Partner of the First U.S. Woman in Space Reflects On Their Hidden Relationship

History does not record if Sally Ride rolled her eyes when she got a look at the plans for the first toiletry kit NASA put together for its female astronauts—but she’d have been within her rights to do so. The space agency certainly knew how to pack for men, providing them more or less the basics—deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush, razor. The women would get the essentials too, but there would be more: lipstick, blush, eyeliner, and, critically, up to 100 tampons—because who-all knew just how many the average woman would need during the average week in space?

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That first toiletry kit was planned before June 18, 1983, when Ride went aloft on the shuttle Challenger, becoming the first American woman in space, breaking the gender barrier the Soviets had broken with cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, just over 20 years to the day earlier. The tampon nonsense was not the only indignity NASA’s female astronauts in general and Ride in particular had to endure. Her story is chronicled in the evocative new documentary Sally, a 2025 winner of the Sundance Film Festival’s Alfred P. Sloan feature film prize.

Among the memorable moments Ride experienced was the pre-flight press conference during which a TIME magazine correspondent raised his hand and asked, “Dr. Ride, a couple of fast questions, sir…ma’am.” There was, too, the reporter who pointedly asked Ride “Do you weep?” when confronted with a particularly knotty problem during training. There was the bouquet of flowers Ride was handed after the shuttle landed, intended as a gift to America’s first space heroine—a gift Ride politely refused to accept, sparking all manner of criticism in the mainstream press.

More important than all of that, though, was the private—exceedingly private—side to Ride, most notably her 27-year relationship with her life partner Tam O’Shaughnessy, a marriage-in-all-but-name that wasn’t revealed until Ride died of pancreatic cancer in 2012 at age 61, and O’Shaughnessy told the world in the obituary she wrote to mark her mate’s passing. Not long before Ride died, O’Shaughnessey gently broached how—and whether—she should reveal their more-than quarter century secret.

“I asked Sally about that. I said, you know, ‘I’m kind of worried. I don’t know what I’m going to write, you know, how I’m going to navigate this,’” O’Shaughnessy recalled in a recent conversation with TIME, ahead of the release of the film. “And she said, ‘You decide. Whatever you decide will be the right thing to do.’”

The film, written, produced, and directed by Cristina Constantine, premiers on the National Geographic channel on June 16, and becomes available for streaming on Disney+ and Hulu on June 17. As it reveals, Sally and Tam made a lot of right—and tough—choices in the time they had together, and Ride did much the same when it came to the professional trajectory that took her to space. There is no minimizing just how alien the notion of female astronauts was at the start, at least in the U.S. The film includes a clip of Gordon Cooper, one of NASA’s original seven astronauts, being interviewed in the early 1960s. “Is there any room in the space program for a woman?” the reporter asked. “Well,” Cooper answered without a trace of a smile, “we could have used a woman and flown her instead of the chimpanzee.”

It wasn’t until 1976, a decade and a half after Alan Shepard became the first American in space, that NASA opened up its astronaut selection process to women and people of color. More than 8,000 hopefuls applied; in 1978, NASA selected 35 of them to become astronauts, including three Black people, one Asian American, and six women. Ride was among them, as was Judith Resnik, who would lose her life when the shuttle Challenger exploded at the start of its tenth mission in January 1986. There was a great deal of  handicapping inside and outside of NASA as to which woman would fly first—much the way there was among the men in the run-up to Shepard’s flight in 1961—and Ride and Resnik were considered the leading candidates. Ultimately, as Sally recounts, Ride was chosen because she struck NASA mission planners as slightly less distracted by the celebrity attending being number one, focusing more on the mission and less on the history she would make. 

“She loved physics and she loved space exploration,” says O’Shaughnessey, “and with those things she could be intense, driven.”

Ride loved O’Shaughnessey too—though it was a devotion that was a long time in the making. The two met when Ride was 13 and O’Shaughnessey was 12 and they were standing in line to check in to play in a tennis tournament in Southern California, where they both grew up. Ride repeatedly rose restlessly to her tiptoes, and O’Shaughenessy said, “‘You’re walking on your toes like a ballet dancer,’” she recalls in the film. “That kind of started our friendship. Sally was kind of quiet, but she would talk for eight minutes straight on different players and how to beat ‘em, how to whup ‘em.” 

The two grew quickly close, but went in different directions, with Ride studying physics at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania for three semesters beginning in 1968 and later at UCLA for the summer semester before transferring to Stanford as a junior, and O’Shaughnessey becoming a professional tennis player from 1971 to 1974, ultimately playing in both the U.S. Open and Wimbledon. O’Shaughnessy accepted her sexuality early, openly, and enthusiastically. 

