European lawmakers have voted to waive the immunity of the former Catalan leader along with two other separatists MEPs. The move could pave the way for their extradition.

The European Parliament voted on Tuesday in favor of lifting immunity from the former leader of Spain's Catalonia region, Carles Puigdemont.

The lawmakers also waived immunity for Toni Comin, the former Catalan health minister, and former regional education minister Clara Ponsati.

The trio fled to Belgium in October 2017 along with other Catalan separatists. They are wanted by Spain after holding an independence referendum that the Spanish government said was illegal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin likely directed efforts to try to swing the 2020 U.S. presidential election to Donald Trump, according to an American intelligence report released on Tuesday that sources said would likely trigger U.S. sanctions on Moscow.

The 15-page report, released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, added heft to longstanding allegations that some of Trump's top lieutenants were playing into Moscow's hands by amplifying claims made against then-candidate Joe Biden by Russian-linked Ukrainian figures in the run-up to the Nov. 3 election. It also added new findings that Putin either oversaw or at least approved of the election meddling to benefit Trump.

Washington is expected to impose sanctions on Moscow as soon as next week because of the allegations, three sources said on condition of anonymity.

Representatives of the Joe Biden administration, US military and MSM have all criticised Fox News host Tucker Carlson in recent days. But the attacks are only likely to strengthen his popularity among America's conservatives.

Tucker Carlson has been around the political game for a great many years. He first made his name with a show called Crossfire, which former Daily Show host Jon Stewart accused of "hurting America." Now he resides on Fox News, and has some of the highest ratings of any political show host. Although he is no stranger to controversy or political attacks, it seems that the Democrats have singled him out as their number one 'troublemaker' to target.

Recently, some in the Biden administration and some military officials used government social media accounts and resources to launch political attacks against Carlson. The Department of Defense's .gov website, the US Space Command Leader's official Twitter account, and the US Marines' II MEF information group all attacked Carlson for his opinions on women in the military.

After a much anticipated and hyped federal investigation and intelligence report into 'Russia-linked cyber attacks' found (gasp... or rather entirely as expected in yet the latest repackaged iteration of long deflated Russiagate) the Kremlin mounted an online 'interference' campaign related to the 2020 election, President Biden said in a bombshell ABC News interview that he agrees Vladimir Putin is a "killer" and that he's going to pay a price. CNN reports sanctions are likely coming, specifically targeting "people close to Russia President Vladimir Putin as soon as next week."

Here's the key part of the pre-recorded interview with George Stephanopoulos which aired early Wednesday:

Asked whether he believes Mr Putin is a "killer" in a pre-taped interview that aired on Wednesday, the president responded: "I do."

"The price he's going to pay, you'll see shortly," he said.

Mr Biden recalled meeting Mr Putin, during which he reportedly told him that he "doesn't have a soul": "I wasn't being a wise guy."

"He looked back at me and said, 'We understand each other'," Mr Biden said.

A new report from the US National Intelligence Council assesses that most of the governments the US-centralized empire has targeted for destruction are guilty of seeking to interfere in the nation's 2020 election.

Ahem.

Yeah, so, that's the news. According to the US intelligence cartel, the nations which sought to interfere in the outcome of the US election include Russia, Iran, China, Lebanese Hizballah, Cuba and Venezuela. Interestingly, exactly zero nations aligned geopolitically with the United States are listed as having interfered in its electoral process.

"We assess that Russian President Putin authorized, and a range of Russian government organizations conducted, influence operations aimed at denigrating President Biden's candidacy and the Democratic Party, supporting former President Trump, undermining public confidence in the electoral process, and exacerbating sociopolitical divisions in the US," the report informs us. "A key element of Moscow's strategy this election cycle was its use of proxies linked to Russian intelligence to push influence narratives-including misleading or unsubstantiated allegations against President Biden - to US media organizations, US officials, and prominent US individuals, including some close to former President Trump and his administration."

