Latest news with #MarkWarner
The Independent
12 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Dubya Dubya II: Democrats see echoes of Bush Iraq War push in Trump's Iran nukes rhetoric
While Republicans largely fall in line behind President Donald Trump as he disregards experts and prepares for the United States to take on a larger role in Israel's war with Iran, using the pretense of nuclear weapons being built, Democrats are seeing flashbacks of the Iraq War. On Thursday, the White House said that the president would make his decision on whether to strike Iran in the next two weeks. This comes as the president has directly contradicted Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on whether Iran is actively building a nuclear weapon. That raised alarms for Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. 'If this president wants to completely ignore the intelligence community, we are playing in dangerous ground, and this is exactly the way we got ourselves into Iraq,' he told The Independent on Thursday. The parallels are quite stark. In 2002, in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush insisted that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. At the time, the Bush administration maintained that Iraq posed an existential threat, with Secretary of State Colin Powell making the case in a presentation before the United Nations. After the United States invaded Iraq, it found little evidence of any weapons of mass destruction. Now, Warner's Democratic colleague from Virginia, Sen. Tim Kaine, has introduced a war powers resolution that would trigger debate and a vote for any military action against Iran. 'No one in Congress should on a matter of war, just say, let the President do what they want,' he told The Independent. 'The president can engage in self defense without an authorization, but the notion that we're being asked to join a bombing campaign in Iran is clearly offensive. I think it was. It's a horrible idea, but if my colleagues think it's a good idea, I think they should introduce war authorization.' Only six senators who voted against the Iraq War — either as members of the House of Representatives or as senators — remain in the Senate. 'We've discovered, particularly Middle East, it's easier to break things hard to put them together,' said Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. 'So, and we've seen operations like the invasion of Iraq under George W. Bush, which for the first few weeks looked like it was brilliant. Nothing happened. And four years later, we were wondering, what are we doing here and how do we get out?' By contrast, 14 senators in either capacity voted for the Iraq War. Senate Majority Leader John Thune voted for it as a member of the House and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, then in his first term in the Senate, voted for it. In addition, Schumer is considered a hawk on Israel and Iran, having opposed the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the agreement brokered by the Obama administration and US allies to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions. The number of senators who remember the mistakes of Iraq continues to dwindle. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate minority whip who voted against it, is retiring at the end of next year. Sen. Adam Schiff of California, a veteran congressman who became a senator last year, voted for the war as a member of the House. One of the opponents of the Iraq war who remains is Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Wyden voted against Gabbard's confirmation, but still criticized Trump. 'This wouldn't be the first time where Donald Trump has done an about face on foreign policy,' Wyden told The Independent. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont who voted against the war as a congressman, who had his own resolution, joined onto Kaine's resolution. But even Democrats who came to Congress afterward, particularly those shaped by the War on Terror, want to rein in the president. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a freshman from Michigan, joined the CIA after the September 11 attacks partly because she lived in New York on the day of the attack. Slotkin led a war powers resolution after Trump launched a strike that killed top Iranian military official Qasem Soleimani. She said she is looking at Kaine's language. 'I think Congress, ever since the Iraq War, has been scared to exercise their oversight role in war and Democrats and Republicans,' she told The Independent. 'So I've been pretty consistent that we need to get back to that.' By contrast, so far, few Republicans save for Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky have raised reservations about war with Iran. Paul's father, former congressman Ron Paul, voted against the War in Iraq. Below is a list of Senators who voted for and against the War in Iraq who remain in Congress. Yes as Senators: Yes in the House: Adam Schiff (D-CA) John Boozman (R-AR) Lindsey Graham (R-SC) John Thune (R-SD) Roger Wicker (R-MS) Jerry Moran (R-KS) Ed Markey (D-MA) Shelly Capito (R-WV) Senators who voted No: Dick Durbin (D-IL) Patty Murray (D-WA) Jack Reed (D-RI) Ron Wyden (D-OR) Democrats who voted No as House members: Bernie Sanders (I-VT) Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
Time of India
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Iran Israel Conflict: Does Israel have a nuclear arsenal? All you may want to know
