The Trump administration is suing a Catholic diocese in New Mexico to seize land for border wall construction, a move that has led to a federal court case over religious freedom at a landmark pilgrimage site.

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit to acquire approximately 14 acres of land in Dona Ana County belonging to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces through what is known as the power of eminent domain.

As reported by Bloomberg, the government intends to use the property to install fencing, security lighting and cameras near the base of Mount Cristo Rey. Federal officials have proposed $183,071 as just compensation for the tracts, according to the legal complaint.

The site is home to a 29-foot-tall limestone statue of Jesus Christ and serves as a major religious destination.

Attorneys for the diocese stated in court filings that the shrine was a destination for tens of thousands of people each year and that the construction of a physical barrier would interfere with these religious activities.

“The mountaintop shrine is the site of annual pilgrimages,” attorneys for the diocese wrote in a response, Axios reported. “On the feast day of Christ the King each fall, as many as 40,000 faithful climb Mount Cristo Rey to ‘marvel at the beauty of the monument and the view offered from the summit’ and to participate in a mass.”

The diocese is fighting the seizure by citing the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

In a brief filed Friday, the church urged a federal judge to deny the request for immediate possession, stating that the government’s plan would substantially burden the free exercise of religion.

“The government’s proposed taking will substantially burden the free exercise of religion by the Diocese, its parishioners, and the other faithful who seek to commune with God on Diocesan property,” the diocese’s lawyers wrote.

This legal dispute follows recent public tensions between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV.

Trump recently criticized the pontiff online after he expressed opposition to military conflict involving Iran. Trump accused the pope of supporting Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

The Vatican responded by emphasizing the church’s mission to preach peace, though the diocese did not reference these diplomatic tensions in its specific legal filings.

The Department of Homeland Security previously waived environmental protection rules to expedite the construction of 1.3 miles of barrier in the area. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin initiated the lawsuit against the diocese, following a waiver approved by former Secretary Kristi Noem.

The government stated in court filings that it needed the property “to construct, install, operate, and maintain roads, fencing, vehicle barriers, security lighting, cameras, sensors, and related structures designed to help secure the United States/Mexico border.”

Similar resistance from private landowners in West Texas has already led to delays and the removal of wall sections in some national and state parks.

The Trump administration has suggested the landowners have almost no choice to ultimately avoid construction. Letters to private landowners asking for access to private property say that if construction isn’t voluntarily allowed, the land could be taken through eminent domain.

The Independent has contacted the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department for comment.

The dress is detailed with pretty embroidery, lace detailing, and a textured bodice

The summer months edge even closer, which means it’s time to bring out your summer wardrobe. If you are looking for some new additions to your summer wear, Tesco ’s F&F have you covered.

One of F&F’s latest “must haves” is the beautiful F&F pure cotton embroidered tie strap midi dress in either white or pink. This chic dress is a perfect piece to wear on hotter days.

On the F&F website, it says: “Designed with pretty embroidery, lace detailing, and a textured bodice, the adjustable tie straps and gathered waist make it a flattering choice for garden parties and beyond.”

This stylish dress costs £29.50 and can be bought either in store or online. If F&F’s summer midi dress doesn’t suit you, Boden offers some great choices.

Boden offers the Arabella cotton maxi dress. On the Boden website it says: “Pleats and prints. What more do you need? Our Arabella dress is crafted from soft cotton that’s gently fitted at the waist with darts and cinched in with the matching belt.”

To complete the look, pair it with a pair of smooth dome gold earrings and platform cage sandals. New Look also offers some cute midi dresses for summer.

New Look offers the white lace trim milkmaid midi dress. This “elegant” white dress will provide you with an “effortless” look this summer. On the New Look website, it also said: “Its ruched bust and fitted waist make it a flattering pick.”

Northumbrian Water crews are working to repair the burst main on the junction of Northgate and Corporation Road in Darlington this afternoon (May 13).

Three-way traffic lights have been installed to manage traffic, with delays expected, and the water board saying the will carry out repairs as quickly as possible.

A Northumbrian Water spokesperson said: “We have been made aware of a large burst on a water main on the junction of Northgate and Corporation Road in Darlington.

“Our teams are on site and working as quickly as they can in order to carry out repairs, and there is currently no disruption to customer supplies.”

Traffic building due to the flooding. (Image: DARLINGTON BOROUGH COUNCIL)

A video taken from the junction shows cars slowly driving through pools of water.

One eyewitness described the scene, saying they saw water “gushing” onto the road.

They said: “It was absolutely gushing – the force of it had lifted the pavement.”

Darlington Borough Council confirmed the water company is responding to the urgent leak.