“I was on the tennis circuit and there were a few queer women,” she told TIME. “But it was also just the atmosphere, even the straight women. No one really cared who you slept with…I was going to the gay bars in San Francisco and dancing with my friends.”

For Ride, things were different. When she was at Stanford she fell in love with her female roommate and the two were together for four years. But Ride insisted on keeping the relationship largely under wraps and that secrecy was a no-go for her partner. “She couldn’t stand being so closeted and decided to move on with her life,” says O’Shaughnessy.

Ride would later choose an opposite sex partner, marrying fellow astronaut Steve Hawley in 1982, a move that was more than just an accommodating pose for a public figure in a country not ready for same-sex marriage, but less than a true union of the heart. “They were really good friends,” O’Shaughnessy says. “They had a lot in common. He was an astronomer, Sally was a physicist. They had stuff to talk about. They were both so thrilled to be selected to be astronauts and they both liked sports, so I think they had a solid friendship.”

It wasn’t enough. The two divorced in 1987, but even before they did, Ride and O’Shaughnessy began drifting together as more than just friends. At the time, O’Shaughnessy was living in Atlanta, after retiring from the tennis circuit; Ride, who was living in Houston, would visit her frequently.

“I never thought we would become romantic,” O’Shaughnessy says, “but it just turned that way one afternoon in the spring of 1985. When she would come to town, we would typically go for runs and long walks and just spend time together. Back at my place one day, we were just talking. I had an old cocker spaniel named Annie, I leaned over to pet her, and the next thing I knew, Sally’s hand was on my lower back. And it felt unusual. I turned to look at her and I could tell she was in love with me.”

As O’Shaughnessy recalls in the film, she said, “Oh boy, we’re in trouble.” Ride responded, “We don’t have to be. We don’t have to do this.” Then they kissed. 

Ride would ultimately fly twice in space, going aloft the second time in 1984, once again aboard the shuttle Challenger. After that snake-bit ship came to tragic ruin, exploding 73 seconds into its last flight and claiming the lives of all seven crewmembers, Ride and Neil Armstrong, the commander of Apollo 11 and the first man on the moon, served on the commission that investigated the causes of the accident. Ride left NASA in 1987, accepting a fellowship at Stanford and later became a professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego. In 1989, O’Shaughnessy moved out west to live with her. It would not be until 2013, a year after Ride’s death, that California would permanently legalize gay marriage, and it would not be until 2015 that the Supreme Court would do the same nationwide. That was alright with Ride, who, as with her relationship with her college roommate, continued to believe that her love for O’Shaughnessy should remain a quiet and relatively private thing. But all that began to change in 2011.

It was early that year that Ride first showed signs of illness—poor appetite and yellowing cheeks. Her doctor diagnosed pancreatic cancer. “The doctor never said what stage. He never said the worst stage. We thought she was going to get better, and we were trying everything,” O’Shaughnessy recalls. “She was doing acupuncture, we were meditating, we became vegans. And then one day, we’re at the oncologist, and he said, ‘It’s time for hospice.’ And Sally and I were, like, shocked.”

Not long before Ride died, the couple grew concerned that O’Shaughnessy would not be allowed to visit her in the hospital, help make critical care decisions, or share property because they were not married—and could not be in California. So they went for the next best thing, registering as certified domestic partners, which afforded them the necessary rights.

“It’s the worst phrase,” says O’Shaughnessy. “We used to call each other certified domestic hens, because it’s such a bad term.”

Whatever name they went by, they would not get to enjoy their newly legalized status for long. Ride passed on July 23, 2012, just 17 months after she was diagnosed. At first NASA planned no formal memorial or celebration of Ride’s life. Then, the next month, Armstrong died and a memorial was held at the Washington National Cathedral, with 1,500 people in attendance.

“I got mad,” O’Shaughnessy says. She called then-Senator Barbara Mikulski (D, Md.) who chaired the Senate Committee on Appropriations and oversaw NASA’s budget. Mikulski called then-NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, who at first offered up a relatively intimate affair for 300 people at the National Air and Space Museum. O’Shaughnessy pressed, and ultimately won approval for a far more prepossessing event at the Kennedy Center in 2013.

