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A federal judge has warned former US President Donald Trump against making "inflammatory" statements which could taint the jury pool ahead of his trial for conspiring to overturn the result of the 2020 election. But Judge Tanya Chuktan ruled that Mr Trump can publicly share some of the non-sensitive evidence which prosecutors disclose to his legal team. Friday's ruling was a blow to the special counsel who had expressed concern Mr Trump might reveal secret material and intimidate witnesses. At a 90-minute hearing in Washington DC, the judge said the historic case was proceeding as normal. "He is a criminal defendant. He is going to have restrictions like every single other defendant," she said. "The fact that the defendant is engaged in a political campaign is not going to allow him any greater or lesser latitude than any defendant in a criminal case." What Mr Trump can reveal publicly is one of several battles being fought between the former president's legal team and federal prosecutors. What is a protective order? Requests for protective orders are fairly routine in criminal cases. In many cases, defence teams are reluctant to oppose the orders because doing so would slow down "discovery" - the process in which prosecutors hand over evidence. In this case, however, Mr Trump and his lawyers argued that his free speech was being stifled and argued that only sensitive information should be kept under wraps. Judge Chutkan agreed. However, she said that his First Amendment rights was "not absolute" amid the ongoing case - and warned that she would not allow a "carnival atmosphere" at his eventual trial. FULL STORY

Joe Biden's son Hunter will now be investigated by a special counsel with additional powers, the US attorney general has announced. Merrick Garland has elevated the status of David Weiss, the federal prosecutor who has already filed criminal charges in the case. A plea deal on tax and gun charges against the president's son collapsed earlier this month. Republicans are pushing for an inquiry into Hunter Biden's business dealings. In a surprise announcement at the Department of Justice on Friday, Mr Garland explained that he was making the move after a request by Mr Weiss earlier this week. The new designation will provide the prosecutor with extra resources to pursue the investigation and to potentially bring further charges beyond the state of Delaware. Mr Garland said the special counsel would produce a report when his work was done, and that the justice department would make as much of it public as was possible. "The appointment of Mr Weiss reinforces for the American people the department's commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters," Mr Garland said at a news conference. Hunter Biden's lawyer, Chris Clark, responded in a statement: "We are confident when all of these manoeuvrings are at an end my client will have resolution and will be moving on with his life successfully." FULL STORY

All asylum seekers being housed onboard a controversial barge are being removed because of potentially deadly bacteria in the water system, it has been confirmed. Home Office sources said legionella had been identified on the Bibby Stockholm, the 222-bedroom hulk hired by the Home Office as part of a £1.6bn immigration deal. The first asylum seekers boarded on Monday, and by Friday there were 39 onboard the vessel, which is docked in Portland Port, Dorset. People can get lung infections, such as legionnaires’ disease or Pontiac fever, if they breathe in small droplets of water in the air that contain the bacteria. No one has so far been identified as contracting the disease. A Home Office spokesperson said environmental samples from the water system on the Bibby Stockholm had shown levels of legionella bacteria that required further investigation. “As a precautionary measure, all 39 asylum seekers who arrived on the vessel this week are being disembarked while further assessments are undertaken. No individuals on board have presented with symptoms of legionnaires’ [disease], and asylum seekers are being provided with appropriate advice and support.” They said the samples related only to the water system on the barge and there was “no direct risk indication” for the rest of Portland. They were not related to fresh water entering the vessel. FULL STORY

