Slovenia’s Tomaž Vesel has withdrawn his bid to join Ursula von der Leyen’s team of European Commissioners, after the Slovenian government came under pressure to nominate a female candidate, according to Slovenian press agency STA.

The decision was based on “talks” with von der Leyen that “concluded that they had divergent views on the functioning of the new European Commission”, STA reported.

The news comes after von der Leyen pressured smaller EU member states to pick female candidates to serve in the next EU executive, to enable her to achieve gender balance in the next team, according to diplomatic sources.

The Slovenian government had initially defied such pressure, saying in a statement on Tuesday that the coalition government remained “united” around Vesel’s candidacy.

But on Wednesday, von der Leyen voiced frustration at EU governments for undermining her efforts to ensure equal representation of men and women in her next college, the 27 senior officials who’ll steer the EU’s powerful executive over the next five years.

She also said competence and relevant experience were prerequisites for joining her team, adding that a European Commissioner needs a track record in government, diplomacy, or EU institutions.

Vesel, a lawyer who previously served as the president of the Slovenian Court of Auditors, may have fallen foul of those criteria.

Von der Leyen has also asked Malta to propose a woman as an alternative to Glenn Micallef, the 35-year-old former Head of Secretariat of Prime Minister Robert Abela.

Israeli forces pull out of Jenin after major operation

Israeli forces have withdrawn from Jenin city and its refugee camp in the occupied West Bank after a major nine-day operation there.

The area – a stronghold of militants and with a civilian population of about 60,000 – was targeted in one of the Israel Defence Forces’ biggest actions in the West Bank for years. The IDF said it was acting against terrorism.

At least 36 Palestinians were killed – 21 from Jenin governorate – the Palestinian health ministry says.

Most of the dead have been claimed by armed groups as members, but the ministry says children are also among those killed.

An Israeli soldier was also killed during fighting in Jenin.

The city of Tubas and al-Faraa refugee camp were also raided during the operation across the northern West Bank – the deadliest of its kind since the start of the war in Gaza last October triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel.

Hundreds of troops from several branches of the security forces were involved, with civilians confined to their homes and utilities cut as the Israeli military battled with militants on the ground and with air strikes.

Residents of Jenin camp in the west of the city are emerging into the streets for the first time since the IDF began its assault on 27 August. Many, stunned and exhausted, slowly assessed the damage – the new layers of destruction mapping this operation onto the camp.

Years of violent confrontation between the Israeli army and Palestinian armed groups have been etched into Jenin’s narrow pathways – bullet-holes scattered across walls, piles of rubble left by military bulldozers, graffiti in the shape of M16 rifles, along with the name “Hamas”.

On Friday morning, gunfire erupted again in the refugee camp, signalling the start of many funerals taking place. The BBC understands at least eight of the dead are civilians, including a 16-year-old girl.

In a statement, the IDF said that in the area of Jenin “14 terrorists have been eliminated, over 30 suspects have been apprehended, approximately 30 explosives planted under roads were dismantled” during the operation.

It said it had also dismantled what it called “numerous terror infrastructure sites… including an underground weapons storage facility located beneath a mosque, and a lab used to manufacture explosives” and had removed “large quantities of weapons”.

During the counterterrorism activity, the terrorist Wassem Hazem, head of the Hamas terrorist organisation in Jenin, was eliminated. Hazem directed shooting and explosive attacks in the area of Jenin and was responsible for advancing terror attacks in Judea and Samaria. Israeli security forces are continuing to act in order to achieve the objectives of the counter-terrorism operation.

Kim Jong Un orders execution of top officials after flood kills 4,000

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reportedly ordered the execution of up to 30 officials following their failure to prevent severe flooding and landslides that claimed around 1,000 lives, according to South Korean media.

The executions, which took place in late August, were reportedly carried out on charges of corruption and dereliction of duty.

Kim expressed outrage over what he described as an “unacceptable loss” of life and called for strict punishment for those responsible.

Among those dismissed from office was Kang Bong-hoon, a prominent provincial leader. The identities of other executed officials remain undisclosed.

The North Korean leader had earlier visited flood-ravaged areas, acknowledging the extensive damage and stating that recovery efforts would take months.

Judge delays Trump’s sentencing until after the election

Former President Donald Trump will not be sentenced in his New York criminal case until after the 2024 election, Judge Juan Merchan announced Friday, explaining that his decision to delay the sentencing is in part to avoid any appearance of affecting the outcome of the presidential race.

Merchan wrote in a new four-page letter that he would sentence Trump on November 26 – if necessary – in response to a request from Trump’s lawyers to push back the sentencing.

Trump was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to an adult-film star alleging an affair with the former president. But Trump’s sentencing has been on hold for months after Trump’s lawyers pushed to have the conviction tossed because of the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity.

Harris narrows Trump’s lead in Texas poll

Vice President Kamala Harris has narrowed former President Trump’s lead in the presidential race in Texas, according to a new Texas Politics Project poll.

Texas is less of a Republican stronghold since President Biden dropped his re-election bid in July, the new poll and other recent polls suggest.

Trump leads Harris 49 per cent to 44 per cent in the presidential race, according to the August poll from the University of Texas/Texas Politics Project.

