President Donald Trump’s administration gave Nayda Alvarez five days to decide whether to let a US-Mexico border wall run through her back yard.If she refuses, she says, her house along the Rio Grande in Texas will be expropriated, just like that.Trump’s obsession with keeping undocumented foreigners from entering the United States and expelling the ones already in it helped get him elected to a second term in 2024.That crackdown — including plans to seal the border with Mexico more tightly — is an essential part of the aggressively inward-looking, Americans-first policy that Trump will discuss in his State of the Union speech to Congress on Tuesday night.Trump is now targeting the border in and around Laredo, Texas, a mostly Hispanic town of 250,000 located along the Rio Grande, which forms the natural border between the United States and Mexico.All along the river in Laredo are homes, parks, bike and jogging paths, fishing spots and even a cemetery. There is no wall. But this month at least 60 area homeowners received a letter from the federal government that read, “Notice of Interest – Property Located Near Planned Border Barrier Construction Projects.”Edgar Villasenor, an activist at the Rio Grande International Study Center, said “the issue in Laredo, Texas, and all of south Texas, and all of the riverfront properties along the Rio Grande, is that they’re basically doing a massive land grab.”The Trump administration plans to build a so-called “smart wall” along parts of the 3,000-km (1,900-mile) border with Mexico that remain unfenced.Trump did some wall-building during his first term. Between that and walls that predate him, a third of the border already had some kind of barrier when Trump started his second stint in January 2025, the government says. The new plan calls for physical walls or, depending on the area, water barriers, patrol roads and technology designed to catch people trying to sneak in from Mexico.AFP asked US Customs and Border Protection about the letters homeowners are receiving but got no answer.- Consider your options- “The wall would be in the backyard,” said Alvarez, a 54-year-old teacher who lives in La Rosita, a tiny town 87 miles (140 km) southeast of Laredo.She said the letter she received this month outlined her options: she could let the government build in her backyard for $1,000, or negotiate a deal to sell the house or rights to the backyard to the government.If she does neither, the letter said, the government would assert eminent domain — the right to take private property for public use, paying compensation for the seized assets. “Either you comply, you negotiate, or they’re gonna take it away,” Alvarez said, adding that she has not yet decided what to do. Although the five-day deadline has passed — the letter was dated February 13 — she has had no new word from the government. Villasenor’s advocacy group helps people understand their options and defend themselves. He said some homeowners have gone along with the government out of fear, pressure or ignorance, but most have refuse to sign.- Security first-“In President Trump’s first year back in office, we have delivered the most secure border in American history,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in early February.She said January was the ninth month in a row that border agents released zero undocumented people inside US territory. This is what the agency does with people who are not sent right back into Mexico and instead are awaiting a court date to determine if they can stay.The main park in the border town of Eagle Pass, 112 miles (180 km) northwest of Laredo, was militarized with troops in January 2024. They and a barrier of large orange buoys in the river are meant to deter illegal crossings. Access to the river is also blocked with barbed wire.This ruined 65-year-old Jessie Fuentes’ business offering kayak trips on the river.He said the administration cares only about security, not the environmental impact of what it is doing to keep people from crossing the river.”Like you see, it’s all dead behind me,” he said as he stood at a ten-foot (three-meter) fence blocking access to the water.Villasenor said claims by Trump and other conservatives that migrants who enter the United States illegally are criminals bent on causing harm to Americans are bogus.”The need for the wall is very false, but they’re saying this. The people that are saying this is people in Washington, DC,” said Villasenor.”The landowners, the people that live right there along the river, are not scared of anything,” he said.

