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Overnight News Digest: Austrian coalition sworn in without far right [1]

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Date: 2025-03-03

Deutsche Welle

A three-way coalition of centrist parties was sworn into government in Austria on Monday in a ceremony presided over by President Alexander Van der Bellen. The swearing-in marks the end of five months of political instability in the country amid efforts by mainstream parties to keep the winners of September elections, the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), from government. "I wish you in the fulfillment of your duties all the best, much success, and also the necessary bit of luck, and I look forward to working well together," Van der Bellen said as he swore in the new Cabinet. Austria's new government consists of the conservative Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) and the liberal NEOS. It succeeds a government of the ÖVP and the Greens. NEOS, the smallest partner in the alliance, gave its final approval only on Sunday, providing the coalition with a workable majority in parliament.

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BBC

The shocking blow-up between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Friday continues to ripple across the globe, including through American voters who expressed frustration at one or both leaders. The extraordinary scene saw Vice-President JD Vance accuse the Ukrainian president of being "disrespectful" to the US, while Trump urged him to make a deal with Russia "or we are out". Trump also accused the Ukrainian president of "gambling with World War Three" as Zelensky pushed back at suggestions that he should work harder to agree a ceasefire with Vladimir Putin. Zelensky was eventually told to leave the White House early. World leaders and elected officials in the US have had much to say about about the tense exchange, but so do American voters. We've asked five people what they think.

BBC

Pope Francis is alert after suffering two episodes of "acute respiratory failure" on Monday afternoon, the Vatican has said. Doctors were forced to intervene to clear mucus from the Pope's lungs, an update from the Holy See said, though it said he was alert throughout. The 88-year-old pontiff has resumed the use of an oxygen mask and ventilator to assist his breathing, but remains "alert, focused and cooperative", the Vatican said. This is now the third serious downturn since the 88-year-old pontiff was admitted to hospital 18 days ago with pneumonia.

Deutsche Welle

A 40-year-old German citizen with psychological problems purposefully drove into a crowd of people in the center of the southwestern German city of Mannheim, police said.

The motorist who drove his car into a crowd of people in the southwestern German city of Mannheim, killing at least two, intended to do so, police and public prosecutors said at a joint press conference on Monday evening. The suspect, who is 40 years old, was detained following the incident, the interior minister of the state of Baden-Württemberg, where Mannheim is based, told reporters earlier in the day. Police and prosecutors later added at the news conference that the suspect, a German man, is being investigated for murder and attempted murder in the attack that injured at least 11 others. They said the driver shot himself in the mouth when he was arrested and had to undergo medical treatment at a hospital. He could not yet be questioned. A senior public prosecutor said the man was suffering from psychological problems and that investigators were looking into that aspect more closely.

x Trump's move to expand tree cutting across 280m acres evades rules to protect endangered species. “This Trump executive order is the most blatant attempt in American history by a president to hand over federal public lands to the logging industry,” said Chad Hanson, a wildfire scientist.



[image or embed] — Guardian US (@us.theguardian.com) March 3, 2025 at 3:55 PM

Al Jazeera

Tehran, Iran – Mohammad Javad Zarif, strategic foreign policy adviser to Iran’s president and a prominent figure advocating for talks with the West, has again resigned amid fierce pushback from hardline opponents. The former foreign minister and face of reformist-backed negotiations with global powers that led to Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal confirmed the move in an online post early on Monday, saying it comes after “the most bitter era of my 40-year period of service”. Remarkably, Zarif said he was “advised” by judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei to resign and go back to a university teaching job “to prevent further pressure on the government” in a tumultuous period for the country. He was under pressure from hardline factions to resign for months, based on a 2022 law that forbids nationals with dual citizenship or those with dual-national first-degree family members from assuming political office. Zarif’s two children are natural-born United States citizens.

Al Jazeera

Palestinians in Masafer Yatta cheered the Oscar win of the documentary No Other Land, which depicts life in the occupied West Bank community at threat of Israeli expulsion, and said they hoped it would bring them some help. In al-Tuwaneh, one of the hamlets that make up Masafer Yatta, Salem Adra said his family stayed up all night for the Oscar ceremony. They watched as his older brother, Basel Adra, the film’s co-director, came on stage to accept the award for best documentary. “It was such a huge surprise, such joy,” he said. No Other Land follows Basel Adra as he risks arrest to document the destruction of Masafer Yatta at the southern edge of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, joined by his co-director, Israeli journalist and filmmaker Yuval Abraham.

x JUST IN: The White House has been clear that it intends to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, and that it will be McMahon's job to oversee that effort.



[image or embed] — NPR (@npr.org) March 3, 2025 at 3:48 PM

The Guardian

Announcement leads to sharp sell-off on Wall Street as Trump also vows tariffs on farm products starting in April

The US will press ahead with steep tariffs on Canada and Mexico from Tuesday, Donald Trump has said, setting the stage for a trade war with his country’s two largest economic partners. Hours before his administration was due to hit America’s closest neighbors with sweeping import duties, the US president claimed there was “no room left” for a deal to avoid their imposition. The announcement led to a sharp sell-off on Wall Street. All Mexican exports to the US are set to face a levy of 25% under the plans. Most Canadian exports will face a 25% tariff, with energy products facing a 10% duty. A 10% levy on China – introduced last month – will be doubled to 20%, according to an executive order released by the White House. Tariffs are a “very powerful weapon”, Trump told reporters at a news conference. The action is set to prompt swift retaliation. “We’re ready,” said the Canadian foreign minister, Mélanie Joly.