"We assess that Iran carried out a multi-pronged covert influence campaign intended to undercut former President Trump's reelection prospects - though without directly promoting his rivals - undermine public confidence in the electoral process and US institutions, and sow division and exacerbate societal tensions in the US," the report adds. "We assess that Supreme Leader Khamenei authorized the campaign and Iran's military and intelligence services implemented it using overt and covert messaging and cyber operations."

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy went on trial on Wednesday over claims of illicit financing for his failed 2012 re-election bid, just two weeks after a landmark conviction for corruption.

On March 1, the 66-year-old became France's first post-war president to be sentenced to prison when he was given a three-year term, two years of which were suspended, for corruption and influence peddling.

This case was one of several hanging over him since he left office.

Sarkozy has denied any wrongdoing, saying he is the victim of a vindictive judicial system with which he tangled while in power between 2007 and 2012.

Dear Sirs/Mesdames,

FOR THE URGENT PERSONAL ATTENTION OF: EMER COOKE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE EUROPEAN MEDICINES AGENCY

As physicians and scientists, we are supportive in principle of the use of new medical interventions which are appropriately developed and deployed, having obtained informed consent from the patient. This stance encompasses vaccines in the same way as therapeutics.

We note that a wide range of side effects is being reported following vaccination of previously healthy younger individuals with the gene-based COVID-19 vaccines. Moreover, there have been numerous media reports from around the world of care homes being struck by COVID-19 within days of vaccination of residents. While we recognise that these occurrences might, every one of them, have been unfortunate coincidences, we are concerned that there has been and there continues to be inadequate scrutiny of the possible causes of illness or death under these circumstances, and especially so in the absence of post-mortems examinations.

In particular, we question whether cardinal issues regarding the safety of the vaccines were adequately addressed prior to their approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

President Joe Biden says that it will be "tough" for the U.S. to meet a May 1 deadline to withdraw troops from Afghanistan but that the complete drawdown won't take much longer.

The deadline to end America's longest war six weeks from now was set under an agreement reached by former President Donald Trump and the Taliban, without the buy-in of the Afghan government.

Biden, in an interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos that aired Wednesday, said he was consulting with allies on the pace of the drawdown. Of meeting the May 1 deadline, he said it "could happen, but it is tough." If the deadline is extended, he added, it won't be by "a lot longer."

Biden, like his predecessor, has promised to end the nearly 20-year conflict and bring home more than 2,500 American troops in the country — down from about 13,000 troops a year ago. The Trump deal caught some American allies off guard, as the roughly 7,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan rely on the U.S. for logistics and security support.

Vanity Fair is seemingly holding Donald Trump responsible for murdering 400,000 Americans with Covid-19. Needless to say, there's no mention of Andrew Cuomo or Joe Biden. Some suggested a libel suit might teach the mag a lesson.

The story begins with Jared Kushner, son-in-law and adviser to the former president, who on Monday praised President Joe Biden's handling of tensions with Iran thus far, and encouraged the Democrat to build on Trump's "progress in the Middle East" - mainly his administration's negotiation of diplomatic relations between Israel and a number of her former adversaries.

Vanity Fair dispatched journalist Bess Levin to tear down Kushner, in an article published later on Monday. Levin had only minor issues with Kushner's actual work in the Middle East, his pet policy area, and, instead, bashed him for "bungling" the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic, making sure to call him an "overconfident moron" along the way, in an article containing more sass and snark than substance.

Scathing as it may have been, Levin's article was restrained compared to how Vanity Fair promoted it on Twitter. "Jared Kushner, who helped his father-in-law kill 400,000 people, has some free tips for Joe Biden," read a tweet from the magazine on Tuesday.

Legislation vastly expanding the UK government's powers to suppress peaceful protests for the sake of public order, promoted by Home Secretary Priti Patel, has been backed by the House of Commons after heated debate.

Lawmakers voted 359 to 263 to pass the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill on its second reading on Tuesday. After clearing the Commons, it's set for consideration in the House of Lords.


Spanning nearly 300 pages, the legislation proposes a wide range of stiff measures, including harsher punishments for serious offences and granting judges the power to slap those convicted of child murder with life in prison, among other things.