“I’m in a huge, massive town I don’t really know,” he says, “and I’m looking for the movie district. And inevitably all the theaters are closed down. They’re all closed down. That’s what the dream is.”
I’m visiting Carpenter at his longtime production house in Hollywood on one of L.A.’s unjustly sunny October afternoons. A vintage “Halloween” pinball machine and a life-size Nosferatu hover near his easy chair. I tell him I don’t think Freud would have too much trouble interpreting that particular dream.
“No, I know,” he says, laughing. “I don’t have too much trouble with that either.”
Nonetheless, it truly haunts him — “and it has haunted me over the years for many dreams in a row,” he continues. “I’m either with family or a group, and I go off to do something and I get completely lost. [Freud] wouldn’t have too much trouble figuring that out either. I mean, none of this is very mysterious.”
Carpenter is a gruff but approachable 77 these days, his career as a film director receding in the rearview. The last feature he made was 2010’s “The Ward.” His unofficial retirement was partly chosen, partly imposed by a capricious industry. The great movie poster artist Drew Struzan died two days before I visited — Carpenter says he never met Struzan but loved his work, especially his striking painting for the director’s icy 1982 creature movie “The Thing” — and I note how that whole enterprise of selling a movie with a piece of handmade art is a lost one.
“The whole movie business that I knew, that I grew up with, is gone,” he replies. “All gone.”
John Carpenter with John Mulaney, appearing as a part of “Everybody’s in L.A.” at the Sunset Gower Studios in May 2024.
(Adam Rose / Netflix)
It hasn’t, thankfully, made him want to escape from L.A. He still lives here with his wife, Sandy King, who runs the graphic novel imprint Storm King Comics, which Carpenter contributes to. He gamely appeared on John Mulaney’s “Everybody’s in L.A.” series on Netflix and, earlier this year, the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. gave him a Career Achievement Award — a belated lovefest for a veteran who was sidelined after “The Thing” flopped, cast out into indie darkness and was never personally nominated for an Oscar.
The thing that does keep Carpenter busy these days (other than watching Warriors basketball and playing videogames) is the thing that might have an even bigger cultural footprint than his movies: his music. With his adult son Cody and godson, Daniel Davies, Carpenter is once again performing live concerts of his film scores and instrumental albums in a run at downtown’s Belasco this weekend and next.
The synthy, hypnotic scores that became his signature in films like “Halloween” and “Escape from New York” not only outnumber his output as a director — he’s scored movies for several other filmmakers and recently made a handshake deal in public to score Bong Joon Ho’s next feature — but their influence and popularity are much more evident in 2025 than the style of his image-making.
From “Stranger Things” to “F1,” Carpenter’s minimalist palette of retro electronica combined with the groove-based, trancelike ethos of his music (which now includes four “Lost Themes” records) is the coin of the realm so many modern artists are chasing.
Very few composers today are trying to sound like John Williams; many of them want to sound like John Carpenter. The Kentucky-raised skeptic with the long white hair doesn’t believe me when I express this.
“Well, see, I must be stupid,” he says, “because I don’t get it.”
“The true evil in the world comes from people,” says Carpenter. “I know that nature’s pretty rough, but not like men.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Carpenter is quick to put himself down. He always says that he scored his own films because he was the only composer he could afford, and that he only used synths because they were cheap and he couldn’t properly write music for an orchestra. When I tell him that Daniel Wyman, the instrumentalist who helped program and execute the “Halloween” score in 1978, praised Carpenter’s innate knowledge of the “circle of fifths” and secondary dominants — bedrocks of Western musical theory that allowed Carpenter’s scores to keep the tension cooking — he huffs.
“I have no idea what he’s talking about,” Carpenter says, halfway between self-deprecation and something more rascally. “It all comes, probably, from the years I spent in our front room with my father and listening to classical music. I’m sure I’m just digging this s— out.”
Whether by osmosis or genetics or possibly black magic, Carpenter clearly absorbed his powers from his father, Dr. Howard Carpenter, a classically trained violinist and composer. Classical music filled the childhood home in Bowling Green and for young John it was all about “Bach, Bach and Bach. He’s my favorite. I just can’t get enough of Johann there.”
It makes sense. Bach’s music has a circular spell quality and the pipe organ, resounding with reverb in gargantuan cathedrals, was the original synthesizer.
“He’s the Rock of Ages of music,” says Carpenter, who particularly loves the fugue nicknamed “St. Anne” and the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. “Everybody would go back to Mozart or Beethoven. They are astonishing — Beethoven is especially astonishing — but they’re not my style. I don’t feel it like I do with Bach. I immediately got him.”
Carpenter was also a film score freak since Day 1. He cites the early electronic music in 1956’s “Forbidden Planet” and claims Bernard Herrmann and Dimitri Tiomkin as his two all-time favorites. Just listen, he says, to the way Tiomkin’s music transitions from the westerny fanfare under the Winchester Pictures logo to the swirling, menacing orchestral storm that accompanies “The Thing From Another World” title card in that 1951 sci-fi picture that Carpenter remixed as “The Thing.”
“The music is so weird, I cannot follow it,” he says. “But I love it.”
Yet Carpenter feels more personally indebted to rock ‘n’ roll: the Beatles, the Stones, the Doors. He wanted to be a rock star ever since he grew his hair long and bought a guitar in high school. He sang and performed R&B and psychedelic rock for sororities on the Western Kentucky campus as well as on a tour of the U.S. Army bases in Germany. He formed the rock trio Coupe de Villes with his buddies at USC and they made an album and played wrap parties.
He also kept soaking up contemporary influences, listening to Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” while location scouting for “Halloween.” Peter Fonda later introduced Carpenter to Zevon and he wanted the director to adapt the song into a film that never happened (starring Fonda as the werewolf, but “this time he gets the girl,” Carpenter recalls). In the ’80s he blasted Metallica with his two boys and he still loves Devo.
It’s incredibly rare for a film director to score their own films, rarer still for one to spend decades on stage as a performing musician. The requisite personalities would seem diametrical.
“My dad was a performing musician, so it was just part of the family,” Carpenter says. However, until 2016, when Carpenter first toured with his music, he was consumed with stage fright. “I had an incident when I was in a play in high school,” he says. “I went up and I forgot my lines. Shame descended upon me and I had a tough time. I was scared all the time.”
The director credits his touring drummer, Scott Seiver, for helping him beat it.
“Your adrenaline carries you to another planet when that thing starts,” he sighs with pleasure. “You hear a wall of screaming people. It’s a big time.”
He pushes back against the idea that directors “hide behind the camera.”
