Latest news with #StaceyFoster
ITV News
30-06-2025
- Sport
- ITV News
The Swiss castle from where the Lionesses will plot a route to Euros glory
The FA looked at 23 base camp options, before settling on a luxury hotel in Zurich. ITV News Midlands Correspondent Stacey Foster and Reporter Chloe Keedy have the story The turreted hotel that the Lionesses will call home, as they prepare to defend their European title, is certainly more swanky than previous England basecamps. When Manager Sarina Wiegman and her squad check into The Dolder Grand in Zurich on Monday, their names will be added in its guest book to those of Winston Churchill, the Rolling Stones and King Charles. The five-star resort, which stands on the wooded Adlisberg mountain overlooking Lake Zurich, and where rooms usually costs around £800 a night, is certainly a cut above the anonymous chain hotel selected by the FA during the last major tournament. Two years ago, before England lost to Spain in the final of the 2023 World Cup, the Lionesses had been sequestered on a quiet stretch of Australia's sunshine coast, in the town of Terrigal (population 12,000), where the players could stroll unbothered down the beach, notwithstanding the odd TV crew. Not that England are likely to have to put up with much in the way of unwanted attention in Zurich. When ITV News contacted The Dolder Grand asking for an interview with the manager, the hotel publicist quickly said ''yes'', which changed quicker still to a ''no'', due to ''confidentiality commitments during this particularly sensitive period". This is Switzerland after all. ''We're very confident we have found another basecamp that will meet all our needs,'' said Sarina Wiegman, when the Lionesses confirmed their hotel pick back in January - and it's not hard to see why. The FA recced 23 base camp options, before settling on the Dolder Grand, with its 4,000 square meter spa complex, Michelin star dining, and palatial rooms, for the 55 players and staff. England will train at the nearby Sportanlage Au, a less grandiose set-up, run by the local authority. Crucially, this sports club is just a 20 minute drive from the hotel. And with the Lionesses playing their first two Euro 2025 fixtures at Zurich's Stadion Letzigrund, and their last group stage tie against Wales just 50 miles along the road in St Gallen, there will be no need for the onerous flights the men's team took between their golf resort in central Germany and their matches at last year's Euros. Fittingly, the Lionesses' temporary home was rebuilt in 2004 by Norman Foster, the legendary British architect responsible for Wembley Stadium. Can their sumptuous Swiss surroundings help Wiegman's team replicate the triumph they achieved under that famous arch, three years ago?
ITV News
15-06-2025
- Politics
- ITV News
Mass protests during Trump's military parade shows a US more divided than ever
A military parade celebrated the 250th anniversary of the US Army, and coincided with the President Trump's 79th birthday – but with protests raging in cities across the country, many feel there isn't much to celebrate, ITV News' Stacey Foster reports It has been a week in I arrived in Downtown Los Angeles, there was tension and unrest as protests against ICE immigration raids in the city had turned violent. The very next evening, we witnessed aggression on both sides. Police lines forcing crowds back, fireworks thrown, rubber bullets being fired, tear gas, pepper back-watcher pointed out a man, in the city alone, with a hammer in his backpack. President Trump had expressed alarm that some protesters were using hammers to smash the road and create rocks to use as projectiles against the police. We didn't see the man with the back pack do this and it wasn't clear whether he was planning to. We also saw the US military in LA. The national guard standing in front of Federal buildings. We did not see the US Marines, but President Trump had controversially deployed them to the area against the wishes of Gavin Newsom, California's Governor. But then, on the East coast there was a show of American strength that was very different. For the first time in its history, the US held a military parade with tanks seen only in times of war, rolling down the streets of Washington DC, 7000 marching soldiers and hundreds of aircraft rocket launchers and military machinery. All this on display in front of thousands of on-lookers including the President of the United States who said it was about time that America celebrated its military victories. Despite long political speeches on Saturday evening in the lead up to the US Army's 250th anniversary celebration, the President stayed on-script, addressing the crowds for around ten minutes before a rather muted rendition of 'Happy Birthday' as this was also his 79th birthday. There are also many challenges for the Trump administration… as protests against his policies rippled across America, not just in LA but in Vermont, New York, San Francisco, even in deep 'red' Republican Idaho. So-called 'No Kings' protesters took to the streets in numbers, they say, rejecting Trump's on-going escalation in the Middle East is also a moment in history for a President who promised to bring peace to that region as part of his second term in office. President Trump has wanted a military parade since attending the Bastille Day celebrations in France in got his birthday wish this year, but at a time when many in this country feel there is little to celebrate.