Today, Ride’s legacy lives on in Sally Ride Science, a nonprofit founded by Ride and O’Shaughnessy in 2001 to inspire girls to become scientifically literate and to draw girls and women into the STEM fields. It lives on too in astronaut Peggy Whitson, who now holds the U.S. record for most time spent in space, at 675 days over four missions. It lives on in Christina Koch, who will become the first woman to travel to the moon, when she flies aboard Artemis II on its circumlunar journey in 2026. It lives on in NASA’s current 46-person astronaut corps, of whom 19 are women. Ride flew high, Ride flew fast, and Ride flew first—doing service to both science and human equity in the process. Sally powerfully tells her tale.

source https://time.com/7289170/sally-ride-documentary-tam-oshaughnessy-interview/

Sly Stone Knew Why America Rioted Better Than Anyone

Fifty-five summers ago, a riot broke out in Chicago’s Grant Park, where Sly and the Family Stone was booked to play a concert. Sly was on en route, but the crowd, fearing that the erratic rock star wouldn’t appear, started throwing bottles and rocks onstage. This, in turn, provoked police to wade into the crowd, beating people with nightsticks. As the incensed crowd spilled out across the park, windows were smashed, and cars were overturned. Three people were shot, although it wasn’t clear by whom, and 160 more were injured.

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The dystopian scene was a far cry from a Sly concert the year before: Woodstock in ‘69, where the band, operating at the peak of its powers, had implored its 400,000 rapt attendees to take it higher into the wee hours of the morning. But the Summer of Love and the ensuing years had given way to disillusionment and rage, and Sly felt this shift acutely. “I had sensed a shadow was falling over America,” he wrote in his 2023 memoir, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin). “The possibility of possibility was leaking out and leaving the country drained.” 

Sly, who died on June 9 at the age of 82, wrung greatness out of this abyss. He channeled the Grant Park riot and larger national anxieties into the 1971 album There’s A Riot Goin’ On, now considered one of the best albums of all time. A swampy morass of funk grooves and murmured mantras, the album captured a sociopolitical undercurrent that America had long resisted acknowledging: a brew of exhaustion, trauma, resilience, and determined joy bubbling from the country’s dispossessed margins. And as America confronts a new era of unrest, there are few albums made today that capture an unyielding spirit that still courses through the country: of dogged individualism and collective civil disobedience.

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Future Utopias

Stone was once the avatar of a more peaceful, unified future. In the mid-’60s, when anti-miscegenation laws were still being upheld in many states, he formed Sly and the Family Stone, one of the country’s first mainstream racially integrated bands. “There were race riots going on at the time,” Greg Errico, the band’s white drummer, told Rolling Stone in 2015. “Putting a musical group together with male and female and Black and white, to us, it felt really natural and cool and comfortable, but it made a statement that was definitely threatening to some people.”

The band’s diversity wasn’t just skin-deep, but also musical, as they fused funk, rock, soul, and psychedelia into up-tempo anthems with pure, motivational messages: Stand. Dance to the music. Everybody is a star. Their vision of America was a place where all sorts of outdated boundaries could be broken down; they embodied the long arc of the universe bending toward justice.  

But in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered, as was Bobby Kennedy. One day, while the band was on tour and riots were unfolding across the nation, the band was accosted by guardsmen while stopping for gas in a Michigan town under curfew. One of the guardsmen called a white woman in their group a  “[N-word] lover,” and tried to provoke them into resisting, Sly writes in his memoir. “We got out of there without too much trouble, other than all the trouble,” he recounts dryly. 

As the Vietnam War dragged on and violence inside the country mounted, Sly grew increasingly disillusioned with the nation’s trajectory. “You couldn’t take turns with freedom. You couldn’t have one moment where freedom went with the majority and one where it went with the money and one where it went with one skin color or another,” he later recounted. His fame was also taking a toll: plagued by expectations, hangers-on, and feeling used by the industry, he soon turned heavily to drugs and drinking.

The riot begins

Stone channeled all of these discontents into There’s a Riot Goin’ On. It was a far cry from its predecessor Stand!, which commanded alertness and action. There’s a Riot, conversely, was not militaristic, but mutant. It did not press to impress, but forced the listener to adjust to its oozing pace, its fuzziness, its Blackness. Sly’s constant overdubbing and reworking of the tape caused it to disintegrate, giving its sound a gritty veil. On the record, he gasped and murmured, holding too long to opaque phrases, his words seemingly spilling out of a collective unconscious of unrest—“made by no one and everyone, made under the influence of substances and of itself,” he later wrote.

The album’s provocative title was a reference to several touchpoints: the 1954 song “Riot in Cell Block No. 9” by the Robins, which jubilantly depicts a prison uprising; Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, released earlier in 1971, which lamented war and moral decay; and the Grant Park riot from a year earlier. It also represented, he wrote in his memoir, “the riot that was going on inside each person.” On its cover was a modified version of the American flag, suggesting that small and big riots alike had always been part of America’s legacy—and that the nation’s fabric was changing in fundamental ways.