“The pressure, that’s the biggest thing,” Carpenter says. “You put yourself under pressure from the studio, you’re carrying all this money, crew, you want to be on time.”
He remembers seeing some haggard making-of footage of himself in post-production on “Ghost of Mars” in 2001 and thinking: Oh my God, this guy is in trouble. “I had to stop,” he says. “I can’t do this to myself anymore. I can’t take this kind of stress — it’ll kill you, as it has so many other directors. The music came along and it’s from God. It’s a blessing.”
John Carpenter is grateful but he doesn’t believe in God. He believes that, when we die, “we just disperse — our energy disperses, and we return to what we were. We’re all stardust up there and the darkness created us, in a sense. So that’s what we have to make peace with. I point up to the infinite, the space between stars. But things stop when you die. Your heart stops, brain — everything stops. You get cold. Your energy dissipates and it just… ends. The End.”
This is not exactly a peaceful thought for him.
“I mean, I don’t want to die,” he adds. “I’m not looking forward to that. But what can you do? I can’t control it. But that’s what I believe and I’m alone in it. I can’t put that on anybody else. Everybody has their own beliefs, their own gods, their own afterlife.”
He describes himself as a “long-term optimist but a short-term pessimist.”
“I have hope,” he says, “put it that way.” Yet he looks around and sees a lot of evil.
“The true evil in the world comes from people,” says Carpenter, who has long used cinematic allegories to skewer capitalist pigs and bloodthirsty governments. “I know that nature’s pretty rough, but not like men. You see pictures of lions taking down their prey and you see the face of the prey and you say: ‘Oh, man.’ Humans do things like that and enjoy it. Or they do things like that for power or pleasure. Humans are evil but they’re capable of massive good — and they’re capable of the greatest art form we have: music.”
The greatest?
“You don’t have to talk about it. You just sit and listen to it. It’s not my favorite,” he clarifies, alluding to his first love, cinema — “but it’s the one that transcends centuries.”
Music has always been kinder to him than the movie business. That business recently reared its ugly head when A24 tossed his completed score for “Death of a Unicorn.” (At least he owns the rights and will be putting it out sometime soon.) In addition to the high he gets from playing live, he is currently working on a heavy metal concept album complete with dialogue. It’s called “Cathedral” and he’ll be playing some of it at the Belasco.
It’s essentially a movie in music form, based on a dream Carpenter had. Though not one he finds scary. What scares Carpenter, it seems, is not being in control.
That happened to him in the movie world, it’s happening more and more as what he calls the “frailties of age” mount and it happens in that nightmare about getting lost in a big city and not finding any theaters.
“But I can’t do anything about it,” he says. “What can I do? See, the only thing I can do is what I can control: music. And watching basketball.”
WASHINGTON — At a moment when hope for peace seemed lost, senior U.S. officials, led by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in 2012 that would be touted for years as a historic diplomatic achievement. She would later campaign on her strategic prowess for the presidency against Donald Trump.
In 2014, a similar ceasefire was brokered between the two parties during yet another war by Clinton’s successor, John Kerry, also seen at the time as a diplomatic coup. But in the first 72 hours of that ceasefire, without clarity on the precise lines of an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, Hamas operatives ambushed an Israeli Defense Forces patrol decommissioning a tunnel, throwing peace in doubt. The remains of the Israeli soldier caught in that raid have been held by Hamas ever since.
History shows that Trump’s achievement this week, brokering a new truce between Israel and Hamas after their most devastating war yet, is filled with opportunity and peril for the president.
A lasting ceasefire could cement him a legacy as a peacemaker, long sought by Trump, who has harnessed President Nixon’s madman theory of diplomacy to coerce several other warring parties into ceasefires and settlements. But the record of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict shows that consistent interest and engagement by the president may be necessary to ensure any peace can hold.
Hamas and Israel agreed on Wednesday to implement the first phase of Trump’s proposed 20-point peace plan, exchanging all remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas since its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel in exchange for 1,700 detainees from Gaza, as well as 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in Israel.
Only the first phase has been agreed to thus far.
Guns are expected to fall silent Friday, followed by a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces that would initially leave roughly half of the Gaza Strip — along its periphery bordering Israel — within Israeli military control. A 72-hour clock would then begin after the partial withdrawal is complete, counting down to the hostage release.
Achieving this alone is a significant victory for Trump, who leveraged deep ties with Arab partners built over his first administration and political clout among the Israeli right and with its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to bring the deal to a close.
The president’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, had been working toward a ceasefire for months, starting back during the presidential transition period nearly one year ago. He found little success on his own.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio writes a note before handing it to President Trump during a White House meeting Wednesday.
(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)
It was Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who designed the Abraham Accords in Trump’s first term and maintains close ties with Netanyahu and Arab governments, took an unofficial yet active role in a recent diplomatic push that helped secure an agreement, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.
“None of this would have happened without Jared,” the source said.
Speaking with reporters from the White House, Trump took a victory lap over the truce, claiming not only credit for a hostage and ceasefire deal but the historic achievement of a broader Middle East peace.
“We ended the war in Gaza and really, on a much bigger basis, created peace. And I think it’s going to be a lasting peace — hopefully an everlasting peace. Peace in the Middle East,” Trump said.
“We secured the release of all of the remaining hostages,” he added. “And they should be released on Monday or Tuesday — getting them is a complicated process. I’d rather not tell you what they have to do to get them. They’re in places you don’t want to be.”
An opening emerged for a diplomatic breakthrough after Israel conducted an extraordinary strike on a Hamas target in Doha, shaking the confidence of the Qatari government, a key U.S. ally. While Doha has hosted Hamas’ political leadership for years, Qatar’s leadership thought their relationship with Washington would protect them from Israeli violations of its territory.
Trump sought a deal with Qatar, a U.S. official said, that would assure them with security guarantees in exchange for delivering Hamas leadership on a hostage deal. Separately, Egypt — which has intelligence and sourcing capabilities in Gaza seen by the U.S. government as second only to Israel’s — agreed to apply similar pressure, the official said.
“There’s an argument here, that presumably the Qataris are making to Hamas — which is that they lost, this round anyway, and that it’s going to take them a very long time to rebuild. But the war must come to an end for the rebuilding to start,” said Elliott Abrams, a veteran diplomat from the Reagan, George W. Bush and first Trump administrations.
“On Friday, the Nobel Peace Prize will be announced, and he won’t get it,” Abrams said, adding that, if the deal falls through, “I think the Israelis are going to be saying to him, ‘This is a game. They didn’t really accept your plan.’”