Sangsee Farm: Thailand’s premier wagyu breeding and beef supply company All Sangsee farm beef is pasture raised , about 18 months , then grain fed for a further 12 months, all to the highest of standards.,no hormones or growth promotants are used. Wagyu genetics are imported from Australia and the USA Cattle are processed in a ISO approved Abattoir Quality, flavor and tenderness as good as any comparable import , or your money back Sangsee farm stands 100% behind its product. Email [email protected] Ph. 0800213772 Line ID;0800213772 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063497740988 Chilled and Frozen premium wagyu beef is supplied all over Thailand. We also supply breeding wagyu cattle for your own farm Ribeye MS 4( pictured) Sangsee Farm; Price list for wagyu grain fed 365 days , ms3+, 21 days dry aged. The best locally produced beef in thailand. Ms4 add 15% Ms5 add 30 % Ms6 add 45%j The carcass is graded prior to processing and customers notified All prices per kilo for ms3+ Tenderloin 1500 bt Ribeye 1350 bt Striploin 1150 bt Porterhouse 1050 bt T-bone 950 bt Sirloin. 900 bt Picanha 900 bt Tri tip roast 800 bt Sirloin tip (rump) 650 bt Chuck eye filet 750 bt Boneless spare rib rolled roasts 600 bt Chuck steak or roasts 600 bt Brisket 550 bt Top round roasts 500 bt Macreuse (flat iron steak) 550 bt Bottom round roasts 450 bt Short ribs 500 bt Flank 500 bt Shank 400 bt Stewing steak 375 bt Ground beef 80/20 375bt Oxtail 425 bt Wagyu fat 250 bt ( not rendered) Liver 375 bt kilo Beef broth bones 275 bt Delivered chilled ( notice required) or frozen ( normal stock) via nim transport orders 5 kg and over delivery free, under 5 kg 50 bt kilo Island delivery will be quoted. 5% discount on orders over 10 kg 10% discount on orders over 20 kg Specialty cuts on request 2-4 weeks notice required, ( prime cuts sell very quickly so order early to avoid disappointment) Email [email protected] Ph. 0800213772 Line ID;0800213772 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063497740988

IF YOU'RE LOOKING to get in shape, your goals probably boil down to achieving two specific things: losing fat and gaining muscle. Achieving just one of these is no small feat. Achieving them together is a whole different ballgame. This is called "body recomposition" by scientists and fitness professionals—in other words, the process of changing the composition of your body by lowering body fat mass and increasing muscle mass. The biggest hurdle you'll have to clear on your journey to accomplishing these goals is that they require largely different demands. To lose fat, you need to be burning more calories then you're taking in. To build muscle, you need to increase your protein intake and prioritizing strength training, so your body can build more muscle fibers. Eager to make big changes, people often try to achieve both at the same time. Is it even possible to both lose fat and gain muscle simultaneously? We asked the experts. Can You Burn Fat And Build Muscle at the Same Time? A 2020 meta-data analysis from the Strength and Conditioning Journal suggests that it may be possible to lose fat mass and gain muscle at the same time. There's one issue with this, however—all of the studies compiled for the report were based on small samples of young athletes, lacking an inclusive sample population. Further research needs to be conducted to understand exactly how body recomposition happens to different types of subjects, and if these results are applicable to different demographics. Though burning fat and building muscle concurrently may be possible, it's not necessarily optimal, says Lee Boyce, C.S.C.S., an MH Advisory Board member. He warns that aiming for both at the same time may cause a slower rate of change for both goals to be reached. MORE ON THIS ....

Brett Samuels Thu, August 10, 2023 at 8:53 PM GMT+7 Former President Trump on Thursday unleashed a torrent of insults against President Biden, attacking him in personal terms as Trump’s legal problems continue to mount. “What Crooked Joe Biden, who can’t string two sentences together, has done to our once great Country through his Open Borders CATASTROPHE, may go down as the greatest and most damaging mistake ever made in USA HISTORY,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “It is not even believable that such incompetence and stupidity could have been allowed to happen.” Trump claimed Biden has the “mind, ideas, and I.Q. of a First Grader.” In a subsequent post, Trump wrote he thinks Biden “is not only dumb and incompetent, I believe he has gone MAD, a stark raving Lunatic, with his HORRIBLE AND COUNTRY THREATENING ENVIRONMENTAL, OPEN BORDERS, & DOJ/FBI WEAPONIZATION POLICIES.” “HE IS A MENTAL CATASTROPHE THAT IS LEADING OUR COUNTRY TO HELL!” Trump’s escalation in language comes as the former president faces growing legal problems, some of which Trump claims are the result of political persecution from his top opponent in the 2024 election. FULL STORY

SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday called China a "ticking time bomb" because of its economic challenges and said the country was in trouble because of weak growth. “They have got some problems. That’s not good because when bad folks have problems, they do bad things,” Biden said at a political fundraiser in Utah. Biden's remarks were reminiscent of comments he made at another fundraiser in June when he referred to President Xi Jinping as a "dictator." China called the remarks a provocation. Those comments came shortly after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken completed a visit to China aimed at stabilizing relations that Beijing described as being at their lowest point since formal ties were established in 1979. China's consumer sector fell into deflation and factory-gate prices extended declines in July. China may be entering an era of much slower economic growth with stagnated consumer prices and wages, contrasting with inflation elsewhere in the world. The United States, the world's largest economy, has fought high inflation and seen a robust labor market. "China is in trouble," Biden said on Thursday. He said he did not want to hurt China and wanted a rational relationship with the country. Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order that will prohibit some new U.S. investment in China in sensitive technologies like computer chips. China, which has the world's second largest economy, said it was "gravely concerned" about the order and reserved the right to take measures. FULL STORY

House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said that his committee, which has been investigating the foreign business dealings of President Biden’s family members, will eventually move to subpoena the Biden family — a move Comer hinted could include the president himself. “This is always going to end with the Bidens coming in front of the committee. We are going to subpoena the family,” Comer said Thursday on Fox Business. “We know that this is going to end up in court when we subpoena the Bidens. So we’re putting together a case, and I think we’ve done that very well. We’ve shown the bank records,” Comer said. “If I had subpoenaed Joe and Hunter Biden the first day I became chairman of the committee, it would have been tied up in court and the judge would have eventually thrown it out. … We have put together a case that I think would stand up in any court of law in America.” Comer’s subpoena tease comes a day after his committee released a third staff memo outlining millions of dollars in foreign funds paid to Hunter Biden and his former associates while Joe Biden was vice president. FULL STORY

The two law professors argue the former president should be barred under the 14th Amendment Donald Trump should be disqualified from serving as president under Section Three of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, according to a new paper published by two conservative law professors. William Baude and Michael Stokes Paulsen argue for their interpretation that the 14th Amendment contains a clause that any former elected official who engages in insurrection or rebellion is prohibited from holding office in the future. Participating in an insurrection is exactly what Mr Trump stands accused of doing, both by the US Department of Justice and by various members of Congress. Mr Trump was impeached in the House of Representatives for his role in facilitating an attempt to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election that peaked when a group of his supporters stormed the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021. Academics have described Mr Trump’s attempt to stay in power after losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden as an attempted self-coup — an attempt by a serving executive to interfere with one or more branches of government in an attempt to hold onto or expand their power. FULL STORY

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office has asked the District of Columbia judge overseeing the 2020 election subversion case against former president Donald Trump to schedule the twice-impeached, thrice-indicted ex-president’s trial for a four to six week period beginning on 2 January next year. In an eight-page filing authored by Senior Assistant Special Counsels Molly Gaston and Thomas Windom, the special counsel’s office said their proposed schedule would give Mr Trump and his defence team sufficient time to prepare a case and review the evidence which the government is prepared to turn over as part of the discovery process, as well as litigate any pre-trial matters such as the request for a change of venue Mr Trump has said he will call for. The prosecutors also said that a 2 January 2024 trial date would “most importantly ... vindicate the public’s strong interest in a speedy trial,” which they described as being “of particular significance” because Mr Trump is “charged with conspiring to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election, obstruct the certification of the election results, and discount citizens’ legitimate votes”. “A January 2, 2024, trial date represents an appropriately speedy trial in the public interest and in the interests of justice, while affording the defendant time to prepare his defense and raise pre-trial legal issues with the Court,” they said. FULL STORY