The album, which confused some reviewers at the time, is now revered as an American classic. The record’s bass and drums influenced later funk icons like Parliament Funkadelic, as well as groundbreaking jazz-funk explorations from Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock. Its stripped drum machine sounds created a blueprint for many hip-hop artists. “Listen close, because there’s no way in hell a major label will ever again let out this much horrible truth,” wrote Pitchfork’s Andy Beta while naming it the fourth best album of the ‘70s. 

“Yes, it’s the very first funk album,” Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson told NPR this year, while promoting his new documentary Sly Lives! (AKA The Burden Of Black Genius). “But for me, it’s probably 41 of the most painful documented minutes in a creator’s life…I hear someone crying for help, but because the music is so awesome and so mind-blowing, you know, we wind up fetishizing his art, and you don’t see the pain of it or the fact that Black pain is so beautiful.”

Read More: Questlove on Summer of Soul and the Oscars

After making the album, Stone slipped even further into addiction, depression, and paranoia, sometimes going for years at a time without public appearances. But while he may not have been a role model, he was a “real model,” he liked to say. And there will never be another album like There’s a Riot Goin’ On, which is the sound of a genius straining against the edges of convention; of a teeming mass fighting for freedom; of love being found in a hopeless place. 

In 2023, TIME conducted a written interview with Sly, who was struggling with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) and near deafness. TIME asked him how the summer of 2020 compared with other summers of protest that he had lived through. “I still watch the news and still think about what could make things better in America,” he wrote. “There are days when it feels like things are going in the wrong direction, that every good thing has two bad things behind it. Black and white, rich and poor, we have to find some way to live together without hurting each other. It’s not simple but it’s important.”

Read More: Sly Stone Reflects on the Past and His New Memoir in a Rare Interview

source https://time.com/7292771/sly-stone-dies-legacy/

This New Tool Will Help Sports Teams Cut Their Carbon Footprint

Sports teams around the world are backing a first of its kind playbook to help the industry measure its carbon footprint. The Carbon Methodology and Calculator for Sport, launched by sustainability and social impact consultancy Think Beyond, aims to create a consistent standard by which teams can measure emissions and make inroads towards climate action.  

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Thirty-five organisations, including World Athletics, Liverpool FC, and LIV Golf have already adopted the approach. The playbook’s calculator measures the environmental footprint of everything from fan travel to merchandise. “If you claim the economic impact, then you have to account for the environmental footprint of it,” Susie Tomson, senior partner at Think Beyond, told TIME.

Until now, the industry has lacked a standard, sector-wide approach to measuring its climate impact. The playbook’s methodology aligns with the most widely used method for measuring emissions, known as the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, as well as the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Sports for Climate Action Framework, and the Science Based Targets initiative—but it has translated the frameworks into user-friendly, sports-specific terms. 

“We wanted to make sure that we’re aligned to Greenhouse Gas Protocol, but we’re talking sport language,” says Tomson. 

Once teams plug in their data, a dashboard shows emissions by category, and will help them track changes year over year. Teams can also break their year down into different footprints, to compare the climate impact of various events throughout the season. 

The playbook is part of a wider industry effort to go green. Many sports organizations have pledged to reduce emissions by 50% by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2040 under the U.N. Sports for Climate Action Framework. The 2024 Super Bowl and the Paris Olympics were both powered entirely by renewable energy. 

But challenges remain. A 2020 estimate found that the global sports industry is responsible for approximately 350 million tonnes of CO2. One study by Scientists for Global Responsibility found that the carbon emissions from the FIFA World Cup alone is equivalent to that of between 31,500 and 51,500 cars driving for one year. 

At the same time, the industry is also grappling with how to keep games going in the face of climate change. A 2022 study found that half of the former Winter Olympic host cities could be unable to sponsor winter games by 2050 due to melting snow and ice. And in many parts of the world, the impacts of climate change are already impacting events—the U.S. Tennis Association introduced an extreme heat policy after the 2018 U.S. Open where players faced off in 100 degree temperatures at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City. Meanwhile NFL players are swapping out their traditional uniforms for ones in heat reflecting colors.

Think Beyond plans to publish an annual State of Sport Carbon Report, which will show where organizations are successfully reducing emissions, and where growth remains. Tomson hopes that the calculator can be used across the industry—from the Olympics to amateur teams. “The more people who use it, the better traction we’re going to get,” she says. “The more groundswell [of people], all talking the same language, measuring the same thing.”

source https://time.com/7292737/sports-carbon-calculator-measure-team-climate-impact/

At Least 10 Dead After School Shooting in Austria, Police Say

At least 10 people are dead following a mass shooting at the BORG Dreierschützengasse high school in Graz, Austria, according to state police.