“I don’t think, in the end, he’ll blame the Israelis for ruining the deal,” Abrams continued. “I think he’ll blame Hamas.”
GLENDALE, Ariz. — President Trump and prominent members of his Make America Great Again movement paid tribute Sunday to Charlie Kirk, praising the slain political conservative activist as a singular force whose work they must now advance.
The memorial service for Kirk, whom the president credits with playing a pivotal role in his 2024 election victory, drew tens of thousands of mourners, including Trump and Vice President JD Vance, other senior administration officials and young conservatives shaped by the 31-year-old firebrand.
Speakers highlighted Kirk’s profound faith and his strong belief that young conservatives need to get married, build families and pass on their values to keep building their movement. Those close to Kirk prayed and the floors shook from the bass of Christian rock bands as the home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals took on the feel of a megachurch service.
“Charlie looked at politics as an onramp to Jesus,” said the Rev. Rob McCoy, Kirk’s pastor.
Kirk’s killing at a Sept. 10 appearance on a Utah college campus has become a singular moment for the modern-day conservative movement. It also has set off a fierce national debate about violence and free speech in an era of deepening political division.
The shooting has stirred concern among some Americans who say that Trump is harnessing outrage over the killing as justification to suppress the voices of his critics and target political opponents.
High security and a full stadium
People began lining up before dawn to secure a spot inside State Farm Stadium west of Phoenix, where Kirk’s Turning Point organization is based. Security was tight, similar to the Super Bowl and similar high-profile events.
The 63,400-seat stadium quickly filled with people dressed in red, white and blue, as organizers suggested.
“I think that this is going to change things, and I think he made such a difference,” said Crystal Herman, who traveled from Branson, Mo. “He deserves us to be here.”
Photos of Kirk at work or with his wife, Erika, were on easels throughout the concession areas of the main concourse level. Some people posed for photos next to them.
“We’re going to celebrate the life of a great man today,” Trump told reporters before heading to Arizona. He said he was bracing for a “tough day.”
Trump has blamed the “radical left” for Kirk’s death and threatened to go after liberal organizations and donors or others he deems to be maligning Kirk or celebrating his death.
Many people, including journalists, teachers and late-show host Jimmy Kimmel have faced suspensions or lost their jobs as prominent conservative activists and administration officials target comments about Kirk that they deem offensive. The retaliation has in turn ignited a debate over the 1st Amendment as the Republican administration promises retribution against those who air remarks to which it objects.
Kirk was a provocateur who at times made statements seen by many as racist, misogynistic, anti-immigrant and transphobic. That has drawn backlash from some conservatives who cast the criticism as cherry-picking a few select moments to insult the legacy of someone they see as an inspirational leader.
A 22-year-old Utah man, Tyler Robinson, has been charged with killing Kirk and faces the death penalty if convicted of the most serious charges. Authorities have not revealed a clear motive in the shooting, but prosecutors say Robinson wrote in a text to his partner after the shooting that he “had enough” of what he considered to be Kirk’s hatred.
Kirk’s legacy
Turning Point, the group Kirk founded to mobilize young Christian conservatives, became a multimillion-dollar operation under his leadership with enormous reach.
“Charlie’s having some serious heavenly FOMO right now,” Turning Point Chief Executive Tyler Bower said, likening the moment to bringing “the Holy Spirit into a Trump rally.”
The crowd was a testament to the massive influence Kirk accumulated in conservative America with his ability to mobilize young people.
“I think he spoke on more than just politics,” Michael Link, 29, said outside the stadium. “Now that he’s gone, it’s like, who’s gonna speak for us now?”
His impact on modern-day conservatism went beyond U.S. shores.
Kirk “was very effective because he was convinced of his views and knew how to argue them,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said at a political rally Sunday in Rome. “But he never stopped smiling, never stopped respecting his interlocutor and anyone who challenged him.”
Kirk was a MAGA celebrity with a loyal following that turned out to support or argue with him as he traveled the country for the events like the one at Utah Valley University, where he was shot. Kirk expanded the organization, in large part through the force of his personality and debating chops.
Arizona is the adopted home state of Kirk, who grew up outside Chicago and founded Turning Point there before moving the organization to Phoenix. Vance has said Kirk’s advocacy was a big reason Trump picked him as his vice presidential running mate last year.
Scheduled speakers at the service included Trump, Vance, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Donald Trump Jr., right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson and White House aides Stephen Miller and Sergio Gor also were set to speak.
Also scheduled to speak was Kirk’s widow, who has been named Turning Point’s new leader and has pledged that “the movement my husband built will not die.”
Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, whose official residence was set ablaze by a suspected arsonist in April while the governor was celebrating Passover with his family and friends inside, said in a television interview broadcast Sunday that Americans must now come together to find “our better angels.”
“We’ve got to universally condemn political violence no matter where it is,” Shapiro said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Cooper, Garcia and Madhani write for the Associated Press. Cooper and Garcia reported from Glendale, Madhani from Washington. AP writers Tiffany Stanley in Washington, Silvia Stellacci in Rome and Terry Tang contributed to this report.
The Italian travel hub Rome Fiumicino was recognised with its “impressive commitment to passenger experience, sustainability and innovation in the ACI Europe Best Airport Awards
15:40, 03 Sep 2025Updated 15:43, 03 Sep 2025
Rome is not just blessed with some of the greatest art and monuments on Earth, but one of the best airports to boot(Image: Photolibrary RM)
An airport in the Italian capital has been named the best in Europe for a seventh year in a row.
Rome Fiumicino has scooped the gong as the best airport handling more than 40 million passengers a year in the ACI EUROPE Best Airport Awards. The Roman travel hub was recognised with its “impressive commitment to passenger experience, sustainability and innovation.”
While no one is pretending that flying is good for the environment – in fact, it is one of the most polluting forms of transport – Fiumicino’s bosses have made better efforts than most when it comes to decarbonising the airport itself. It recently launched Europe’s largest solar farm, which should cut more than 11,000 tons of CO2 a year. Judges also highlighted its data-driven approach to management.
Fiumicino has now snatched the prize for a seventh year in a row, asserting its dominance in the ‘large airport’ category.
A spokesperson for the airport said: “Rome’s Fiumicino Airport has been named the best airport in Europe for the seventh time. This award celebrates its great service, comfort, and modern spaces. Travelers enjoy smooth arrivals, clear signs, and many food and shopping options. Fiumicino keeps growing, making travel easier and welcoming millions each year.”
On Airline Quality, some passengers have shared what they like about Fiumicino. One person from Taiwan wrote: “It is clean, modern and spacious. It is easily accessible by the Leonardo Express from Termini in about half an hour. Employees are friendly and helpful and can speak English well. The WiFi connection is stable. Signposts are clear.”
