Last night's news: Iran conducts military drills, Japan PM steps down, fire in Bucharest

It happened while you were sleeping. Here’s what the world’s agencies reported during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday.

• Iran announced sudden military exercises on the Caspian Sea. "The public should not worry about the sounds of explosions," Tehran stated. According to the semi-official Mehr news agency, the Navy organized the exercises in Gilan province in the north of the country. The exercises aimed to increase the defensive readiness of the Naval Forces. From 11th to 13th August, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps also conducted a three-day exercise in the west of the country.

• Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida intends to step down next month, succumbing to pressure from his party, which demands an end to his unpopular leadership. This marks a significant upheaval at the top of the government and the Liberal Democratic Party, which controls both houses of parliament. According to Japanese media, including national television stations NHK and Kyodo News, Kishida has already informed his associates of this decision.

• A fire broke out in warehouses near Bucharest. Twenty fire brigade units have been battling a large-scale fire since Tuesday evening in Afumati, near Bucharest, the capital of Romania. Despite the quick intervention of the fire brigade, one of the warehouses engulfed by fire was almost destroyed, with most of its structure collapsing, according to Romanian Civil Defence.

• A New York judge has ruled that independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will not appear on state ballots in November after falsely claiming in his election documents that he lived at a friend's house in New York, the Washington Post reported on Monday. Although Kennedy claimed he lived in an additional bedroom at his friend’s house in Katonah, New York, he spent only one night there last month after a lawsuit was filed challenging his resident status, wrote Albany County Supreme Court Judge Christina Ryba in her decision.

• Several hundred Russian conscripts who refused to fight in the defence of the Kursk region were forcibly sent to the area of ongoing operations. The soldiers were given weapons and airlifted to Kursk.