Stability or fiasco? Giorgia Meloni becomes longest-serving Italian PM
PRESS REVIEW – Friday, September 4: Italy's Giorgia Meloni becomes the longest-serving prime minister in Italy's postwar history. While she's celebrated by the rightwing press, the leftwing press say her leadership is a fiasco. Also, is Europe gearing up for a chaotic winter? Concern is mounting after the UN warned of a "supersized" El Niño phenomenon that could bring heavy rains and snow. Plus we look at tributes to Gloria Steinem, journalist and women's rights icon, who has died at 92.
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Issued on: 04/09/2026 - 12:29 Modified: 04/09/2026 - 12:40
PRESS REVIEW – Friday, September 4: Italy's Giorgia Meloni becomes the longest-serving prime minister in Italy's postwar history. While she's celebrated by the rightwing press, the leftwing press say her leadership is a fiasco. Also, is Europe gearing up for a chaotic winter? Concern is mounting after the UN warned of a "supersized" El Niño phenomenon that could bring heavy rains and snow. Plus we look at tributes to Gloria Steinem, journalist and women's rights icon, who has died at 92.
We start in Italy , where Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has become the country's longest-serving postwar leader. Meloni marks 1,413 days in office – a record for the country – and the Italian right-wing papers are celebrating. Libero says "Tiè" which translates to "there you go!": a triumphant, vindicated headline from the pro-government paper. Libero's editor takes aim at Italy's left, saying the secret to Meloni's longevity is the "realism of the conservative right versus the demagogic utopia of the left."
Il Giornale , another conservative paper, also focuses on Meloni's political feat on its front page, with an opinion piece calling her "the exception that became the norm."
It's a different story from the leftwing press. Il Fatto Quotidiano is far less jubilant: "Four years in office with nothing to celebrate", the paper says. It calls Meloni's governance a "fiasco". The Financial Times notes that Meloni has governed not as a radical but as a conservative – which is why she is reviled as a sellout by far-right hardliners in Europe. The FT also attributes her political capital remaining intact to the fact that she has "yet to use it on painful economic, welfare and public administration reforms".
Elsewhere, the El Niño weather phenomenon is dominating headlines after the UN 's stark warning about what's to come. After a scorching summer in Europe, El Niño could be supersized this year, according to the UN. That could mean heavy rains and/or a very snowy winter. Le Parisien wonders how worried we should be. The Guardian quotes the British environment secretary's warning to Britons to stock up on supplies this winter in the event of shortages and power cuts . The chaotic winter could mean an even hotter 2027, or as Metro says, it's going to be "hot as El."
Finally, journalist and women's rights campaigner Gloria Steinem died on Thursday at the age of 92. The New York Times pays tribute to Steinem, saying she championed the cause of women at home, in the workplace and in society at large. One of her most iconic works was an undercover exposé she wrote about being a Playboy bunny – an exposé she came to regret writing because it hampered her professionally. The Washington Post recounts her experience of going undercover as a bunny at Hugh Hefner's nightclubs for men.
It notes that her exposé was not so much the experience of being a Bunny but a dissection of gender structure, class and control.
You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.