Physician-turned-influencer Peter Attia has left television network CBS News following the publication of hundreds of emails the commentator exchanged with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, US media reported.Attia was part of a new group of contributors announced last month by CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, who has clashed with the network’s news division over editorial matters.A spokesman for Attia told CNBC the longevity guru’s role had “not meaningfully begun” and he resigned to avoid becoming “a distraction from the important work being done at CBS.”Attia, who has not been charged with criminal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, wrote in a post on X earlier this month, “My interactions with Epstein had nothing to do with his sexual abuse or exploitation of anyone.”But the released files revealed that Attia sent Epstein some vulgar notes about women, and in a June 24, 2015 email Attia wrote to Epstein that the “biggest problem” with being friends was “the life you lead is so outrageous and yet I can’t talk about it to anyone.”Epstein was first convicted of sex crimes with minors in 2008, and he was alleged to have been a purveyor of underage sex to some of the world’s most powerful men.Attia had more than a million subscribers on his YouTube channel, and the Washington Post reported that his name appears in hundreds of documents in the Epstein case.In the X post dated February 2, Attia described the Epstein he knew as “a funder of science” who “moved openly among credible institutions and public figures.” “In retrospect, the presence and credibility of such venerable people in different orbits led me to make assumptions about him that clouded my judgment in ways it shouldn’t have,” Attia wrote.Attia said he visited Epstein’s New York City home “seven or eight” times between 2014 and 2019 “regarding research studies and to meet others he introduced me to.”The departure from CBS makes Attia one of the few American public figures to face a consequence over consorting with Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison in New York while awaiting trial for sex trafficking minors. Other US-based Epstein penpals who have resigned since the Department of Justice began releasing his private emails include billionaire Thomas Pritzker, who left his executive chairman role at the Hyatt hotel group, and Kathryn Ruemmler, who left Goldman Sachs where she was general counsel. US justice officials have declined to pursue new charges since the files have been disclosed, stirring public outrage and raising more questions amid continued demands from alleged victims seeking justice. Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell has been successfully prosecuted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in a scheme to sexually exploit and abuse multiple minor girls with Epstein over the course of a decade. 

New York’s typically bustling streets were almost deserted Monday after a huge snowstorm carpeted the city, where a nonessential travel ban inconvenienced some but offered a fun day out for others. Buses and ambulances equipped with snow chains rolled through a quieter-than-usual Manhattan, while many shops and restaurants were shuttered in Brooklyn and other boroughs.With schools closed across the city of 8.5 million people, many children took advantage of the free day by sledding down snowy hills in Central Park.”I really love it, it’s really fun to play in the snow,” said Dylan, 11, who added it was the most snow he had seen in his life. Behind him, three-year-old Chloe burst out laughing as she lay in the powder before her dad Eddie, 41, helped her back to her feet. “We had some snow about a month ago. But it’s probably the most we’ve had in a decade or two. Everybody loves it,” Eddie told AFP. Elsewhere, parkgoers threw snowballs from a bridge onto a frozen lake to test the strength of the ice. Central Park, New York’s official reporting station, measured 19.7 inches (50 centimeters) of snow as of 1:00 pm (1800 GMT) — the largest amount in over a decade. Some locals used skis to navigate the powder, even walking their dogs at the same time. Major tourist hubs like Times Square were almost empty on Monday but for a scattering of people bundled up in coats. – ‘Frustrating’ -Hannah Baade, a finance worker living in Brooklyn, said she enjoyed seeing the city covered in snow. “I like it,” she told AFP. “I would prefer to get snow in the winter, it makes it seem like winter.””It’s just funny that we haven’t had snow for a few years and then we get these two massive storms this year.”But other New Yorkers were annoyed to see more snow, which fell weeks after a January winter storm was starting to thaw out. “The snow had just melted and now we’re getting a ton more,” said Alexa, 36, who didn’t want to share her last name.”So it’s a little frustrating, but it’s also wintertime, so it’s OK.”Sixty-year-old Joe Schultz was rushing to shovel snow from a buried footpath in Brooklyn.”[It’s] not bad for now, but later… when the temperature drops, it’ll be harder because we’ve got ice underneath it,” he said.