Among the dead were eight students, one adult, and the suspected gunman in the deadliest mass shooting in Austria’s postwar history.

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Mayor Elke Kahr called the shooting a “terrible tragedy” and Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said in a statement on X that it “has deeply shaken our entire country.” Stocker has cancelled all appointments today and is on his way to Graz.

Local media reported that 28 people injured in the attack are also being treated in hospital, according to the BBC.

Special forces were among those sent to the school after police received a phone call at 10 a.m. local time in Austria’s second largest city. The school has been evacuated and police wrote on X that everyone has been taken to a safe meeting point and the situation is “secured,” AP reported.

Police said that students from the high school will later be taken to the local ASKÖ Stadium, where they can then be picked up by parents and relatives.

Local media has reported that the suspected gunman is a former student, aged 22. Police said they believe the assailant acted alone.

He carried a pistol and shotgun and opened fired in two classrooms, Reuters reported.

Tuesday’s incident is the first significant mass shooting in Austria since November 2020, when a 20-year-old gunman killed four people and injured 23 others. Islamic State later claimed responsibility for the attack.

source https://time.com/7292668/austria-graz-school-shooting/

The Most Memorable Photos of Protests Erupting in Los Angeles Over Immigration Raids

A standoff between law enforcement and protesters in Los Angeles opposing the Trump Administration’s immigration policies escalated over the weekend, prompting President Donald Trump to deploy more than 2,000 National Guardsmen to the city.

Demonstrators shut down the 101 freeway on Friday to protest coordinated federal immigration raids that swept across the greater Los Angeles area. At least 44 people were “administratively arrested” during a single operation that day, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson told CBS News.

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California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that his state plans to file a lawsuit early Monday against the president.

The raids sparked a three-day mobilization against Trump, who said the city had been “invaded and occupied by illegal aliens and criminals.” On the campaign trail, he has vowed to launch the “largest deportation in American history.” Recent media reports suggest ICE has been ordered to arrest at least 3,000 people per day.

According to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), local businesses were looted and vandalized during the unrest, while some demonstrators threw eggs and used incendiary devices against officers.

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Though the LAPD initially described Saturday’s protests as “peaceful,” the situation escalated by Sunday evening. Police declared an unlawful assembly and dispersed crowds with tear gas and rubber bullets. “Demonstrators have marched to the LA Live area and are blocking all lanes of traffic on Figueroa and 11th St,” the department said in a post on X. “You are to leave the area immediately.”

The police department did not facilitate any arrests, but spoke about immigration authorities’ right to conduct the raids. “Federal authorities have the right to be able to do what they’re doing,” said LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell. “We don’t engage in that activity.”

Some key moments from the protests are captured in the images below.

source https://time.com/7292232/la-protests-trump-best-photos/

Israel Boards Aid Flotilla Carrying Greta Thunberg— What’s Next For the Ship and its Crew

Israeli forces have intercepted a Gaza-bound aid ship off the country’s coast and detained its crew, including activist Greta Thunberg.

The vessel, organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), was transporting humanitarian supplies including rice, flour, and baby formula. It has a crew of 12, including French Member of the European Parliament, Rima Hassan.

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FFC said the boat was stopped and boarded by the Israeli military in international waters just after 3am local time on Monday, June 9. The organization was established in 2010 and describes itself as a “grassroots solidarity movement” working to end the Israeli blockade of Gaza through non-violent action.

Before the Israel-Hamas war, Israel still maintained control over what goods entered Gaza, as well as water and electricity supplies in the strip. This began after Hamas gained control over the strip in 2007. 

The organization’s human rights attorney, Huwaida Arraf, said its seizure “violates international law and defies the ICJ’s binding orders requiring unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza.”

The organization shared footage appearing to show Israeli personnel intercepting the boat. In the video, the crew have their hands raised, and a person is heard saying “everyone, phones need to go, in the water.”

Israel has dismissed the vessel as a “selfie yacht” and said the “tiny amount” of aid aboard would be distributed in Gaza.

In a post on X, the government said the ship was being escorted to an Israeli port and that its crew would be returned safely to their home countries.

It added that 1,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza over the last weeks, and that the U.S. and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) had distributed 11 million meals in the territory since it began operations on May 26.

The GHF has faced sharp criticism from the United Nations and other aid organizations, who have accused it of “weaponizing aid”. Concerns over its operations have intensified following multiple fatal shootings of Palestinians near distribution hubs.

Read more: How Closures at Food Distribution Hubs Are Impacting Gazans

Here’s what we know about the ship and the status of its crew.

Why was the Madleen heading to Gaza?

The ship, named after Gaza’s first and only fisherwoman according to FFC, was launched from Sicily, Italy on June 1. 