In the project’s June poll, Trump led then-candidate Biden by seven points at 46 per cent to 39 per cent. He now leads by five.

Teen and father charged with Georgia school shooting appear in court

Colt Gray has been charged with four counts of felony murder after the shooting that killed four people and left nine others wounded. His father, Colin Gray, was arrested on Thursday night and charged with second degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and cruelty to children.

Both Colt Gray and Colin Gray appeared in a Barrow County courtroom on Friday morning for their preliminary hearings.

Because Colt Gray is a minor, he will not face the death penalty. Instead, he faces a possible sentence of life in prison. Colin Gray’s charges could carry a 180-year prison sentence.

Prosecutors say they will present their cases against Colt Gray and Colin Gray before a grand jury on October 17.

Kremlin accused US of unacceptable pressure on Russian media

The Kremlin on Friday accused the United States of applying unacceptable pressure on Russian media after the US Justice Department charged Russian TV contributor Dimitri Simes and his wife with schemes to violate US sanctions.

The two indictments were announced just a day after the US took several legal actions against Russia to combat alleged efforts to meddle in the 2024 presidential elections, including charging two employees of the Russian state media network RT and sanctioning RT and its top network editor.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who has said Russia is not seeking to interfere in the US presidential election, told reporters that Washington was trying to ensure that Moscow’s own perspective on world affairs was not available to people.

“Washington continues to try to put pressure on Russia, on Russian citizens, and even on the Russian media, which is engaged in informing both citizens inside our country and world public opinion about what is happening, from our perspective,” said Peskov.

“Washington does not even accept that there should be options out there for anyone to get news from our perspective. This is nothing other than blatant pressure. We strongly condemn this stance as unacceptable,” he said.

Moscow still grants accreditation to Western journalists to work in Russia, though many have left since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022 and the arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on spying charges in March 2023. Gershkovich, who denied the charges, was freed in a prisoner swap last month.

Biden approves huge new $250million military aid package for Ukraine

President Joe Biden will provide an additional $250 million in military aid for Ukraine as Kyiv faces advancing Russian forces in the east and devastating strikes by Moscow.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said Friday said: ‘I’m pleased to say that President (Joe) Biden will announce today an additional $250 million security assistance package for Ukraine. It will surge in more capabilities to meet Ukraine’s evolving requirements’.

The announcement comes at a perilous time for Ukrainian forces, who are advancing into Russia’s Kursk region, despite Russia’s threats to plough through the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk.

It also comes days after Ukraine suffered one of its darkest days after two ballistic missiles killed at least 51 people and injured 219 in the Poltava region.

It appeared to be one of the deadliest carried out by Russian forces since the war began more than 900 days ago on February 24, 2022.

This comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently slammed Western allies for taking too long to make key decisions on military support. He also said he was pushing partners to get more involved in the conflict Ukraine to use Western weapons against the enemy.

France’s new PM tackles first challenge of forming cabinet

France’s new right-wing Prime Minister Michel Barnier started consulting all sides Friday to cobble together a government capable of mustering a majority in parliament after two months of political deadlock.

Taking over from 35-year-old Gabriel Attal, a centrist half his age, Barnier pledged to take on his new task with “humility”.

Barnier promised Thursday to address the grievances of the French but also implement “change” as he took office following almost two months of political deadlock.

The veteran conservative’s first order of business is to form a new government – no easy task givern the centre-right lacks a majority in the deeply-divided parliament with oppositiom parties.

Once the new government is signed off by President Macron, the convention is for the new premier to give a general policy speech to parliament and then ask parliament for a vote of confidence on that plan.

But Barnier is under no obligation to do that, in which case the opposition could table a motion of no confidence; 289 votes are neeed to censor Barnier. The left wing NFP does nor have enough seats to do that on its own, nor does the far-right National Rally. They have said they would not block Barnier for now but the new Prime Minister would need to keep them on side as they have indicated they would do so later if a range of demands are not met.

If Barnier makes past that hurdle, the next major challenge would be to draft a plan for the 2025 budget, which must be handed over to lawmakers by October 1 before it is voted on.

France is under pressure to get its finances in order with the budget deficit this year running into billions of euros over targets. If Opposion parties are not satisfied with Barnier’s budget, the government would be under threat once again from a vote of no confidence.

Sexually-frustrated dolphin behind spate of attacks on humans off Japan

Researchers believe one male Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin is responsible for annual attacks on beachgoers in the Fukui prefecture of Japan, and he’s doing it because he’s lonely.

At least 18 people have been injured in dolphin attacks in Fukui prefecture this year in what is becoming an annual occurrence in the region. Most of the injuries are minor bites, but some beachgoers have suffered broken bones since the attacks started in 2022.

Researchers believe a lone male Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) is likely responsible for the attacks based on photographs and video footage, Nature reported.

“We’ve seen that this dolphin randomly shows up at a beach, bites if there are people around, wanders off and repeats,” Tadamichi Morisaka, a professor in the Cetacean Research Centre at Mie University in Japan, told Nature. “To me, he’s seeking some kind of interaction with people.”

Dolphins engage in gentle biting with each other as part of their normal social behaviour, so the dolphin might believe he’s got a friendly relationship with the humans, Morisaka said.

Photo: BoBo