Another, from the UK, added: “Great facilities, huge range of luxury and non-luxury shops and restaurants/food choices. I travel to/from this airport often and have never experienced long queues, not at the security checks nor when recollecting my luggage.”
A third, from the UAE, shared: “Since my last visit, there have been tremendous improvements in the lounges and in the food and beverage on the second floor. The electronic passport scanner. I’m impressed. I’m positively impressed. Management efforts, I think, were amazing, and for me and my family, it has been a very pleasant experience.”
While some aviation buffs may make their way to Fiumicino just to check out its award-winning facilities, most will only grace its hallowed halls on the way into the Eternal City.
Each year, 35 million people visit Rome. And you can certainly feel it on the streets. Earlier this year, one holidaymaker told of how they’d resorted to visiting the Trevi Fountain at 2am in an attempt to dodge the notorious crowds that congregate there.
Fiumicino has scooped the top spot yet again(Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Even at such a small hour, she was confronted by throngs.
In truth, visiting any of the great city’s main attractions – whether that be the Colosseum, the Forum, or the Vatican – will bring you shoulder-to-shoulder with the masses. When visiting, picking up a book such as the Blue Guide, which is written by locals or those with a very intimate understanding of destinations, can help you find lesser-trod corners, underrated restaurants and ancient buildings with a baffling small number of visitors.
If you’re after broad stroke recommendations, the Castel Sant’Angelo is a good bet. Also known as the Mausoleum of Hadrian, it was once the tallest building in Rome and used as a fortress by popes. Nowadays, it’s a museum packed with incredible artwork, sculptures and artefacts that offer you a glimpse into Rome’s rich history.
The Galleria Borghese houses a spectacular range of artwork including pieces by Rossi and Bernini. Consisting of paintings and sculptures from throughout the ages, it is impossible not to fall in love with the grandeur of their histories.
India cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar is amongst those to heap praise on the current team after Test series in England.
A euphoric India heaped praises on Shubman Gill and his men after they pulled off an edge-of-the-seat thriller at the Oval on Monday to split an all-time classic Test series with England.
Odds were stacked against India in their first Test series under Gill, who inherited a team depleted by the retirement of batting stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli – two men who preceded him in that role.
As if the gaping holes in their batting order were not bad enough, veteran seamer Mohammed Shami was deemed unfit for the tour, while pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was available only for three of the five Tests as part of his workload management.
Gill and his men went on to record memorable victories at Edgbaston and the Oval to secure a 2-2 series draw and assure their legions of fans that the future of Indian cricket was in safe hands.
The indefatigable Mohammed Siraj led their lion-hearted bowling effort in the series finale to script a six-run victory amid high drama.
Batting great Sachin Tendulkar led tributes to the team and said the quality of cricket on offer was “absolute goosebumps”.
“Series 2–2, Performance 10/10! SUPERMEN from INDIA! What a win,” the former India captain wrote on X.
India’s Mohammed Siraj celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of England’s Jamie Overton during the fifth Test [Paul Childs/Reuters]
England needed 35 runs on Monday to secure a 3-1 series win with four wickets in hand, but Siraj struck three times to secure a famous victory for his team.
“In a nail-biting, riveting hour of cricket at England’s oldest test match ground, in characteristically cloudy Olde Blighty weather, India pulled off a historic heist,” the Hindustan Times newspaper wrote.
An Indian Express headline read “Miracles Do Happen” and the newspaper explained how Gill had stepped up as captain of a “gun team”.
The Hindu waxed eloquent on the “Mission accomplished”.
“After 25 days of riveting action, the best was saved for the last as Shubman Gil’s men rode Mohammed Siraj’s sensational spell to pull off a remarkable victory,” it said.
“It was a litmus test for an Indian team in transition but the young side showed heart and character as it fought back from tough situations to share the honours.”
India’s Mohammed Siraj poses after winning the player of the match award after India won the match to draw the Test series [Paul Childs/Reuters]
The King has led a chorus of praise for the “awesome” Lionesses after their European Championship victory on Sunday.
After Sarina Wiegman’s side clinched a nail-biting win against Spain on penalties, he said England had showed “there are no setbacks so tough that defeat cannot be transformed into victory, even as the final whistle looms”.
Prince William and Princess Charlotte, who watched the match from the stands in Switzerland, said they “couldn’t be prouder” of the side.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who was also in attendance, called the team “history makers”.
Downing Street said it will hold a special reception for the Lionesses on Monday to mark their “momentous achievement”.
The event will be hosted by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and sports minister Stephanie Peacock.
In a statement released after the final whistle, King Charles said: “For more years than I care to remember, England fans have sung that famous chant ‘football’s coming home’.
“As you return home with the trophy you won at Wembley three years ago, it is a source of great pride that, through sporting skill and awesome teamwork, the Lionesses have made those words ring true.
“For this, you have my whole family’s warmest appreciation and admiration.
“Well done, Lionesses. The next task is to bring home the World Cup in 2027 if you possibly can.”
Princess Charlotte was seen applauding from the stands alongside her father at St Jakobs-Park in Basel during the hard-fought contest against Spain.
After the match, a statement from her and Prince William was shared on social media: “What a game! Lionesses, you are the champions of Europe. We couldn’t be prouder of the whole team. Enjoy this moment England.”
The victory saw the Lionesses become the first women’s team to retain a European Championship, and also the first England football team to win a major trophy away from home.
After the match, Sir Keir wrote on X: “Champions! Congratulations Lionesses – what a team. What a game. What drama.
“You dug deep when it mattered most and you’ve made the nation proud. History makers.”
Goalkeeper Mary Earps, who retired from England duty in May after being dropped from the squad for Euro 2025, said her former teammates were “incredible”.
An open-top bus tour will be held in central London on Tuesday to mark the win, with a celebration due to be held outside Buckingham Palace.
It will process along The Mall from 12.10pm, before a staged ceremony at the Queen Victoria Memorial.
Fans can attend for free and it will also be broadcast on the BBC.
ITV’s Karen Pirie recently returned to our screens for its second series, and fans were quick to praised the ‘refreshing’ series
21:53, 20 Jul 2025Updated 21:54, 20 Jul 2025
Karen Pirie fans praise ‘refreshing’ second series but all have same complaint(Image: Brentwood Gazette)
Karen Pirie returned to ITV for its second series, three years after the first debuted on our screens to great reviews. The crime series is based on the Inspector Karen Pirie novels by Val McDermid, and stars Lauren Lyle as the lead – who was recently promoted to detective inspector in the new series.
