Nagasaki's mayor said Thursday it was "unfortunate" that US and British ambassadors have refused to attend a ceremony marking the 1945 atomic bombing of the Japanese city because Israel was snubbed.

But he defended the decision not to invite Israel to Friday's annual event, repeating that it was "not political" but to avoid possible protests related to the Gaza conflict.

"It is unfortunate that they have communicated to us that their ambassadors are not able to attend," Shiro Suzuki told reporters.

It is "increasingly likely" 2024 will be the hottest year on record, despite July ending a 13-month streak of monthly temperature records, the EU's climate monitor said Thursday.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said last month was the second warmest on record books going back to 1940, only slightly cooler than July 2023.

Between June 2023 and June 2024, each month eclipsed its own temperature record for the time of year.

"The streak of record-breaking months has come to an end, but only by a whisker," said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of C3S.

Tunisian President Kais Saied sacked his prime minister Ahmed Hachani without explanation on Wednesday and replaced him with social affairs minister Kamel Madouri, according to a statement from his office.

Hachani took office on August 1 last year, replacing Najla Bouden, who was also dismissed without an official reason by Saied.

His replacement Madouri had only taken on the social affairs portfolio in May.

Hamas named the alleged architect of its deadly October 7 attack on Israel, Yahya Sinwar, as the Islamist movement's political chief on Tuesday, following the killing of his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh.

Qatar-based Haniyeh, who was killed last week in Tehran in an assassination blamed on Israel, had been Hamas's face on the international stage and was widely seen as a moderate voice in the militant group.

Israel has not confirmed or denied any role in the killing. a

Iran on Wednesday hanged at least 29 convicts in a single day, including 26 in a group execution in one prison, a rights group said, a day after facing international condemnation for executing a man in connection with 2022 protests.

Norway-based Iran Human Rights said 26 men were executed in Ghezelhesar Prison in Karaj outside Tehran, while three other men were executed in Karaj's city prison.

Those executed, who included two Afghan nationals, had been convicted of murder, drug-related and rape charges.

Batoul and her family have been scrambling to secure housing outside Beirut's southern suburbs where an Israeli strike killed a senior Hezbollah commander last week, but spiking demand has sent prices soaring.

Many in the southern suburbs -- a packed residential area known as Dahiyeh which is also a Hezbollah bastion -- have been trying to leave, fearing full-blown war between the Iran-backed group and Israel in the wake of the commander's killing.

Israelis railed against new Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on Wednesday, with some hoping he will meet the same fate as his predecessor who was killed last week.

Near Tel Aviv's Dizengoff Square, whose circular fountain is ringed with tributes to Israel's Gaza hostages and war dead, Sinwar's appointment was met with disquiet.

The Palestinian movement's Gaza chief, an alleged mastermind of the October 7 attack, was named as the movement's head late on Tuesday after Ismail Haniyeh's killing in Tehran.

War-weary Gazans voiced concern on Wednesday after Hamas appointed Yahya Sinwar as its new supremo, fearing his past as the movement's military commander might hamper efforts for the ceasefire they yearn for.

"We don't know how Hamas is thinking or what led them to choose Yahya Sinwar as their chief, especially when his whereabouts are unknown", 29-year-old Mohammad al-Sharif told AFP in the central Gaza city of Deir el-Balah.

Iran faced condemnation from human rights groups Wednesday over its execution of a man convicted of killing a Revolutionary Guard in 2022 protests, with activists saying his confession had been obtained by torture.

Gholamreza Rasaei, in his mid-thirties, is the 10th man executed by Iran in connection with the months-long protests that erupted in September 2022 after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini. The Iranian Kurd had been arrested for an alleged breach of the country's strict dress code for women.

Israel has vowed to eliminate new Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, the alleged mastermind of the October 7 attack, with regional hostilities threatening to boil over as the Gaza war enters its 11th month.

The naming of Sinwar to lead the Palestinian militant group came as Israel steeled itself for potential Iranian retaliation over the killing of his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh last week in Tehran.

Speaking at a military base on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was "determined" to defend itself.