Jair Bolsonaro’s conviction. Also:
| The search for a suspect in the shooting of Charlie Kirk.Nepal’s protesters hold talks about their country’s future. |
Plus, Downton Abbey’s last hurrah.
Bolsonaro sentenced to 27 years
Brazil’s Supreme Court yesterday convicted former President Jair Bolsonaro of plotting a coup after losing the 2022 election. Bolsonaro, who is 70, was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison.
A majority of the justices in the case voted to convict the former president along with seven co-conspirators, including his running mate, his defense minister and a navy commander.
The ruling is a milestone for the country: Brazil has had at least 15 coups and coup attempts with links to the military since the monarchy was overthrown in 1889, but this is the first time the leader of one was convicted.
Details: Bolsonaro was convicted of plotting a vast conspiracy that included plans to dissolve the Supreme Court and to assassinate his opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, before he took office. Bolsonaro denied planning a coup but testified that he sought “ways within the Constitution” to remain in office.
Context: This is a blow to one of Latin America’s most important figures, and Bolsonaro’s political influence was on display in recent days as crowds across the country gathered to protest his prosecution. He energized a right-wing movement that transformed the nation, and his imprisonment would leave that movement without a clear leader.
What’s next: Bolsonaro’s lawyers are expected to request that he serve his time under house arrest because of his health problems. His conviction is likely to escalate the conflict between Brazil and the U.S. President Trump had tried to force Brazil to drop the case with steep tariffs — the highest he imposed on any country’s goods this year — and he has said that like him, Bolsonaro is being persecuted for trying to reverse a rigged election.
Police seek shooter in Charlie Kirk’s killing
The F.B.I. released video footage and images of a “person of interest” yesterday as the authorities investigated the killing of the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. Kirk’s killer was still at large more than a day after the shooting, and the director of the F.B.I. headed to Utah to take over the manhunt.
Follow our live coverage, and here’s a timeline of how the shooting unfolded.
The F.B.I. images show a man wearing a black shirt, a baseball cap and dark sunglasses. The new footage showed a person racing across a roof after the shooting and dropping down one floor to the ground. He then walked across a busy street and disappeared into a wooded area, where investigators later found a rifle.
A single shot was fired from a rooftop around 100 yards from where Kirk was speaking, the authorities said, hitting him in the neck and killing him. Officials said they had found a high-powered bolt-action rifle that was used in the attack in a wooded area near the Utah Valley campus.
More coverage:
| Kirk was a close ally of Trump’s. His killing has raised fears of surging political violence in the U.S.Kirk shaped much of the hard-right youth movement in the U.S. Read about his positions on immigration, climate and other key political issues.“We want to transform the culture,” he told The New York Times Magazine in February. |
Nepali protesters’ unlikely partner
Nepal’s protests have resulted in a surprising negotiation: the young leaders of the Gen Z protest movement figuring out the country’s future with the Nepali Army.
After protesters torched Parliament, the Supreme Court and the homes of five former prime ministers, the army was the only institution left standing to negotiate. The fighting force commands respect within Nepal, but it has never held power on its own and is caught at the center of a difficult transition for the country. Whatever comes next, the power vacuum will most likely be filled through an agreement between the angry and inchoate youth movement and military leadership.
In video above, my colleague Alex Travelli explains what’s behind the mass protests and why they happened now.
| MORE TOP NEWS |
| Gaza: Israel has ordered hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza City to leave. These satellite images show how difficult that’s going to be. Britain: The government fired its ambassador to the U.S., Peter Mandelson, after newly released emails detailed his close ties to Jeffrey Epstein. South Korea: President Lee Jae Myung warned about investing in the U.S. after South Korean workers were swept up in an immigration raid in Georgia last week. The workers were expected to arrive back home today. Belarus: Aleksandr Lukashenko, the country’s authoritarian leader, freed 52 political prisoners in his latest gesture to normalize relations with the U.S. Poland: Russia’s drone barrage was a test for NATO from the Kremlin, which has steadily escalated provocation against the West. Israel: Officials said the Israeli military had tried to assassinate Hamas’s leadership in the Qatari capital, Doha, because of frustration with the truce negotiations and a desire for revenge for the Oct. 7 attack. |
| SPORTS NEWS |
| Soccer: Barcelona is playing at a tiny 6,000-capacity stadium as renovation work at its home arena runs long. Olympics: The British swimmer Ben Proud said he would compete in the Enhanced Games, which allow doping. Youth sports: When should young athletes focus on just one sport? |
| MORNING READ |
Brazil is hosting this year’s U.N. climate conference in the Amazon, and it has a lot to think about ahead of the event, which is in less than eight weeks. The U.S., history’s largest polluter, is unlikely to show up, and pressure is mounting to overhaul the entire system of climate diplomacy.
On top of those existential problems, Brazil has a more logistical but very pressing issue to resolve: Diplomats can’t find affordable rooms to stay in.
| CONVERSATION STARTERS |
| Stylish friendship: In her first documentary, Sofia Coppola paints an affectionate portrait of her decades-long bond with Marc Jacobs. ‘Cultural Olympiad’: Paris embraced the Olympics’ artistic side. Los Angeles’s art leaders worry that their city isn’t doing enough. Celebrating Pärt: Arvo Pärt, a beloved and influential classical composer, is 90. Listen to and learn about his music. Am I the jerk?: Our columnist advises a reader who is realizing his friends may find his personality hard to take. |
| ARTS AND IDEAS |
Downton Abbey’s last hurrah
Through 15 years, six seasons, two films and a zillion costume changes, “Downton Abbey” spun a glossy fantasy of British aristocrats and their loyal servants. Now, with “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale,” the story finally ends.
Set in 1930, the movie feels like a lighthearted requiem to the remnants of empire and class combat. And even as ghosts of those who have gone hover over the movie, most prominently Violet (the much-missed Maggie Smith), lush photography and witty drama soften the goodbye. As Sir Robert Crawley murmurs near the end, “It’s time to move on.” Read our review.
| RECOMMENDATIONS |
Bake: Jammy, cinnamon-spiced apples and vanilla cake layers create this unique Romanian dessert.
