PRESS REVIEW – Friday, September 12: We bring you reactions from the Brazilian press after former president Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to over 27 years in prison for 2022's coup attempt. Also: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sacks his ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Plus: we look at the Red Dress project, a silk dress collectively embroidered by people all over the world. It's set to enter the Guinness World Records next year!
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's sentencing to 27 years in prison is dominating the Brazilian press. He was sentenced for 2022's coup attempt. Bolsonaro is on the front page of Folha de Sao Paulo, head down, arms crossed. There is another striking image from Jornal do Brasil of the former president with his eyes red and wet, looking up despairingly. Both papers headline on the sentencing of 27 years. In Folha de Sao Paulo, the editors say the conviction of all the defendants was fair, but the sentencing was excessively lengthy. There is no reason to rejoice at the outcome of this trial, Folha adds, especially when a regime, in order to defend itself from tyranny, has to resort to drastic measures like the imprisonment of political and military leaders.
O Estado de Sao Paolo looks at what happens next in its coverage, wondering if Bolsonaro will be arrested. The daily also notes that Bolsonaro's team is considering taking the case up with the international courts. In its editorial, the papers hail the Supreme Court ruling which "breaks with the nefarious tradition of leniency". They call Bolsonaro's sentencing a "great honour" for Brazil and Brazilian democracy, which has passed its greatest test since the end of the military dictatorship. Bolsonaro's conviction is the culmination of his public life dedicated to insurrection, violence, lies and disrespect for institutions, O Estado adds.
Turning to the UK, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing questions after the sacking of his ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson. The story is dominating the British press. Mandelson was sacked on Thursday after days of revelations about his close relationship with the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. It comes after the British Foreign Office uncovered letters between Mandelson and Epstein which showed the former appeared to believe that Epstein was wrongly convicted of child sex offences and that he encouraged Epstein to seek early release from prison. Starmer now faces questions about how much he knew before appointing Mandelson to the plum position of British ambassador to the US. British media Sky News reports that concerns about Mandelson's appointment were overruled by Starmer's team, although this has been denied by Downing Street. The PM faces the wrath of the Daily Mail and the Daily Express, which calls him "weak". The Guardian's editor evokes "a parable of short-sighted foreign policy". It says that any association with Epstein was obviously toxic and it reflects poorly on Starmer that he didn't anticipate the risk.
Next, an article in the Washington Post asks a rather existential question: what is luxury to you? The Post put this question to dozens of people working in the fashion industry. The answers range from the predictable – a cashmere sweater in the winter or a summer dip in the sea – to the more ideological ones. One person said luxury to them would be a life without smartphones, while another editor said that it's the freedom to take your own time. My favourite is from Fran Tirado, editor in chief of "Them". She says it’s a feeling of ascendance, an understanding that you are at the top of your life, but in comparison to no one else.
Speaking of fashion: the website Positive News talks about the Red Dress project, dreamed up by British artist Kirstie Macleod, which is aimed at storytelling through embroidery. Over 14 years, 380 embroiderers from 51 countries worked on the dress, collectively adding 1.5 billion stitches. The dress is set to be recognised in the 2026 Guinness World Records as the largest ever collaborative embroidery project. Among those who participated were female refugees from Palestine, Syria and Ukraine, women seeking asylum in the UK from Iran, Iraq, China, Nigeria and Namibia, survivors of war in Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Rwanda, as well as impoverished and disadvantaged women in South Africa, Mexico and Egypt.
You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.
English (US) · 