Donald Trump has moved to sever Georgia case from the defendants seeking a speedy trial, arguing that it would violate his right to a fair process. “President Trump moves the Court to sever his case from those of his co-defendants who have demanded a speedy trial ... and who have a scheduled trial date of October 23, 2023,” lawyer Steven Sadow wrote in a filing on Thursday. The filing states that the timeline wouldn’t allow for the counsel to “have sufficient time to prepare President Trump’s case”. “Requiring less than two months preparation time to defend a 98-page indictment, charging 19 defendants, with 41 various charges including a RICO conspiracy charge with 161 Overt Acts, Solicitation of Violation of Oath by Public Officer, False Statements and Writings, Forgery, Influencing Witnesses, Computer Crimes, Conspiracy to Defraud the State, and other offenses would violate President Trump’s federal and state constitutional rights to a fair trial and due process of law,” Mr Sadow adds. Mr Trump’s motion comes after two of his codefendants in the election subversion case have asked the judge to sever their trials from the rest of the accused – including the former president. Lawyers Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro have both requested speedy trials in the case. On Wednesday, they each formally requested that their cases be separated from the wider indictment, something that – if granted – would prevent Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from holding one trial for all 19 defendants at once. DA Willis previously revealed her plans to hold one trial for all the accused this October. In requesting speedy trials, Georgia state law now requires Ms Powell and Mr Chesebro’s trials to begin before early November. Judge Scott McAfee has already ordered Mr Chesebro’s trial to start on 23 October, while Ms Powell’s request is pending. Mr Trump is against such a hasty timeline, employing his longtime legal tactic of attempting to slow things down and drag out the process until after the 2024 election. But now, if the cases are severed, this could lead to delays in a wider trial for the remaining defendants, including Mr Trump. The requests from Ms Powell and Mr Chesebro mark the first attempts from the defendants to try to break up the massive case into smaller individual trials. Their respective motions were filed on Wednesday as the defendants and the prosecution work to set the framework for the process. Ms Powell and Mr Chesebro both deny all wrongdoing in the case. In her filing, lawyers for Ms Powell said that she “did not represent President Trump or the Trump campaign” in connection to the 2020 election and didn’t have an “engagement agreement” with Mr Trump or his campaign. “She appears on no pleadings for Trump or the Campaign,” the lawyers wrote. “She appeared in no courtrooms or hearings for Trump or the Campaign. She had no contact with most of her purported conspirators and rarely agreed with those she knew or spoke with.” Her insistence comes despite Mr Trump saying in the middle of November 2020, shortly after he lost the election, that he had “added” Ms Powell to his “great team” of attorneys working on legal challenges to the election results. When Ms Powell subsequently shared bizarre conspiracy theories that millions of votes had been flipped in an international plot to take down Mr Trump, his campaign removed her from the legal team and announced that she was “practising law on her own”. Now, her lawyers have also tried to distance herself from the other attorneys charged in the Georgia case, saying that she “went her own way” following the 2020 election and that “many of her purported coconspirators publicly shunned and disparaged Ms Powell beginning in November 2020”. The filing also argued that her legal career had shown her adherence to “integrity” and “the rule of law” while pushing the baseless claim amplified by many on the right that retired General Michael Flynn was the subject of “charges completely concocted against him by a politicized FBI”. Also on Wednesday, Mr Chesebro’s lawyers requested that the judge push Ms Willis to “disclose” the names of the 30 unindicted co-conspirators included in the indictment. Mr Chesebro was behind Mr Trump’s plan to put forward fake electors to win the electoral college and he argued that he needs the identities of the individuals in order to prepare his defence in the case. On Wednesday morning, Ms Willis filed a motion requesting that Judge McAfee advise the defendants in the case of the consequences of requesting a speedy trial, noting the demands on their procedural and evidentiary rights. “By filing their speedy trial demands in this case, the Defendants have personally, willfully and deliberately narrowed numerous options that would otherwise be available to them under Georgia law,” the filing states. Read More Trump moves to ditch Georgia co-defendants and dodge televised court appearance after not guilty plea - live Why Biden is taking the short stairs on Air Force One Proud Boy Joe Biggs sentenced to 17 years in prison for Jan 6 seditious conspiracy

'That's a piece of heart that was taken from me,' Jillian Ludwig's mother Jessica said

