Eurotopics.net

The director of the Austrian public broadcaster ORF, Roland Weißmann, has stepped down after being accused of sexually harassing a female colleague. Weißmann has denied the accusation but wants to avert damage to the company, according to his lawyer. The national media see another blow for public broadcasting.

Mojtaba Khamenei is to take over as Iran's supreme leader after his father Ali Khamenei was killed in an US-Israeli airstrike. The Israeli military has now threatened to target the successor. US President Donald Trump had declared beforehand that he considered Mojtaba Khamenei to be an "unacceptable" choice, and that any Iranian leader who did not meet with Washington's approval would "not be long in office".

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez last week reiterated his "No to war in Iran!" in a televised address. He was responding to US President Donald Trump's criticism of Spain in the presence of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for refusing to allow the US to use two military bases on its territory. Trump had threatened to sever trade relations with Spain.

International Women's Day is celebrated in cities around the world on 8 March, with people taking to the streets to demonstrate for greater equality. Commentators reflect on the state of gender equality today.

The Swiss referendum on reducing broadcasting licence fees has been defeated by a clear margin: around 62 percent of voters rejected the "200 francs is enough!" initiative. Households currently pay 335 francs per year to finance the public broadcaster SRG SSR, which produces radio and television programmes in the four national languages.