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.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that defense minister Oleksii Reznikov will be replaced this week with Rustem Umerov, a Crimean Tatar lawmaker.

Zelenskyy made the announcement on his official Telegram account, writing that new leadership was needed after Umerov “has gone through more than 550 days of full-scale war.”

Later in his nightly address, Zelenskyy said he believes “that the Ministry needs new approaches and different formats of interaction both with the military and with society.”

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.

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.

LYMAN, Ukraine (AP) — Concealed under pine branches in the forests of northeast Ukraine, the muzzle of a Soviet-era howitzer rises, aiming for a group of approaching Russian infantrymen many kilometers away.

A Ukrainian soldier signals to fire, then swiftly runs for cover. The thunderous crash of the unleashed projectile sends a pall of black smoke billowing above jabs of yellow flames. A pile of spent shells in the nearby foliage grows by the day.

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.

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (AP) — Pope Francis sent a special greeting to China’s “noble” people on Sunday, giving them a special shout-out at the end of a Mass celebrated in neighboring Mongolia during the first-ever papal visit that was largely overshadowed by Beijing and its crackdown on religious minorities.

Francis brought up to the altar the retired and current bishops of Hong Kong, Cardinal John Hon Tong and Cardinal-elect Stephen Chow, clasped their hands and told the crowd that included many mainland Chinese pilgrims that he wished them all well.

NEW DELHI, Sept 3 (NNN-PTI) – Two people were killed, and five others injured, early today after a two-story building collapsed in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, officials said.

The building collapsed on Darga Road in Bhiwandi area of Thane district, about 37 km north-east of Mumbai, the capital city of Maharashtra.

02 September 2023; MEMO: Arab tribal militants liberated 24 villages from under the control of the PKK/YPG organisation in the Deir Ez-Zur governorate, eastern Syria.

The armed clashes broke out five days ago after the organisation arrested Ahmed Al-Khubail, known as “Abu Khawla”, the leader of the so-called Deir Ez-Zur Military Council, and intensity increased as new Arab tribes joined the conflict.