A council spokesperson said: “Northumbrian Water is responding to an urgent leak on Northgate at the junction of Corporation Road – multi-way signals will be in place. Traffic delays are expected.”

Northumbrian Water has not yet confirmed how long the repairs are expected to take.

Paris Jackson has won big in her legal battle against the executors of her father Michael Jackson’s estate.

A Los Angeles judge has ruled in favor of the 28-year-old daughter of the late pop star after she raised concerns last year over $625,000 in bonuses that were paid by executors John Branca and John McClain to third-party law firms in 2018.

Now, the money will have to be returned to the estate in a new ruling demanding transparency in the way that the family’s money is spent.

“Paris has always been focused on what’s best for her family and this ruling is a massive win for them,” representatives for Paris said in a statement shared with The Independent.

“After years of delay, the Jackson family will finally get the transparency and accountability measures Paris has fought for. The Jackson Estate is supposed to be a prudent, fiscally responsible entity that supports the Jackson family – not a slush fund to help John Branca live out his Hollywood mogul fantasies.”

The statement continued: “After months of engaging in sexist, scorched-earth tactics against a beneficiary, it’s time for John Branca to acknowledge his many missteps and act in the best interest of the family he has a fiduciary duty to protect.”

Paris became one of the beneficiaries of Michael’s estate after his death in 2009, along with her brothers Prince and Bigi.

More to follow…

Neville Jones later told officers investigating the incident that it was something he wanted to do, “in a Benny Hill way”, referring to the bawdy slapstick humour of the late comedian.

He conceded the officer did not consent and did not know what he was about to do as she had her back to him at the time, but he claimed there was no sexual intent in the slap and added it was “just a bit of fun”.

The incident was said to have taken place during an event in Newton Aycliffe in September 2024, which he was attending in his capacity as a councillor.

Jones, who was the Durham County Council member for Aycliffe East ward at the time, was attending the event with his wife, Jo, who was involved with him in the Community Spirit group in the town. At the time, she was the deputy mayor for Newton Aycliffe.

Newcastle Crown Court heard that the officer was talking to someone else when the incident took place.

“He didn’t tap me on the bottom, he slapped me hard on the bottom,” she told the jury.

She agreed Jones then said words to the effect that he, “always wanted to do that” and added: “He definitely made some comment about it being a police officer.”

Asked if she thought it was “a joke”, she replied: “No, I didn’t think it was a joke.”

She said she made a nervous laugh as she was talking to someone she hardly knew, but was “in shock and upset” as she had not expected it to happen.

“I was embarrassed at the time and humiliated because it was a public arena.”

She said she reported it to colleagues and Jones was arrested later in the day.

At a police interview that evening he said he was surprised he had been arrested, but was now “sorry” he did it, the jury heard.

In details of the interview read to the court he agreed he had not asked the officer and said he probably made a remark afterwards along the lines of having wanted to do it.

“Just what I said: ‘I’ve always wanted to do that’, in a Benny Hill way,” he said.

Ex-Durham county councillor Neville Jones pictured leaving an earlier court hearing in the case, (Image: The Northern Echo)

Jones told police, “her bum was there to be slapped,” but he said he had not slapped anyone else’s bottom.

Asked if at any time he thought it was all right to slap a police officer’s bottom, he told the officer: “I wish she was here, I would apologise to her.”

He claimed there was “no sexual intent” to what he did.

“I don’t know. I just did it”, he said.

Asked about the reaction to it, he said he did not expect to end up in police custody.

When asked if he found the officer attractive, he told the police interviewer she was “bonny”, but denied finding her sexually attractive, replying: “No, no absolutely not.

“It’s just a thing to do, and I regret it.”

Jones, 60, of Van Mildert Road, Newton Aycliffe, who was a Durham County Council and Great Aycliffe Council member, from 2021 to 2025, denies sexual assault by touching.

He also denies a similar charge arising from a subsequent separate allegation, relating to an incident involving another woman some years earlier.

The trial continues tomorrow.

Wes Streeting is poised to resign as health secretary to force a leadership election against Sir Keir Starmer as the crisis within the Labour Party deepens.

The Independent first revealed on Monday that Mr Streeting was expected to launch a leadership bid as his supporters led the way in declaring no confidence in the prime minister.

A defiant Sir Keir has told his remaining supporters he will fight any challenge, but it is now understood that as many as five other ministers, all allies of Mr Streeting, are on a resignation watchlist to deliver a further blow to their embattled leader, joining the four who quit on Tuesday.

One Starmer loyalist minister told The Independent: “They [Mr Streeting and his supporters] will want to hit as hard as possible. There will definitely be other ministers resigning with him.”