Israel's recent strikes on Iran have renewed international focus on its own nuclear capabilities. While Iran's nuclear ambitions are monitored and widely debated, Israel maintains a long-standing policy of ambiguity regarding its nuclear arsenal. This development has raised concerns among global analysts and non-proliferation experts. Israel Launches Strikes Israel launched attacks on Iran on Friday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran was close to developing a nuclear weapon. He stated that Israel had to act because a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a threat to the country. According to US Senator Mark Warner, who leads the Senate Intelligence Committee, the American view on Iran's nuclear program has not changed since March. The US intelligence community believes Iran has enriched uranium but has not decided to build a bomb. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like An engineer reveals: 1 simple trick to get all TV channels Techno Mag Learn More Undo Also Read: The Lincoln Lawyer Season 4: When will it release? Here's what to expect in upcoming season and all details about cast and production team Israel's Nuclear Policy Israel has never confirmed having nuclear weapons. Experts refer to this as a policy of 'opacity.' Jeffrey Lewis from the Middlebury Institute now calls it 'implausible deniability.' Live Events Israel is part of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) but has not signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Countries like India, Pakistan, North Korea, and South Sudan are also non-signatories. To join the treaty, Israel would need to give up any nuclear weapons. The NPT recognizes only five nuclear states: the United States, Britain, Russia, China and France. Historical Background Groups like the Federation of American Scientists estimate that Israel has about 90 nuclear warheads. Due to Israel's secrecy, it is difficult to confirm this number. Reports suggest that Israel began developing nuclear weapons after its founding in 1948. A 1969 US government memo revealed Israel agreed not to be the first to introduce nuclear weapons in the region, but the meaning remains unclear. Also Read: Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Rivals Event: How to earn rewards? See start date, time, rewards and when is next scheduled event Whistleblower's Disclosures and Policy Impacts Mordechai Vanunu , a former technician, exposed details about Israel's Dimona nuclear site in the Negev Desert. He was later jailed for treason. He claimed his actions were meant to protect Israel from future conflict. Groups monitoring nuclear arms argue that Israel's lack of transparency makes it harder to promote peaceful nuclear use in the Middle East. FAQs Why does Israel not confirm its nuclear weapons program? Israel follows a long-standing policy of ambiguity. This aims to maintain strategic advantage while avoiding direct international obligations or conflicts regarding nuclear disarmament. How might Israel's actions affect Iran's nuclear plans? Experts say Israel's strikes may push Iran to expand its nuclear efforts for defense, which could increase regional risks and fuel a nuclear arms race.
The Guardian
17 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Trump signs order granting TikTok a third reprieve from US ban
Donald Trump has signed an executive order to delay the ban or sale of TikTok for the third time. The order gives the Chinese-owned social media company another 90 days to find a buyer or be banned in the US. 'I've just signed the Executive Order extending the Deadline for the TikTok closing for 90 days (September 17, 2025),' the president said in a Truth Social post. Trump's first executive order giving TikTok a reprieve came on his first day in office – just three days after the supreme court ruled to uphold the ban. Trump issued the second executive order in April. The deadline for the sale or ban was then set for 19 June. Now, TikTok has until September. Mark Warner, a Democratic senator and the vice-chair of the Senate intelligence committee, accused Trump of sidestepping the law with an executive order. 'Once again, the Trump administration is flouting the law and ignoring its own national security findings about the risks posed by a PRC-controlled TikTok,' Warner said in a statement. TikTok is a tremendously popular social media app with 170 million users in the US. ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, said in April that it had been in discussion with the US government regarding a solution for the app. It added that any agreement 'will be subject to approval under Chinese law'. Sign up to TechScape A weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our lives after newsletter promotion Before Trump issued his second executive order on TikTok, a possible deal was reportedly in place. But, according to Reuters, China put that deal on hold after Trump announced sweeping tariffs against the country. At the time, Trump indicated he was using tariffs for leverage in the deal. 'We have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say we'll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs. The tariffs give us great power to negotiate,' Trump said. The idea of banning TikTok originated with Trump in 2020, who said the Chinese-owned app posed a danger to national security. It quickly became a bipartisan issue and Congress overwhelmingly voted to ban the app last year, which faced a legal challenge but was ultimately affirmed in the supreme court. The original deadline for the TikTok ban was on 19 January. Trump switched his stance on TikTok after joining the app while campaigning for president last year, amassing nearly 15 million followers and hosting the TikTok CEO, Shou Zi Chew, at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Chew also attended Trump's inauguration. Several US investors have expressed interest in buying the social media app, which is likely worth tens of billions of dollars. Among those who've reportedly thrown in bids are a consortium led by the software giant Oracle, asset manager Blackstone, Amazon, Walmart, billionaire Frank McCourt, a crypto foundation and the founder of the adult website OnlyFans. TikTok, ByteDance and the White House did not return requests for comment.