The US Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear a case brought by oil and gas companies seeking to block climate change lawsuits.Dozens of lawsuits have been filed across the United States seeking to hold fossil fuel producers liable for damages caused by climate change.Exxon Mobil and Suncor Energy (USA) are appealing a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that a climate change lawsuit filed by the city and county of Boulder, Colorado, should be allowed to proceed in state court.The energy giants argue that such claims should be heard in federal — not state — court and that federal environmental laws should apply.”Boulder, Colorado, cannot make energy policy for the entire country,” they said in their petition asking the Supreme Court for review.”State law cannot impose the costs of global climate change on a subset of the world’s energy producers chosen by a single municipality.”Exxon Mobil and Suncor said energy companies are being sued for “billions of dollars in damages for injuries allegedly caused by the contribution of greenhouse-gas emissions to global climate change.””But as the Court has recognized for over a century,” they said, “the structure of our constitutional system does not permit a State to provide relief under state law for injuries allegedly caused by pollution emanating from outside the State.”The Justice Department under President Donald Trump, reversing the stance of the Biden administration, asked the conservative majority Supreme Court to weigh in through a friend-of-the-court brief in the Colorado case.Reacting to the decision to hear the case, Alyssa Johl, vice president at the Center for Climate Integrity, urged the Supreme Court to uphold the Colorado Supreme Court ruling.”No part of the Constitution, or any state or federal law, gives corporations the right to lie to the public about the dangers associated with their products simply because those products are fossil fuels,” Johl said in a statement.”The Court should uphold what the Colorado Supreme Court and others have made clear: communities like Boulder have the right to seek accountability in their state courts when corporations have knowingly caused local harms.”Many of the lawsuits filed against oil and gas giants by state and local authorities are modeled on successful legal actions taken against the tobacco industry in the 1990s.None have yet gone to trial.The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in the case in the fall term, which begins in October.

The son of US movie director Rob Reiner pleaded not guilty to the fatal stabbing of both of his parents when he appeared in a Los Angeles court on Monday.Nick Reiner faces two counts of first-degree murder over the double killing that sent shockwaves through Hollywood days before Christmas.The 32-year-old was arrested on December 14 after the bodies of his filmmaker father and his mother, photographer Michele Singer Reiner, were discovered at their home in the upmarket Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles.Prosecutors said 79-year-old Rob Reiner — who helmed huge hits including “When Harry Met Sally” and “A Few Good Men” — and his wife, 70, were stabbed to death.Nick Reiner, who has a history of addiction, appeared in a downtown courtroom where he was formally told what charges he faces and had his rights explained. A plea of “not guilty” is common at this stage, regardless of what the defense later does.Reiner, who remains in jail and has not been granted bail, was ordered to return to court on April 29.An arraignment would usually take place much sooner, but Reiner was unable to appear at the first scheduled attempt.Another hearing last month was halted after the court heard that lawyer Alan Jackson was no longer representing Reiner. The judge appointed an attorney from the public defender’s office in his stead.Jackson, a high-profile attorney who has previously represented Hollywood clients including Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey, told reporters he was “legally and ethically” barred from explaining why he had stepped back.”Circumstances beyond our control, but more importantly, circumstances beyond Nick’s control have dictated that, sadly, it’s made it impossible for us to continue our representation of Nick,” he said.Jackson said he and his team remained committed to Reiner’s best interests and had faith that the legal process would “reveal the true facts of the circumstances surrounding this case.””We’ve investigated this matter top to bottom, back to front. What we’ve learned — and you can take this to the bank — is that pursuant to the laws of this state, pursuant to the law in California, Nick Reiner is not guilty of murder.”If convicted as charged, Reiner could face life in prison without parole, or the death penalty, although California does not routinely carry out capital punishment. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman told reporters outside court his office would be examining the circumstances around the killings before making a decision on whether to ask for the death penalty if Reiner is convicted.- Erratic behavior -Reiner, who lived in a guest house on his parents’ property, had attended a party at the home of comedian Conan O’Brien on December 13 with his parents, where some attendees reportedly spoke of his behaving erratically.The New York Times, citing a source close to the family, said the couple had been due to dine with former president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle on Sunday evening, and had seemingly booked an in-home massage for that day.The paper said that when no one answered the door for the appointment, the therapist contacted the couple’s daughter, Romy Reiner.When she arrived with a friend, she discovered her father’s body, and emergency services were called. Paramedics told her that her mother’s body was also at the property.Police arrested Nick Reiner several miles (kilometers) away from the scene of the crime later that night.Rob Reiner, the son of legendary comedian Carl Reiner, started his showbiz career in acting.He won fame as the oafish son-in-law Michael “Meathead” Stivic on groundbreaking 1970s sitcom “All in the Family,” before transitioning to directing. As a director, he struck Hollywood gold.His output included classic films like 1984’s rock music mockumentary “This is Spinal Tap,” fantasy gem “The Princess Bride” from 1987, and seminal coming-of-age movie “Stand By Me.””A Few Good Men,” starring Hollywood heavyweights Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson, earned an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.