Getting straight into it, the police officer finds herself in immediate drama as she gets to work cracking a cold case involving an unsolved case from over three decades before. The mysterious case saw the kidnapping of heiress Catriona Grant (played by Julia Brown) and her young son.
Karen Pirie is back on screens for a new series(Image: ITV/ITVX)
A man’s body is soon found with links to the original kidnapping, leaving Karen scrambling to find out the truth.
Fans were obsessed with the return of the series and rushed to social media to praise the ‘refreshing’ change in cop shows as they complimented how ‘normal’ the main character is.
One user said on X/Twitter: “Great to have #KarenPirie back. Refreshing to have a normal screen detective, fun and clever but not traumatised and grumpy.”
Fans praised the ‘refreshing’ series(Image: ITV/ITVX)
Another impressed viewer added: “I love #KarenPirie she’s so normal… no cop on the edge or cop that can’t play by the rules.. just a normal cop solving crime! Thank you!”
One said: “35 minutes in and I’m hooked. This is brilliant #KarenPirie,” and another fan added: “Karen Pirie is so well produced and edited.”
However, a few had the same complaints as they hit out at ITV for adding too many ad breaks in the episode. One annoyed user said: “These ad breaks through Karen pirie is absolutely ridiculous @ITV#KarenPirie.”
“I’d enjoy #KarenPirie even more if there wasn’t an advert every 5 mins ! Getting as bad as American TV,” another irritated viewer commented.
Karen Pirie stars the likes of Chris Jenks as DC Jason Murray, Zach Wyatt as DS Phil Parhatka, Steve John Shepherd as DI Simon Lees and Emer Kenny as River Wilde.
Lauren, who plays Karen, spoke about the return of the series and explained: “I’m thrilled that we will continue the life of our fearless young detective Karen Pirie, and of course, her bumbag.
“I’ve known for a while how well the show has gone down behind the scenes so it’s been a joy to see audiences want more. It’s a creative honour to work alongside Emer Kenny with the backbone of Val McDermid’s story.
“Season 1 was incredibly exciting building an original character we hadn’t seen before. I look forward to getting the gang back together and finally being able to answer the question: ‘Please say there will be a season 2?’ with an ‘Oh yes.'”
Love Island star Helena Ford was met with comments from host Maya Jama on the latest episode after reuniting with Harry Cooksley following time apart amid Casa Amor
Maya Jama spoke to Helena Ford about her relationship on the latest episode of Love Island(Image: ITV)
Fans have reacted to remarks made by Love Island host Maya Jama to islander Helena Ford after Casa Amor. The presenter was made aware of what Harry Cooksley had been up to whilst they were apart after they reunited this week.
Last night’s episode of the ITV2 show continued the latest recoupling as the two villas came together. Helena and Harry were among the couples who chose to stay together rather than recouple with one of the new additions introduced recently.
Shortly after their reunion, Helena was introduced to dumped islander Rheo Parnell, who had grown close to Harry in Casa Amor. Rheo said: “I don’t think I need to explain what he may have been up to over there. Harry strikes again!”
Helena Ford (left) and Harry Cooksley (right) reunited on Love Island recently after being apart amid Casa Amor(Image: ITV)
Helena asked: “How bad are we talking?” Rheo replied: “Well, I mean there were kisses in bed. There was like … cuddles.” Amid discussion about his latest antics, Harry said that he had been “exploring the connection” whilst in the other villa.
Andrada Pop added: “I did ask Harry did he miss Helena and he said he didn’t.” Helena reacted: “To be fair, I think I did say I didn’t miss Harry on the first day either.” Helena and Harry were then seen laughing together over the situation.
Rheo said: “Fair enough.” Love Island host Maya then shared her thoughts, saying: “I don’t know. I probably wouldn’t find it that funny if I was in a couple with someone like that but…”
Jamie Rhodes said: “Yeah, I can’t lie, this is like repeated behaviour. Like you gotta wake up at some point.” After confirming he was talking to Helena, he added: “Personally, I think you deserve more respect.”
Maya – who also confronted Ben Holbrough in the episode over a comment that he made in another scene – said: “Helena, you laugh quite a lot when he’s been doing things. Is that to avoid upset or are you genuinely not bothered?”
Helena responded to the presenter: “It’s not that I’m not bothered. It’s more that I’m just not surprised.” Rheo said: “But do you not think that you deserve more? You do.”
Harry then explained: “If I wanted to be with Rheo, I would have come back with her. No, I’m not excusing anything. I’m not saying that everything I do is right, I just do what feels right in the moment [and] then deal with it after.”
Later, Harry spoke to Helena about their time apart. He admitted to kissing Rheo “once in bed” but said he felt it was “never gonna be” their relationship. Helena was later told by Andrada that he had kissed Rheo more than once.
Host Maya Jama ended up sharing her thoughts with Helena after the pair laughed amid a discussion about his behaviour behind her back(Image: ITV)
She later told him that his behaviour in Casa Amor had been “disrespectful”. Addressing him having been “pursuing” someone else, she said about the future: “We’re not having that.” Harry said that were “on the same page”.
Fans reacted to scenes from the episode on X, including Maya’s remarks to Helena. One viewer wrote: “Is this the first time even Maya is basically calling a contestant a mug. She said ‘Helena, you seem to be laughing everytime he does this, I wouldn’t find this funny’.”
Another said: “Maya basically told Helena to stop embarrassing herself and she laughed.” A third wrote: “Everyone looked at Helena with real concern including Maya. Its becoming a little sad now.”
One fan said: “There’s actually no helping Helena atp wdym the entire firepit is telling her she deserves better INCLUDING MAYA and she’s still excusing Harry’s treatment of her.” Someone wrote: “I’m screaming at the Helena intervention at the recoupling how is everyone telling you to respect yourself, even Maya who’s meant to be impartial.”
Sharing their thoughts, one viewer said: “Helena could walk in on Harry having sex and still be laughing.” Someone replied: “I know….. for Maya to actually pipe in, you know its bad. She’s never done that. I get second hand embarrassment honestly watching her disrespect herself like that.”
One person wrote: “I genuinely hope Helena’s parents have a talk with her when she comes back from the villa because this lack of self-respect and self-love at her age is concerning and sad.” However, not everyone felt the same, with someone responding: “She’s having fun on a stupid game show and you idiots are triggered like a bunch of spoilt children. Pathetic.”
Love Island continues tonight from 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.
MONROVIA, Liberia — There was confusion and anger in Liberia on Thursday after President Trump praised the English skills of President Joseph Boakai.