The ship was carrying aid to Gaza, estimated to not be much more than a truck’s-worth, but FFC said that the mission was to raise awareness of the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

This campaign comes a month after another FFC ship, named “Conscience” was struck by drones and set on fire as a result of the attack while sailing in international waters.

Who was onboard the Madleen?

The 12-person crew included Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who said as the ship departed: “The world cannot be silent bystanders, every single one of us has a moral obligation to do everything we can to fight for a free Palestine.”

Other passengers included:

• Rima Hassan, a French politician.
• Thiago Avila, who leads FFC Brazil and is on the organization’s Steering Committee.
• Baptiste André, Omar Faiad, Pascal Maurieras, Yanis Mhamdi, and Reva Viard, all French nationals. Mhamdi is a journalist for Blast; Faiad is a journalist with Al Jazeera.
• Yasemin Acar, an activist from Germany.
• Şuayb Ordu, an activist from Turkey.
• Sergio Toribio, an activist from Spain.
• Marco Van Rennes, an activist from the Netherlands. 

What has Israel said about the ship and its interception?

In a statement posted Monday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed that it had intercepted the “selfie yacht” and that the “celebrities” on board would be returned to their home countries.

The Ministry also published a video of the crew being handed water and sandwiches, saying they were safe and unharmed. 

Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the IDF to show the crew a video of events on October 7 2023, when Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 people and took another 250 hostage.

The government is yet to comment on allegations that the seizure of the ship breaks international law. A government spokesperson has been approached for comment.

What international reaction has there been?

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot has said that France has offered to assist in facilitating the “swift return” of the French nationals onboard the ship.

In a press briefing Monday, a spokesperson for British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said that the U.K. government urged the situation to be resolved “safely with restraint, in line with international humanitarian law”.

Special Rapporteur to the United Nations, Francesca Albanese said: “As the Madleen was reportedly intercepted and seized by Israeli forces in international waters, the UK gov must urgently seek full clarification and secure the immediate release of the vessel & its crew.”

In a post on social media, Albanese continued: “The Madleen must be allowed to continue its lawful humanitarian mission to Gaza.”

Amnesty International said that Israel’s interception of the ship ignores its “legal obligations towards civilians in the occupied Gaza Strip.”

“As the occupying power Israel has an international obligation to ensure civilians in Gaza have sufficient and safe access to food, medicine, and other supplies indispensable to their survival,” the human rights organisation said.

source https://time.com/7292250/freedom-flotilla-greta-thunberg-gaza-ship-intercepted/

The Most Memorable Moments of the 2025 Tony Awards

Tonight was the 78th Annual Tony Awards, and all the stars came out to help celebrate Broadway’s big night.

This year’s awards were hosted by Cynthia Erivo, best known to younger fans for her role as Elphaba in the Wicked movie, though seasoned theater goers know she is a Tony winner herself thanks to her memorable work in The Color Purple. Speaking of which, Oprah Winfrey showed up tonight as a presenter, along with other luminaries including Charli D’Amelio, Bryan Cranston, Samuel L. Jackson, Adam Lambert, and Keanu Reeves. Additionally, the broadcast featured performances from 11 of this season’s Broadway musicals, including Buena Vista Social Club, Gypsy, Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical, Pirates! The Penzance Musical, Sunset Boulevard, and Real Women Have Curves. Not to mention a very special reunion of the original cast of Hamilton, including the show’s creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, to mark its 10th anniversary.

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This was a packed season on the Great White Way, with 21 plays and 21 musicals eligible for awards in 26 competitive categories. The most-nominated shows were the musicals Buena Vista Social Club, based on the lives of the Cuban musicians who recorded the popular 1997 album, Death Becomes Her based on the 1992 Robert Zemeckis film, and an original creation, Maybe Happy Ending. They each have 10 nominations. Maybe Happy Ending had a happy ending indeed, going home with the final prize of the night for Best Musical.

While the competition was fierce this year—two of the shows up for Play of the Year had already won the Pulitzer Prize: Purpose by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and English by Sanaz Toossi—some awards were announced in the run-up to the ceremony. The on-stage band from Buena Vista Social Club earned an award and Stranger Things: The First Shadow took home a special effects prize. Four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein received a special award for lifetime achievement in the theater and Celia Keenan-Bolger won the Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award, which honors a member of the theater community who has “made a substantial contribution of volunteered time and effort on behalf of one or more humanitarian, social service or charitable organizations,” according to the Tony Awards.