Supporters of defence minister Al Carns, who is thought to be eyeing his own leadership bid, suggested he may quit if the health secretary goes and declares for the contest.

Along with Mr Streeting, supporters of energy secretary Ed Miliband, who was defeated as Labour leader in 2015, say he now has the numbers to launch a bid, while former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner could also challenge, despite facing questions over her tax affairs.

There were also fresh reports that Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham may have found a seat to run in with the hope he could return as a potential leadership candidate.

With fevered speculation across Westminster overshadowing the King’s Speech and State Opening of Parliament, there were also suggestions, denied by Downing Street, that Mr Streeting had been pulled from the morning broadcast round. According to his office over the weekend, he was due to do some interviews regarding NHS data being published on Thursday.

But despite the continued undermining of Sir Keir’s government, Downing Street insisted that the prime minister has “full confidence” in his health secretary. It came after the two had a Wednesday morning meeting at No 10, where Mr Streeting was expected to demand the PM explain how he would get Labour “out of this mess”, but it ended after just 16 minutes.

Mr Streeting, meanwhile, did not dampen speculation of a leadership bid, with a post on X (formerly Twitter), failing to deny briefings that he was about to quit the government.

He said: “Under Labour, NHS waiting lists are falling, ambulances are arriving faster, there are more GPs, and higher patient satisfaction.

“Lots done, lots to do. The Health Bill will boost the impact of our investment and modernisation: cutting bureaucracy to invest in patient care.”

However, another minister loyal to Sir Keir speculated that if Mr Streeting “bottles out again” and fails to resign, “it will be the end of his political career”.

In a sign of the problems that Mr Streeting could face in any leadership race, former shadow chancellor John McDonnell posted on X a reminder that the health secretary was an ally of the disgraced former peer Peter Mandelson, Sir Keir’s sacked ex-chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and the controversial thinktank Labour Together, which has been accused of smearing Labour politicians and journalists.

He said: “Just a thought. Wes Streeting owes his political status to the support he’s received over [the] years from Peter Mandelson and Morgan McSweeney at Labour Together. He wouldn’t make a move against Keir Starmer without Mandelson’s say-so. So look on this as Mandelson’s and Morgan’s revenge.”

In exchanges in the Commons after the King’s Speech, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch mocked Sir Keir for being “in office but not in power”.

Turning to Mr Streeting, she questioned if he had “been a bit distracted lately” over his failure to scrap NHS England, 14 months after the PM announced the move.

She added: “He’s chuntering now. Why don’t you just do your job? …There’s no point in him giving me dirty looks. We all know what he has been up to.”

The row completely overshadowed the second King’s Speech of Sir Keir’s premiership, where he laid out 35 bills for a new programme for government, 22 months after Labour won the 2024 general election.

But even the King’s Speech had hints of Sir Keir’s weakened authority with no legislation listed for welfare reform after he suffered a humiliating rebellion last summer, which forced him to retreat on plans to cut benefits.

There was also nothing to back up his plans to increase defence spending, suggesting that the “welfare over defence” argument was being won in Labour against his desire to bring it to above 3 per cent.

As the Commons sat for the start of the King’s Speech debate, Labour MPs were noticeably stony-faced.

Sir Keir tried to make light of the situation with a joke as he responded to the King’s Speech. As he took to the podium, he referred to backbencher MP Naz Shah’s opening address: “Members across the House will have read her remarkable new book. Her list of endorsements is truly impressive, reaching well over 100 members – at last, a list that we could all get behind.”

More than 90 Labour MPs have publicly demanded that he quit, while another 100 have signed a letter asking him to stay as the party splits over his future.

The prime minister defended his government’s record with Labour MPs still smarting from last week’s humiliating election results, which saw the party almost wiped out in Wales, suffer its worst defeat in Scotland and lose around 1,500 council seats in England.

But looking ahead, Sir Keir told the Commons the government was proposing “bills to increase the pace of change in our NHS, in law enforcement, in controlling our borders and more”.

He added: “Whilst immigration is down, we need to do more. Whilst violent crime is down, it needs to be lower.

“Whilst NHS waiting lists are down, we must go further – a rewiring of the state so the working people of this country feel that it serves their interests.”

Sir Keir later told MPs: “We will, as a defining act of this government, rebuild our relationship with Europe – Britain back at the heart of a stronger Europe.

“That is good for growth. It will reduce the cost of living and strengthen our security. There is no good reason to oppose it. So, for our economic security, for our Labour values, this government will act.”

But in a sign of the troubles Sir Keir faces, Labour MP Barry Gardiner could be seen sitting behind the prime minister in the Commons holding a copy of The Fraud by Owen Jones, a book highly critical of Sir Keir’s leadership of the Labour Party.