“Such good English,” Trump said to Boakai, with visible surprise. “Such beautiful English.”
English has been the west African nation’s official language since the 1800s. But Trump did not stop there.
“Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?” he continued, as Boakai murmured a response. “Where were you educated? Where? In Liberia?”
The exchange took place during a meeting in the White House between Trump and five West African leaders on Wednesday, amid a pivot from aid to trade in the U.S. foreign policy.
Liberia has had deep ties with the United States for centuries. It was first established with the aim of relocating freed slaves from the United States.
Foday Massaquio, chairman of the opposition Congress for Democratic Change-Council of Patriots, said that while the remarks were typical of Trump’s engagement with foreign leaders, what some saw as the condescending tone was amplified by the fact that the leaders were African.
“As a matter of fact, it also proves that the West is not taking us seriously as Africans,” he said. “President Trump was condescending, he was very disrespectful to the African leader.”
Kula Fofana, spokesperson for Boakai’s office, told The Associated Press: “I believe that as journalists, it is important to focus on the substantive discussions at the summit.”
Close relationship in the past
Trump’s comments added to the sense of betrayal which became palpable in Liberia in recent months.
Earlier this month, U.S. authorities dissolved theU.S. Agency for International Development and said it was no longer following what they called “a charity-based foreign aid model.”
That decision sent shockwaves across Liberia, where American support made up almost 2.6% of the gross national income, the highest percentage anywhere in the world, according to the Center for Global Development.
Liberians thought they would be spared from Trump’s cuts because of the countries’ close relationship. Their political system is modeled on that of the U.S., along with its flag. Liberians often refer to the U.S. as their “big brother.”
Liberia was one of the first countries to receive USAID support, starting in 1961. The street signs, taxis and school buses resemble those in New York.
“In the first place, Liberia is a long standing friend of the USA, therefore Trump should have understood that we speak English as an official language,” said Moses Dennis, 37, a businessman from Monrovia. He added that Boakai did not go to Washington for “an English speaking competition.”
‘Condescending and ridiculing’
His views were echoed by Siokin Civicus Barsi-Giah, a leadership expert and a close associate of former President George Weah.
“Liberia is an English speaking country,” he said. “Former slaves and slave owners decided to organize themselves to let go of many people who were in slavery in the United States of America, and they landed on these shores now called the Republic of Liberia.”
For him, the exchange was “condescending and ridiculing.”
He added: “Joseph Boakai was not praised. He was mocked by the greatest president in the world, who is leading the greatest country in the world.”
Some however said that given Trump’s personal style, Wednesday’s remarks were meant as a praise.
“To some, the comment may carry a whiff of condescension, echoing a long-standing Western tendency to express surprise when African leaders display intellectual fluency,” said Abraham Julian Wennah the director of Research at the African Methodist Episcopal University. “In postcolonial contexts, language has long been weaponized to question legitimacy and competence.”
But if one looks at “Trump’s rhetorical style,” these remarks were “an acknowledgment of Boakai’s polish, intellect, and readiness for global engagement,” he said.
Mengonfia, Pronczuk and Mcmakin write for the Associated Press.
THE HAGUE — President Trump offered robust support for Europe and a rebuke of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the NATO Summit in the Hague on Wednesday, capping a visit that came as a relief to anxious allies across the continent.
The gathering was designed by NATO leadership to appease the president, and it delivered, with nearly all members of the transatlantic alliance agreeing to spend 5% of their gross domestic product on defense — an historic increase that had been a priority to Trump for several years.
“We’re with them all the way,” Trump said of NATO, sitting alongside its secretary general, Mark Rutte. He later added to reporters, “if I didn’t stand with it, why would I be here?”
Rutte was obsequious throughout the visit, at one point referring to Trump as “daddy” disciplining child-like nations at war with one another. But addressing reporters, he defended his praise of the president as well-earned.
“When it comes to making more investments, I mean, would you ever think this would be the result of this summit, if he would not have been reelected president?” Rutte said. “Do you really think that seven or eight countries who said, ‘somewhere in the 2030s, we might make the 2%,’ would have all decided in the last four or five months to get to 2%? So doesn’t he deserve some praise?”
While at the summit, the president faced repeated questioning over the success of U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend, which were designed to supplement an Israeli campaign to effectively end Iran’s uranium enrichment program. But Trump expressed confidence in the mission, stating that intelligence continues to come in supporting the conclusion that its facilities were “obliterated.”
“It’s been obliterated, totally obliterated,” he said. “We’ve collected additional intelligence. We’ve also spoken to people that have seen the site, and the site is obliterated.”
An initial Defense Intelligence Agency report, first reported by CNN, cast doubt on that conclusion. But an Israeli official speaking with The Times said that its preliminary findings from an on-the-ground assessment gives them confidence that the program has been set back by several years.
“You can see that the intelligence was very high quality in the execution of this operation – that gives us confidence in the information we have on the different facilities,” the Israeli official said.
Addressing reporters at a news conference, Trump seemed to commit to enforce Article 5 of the NATO charter, a critical provision of the alliance that states that an attack on one member is an attack on all. In the past, Trump has cast doubt on his commitment to the pledge.
“As far as Article 5, look — when I came here, I came here because it was something I’m supposed to be doing,” Trump said. “I watched the heads of these countries get up, and the love and the passion that they showed for their country was unbelievable. I’ve never seen quite anything like it. They want to protect their country, and they need the United States, and without the United States, it’s not going to be the same.”
The visual was moving, the president said.
“I left here saying that these people really love their countries,” he added. “It’s not a rip-off. And we’re here to help them protect their countries.”
Trump also gave himself praise for helping to broker ceasefires around the world — most recently between Israel and Iran, but also between Pakistan and India, as well as Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo — while expressing frustration with Russia’s president for what he described as “misguided” views that have perpetuated Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
He described a bilateral meeting with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, as “very nice” — “he couldn’t have been nicer,” Trump said — while offering choice words for Putin, an uncharacteristic position for a president who has repeatedly referred to the Russian leader as a potential friend and partner.
“Vladimir Putin has been more difficult,” Trump said, telling one Ukrainian reporter that he is looking to provide Kyiv with Patriot missile defense batteries – long a request of the Ukrainian government.
Trump also said he was open to sending additional defense funds to Kyiv if Putin fails to make progress toward a ceasefire. “As far as money going, we’ll see what happens – there’s a lot of spirit,” he said.
“Look, Vladimir Putin really has to end that war,” he added.