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At least 53 people have died and thousands more have been evacuated as wildfires continue to devastate the historic town of Lahaina on the island of Maui, Hawaii. Fanned by winds from a faraway hurricane, multiple neighbourhoods and treasured wildlife has been burned to the ground. Hawaii Governor Josh Green told CNN on Thursday more than 1,700 buildings and billions of dollars in property had been destroyed in the disaster. “We just had the worst disaster I’ve ever seen. All of Lahaina is burnt to a crisp. It’s like an apocalypse,” Lahaina resident Mason Jarvi said. The fire that burnt Lahaina was 80 per cent contained by Thursday morning, Maui County said. More than 14,000 people were evacuated from Maui as of Wednesday, as officials confirmed widespread devastation to Lahaina, its harbour and surrounding areas. FULL STORY

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An FBI veteran said his superiors suppressed investigations of Trump, Insider can exclusively reveal. "Are we going to do public corruption or not?" the whistleblower told Insider. He said his boss ordered him to stop investigating Giuliani and the Trump White House. A veteran FBI counterintelligence agent says his supervisor told him to stop investigating Rudy Giuliani and to cut off contact with any sources who reported on corruption by associates of former President Donald Trump, according to a whistleblower complaint obtained by Insider. The agent, who served 14 years as a special agent for the bureau, including a long stint in Russia-focussed counter-intelligence, claims in a 22-page statement that his bosses interfered with his work in "a highly suspicious suppression of investigations and intelligence-gathering" aimed at protecting "certain politically active figures and possibly also FBI agents" who were connected to Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs. Those figures, the statement claims, explicitly included "anyone in the [Trump] White House and any former or current associates of President Trump." The statement, which was prepared for staffers of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was apparently leaked and posted in mid-July to a Substack newsletter. Insider has independently obtained a copy of the complaint and verified its authenticity, but has not corroborated all of its claims. FULL STORY

Policy that can’t work and laws written purely for campaign slogans are clear symptoms of a moribund regime. The language of bureaucracy, while rarely poetic, sometimes has a sinister eloquence. Residents on board the Bibby Stockholm, the barge moored in Dorset to house asylum claimants, are classified by the Home Office as “non-detained” persons. They are not imprisoned, but nor are they free. Occupants of the vessel can travel to places “agreed with local agencies” on special buses provided by the Home Office. They are not subject to a curfew, but there is a register. Checks are made to count people out and in again. There is nothing new in non-detention. It is the normal condition of people granted immigration bail, including tens of thousands of asylum seekers who are waiting for permission to stay in the UK. It is an ambiguous zone between sanctuary and internment, between arrival and acceptance, where rights available to a refugee blur into conditions imposed on a criminal. The government wants to shrink that zone, not least because it is expensive to keep people there. The Bibby Stockholm is cheaper than hotel accommodation but the barge only has room for about 500 people. It is what the Home Office might call a “non-solution” to the problem. Disused army barracks and portable buildings can add some capacity, but the obvious solution to an excess of people waiting for adjudication of asylum claims is to speed up the process. That is notionally government policy, too. Rishi Sunak has set the improbable target of clearing the case backlog by the end of this year, which means churning through hundreds of files every day. Meanwhile, new claimants keep arriving. The prime minister has a different plan for them. Under the Illegal Migration Act, given royal assent last month, anyone who arrives by illicit means – on a small boat from France, most pertinently – is disqualified from asylum in Britain. They become, in Home Office speak, “ineligible persons” liable for detention. FULL ARTICLE

Bronze figures of two of the world’s greatest rock’n’roll stars, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, have been unveiled in their home town of Dartford, Kent, known mainly for its tunnel and bridge across the River Thames. The pair met as teenagers on a platform of the town’s railway station in 1961, and formed the Rolling Stones the following year. They had both attended Wentworth primary school in Dartford, but went to different secondary schools. The Stones became one of the most successful bands in history, lasting more than 60 years to date. The statues, commissioned by Dartford borough council, show the pair in mid-performance. Jagger, wearing his trademark skintight trousers and singlet, is strutting with a microphone in hand. Richards has his head bent over his “Micawber” Telecaster guitar, which was a birthday gift from Eric Clapton. FULL STORY

