.5 million Brunei dollars, which was mainly due to a drop in exports of mineral fuels and chemicals.

SANAA, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- A massive explosion rocked a gas station in the Houthi-controlled Yemen's capital of Sanaa on Sunday night, igniting a significant fire, reported by authorities and witnesses.

The blast occurred at the Mufazer gas station, which is situated in front of the al-Khurafi military camp in the northeastern part of the capital. Houthi forces cordoned off the area, with civil defense teams swiftly responding to the incident.

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, September 3. /TASS/: Around 280,000 individuals were enlisted by contract with the Russian Armed Forces from January 1, 2023, Deputy Head of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said.

NEW DELHI, Sept 3 (NNN-Bernama) — Chinese petroleum company Sinopec will submit a request for proposal (RFP) document to set up a new refinery in Sri Lanka’s south, said Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera on Sunday.

The Sri Lankan minister said this after a meeting with Sinopec officials in Colombo.

“Sinopec Refinery officials assured their commitment to establish a new refinery in Hambantota and that they will submit the RFP before the deadline next week,” Wijesekera said.

(AP) --- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday tweeted a pirate-style picture of himself with a black eye patch and dark-red bruises on the right side of his face — the result of a jogging accident on the weekend.

“Am excited to see the memes,” the chancellor wrote in the caption.

To deflect any possible worries about his health, on the photo, which appears to have been taken at the chancellery, Scholz smiled slightly and also wrote: “Thanks for the well wishes, it looks worse than it is!”

GOMA, Congo (AP) — Two high-ranking military officers in northeast Congo were arrested Monday for taking part in a crackdown on protests last week that left 43 people dead and another 56 severely injured, authorities said.

Interior Minister Peter Kazadi said police arrested Commanders Mike Mikombe and Donat Bawili, who respectively headed the Republican Guard unit and the Congolese armed forces regiment in Goma, the eastern city where the violence unfolded.