Russia Today
a day ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
US intel still has no evidence Iran is building nuclear weapon
US intelligence still assesses that Iran, despite stockpiling enriched uranium, has not taken steps to develop nuclear weapons – a view which has remained unchanged since March, according to the Senate Intelligence Committee's top Democrat. US President Donald Trump claimed on Tuesday, however, that he believes Tehran was 'very close' to obtaining nuclear weapons at the time of Israel's recent military strikes. His statement contradicts earlier remarks by his own director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who told lawmakers that Iran 'is not building' one. The Iranian authorities insist that their nuclear program is purely peaceful and that they have every right to pursue it. In an interview with MSNBC on Wednesday, the vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Democratic Senator Mark Warner, said senators were briefed this week – following the Israeli strikes – that US spy agencies still find no evidence that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons. He criticized Trump's remarks as 'foreign policy by tweet,' calling them irresponsible and perplexing, given that they contradict the intelligence briefings lawmakers have received. Warner noted that in March, Gabbard stated that Iran had 'taken no steps toward building a bomb.' 'And we got reconfirmed… Monday of this week, that the intelligence hasn't changed,' he added. At the time, she said the US intelligence community 'continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003.' When Trump was reminded of this by journalists on Tuesday, he replied: 'I do not care what she said.' Responding to Trump's remark, Warner said, 'you've got the president basically dismissing all of the intelligence.' He added that even as vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, he is unclear on the current US strategy, asking: 'If I don't have the foggiest idea, what do the American people know?' Trump said he has not yet decided whether to support Israel's military action against Iran, but echoed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claim that Iran was 'weeks away' from developing a nuclear weapon. Since launching its campaign against Iran last week, Israel has targeted uranium enrichment infrastructure, bombing centrifuge facilities – including a site at Natanz, south of Tehran – and laboratories used to convert uranium gas into metal, according to Israeli officials and the IAEA. Trump has called for Iran's 'unconditional surrender,' claiming that the US now controls its airspace. He also said killing Khamenei would be 'easy.' Media reports suggest he may soon join Israel's military campaign. Tehran has vowed not to yield to pressure and warned it will retaliate if attacked.
Times
11-06-2025
- Sport
- Times
Could a padel holiday be the ultimate family fun — even for teens?
Andrew Parsons, the head of tennis and padel at the holiday firm Mark Warner, considers the padel racket in his hand. Halfway between a table tennis bat and a squashed kitchen colander, it looks about as powerful as a wet handshake. 'The thing about padel,' he tells the assembled Newsom family, 'is that it's so easy to pick up. You don't have to hit the ball hard. You don't need to master an overarm serve. And after just a couple of hours even people who don't enjoy tennis will be playing meaningful rallies.' As a result, he tells us, it's thought to be the world's fastest-growing sport. 'So let's get started, shall we?' he says — and retreats to the edge of our padel court at the company's Paleros Beach Resort in western Greece. I try one of the sport's signature underarm serves, over the net towards our younger son, Ben, who's ten. He rushes towards the ball and whacks it enthusiastically. All five of us — Andrew, my wife, Vera, our elder son, Sam, Ben and I — then watch it sail high into the sky; over the glass walls of the court, over the perimeter fencing on the other side, and into the deep, grassy meadow beyond. A horse wanders over and gives it a sniff, in case we've just lobbed over an apple. 'Right, let's give that another go,' Andrew says, with a studied sense of calm. I, meanwhile, glance over at Sam, just in time to see him roll his eyes. And I feel a little flutter of panic. Sam is 17. It feels as if the dust has only just settled on his GCSEs, yet suddenly we're signing up for university open days and talking about his gap year. Already it's as clear as Mediterranean sunlight that as soon as his A-levels are done, next summer, he wants to get started on life's big adventure. He'll be out of our front door sooner than you can say Australian Working Holiday Visa. And then his bedroom will be empty and its air still and, well, I don't want to get emotional about it, but — 'Will you stop being so emotional about it?' Vera groaned when I welled up one morning, raising the prospect of him leaving. 'Let's just concentrate on having some fun with him before he goes.' And with her usual, clear-eyed pragmatism she suggested that we learn to play something together, as a family, that we can pick up whenever he comes back home. 'And let's do it on a holiday somewhere sunny,' she added, with a glint in her eye. 