The targeting of two senior militant leaders in two Middle Eastern capitals within hours of each other — with each strike blamed on Israel — risks rocking the region at a critical moment.

The strikes come as international mediators are working to bring Israel and Hamas to agree to a cease-fire that would wind down the devastating war in Gaza and free hostages. Intense diplomatic efforts are also underway to ease tensions between Israel and Hezbollah after months of cross-border fighting.

Residents swept up broken bricks, shattered glass and burnt plastic on Wednesday after far-right protesters clashed with police outside a mosque in a northwest England town where three girls were fatally stabbed.

A violent crowd of several hundred hurled bricks and bottles at riot police and set garbage bins and vehicles on fire in Southport, hours after a peaceful vigil for the girls, aged 6, 7 and 9, who were killed during a Taylor Swift-themed summer holiday dance and yoga class. The ambulance service said it treated 39 police officers for injuries, 27 of whom were taken to hospitals.

The militant Palestinian group Hamas has a history of swift and smooth replacement of fallen leaders killed in Israeli airstrikes.

Ismail Haniyeh's assassination in the Iranian capital early Wednesday comes at a time when Hamas is under extreme pressure since the war in Gaza started nearly 10 months ago following the group's attack on southern Israel.

Balkan countries on Wednesday battled wildfires stoked by high temperatures, winds and a weeks-long drought with firefighters in Croatia saying the toughest day so far this season was behind them as North Macedonia's emergency chief suggest the country should seek assistance from NATO.

Croatia's Firefighters' Association described the past 24 hours as the most demanding this summer with more than 100 interventions that involved over 1,000 firefighters and 20 firefighting planes.

Hundreds of rescue workers searched through mud and debris Wednesday from multiple landslides that have killed at least 151 people in southern India, police said.

The multiple landslides occurred after torrential rains triggered torrents of mud and water that swept through tea estates and villages.

Sudan's military said its top commander, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, survived a drone attack on a military graduation ceremony that killed five people in the country's east.

The military said in a statement Wednesday that the attack by two drones took place in Gebeit, a town in eastern Sudan, after the ceremony was concluded. Military chief Burhan, who was attending, was not hurt, according to Lt. Col. Hassan Ibrahim, from the military spokesman's office.

After days of water-quality concerns caused by heavy rains last week put the swimming portion of the Olympic triathlons in doubt, the women dove into the Seine River early Wednesday, followed by the men a few hours later.

The athletes began near the Pont Alexandre III, a bridge that spans the famed Paris waterway. The women's race began under a gray sky, with steady rain tapering off just as the athletes splashed into the water. Some dunked their swim goggles in the Seine before putting them on and heading into the river with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

An investigation has determined that "Chinese state actors" were responsible for a 2021 cyberattack on Germany's national office for cartography, officials in Berlin said Wednesday. The Chinese ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry for a protest for the first time in decades.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer said the German government has "reliable information from our intelligence services" about the source of the attack on the Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy, which he said was carried out "for the purpose of espionage."

Frustrated with growing economic hardships, Nigerians are planning nationwide protests this week against the country's worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.

And with momentum soaring on social media, authorities fear a replay of the deadly 2020 demonstrations against police brutality in this West African nation — or a wave of violence similar to last month's protests in Kenya, where a tax hike led to chaos in the capital, Nairobi.

The Russian military on Wednesday began a third round of drills with tactical nuclear weapons, part of the Kremlin's messaging intended to force the West to limit its support for Ukraine.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the drills will feature units of the central and southern military districts armed with Iskander short-range missiles. They will practice receiving nuclear weapons from storage and deploying them to designated launch areas. The maneuvers will also include air force units that will arm their warplanes with nuclear weapons and perform patrol flights.