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s bombardment of three sites in Iran quickly sparked debate in Congress over his authority to launch the strikes, with Republicans praising Trump for decisive action as many Democrats warned he should have sought congressional approval.
“Well done, President Trump,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) posted on X. Another Republican, Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama, called the bombings “strong and surgical.” The Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), said Trump “has made a deliberate — and correct — decision to eliminate the existential threat posed by the Iranian regime.”
The divisions in Congress reflected an already swirling debate over the president’s ability to conduct such a consequential action without authorization from the House and Senate on the use of military force. Though Trump is hardly the first U.S. president to carry out acts of war without congressional approval, his expansive use of presidential power raised immediate questions about what comes next, and whether he is exceeding the limits of his authority.
“This was a massive gamble by President Trump, and nobody knows yet whether it will pay off,” said Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Democrats, and a few Republicans, said the strikes were unconstitutional, and demanded more information in a classified setting. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said that he received only a “perfunctory notification” without any details, according to a spokesperson.
“No president should be allowed to unilaterally march this nation into something as consequential as war with erratic threats and no strategy,” Schumer said in a statement. “Confronting Iran’s ruthless campaign of terror, nuclear ambitions, and regional aggression demands strength, resolve, and strategic clarity.”
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said that Trump “misled the country about his intentions, failed to seek congressional authorization for the use of military force and risks American entanglement in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East.”
The quick GOP endorsements of stepped-up U.S. involvement in Iran came after Trump publicly considered the strikes for days and many congressional Republicans had cautiously said they thought he would make the right decision. The party’s schism over Iran could complicate the GOP’s efforts to boost Pentagon spending as part of a $350-billion national security package in Trump’s massive tax and spending bill, which he planned to push toward speedy votes this week.
“We now have very serious choices ahead to provide security for our citizens and our allies,” Wicker posted on X.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) both were briefed ahead of the strikes Saturday, according to people familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss it. Thune said Saturday evening that “as we take action tonight to ensure a nuclear weapon remains out of reach for Iran, I stand with President Trump and pray for the American troops and personnel in harm’s way.”
Johnson said in a statement that the military operations “should serve as a clear reminder to our adversaries and allies that President Trump means what he says.”
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) said he had also been in touch with the White House and that “I am grateful to the U.S. servicemembers who carried out these precise and successful strikes.”
Breaking from many of his Democratic colleagues, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, a staunch supporter of Israel’s military actions in the Middle East, also praised the U.S. attacks on Iran. “As I’ve long maintained, this was the correct move by @POTUS,” he posted. “Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities.”
Both parties have seen splits in recent days over the prospect of striking Iran, including among some of Trump’s most ardent supporters who share his criticism of America’s “forever wars.” Republican Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio posted that “while President Trump’s decision may prove just, it’s hard to conceive a rationale that’s Constitutional.”
Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie, a longtime opponent of U.S. involvement in foreign wars, posted on X: “This is not Constitutional.”
“This is not our fight,” said Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, one of Trump’s most loyal congressional allies.
Most Democrats have maintained that Congress should have a say, even as presidents in both parties have ignored the legislative branch’s constitutional authority. The Senate was scheduled to vote soon on a resolution from Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) that would require congressional approval before the U.S. declares war on Iran or takes specific military action.
Kaine said the bombings were an act of “horrible judgment.”
“I will push for all senators to vote on whether they are for this third idiotic Middle East war,” Kaine said.
Democratic Rep. Greg Casar of Texas, the chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, also called on Congress to immediately pass a war powers resolution. He said politicians had always promised that “new wars in the Middle East would be quick and easy.”
“Then they sent other people’s children to fight and die endlessly,” Casar said. “Enough.”
Jalonick and Mascaro write for the Associated Press.
With an opening game lasting 12 minutes, it felt inevitable that the final between the two best players in the world would be a marathon.
In the end, Alcaraz and Sinner put everything on the line for five hours and 29 minutes – the longest French Open final in history.
Just as the fifth set got under way at around 18:45 BST, British player Naomi Broady had to make the call to alter her travel plans.
“I’ve just changed my Eurostar ticket because I think it is safe to say I’m not going to make the 9pm one,” Broady said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
It was worth it, with an emotional Broady saying afterwards she felt “so lucky that I got to be here to witness this”.
“It feels like this is absolutely going to be a historic moment of our sport,” she added.
Former British number one Greg Rusedski likened Alcaraz to Hungarian escapologist Harry Houdini, while on TNT Sports, commentator Nick Mullins crowned him “King Carlos the second – the red king in the longest Roland Garros final”.
“Carlos certainly didn’t invent tennis, but he is perfecting it,” former British player Mark Petchey added on TNT Sports.
The 1% Club viewers have branded a former football star as a ‘genius’ after he bagged £100,000 for charity.
The ITV gameshow, hosted by Lee Mack, aired its Soccer Aid special on Saturday night (7th June), and saw Clarke Carlisle striking the jackpot.
After a competitive episode, with a star-studded panel including Paddy McGuinness and Tommy Fury, Carlisle and comedian Lloyd Griffith were the last pair standing.
The final 1% question asked: “In the opening verse to the original version of Three Lions, what TWO words feature exactly three times in the lyrics?”
With the lyrics plastered on the screen to help them, the final duo locked in their answers.
The jackpot-winning questioning (Image: ITV)
Unfortunately for Griffith, he misread the verse and selected ‘they’ as his answer. ‘They’ only appears twice in the lyrics because the contraction “they’ve” isn’t technically a repetition of the word.
However, Carlisle answered correctly, pointing out that ‘it’ and ‘know’ appear three times in the verse.
Viewers have been left impressed by the 45-year-old’s efforts, with many taking to X, formerly Twitter, to share their praises.
“Clarke Carlisle just hit the back of the net. Well done Clarke,” gushed one. Another chimed in, penning: “Clarke Carlisle you Brainiac!! Well done!”
A third fan simply said: “Wow he’s so clever,” while a fourth declared: “Clarke Carlisle is a genius!!”
Yet another viewer joined the chorus, stating: “Absolutely delighted for Clarke! Always had a brilliant brain – but came close to losing him!”
The former Premier League star has been open about his mental health battles, revealing that he attempted to take his own life back in 2014.
The Preston-born sportsman has since become an advocate for mental health education in the sporting world.
Former footballer Carlisle (left) won the jackpot for charity (Image: ITV)
The 1% Club’s Soccer Aid special comes just days before the charity event, set to kick off on Sunday (15th June).
Founded by Robbie Williams in 2006, Soccer Aid raises funds towards UNICEF’s efforts to protect children’s safety globally. The celebrity football match features everyone from former professionals to reality TV stars.