A group of LGBTQ veterans who were dismissed from the U.S. military because of their sexuality are suing the Department of Defense for denying them honorable discharges and listing their sexual orientations on their service records. In a class action lawsuit filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the plaintiffs are asking for the department to grant them honorable discharges so they can access all veteran benefits, including health care, college tuition assistance and loan programs. They are also requesting that language be removed from their discharge documents that notes their sexualities, arguing that the documents — which the plaintiffs say must be provided to access some veterans’ benefits — violate their privacy. “Our government and leaders have long acknowledged that the military’s discrimination against LGBTQ+ service members — and what was done to me — was wrong,” one of the named plaintiffs, U.S. Army veteran Steven Egland, said in a statement. “The time has come to rectify it by correcting our records. All of those who served deserve to have documents that reflect the honor in our service.” A spokesperson for the Department of Defense declined to comment on the pending litigation. Some of the plaintiffs were dismissed under the military's 1993 “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which permitted gays and lesbians to serve as long as they remained closeted, while others were discharged due to previous laws that barred gays and lesbians from military service, according to a statement from the plaintiffs’ lawyers. More than 13,000 service members were discharged from the U.S. military for violating the “don’t ask, don’t tell” FULL STORY

' The White House on Tuesday accused Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) of lying in order to cave to the far-right members of the House Republican Conference and their push for an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Ian Sams, a spokesman for the White House Counsel’s Office, dug into McCarthy’s Fox News appearance Monday evening, saying he “continued lying about President Biden — making a series of plainly false, widely debunked attacks in order to promote the extreme far right’s baseless impeachment stunt that even some members of McCarthy’s own caucus are expressing concerns about pursuing.” McCarthy on Fox News compared the Biden administration to the Nixon administration, arguing that they both used the federal government to obstruct congressional investigations. Sams called that comparison “bizarre” and “demonstrably false,” highlighting that the Biden administration’s Treasury Department and the FBI provided the now GOP-led House Oversight Committee with records and access. McCarthy on Fox News echoed what House Republicans have characterized as bribes involving then-Vice President Biden and his son Hunter Biden’s business dealings. Sams referred to the testimony released last week of Hunter Biden’s old business associate Devon Archer. In the testimony, Archer couldn’t corroborate allegations that Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky made two $5 million payments to Hunter Biden and his father. Archer also said he would disagree with the conclusion that then-Vice President Biden was bribed by Zlochevsky. FULL STORY

President Biden on Wednesday issued an executive order blocking Americans from investing in certain Chinese sectors, citing the risk that those investments could spur military or intelligence capabilities. Biden’s executive order will designate China as a “country of concern,” and it will limit American investments in three categories of national security technologies: semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies, and certain artificial intelligence systems, according to the Treasury Department. The Treasury Department said the order is “narrowly targeted” in an effort to protect U.S. national security interests while maintaining a commitment to open investment. “As part of a comprehensive, long-term strategy to advance the development of sensitive technologies and products, the [People’s Republic of China] is exploiting, or has the ability to exploit, U.S. investments to further its ability to produce a narrow set of sensitive technologies critical to military modernization,” the Treasury Department said in a press release announcing the executive order. “Such U.S. investments are often accompanied by certain intangible benefits that help companies succeed, such as managerial assistance, investment and talent networks, and market access,” the department said. The rules are expected to go into effect following a 45-day comment period. The new restrictions would apply specifically to new investments. FULL STORY

House Republicans probing the foreign business dealings of President Biden’s family members are arguing that they do not have to show direct payments to the president in order to demonstrate corruption. The new argument comes as Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and other Republicans have floated opening an impeachment inquiry into the president over issues revolving around his family’s business dealings, and could forecast future Republican messaging on the matter. The argument is reflected in a memo released Wednesday by House Oversight and Accountability Republican staff that outlines millions of dollars from foreign sources that flowed to Hunter Biden and his associates. Focusing on payments from Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan that occurred when Joe Biden was vice president, the memo adds further details about transactions that had been previously reported, including details from a Senate GOP report about Biden family foreign business dealings. It is the third memo based on bank records obtained by the committee’s Republicans, who say that the probe has identified over $20 million in payments from foreign sources to Biden family members and their associates so far. None of the memos have identified payments to President Biden directly, or that it directly benefited him. “President Biden’s defenders purport a weak defense by asserting the Committee must show payments directly to the President to show corruption,” the memo said. “This is a hollow claim no other American would be afforded if their family members accepted foreign payments or bribes. Indeed, the law recognizes payments to family members to corruptly influence others can constitute a bribe.” The memo also noted that the committee has not yet subpoenaed records from the Biden family. FULL STORY

