In Trump administration’s plan, California, Arizona and Nevada face about a 20% cut to water supply over two years

Nevada filed a federal lawsuit on Monday challenging the Trump administration’s new plan for the imperiled Colorado River, launching what could become the first of many court battles over the waterway that supplies 40 million people, dozens of tribes and 5.5m acres of farm land across the American west.

The federal plan, issued Friday, cut roughly 20% from the water supplied to lower basin states – Nevada, Arizona and California – over the next two years, with a potential for harsher cutbacks in the future, based on conditions.

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© Photograph: George Frey/Getty Images

© Photograph: George Frey/Getty Images

© Photograph: George Frey/Getty Images

The president’s border wall plan could damage or destroy ‘the oldest-known books in North America’

On an overcast summer morning, Carolyn Boyd, an archeologist at Texas State University, stood at the foot of a cave in west Texas, looking up toward a series of towering murals painted on a rock wall. Three massive human-like figures soared toward an overhang that had sheltered the painting from the elements since they were drawn here perhaps 4,000 years ago.

An artist herself, Boyd knows how hard it would have been to paint these long, crisp lines. Before starting, the bands of Indigenous hunter-gatherers who lived in this west Texas valley, where the Pecos River empties into the Rio Grande, would have spent weeks pulverizing gypsum, hematite, limonite and manganese to make paint. They would have gathered massive quantities of sotol stalks to fold its fibers into scaffolding. The painting itself would have required teamwork and precision, with people at the bottom guiding artists on the wall as they painted figures stretching up to 30ft tall.

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© Photograph: Roque Planas/The Guardian

© Photograph: Roque Planas/The Guardian

© Photograph: Roque Planas/The Guardian

Trump administration finalized rule to end Medicaid support for care including hormones and speech therapy

New Mexico will continue funding gender-affirming care for minors after a federal rule ending Medicaid support for such care goes into effect.

On 13 August, the Trump administration finalized a rule – set to go into effect on 13 October – that will end funding for gender-affirming care through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (Chip).

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© Photograph: Reginald Mathalone/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Reginald Mathalone/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Reginald Mathalone/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

With cheers, endorsements and insults for rivals and “wokismo,” a new crop of right-wing leaders are openly stepping into one another’s elections.

© Ettore Chiereguini/Associated Press

Rubén Rocha Moya of Sinaloa reversed course a day after returning to office, amid widespread criticism, including from members of his own party.

© Rashide Frias/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

After U.S. prosecutors accused Gov. Rubén Rocha Moya of protecting the Sinaloa cartel, he said he would step down to focus on his defense. On Friday, he declared he was back and faced much criticism.

© Eduardo Verdugo/Associated Press

The Trump administration delayed a rule last year that could have sped up the effort to pinpoint the source of the contamination. Critics charge that food safety oversight has eroded overall.

© Al Drago for The New York Times

Andrés Manuel López Beltrán, a former president’s son, lashed out at the Trump administration after he said it canceled his visa, another flashpoint in the tense U.S.-Mexico relationship.

© Henry Romero/Reuters

Topos Azteca, a Mexican volunteer rescue group that works worldwide and helped after the Sept. 11 attacks, arrived in Colombia after searching for survivors in Venezuela.

© Federico Rios for The New York Times