Another performer theater fans were keeping an eye on was Audra McDonald, who was up for her record-breaking 11th nomination for playing Mama Rose in the revival of Gypsy, though the award ultimately went to Nicole Scherzinger for Sunset Blvd. Sarah Snook, who won an Emmy playing Shiv Roy on HBO’s Succession, started off the evening by taking home her first Tony for playing 26 characters in a high-tech adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Plus, Cole Escola, the creator and star of the comedy Oh, Mary!, ended up taking a best lead actor win over George Clooney.

Read more: Audra McDonald Is Our Greatest Living Stage Actor

Best Reminder

Cynthia Erivo opened the show with a serious history lesson for anyone who forgot that way before she was starring in Wicked she was earning her stripes on stage. The night’s host is an incredible performer who just happens to be one Oscar short of an EGOT. Her performance of “Sometimes All You Need Is a Song” was a stunning reminder for anyone who’s only familiar with her work in green face paint. In her opening speech Erivo pointed out that Broadway had its most profitable season ever, thanks in part to a small Hollywood invasion of the boards. She gave a nod to “up and comer” George Clooney, nominated for his work in Good Night, and Good Luck, and joked that “Broadway is officially back so long as we don’t run out of members of Succession.” Sarah Snook, who played Shiv Roy on that HBO drama, was nominated (and went on to win!), following in the footsteps of her costars Jeremy Strong and Keiran Culkin.

Best Reunion

Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter, better known to many as Bill and Ted, came together to present the first award of the evening—and tease their on-stage reunion later this year in a new stage production of Waiting for Godot.

Most Undercompensated Winner

Unsurprisingly, Sarah Snook won her first Tony. The surprise was that she didn’t win 26 of them for playing 26 different characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Most Impressive Costume Change(s)

Megan Hilty is nominated for her work in Death Becomes Her and truly showed off her talent by simultaneously belting out the show’s “For the Gaze” while conducting a mind-blowing number of costume changes (including The Wizard of Oz‘s Dorothy and the daughter of the actor who played her, Liza Minnelli). They should give a Tony for Best Multitasking.

Best Memento

When Francis Jue picked up the top prize for his performance as a featured actor in Yellow Face, he was wearing a tuxedo that had been handed down to him by the late actor Alvin Ing. “He had it made for himself for the opening of Pacific Overtures on Broadway in 1976, and when he gave it to me 20 years ago, he told me he wanted me to wear it when I accepted my Tony Award,” Jue said. “I’m only here because of the encouragement and inspiration of generations of wonderful, deserving Asian artists who came before me and never got the opportunities that I’ve had.”

Most Wanderlust-Inducing Performance

The cast of Buena Vista Social Club took Tony viewers straight to Cuba, no airfare required, with a brilliant, buzzy performance of “Candela.” The show has 11 nominations, including wins for Best Choreography, and the musicians received a Special Tony Award in recognition of their musical excellence.

Best Potential Crossover

During his performance of Bobby Darin songs from the musical Just in Time, nominee Jonathan Groff jumped onto Keanu Reeves’ chair, straddled the soon-to-be Broadway star, and sang with the actor’s head between his legs. This could be just the update that Waiting for Godot needs to get the kids into their seats.

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Best Souvenir

In his acceptance speech for starring as Hester in Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical, Jak Malone told audience members that they might have accidentally taken a little souvenir away from the show. Specifically, that if you enjoyed his performance as Hester, “You might have just bid farewell to cynicism, to outdated ideas, to that rotten old binary, and opened yourself up to a world that is already out there in glorious technicolor, and isn’t going away anytime soon.” Not every Broadway show comes with souvenirs!

First Play-Off of the Night

Not only did Kara Young pick up the win for Best Actress in a Featured Role in a Play for her turn in Purpose, which went on to win Best Play, but the now-two time Tony winner also took the title of first person to get played off the stage for letting her acceptance speech go on too long. To be fair, she had a lot of people to thank, first and foremost her mother.

Best Reinvention

While Nicole Scherzinger was once best known as a former member of the Pussycat Dolls, it’s clear she has found a new home on Broadway. After her performance of “As If We Never Said Goodbye” from Sunset Boulevard she got a standing ovation—the surest sign of acceptance.

Most Musical Musical Moment

If anyone happens to say they hate musicals, there is a very good chance they are thinking of something like the performance delivered by the cast of Pirates: The Penzance Musical. A few dozen folks dressed as sea captains and their general ilk strapped on washboards to sing from the Gilbert and Sullivan songbook. While musical lovers undoubtedly found a lot to love, it probably didn’t win over any haters.

Biggest Shot-Taking

Sure Hamilton is having a reunion on the stage, but Natalie Venetia Belcon wasn’t going to throw away her shot, either. When the performer won for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in Buena Vista Social Club, she shouted out the show’s band, “my obsession. Well, my second obsession. The first is Jason Momoa. Hi Jason, how you doing?”