'With lots of other things to try. Just in case we hate it.' • Read our full guide to Greece So here we are, by the glittering waters of the Ionian Sea, 20 miles by transfer bus from Preveza airport. A beachside club of well-spaced low-rise buildings, Paleros is girdled by irrigated gardens, and in the sharpening sunshine of early summer it would be a dazzling place just to sit and stare. At the hot pinks of the bougainvillea, perhaps. Or at the view south towards the island of Zakynthos. Its dusty blues are so pale and distant it seems more like a daydream than an actual place. Few of its guests, however, are sitting still. This is Mark Warner, after all. It doesn't do fly and flop — on top of its two new padel courts, it offers an energetic array of sports facilities that come as part of the holiday package. Two pools, a gym, a spa, three tennis courts, outdoor fitness classes, guided runs, a fleet of road and mountain bikes as well as dinghies, catamarans, paddleboards, windsurfers and kayaks. They're all here, along with informal coaching sessions and (if you pay extra) structured courses. Activity clubs for 2 to 17-year-olds are included in the holiday price too. In other words, if you're even a little bit outdoorsy, it's like being a six-year-old in a Smyths Toys Superstore, let loose on your birthday with a fistful of vouchers to spend. You don't know where to start. And therein lies our problem. Padel is our chosen game, but now we're here, we're finding it hard to stay focused. Ben has joined a flock of ten-year-olds in the kids' club that's almost as noisy as the sparrows in the eucalyptus trees. Vera is one of the stars of the fitness class scene, and I can't help jumping into the nearest single-handed dinghy. After all, the ever-willing staff make it easy for you. They'll discuss your sailing ability, then rig an appropriate boat and be waiting, waist-deep in the sea, to catch hold of your bow when you sail back into shore. • Workout, eat, sleep, repeat: I've found the perfect place for fitness and fun Meanwhile Sam, who is considering a degree in marine biology, is taking a tantalising step towards his future on a short £120 scuba-diving course, run by the independent InDepth diving school. It begins with a couple of pool sessions in the resort and culminates with two open-water dives on the far side of Paleros's sheltered bay. Fifteen metres below the surface of the Med, he's had a glimpse of just how exciting the next few years of his life could be. So it's no wonder that the thought of padel with his family is a bit of an eye-roll. And in the first couple of days after our private lesson with Andrew, it doesn't get any more gripping. You can thank my attempts to help Ben and Sam with their backhands for that, courtesy of endless drills, and I begin to wonder if our only bonding will be over the resort's bountiful breakfast and dinner buffets. We can't get enough of its shaved chicken gyros with pitta bread, red onions, zingy tzatziki and ripe red tomatoes. Or its chocolate cake. Then, midweek, I wander over to the courts during one of the resort's daily social padel sessions, where the coaches partner guests up together for impromptu matches. And I get an eyeful of the sport's real potential. • 28 of the best places to visit in Greece It comes in the form of ten-year-old Archie Delasalle. He's at Paleros courtesy of Nick and Nion, his mum and dad, and he's here primarily to play tennis. He is, after all, training with the Middlesex under-11 county squad. But like every tennis player on holiday here, he's curious about padel. Now he's joined a match with three Norwegians more than twice his age — two lithe, sporty brothers, Matthias and Markus, and their friend Bjorn, who looks for all the world like an off-duty Viking. None of them plays padel regularly and yet, together, they're putting on a display of racket sport that's as balletic, intricate and explosive as anything I've seen. Sharp, ten-shot rallies, airborne overhead smashes, crafty lobs: their match has it all. And it's so competitive that at one point Matthias slams his arm into the court's back wall in a bid to return a shot from his brother. His other arm is already in a sling. 'Why on earth did you do that?' I ask him afterwards. 'Because I hate losing to my brother,' he says without a flicker of a smile. The next day I ditch the drills. The Newsoms play their first proper padel match. There are three things I'll never forget about that game. First is how Ben and Sam insist on playing together, against their parents. Second is how, without warning, Sam starts playing low, cross-court shots that leave me flailing in their wake. When I ask him where he learnt to do that he laughs. 'Nobody taught me,' he says. 'It's the obvious shot to make when I'm playing someone as old as you.' And the third thing is what happens at the end of the set, when Vera and I snatch a 6-4 victory. I've noticed that the afternoon breeze is strengthening, and tell everyone I'm going for a sail. 'You're going nowhere,' says Sam emphatically, his eyes blazing. 'We're playing best of three.' Suddenly, padel rackets don't seem so puny any more. Sean Newsom was a guest of Mark Warner, which has seven nights' half-board from £791pp, including flights and transfers ( Would you go on a padel holiday? Let us know in the comments By Sean Newsom Invented in Mexico in the 1960s, padel has grown explosively lately, especially in Spain, where in 2024 the International Padel Federation estimated there were 17,000 courts. The Lawn Tennis Association reckons there are about 200,000 players in the UK. • Meet the padel addicts spending £100 a week Padel is usually a game for two pairs and courts are roughly half the size of the ones used for tennis. They have glass walls at the back and sides, with entrance openings and wire cages alongside the net. The basic principle is similar to tennis: you can either volley the ball as soon as it has crossed the net or let it bounce once. But you can also play it off a wall — unless it didn't bounce before hitting it (in which case it's ruled out). The rules around serving add complications, but not many, and scoring is the same as tennis, with some playing sudden-death points at 40-40, instead of needing to have a two-point advantage to win.