The Guardian

A German tourist is fighting to be released from an immigration detention center after she was denied entry at the San Diego border and taken into custody by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) last month. Jessica Brösche, a 26-year-old German tattoo artist, is being indefinitely detained by US Customs and Border Protection after she tried to enter San Diego on 25 January from Tijuana, Mexico, with her American best friend, Amelia Lofving. The two were traveling with tattoo equipment. “I just want to get home, you know? I’m really desperate,” Brösche told ABC News 10News in a phone interview from a detention facility. Lofving, a designer, had just moved to Los Angeles when she met up with Brösche in Tijuana with plans to cross the border together and travel to Los Angeles, but Brösche never made it to the city. Brösche had her German passport, confirmation of her visa waiver to enter the country, and a copy of her return ticket back to Berlin, Lofving said. But she was still pulled aside for a secondary inspection by a US Customs and Border Protection agent.

Reuters

DOHA, March 3 (Reuters) - A plan for Gaza drawn up by Egypt as a counter to U.S. President Donald Trump's ambition for a Middle East Riviera would sideline Hamas and replace it with interim bodies controlled by Arab, Muslim and Western states, according to a draft seen by Reuters. The Egyptian vision for Gaza, which is due to be presented at an Arab League summit on Tuesday, does not specify whether the proposal would be implemented before or after any permanent peace deal to end the war triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks. Trump's plan, which envisioned clearing Gaza of its Palestinian inhabitants, appeared to back away from long-standing U.S. Middle East policy focused on a two-state solution and sparked anger among Palestinians and Arab nations. Who will run Gaza after the conflict remains the great unanswered question in negotiations over the future of the enclave. Hamas has so far rejected the idea of any proposal being imposed on Palestinians by other states.

Reuters

NEW YORK, March 3 (Reuters) - As U.S. President Donald Trump seeks to reduce the size of the federal workforce through rapid-fire mass layoffs and buyouts, some Democratic governors are courting the newly unemployed to come to work for state governments instead. On Monday, New York filled digital billboards in Washington's Union Station encouraging former federal government employees to consider some of the state's 7,000 public-sector job openings. It featured a cartoon of a pointing Statue of Liberty alongside the slogan: "New York Wants You." Hawaii is fast-tracking recruitment. Maryland and New Mexico are convening job fairs. Trump, a Republican who returned to the White House in January, has said the executive branch of the U.S. government, which had about 2.3 million civilian employees as of September 2024, is bloated and inefficient. But where Trump sees waste, some Democratic leaders see a talent pool of workers with specialized skills.

NPR

With Republicans in control of the White House and Congress, those against the G.O.P.'s direction are looking to Democratic governors to stand up to Trump's administration. Among them is New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is currently locked in a fight with the Trump administration over the president's demand to scrap a hard-fought congestion pricing program in New York City, which began in January. The program's goal is to reduce traffic in the most populous city in the country and raise money to upgrade its transit infrastructure by charging a $9 toll for most vehicles entering central Manhattan during rush hour. The administration says it must end by March 21.

Reuters

Feb 28 (Reuters) - U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Friday said he recognizes the serious impact of the current measles outbreak in Texas, in which a child died this week, and said the government is providing resources, including vaccines. "Ending the measles outbreak is a top priority for me and my extraordinary team," Kennedy said in a post on X. The secretary, who has for years sown doubts about the safety and efficacy of immunization, said the Department of Health and Human Services would send Texas 2,000 doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine through its immunization program. Earlier, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention upheld the role of vaccines in offering protection against measles after an unvaccinated child died from an infection this week. The death, reported on Wednesday, was the first U.S. fatality from the highly contagious disease in a decade. Government data showed a growing outbreak with more than 140 cases reported in Texas since late January. The child's death and the hospitalization of nearly 20 other patients in Texas have put Kennedy's vaccine views to the test

x As measles outbreaks worsen nationwide, Chicago doctors are urging people to stay current on their vaccinations against the highly contagious virus.



[image or embed] — Chicago Sun-Times (@chicago.suntimes.com) March 3, 2025 at 4:05 PM

CNN

President Donald Trump is ordering a pause on shipments of US military aid to Ukraine after his heated Oval Office argument with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week, a White House official told CNN Monday. The halt in aid, which came after Trump held a series of meetings with top national security officials at the White House, could have dire effect on Ukraine’s war-fighting abilities, officials and analysts said. It will remain in place until Trump determines Zelensky has made a commitment to seeking peace talks, one official said, essentially forcing Ukraine to a negotiating table by threatening further losses on the battlefield. “The president has been clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well. We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution,” the White House official said.

USA Today

Carl Thomas Dean, husband of country music icon Dolly Parton, has died. He was 82. Parton shared the news on Monday in a statement posted on her official social media channels. "Carl and I spent many wonderful years together," she wrote. "Words can't do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy." The couple married in 1966 and had no children. A cause of death was not disclosed, although the post noted Dean died in Nashville, Tennessee, where the couple resided. USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for Parton for comment. Dean was a private man — so private that many have long wondered if he actually existed. He rarely walked a red carpet, made an appearance at a premiere or attended a show business function. But he did exist, and the deep love and respect he showed his wife was instrumental to Parton's perseverance and success throughout her career, Parton told Knox News, part of the USA TODAY Network, in 2024.

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