Senator Rick Scott posted a video of himself on Tuesday warning “socialists” and “communists” not to travel or move to his home state of Florida. “Let me give you a travel warning: if you’re a Socialist, Communist, somebody that believes in big government, I would think twice – think twice – if you’re thinking about taking a vacation or moving to Florida,” Mr Scott said at the start of his 35-second video message. Mr Scott’s “travel warning” is a play on the travel advisories civil rights groups like the NAACP and the Human Rights Campaign have issued warning immigrants, LGBT+ people, and people of colour to reconsider travel to the state after it passed a number of laws targeting those communities in recent months. It’s also not the first time Mr Scott, an ambitious first-term senator and former governor, has used the gimmick of issuing his own advisory to draw attention to himself. The senator also issued a press release last month warning people with left-wing views to stay away from the state. “We’re the free state of Florida,” Mr Scott continued in his video. “We actually don’t believe in socialism. We actually know people – some people in our state lived under it, we know people lived under socialism, it’s not good. It’s not good for anybody. So, if you’re thinking about it, if you’re thinking about coming to Florida and you’re a socialist or communist, think twice. We like freedom, liberty, capitalism, things like that.” Mr Scott is reportedly considering running for president, where he would be one of a number of longshot candidates attempting to wrest the nomination away from former president Donald Trump. Along with Mr Trump, two other Floridians are already in the race – Ron DeSantis, Mr Scott’s successor as governor, and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. Of those candidates, it’s Mr DeSantis who can claim the most credit for turning Florida into a state that has become a symbol for far right governance. In Mr DeSantis’s tenure as governor, the state has moved to severely limit abortion rights, limit free speech in schools, end the state’s tenure system, limit gender-affirming care, and more. Mr Scott, a billionaire former hospital executive who unsuccessfully challenged senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky for leadership of the Republican Senate caucus at the start of the current Congress, has reportedly had a strained relationship with Mr DeSantis. He is currently running for re-election to the Senate. Read More Florida senator issues travel warning against ‘socialists’ after NAACP advisory

Paige Spiranac also provided a link for fans who wished to see the behind-the-scenes of her previous calendar

The tragic last words of two heroic pilots who died fighting wildfires in Greece have been revealed, as blazes continue to rage across Europe. Commander Christos Moulas, 34, and co-pilot Pericles Stefanidis, 27, were killed just before 3pm on Tuesday when their plane, which had been dropping water, crashed near the town of Karystos on the island of Evia near Athens. A firefighter on the ground is believed to be the last person to speak with the pair, telling Greek broadcaster OPEN: “I still can’t believe that three minutes ago I was talking to them and after exactly 10 minutes I learned that the plane had crashed. “We had contact with them,” he continued. “They did not report any problems with the aircraft. They told us, ‘We are ready to try. We go for a last supply and we leave.’ Have you been affected by this story? Email tara.cobham@independent.co.uk “A few minutes after we spoke, we learned over the radio that the aircraft had crashed,” he added. Footage showed the bright yellow CL-215 aircraft releasing its load of water before its wingtip apparently snagged on a tree branch. Moments later it disappeared into a deep fold in the ground from which a fireball erupted. The pilots, who were both said to be passionate about flying, died at the scene, with investigations into the tragedy ongoing, according to the Greek Fire Brigade. Greek City Times said Commander Moulas’ wife is believed to be three months pregnant with their first child. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said of the tragedy on Tuesday: “Today, we Greeks mourn the tragic loss of our pilots Christos Moulas and Pericles Stefanidis in Evia. “They gave their lives saving lives, proving how risky their daily firefighting missions are,” he continued. “The state respectfully stands by the families of the two heroes. They are two children, two brothers of all of us.” A three-day period of mourning in the Armed Forces was announced by the defence ministry to honour the pair. Mr Mitsotakis continued: “Words are poor to describe the national mourning for their loss... So, we grit our teeth and turn our silence into strength. In their memory, we continue the war against the destructive forces of nature.” The prime minister has warned of tough days ahead as Greece is bracing for at least another 48 hours of scorching wildfires and soaring temperatures, until conditions possibly improve after Thursday. He told ministers: “All of us are standing guard. In the face of what the entire planet is facing, especially the Mediterranean which is a climate change hot-spot, there is no magical defence mechanism.” The Greek Fire Brigade has already been battling more than 500 fires for almost two weeks, while the high temperatures of the recent new heatwave are set to peak throughout Europe on Wednesday, exceeding 44C in some areas of Greece. A blaze in Rhodes prompted “the biggest evacuation in Greek history”, with over 20,000 people forced to flee homes and hotels over the weekend, while around 2,500 people have already been evacuated from Corfu, which has been enduring dozens of blazes. Croatia, Portugal, Turkey, Italy and France are among the other European countries that have been battling wildfires in recent days, while the extreme weather conditions on the continent are being mirrored globally, from the US to Asia and Africa. Italy suffered a twin pounding from the elements when severe storms battered the north, killing a woman and a 16-year-old girl scout, while southern regions sweltered. In the south, a bedridden 98-year-old man died when fire swept through his home. The charred bodies of a couple in their 70s were found in their burnt-out home on the outskirts of Palermo, the regional capital of Sicily, according to Italian media reports. Another woman in her late 80s died in the Palermo province after an ambulance was unable to reach her home due to fires in the area. In north Africa, Algeria was fighting to contain devastating forest fires along its Mediterranean coast in a blaze, which has already killed at least 34 people. Read More Greece fires – live: Rhodes and Corfu brace for another 48 hours of wildfire hell as temperatures rise When will heatwave in Europe end? New forecast shows relief in sight Watch: Rhodes wildfire burns for seventh day as temperatures rise on Greek island How to tell if you have Covid or heatstroke Why do heatwaves in the UK feel hotter than abroad?

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PETA’s Senior Vice President of Communications, Lisa Lange, called Aaron Lewis' action of posing with dead coyotes 'vile, pathetic, and desperate'