Six people have died and more have been injured by wildfires sweeping the Hawaiian island of Maui, officials say. Thousands are without power or cell phone service due to fires that are being fuelled by winds from a nearby hurricane in the Pacific Ocean. Several blazes are also burning on the Big Island, also known as Hawaii island, a neighbouring island to Maui. Officials say search and rescue efforts are still ongoing. But they warn that the death toll may rise. Authorities have evacuated neighbourhoods, closed roads, and opened shelters to host thousands of evacuees. An emergency order has been signed discouraging people from coming to Maui, which is a popular tourist destination. "We have shelters that are overrun, we have resources that are being taxed, we are doing whatever we can" for local residents, the state Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke said during a news briefing on Wednesday morning local time. On Maui, about 4,000 visitors are trying to leave the island, said state transportation official Ed Sniffen. Thousands there are also without cell service, due to about 29 power poles collapsing. The full scale of the damages to homes and businesses is not yet clear, officials say. Maj Gen Kenneth S Hara, who is in charge of the emergency response, said the priority at the moment is "saving lives, preventing human suffering, and mitigating great property loss". FULLL STORY

Forty-one migrants have died in a shipwreck off the Italian island of Lampedusa, survivors told local media. A group of four people who survived the disaster told rescuers that they were on a boat that had set off from Sfax in Tunisia and sank on its way to Italy. The four survivors, originally from the Ivory Coast and Guinea, reached Lampedusa on Wednesday. More than 1,800 people have lost their lives so far this year in the crossing from North Africa to Europe. Local public prosecutor Salvatore Vella said he had opened an investigation into the tragedy. The survivors - a 13-year-old boy, two men and a woman - told rescuers that they were on a boat carrying 45 people, including three children. They said the boat, which was about 7m (20ft) long, left Sfax on Thursday last week, but sank within hours after being hit by a big wave. Only 15 people are understood to have been wearing lifejackets, but this apparently failed to save their lives. The Italian Red Cross and German charity Sea-Watch said the four managed to survive the shipwreck by floating on inner tubes and lifejackets until they found another empty boat at sea, in which they spent several days drifting before being rescued. The four survivors arrived in Lampedusa suffering from exhaustion and shock, but the doctor who treated them, Adrian Chiaramonte, said they had only minor injuries. "What really struck us was the story of the tragedy," he said. "They said they had encountered a first ship, which had apparently ignored them. "An hour later they were spotted by a helicopter, and an hour after that sighting, they were picked up by an oil tanker." The Italian coast guard reported two shipwrecks in the area on Sunday, but it is not clear whether this vessel is one of those. FULL STORY

The US special counsel investigating Donald Trump obtained a secret search warrant for the ex-president's Twitter data in January, unsealed records show. Jack Smith requested "data and records" relating to Mr Trump's account which may have included unpublished posts. After initially resisting the warrant, Twitter eventually complied, but missed a court-ordered deadline by three days. The delay resulted in the company being handed a $350,000 (£275,000) fine for contempt of court. The existence of the search warrant and the legal fight over it was revealed in court documents unsealed on Wednesday. According to the unsealed ruling, which still includes some redactions, Twitter's lawyers did not object to the warrant itself, but disputed the nondisclosure order which kept it secret. The company, now known as X under the ownership of Elon Musk, argued that it should be allowed to notify customers whose accounts are subject to search warrants. X handed over the data in February, but appealed the fine. Its case was rejected by a US appeals court last month. There is little indication in the documents about what exactly Mr Smith was seeking, with the court filing noting that only that the warrant directed the company "to produce data and records" related to Mr Trump's account. FULL STORY