Best History Joke

Cynthia Erivo left the stage to head to the cheap seats. “I’m up in the balcony because I adore a bit of balcony. I’m 5-foot-1, and it’s the best chance for me to get a clear view of the stage,” she said. “Everyone loves a balcony seat, except, as we learned this season, Abraham Lincoln.” Definitely not too soon for that joke!

Best Battle of the Pulitzer Bigwigs

Two plays had Pulitzer Prizes, but only one can add the Tony for Best Play to their resume. Tonight’s winner was Purpose, which was written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and directed by Phylicia Rashad. (The other one was Sanaz Toossi’s English, which still has a Pulitzer!)

Best Date Night

Broadway vets Samuel L. Jackson, and his wife, LaTonya Richardson Jackson, one of whom was nominated tonight (the latter, for Purpose), teamed up to present the award for best revival of a play to Eureka Day.

Best Revival

There’s no denying that Hamilton is one of Broadway’s biggest hits, so naturally Broadway’s biggest night was the place to mark the show’s ten-year anniversary. Along with show’s creator, Lin-Manual Miranda, original cast members including Daveed Diggs, Leslie Odom Jr., Phillipa Soo, Jonathan Groff and more brought the crowd (including Oprah) to their feet as they performed a medley of the crossover musical’s biggest hits. It was a reminder of the power of song, performance, and theater as a whole.

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Best Inside Broadway Joke

In his acceptance speech for Best Direction of a Musical for Maybe Happy Ending, Michael Arden paused and asked, “If there are any queer people watching tonight…” and the audience died laughing, as he ended, “Happy Pride.”

Most Moving Moment

Erivo was joined by Sara Bareilles to pay tribute to the members of the Broadway community who passed away over the past year. They chose to perform a somber duet of “Tomorrow” from Annie and it is hard to imagine there was a single dry eye in Radio City Music Hall. Even Bareilles appeared to be in tears. Also, now we know why it looked like Erivo had raided Annie’s wardrobe during the opening number.

Least Surprising Surprise Win

Cole Escola did it. The star and creator of Oh Mary! took the top acting prize for their performance as Mary Todd Lincoln. Escola became the first nonbinary actor to earn a Tony in this particular category—and beat George Clooney too. The crowd was thrilled, roaring their appreciation as Escola sprinted to the stage and announced: “Julie Harris has a Tony for playing Mary Todd Lincoln!” and launching into a madcap speech that kept the crowd cheering. Amy Sedaris, naturally, was thanked.

Most Broadway Moment

If any Broadway fans are watching this show (heh) they undoubtedly adored watching six-time Tony Award winner and Broadway legend Audra McDonald step into the mother of all roles playing Mama Rose in Gypsy. Her performance was chill-inducing catnip for Broadway lovers.

Second Best Shot-Taking

Erivo earned a Tony for her performance as Celie in The Color Purple and while she held the mic, she had to nudge Oprah about a revival of the show (and take the opportunity to tell the one-time talk show host, “And you get a car!” while gifting her a little toy one).

Best Real-Life TV Crossover

Darren Criss took the top musical actor prize for his work in Maybe Happy Ending, which we know would thrill his fellow Warblers on Glee. The win was extra special, not only because it was his first Tony nomination, but because his Glee co-star Lea Michele was there, too, promoting her upcoming show, Chess.

Best Mention of Something Not To Mention

There has been a lot of drama in Broadway lately, and it wasn’t on stage, but rather on the page, after Patti Lupone made some controversial comments in a New Yorker interview for which she later apologized. While it has been all the buzz of Broadway, only Oprah was bold enough to mention the hubbub, making sly reference to it while presenting an award.

omg not Oprah Winfrey throwing shade at Patti LuPone while presenting at the Tony Awards lol pic.twitter.com/l7WvmA8Bev

— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) June 9, 2025

The Truly Best Reinvention

Just up there we mentioned that Nicole Scherzinger had won over Broadway as shown by the standing ovation for her performance earlier in the evening. That acceptance was cemented when she took the top prize for best performance for her work in Sunset Boulevard, which also won Best Revival of a Musical. “Growing up, I always felt like I didn’t belong, but you all have made me feel like I belong and I have come home at last,” she said in her tear-filled acceptance speech.

Grandest Grand Finale

To close the show, Erivo took the mic once again, this time to deliver a rousing and brilliant rendition of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going,” from Dreamgirls, a fitting and tongue-in-cheek ending to the evening. (She did, after all, go, as the broadcast cut away to the evening news.)

source https://time.com/7291396/tonys-2025-recap/