This year’s game features the likes of Sir Mo Farah, TV star Bear Grylls, singer Tom Grennan and social media sensation Morgan Burtwistle.
The 1% Club’s Soccer Aid special is streaming now on ITVX
For confidential support call the Samaritans in the UK on 116 123 or visit a local Samaritans branch.
WASHINGTON — President Bush, reaffirming his support for the anti-abortion movement, told an estimated 200,000 abortion foes gathered under a hot, cloudless sky in the nation’s capital Saturday that their mission “must be to help more and more Americans make the right choice–the choice for life.”
In a brief telephone address broadcast to the crowd over loudspeakers, Bush predicted that “one day, your life-saving message will have reached and influenced every American.” The President urged abortion opponents to “continue to work for the day when respect for human life is sacrosanct and beyond question.”
He added: “I know from your devotion and selflessness that this day cannot be far away.”
With the temperature hovering near 90 degrees, demonstrators spread blankets on the grass, sunbathed and ate picnic lunches in the shadow of the Washington Monument while waiting to hear Bush and to catch a glimpse of Vice President Dan Quayle, who spoke to them in person.
Many wore anti-abortion T-shirts and carried placards reading: “Stop Abortion Now,” “Let My People Grow,” and “Killing Should Never Be a Personal Choice.”
Their numbers far exceeded the estimated 75,000 to 100,000 people who came for the 17th annual March for Life last January, and for a time threatened to rival the 300,000 who attended an abortion rights rally here last year.
Officials from the National Right to Life Committee, which sponsored the rally, said the event was intended to show the strength of their cause, despite a series of recent setbacks suffered at the state level.
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could impose restrictions on abortion. The decision, Webster vs. Reproductive Health Services, galvanized the abortion rights movement to work on behalf of candidates who share their views and to defeat attempts by state legislatures to curtail abortion.
The latest blow to the anti-abortion movement came Friday, when the Connecticut state Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill to ensure a woman’s right to an abortion even if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns its 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision guaranteeing that right. The Connecticut House already has passed the measure, and Gov. William A. O’Neill has promised to sign it.
Bush spoke to the demonstrators from the White House after returning from a five-hour fishing expedition on the Potomac River, where he caught several largemouth bass.
The President made no mention of proposals favored by many abortion foes to add a “human life” amendment to the Constitution. Nor did he refer to the possibility of the Supreme Court overturning its Roe vs. Wade ruling.
The Administration, confronted with a growing division within the Republican Party over its position on abortion, has emphasized its willingness in recent months to accommodate all points of view on the issue.
“In January of this year, I addressed the March for Life on this very issue,” Bush said. “And I said then, and reaffirm now, that your presence on the Mall today reminds all of us in government that Americans from all walks of life are committed to preserving the sanctity and dignity of human life.”
He called the widespread availability of abortion “a tragedy, not only in terms of lives destroyed, but because it so fundamentally contradicts the values that we as a nation hold dear. And when I look at adopted children, I give thanks that their parents chose life.”
Quayle, too, called the prevalence of abortion a “national tragedy.” But he seemed to take a less hard-line approach than he has in the past.
Quayle said that a majority of Americans oppose abortion on demand. “They may disagree about how best to turn the situation around, but almost all stand together against the terrible reality of unlimited abortion on demand,” he said.
Quayle said that “none of us, woman or man, can presume to judge those faced with a problem pregnancy.” But, he added, “the loss of some 25 million children in total to abortion since 1973 has been unspeakable.”
“It is as if we were shooting out the stars, one by one, preparing for ourselves an unending night of the most fearful darkness,” he continued. “You have been voices against the night . . . “
Referring to the growing dispute within GOP ranks–in which some Republican officials have said the GOP “tent” is large enough to include all views on abortion–Quayle said that abortion opponents make up “the largest coalition–I might add, the biggest tent–in American politics.”
Quayle said that Saturday’s demonstration could “begin a healing of the terrible wound which, for almost two decades, has torn at our country’s heart.”
Saying the anti-abortion movement was “more important than partisanship, and surely more important than personal advancement,” Quayle described it as “ the humanitarian movement of our time.”
He added: “Will the American people continue to accept the notion that unborn children are disposable?”
To shouts of “No” from the crowd, he responded: “Our answer is: Not in this country. Not now. Not ever.”
Olivia Gans, the rally director, told the demonstrators that the anti-abortion movement was not faltering, but gaining momentum.
“We are not losing,” she said. “We are winning. We are winning throughout the United States, despite what we hear and what we read. We are winning despite what (National Organization for Women president) Molly Yard has to say. And who listens to Molly Yard anyway?”
Meanwhile, in Portland, Ore., Yard spoke to a rally of about 2,000 people who had gathered to express their opposition to two proposed state laws that would restrict abortion rights. She reiterated that the anti-abortion movement was losing force across the country.
“(They) have lost in virtually every state legislature and they are losing in the elections across the country, and we expect them to lose heavily” in the November, 1990, elections, she said.
Many of the demonstrators in Washington said they traveled by bus, car and airplane from all over the country to show their support for an end to abortion.
“There’s really more people here than I could have imagined,” said James Davis, a paint factory production planner who drove 10 hours nonstop from Lancaster, Ky., with his wife and two children.
“Our prayers are being answered,” added his wife, Dora Sue.
Roger Bus, a lawyer from Kalamazoo, Mich., called the anti-abortion movement “more powerful than it’s ever been.”
And Carol Kraft, a bakery clerk from Emporia, Kan., said this was the first time she had attended an anti-abortion rally in Washington.
“I came because I want to take a stand for life,” she said. “I love life.”
In Southern California, a crowd of abortion opponents estimated by police at 8,300 made a human chain in the form of a cross along the streets of Van Nuys to coincide with the Washington demonstration. Police characterized the two-hour demonstration as peaceful.
“We wanted to send a clear message to politicians that there are many, many people out there who are opposed to abortion,” said Laura Gillen, an organizer of the event.
Organizers included Operation Rescue, the Right to Life League and more than 200 churches from San Diego to Bakersfield.
Participants, who formed the cross along Sherman Way and Van Nuys Boulevard, waved blue-and-white signs in English and Spanish reading “Abortion Kills Children.”
A small group of abortion rights activists carrying their own signs briefly disrupted the demonstration. Barri Falk, coordinator of the San Fernando Valley Chapter of the National Organization for Women, waved a sign that said “Honk for Choice.”
“We’re out here to show our support for life, too,” Falk said. “They want to oppress both men and women.”
Staff writer Mayerene Barker in Van Nuys contributed to this story.
