Le Journal

On the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump being sworn into office for the second time, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, one of the fiercest and most public critics, escalated rhetoric Tuesday against the president while admonishing European leaders. Newsom, a Democratic presidential contender, urged the leaders of European nations to “wake up” while slamming them for “rolling over” to Trump while attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.  “This b——- diplomacy of sort of niceties, somehow we’re all going to figure it out, saying one thing privately and saying another publicly. Have some spine,” Newsom fired off.  The ferocious comment came hours after President Trump took to social media to share a screenshot of text messages from French President Emmanuel Macron, who called Trump his “friend” in an appeasing tone.  California Sep 9, 2025 Newsom says Trump has a ‘relentless, unhinged' obsession with California Gavin Newsom Aug 11, 2025 ‘Playing with fire.' Gov. Newsom urges President Trump to abandon Texas redistricting plan The California governor has been intensifying his criticism against the president on a wide range of issues, including foreign policy and immigration. Earlier this month, Newsom released a statement, calling Trump “brainless” for withdrawing from the United Nations climate framework and surrendering global leadership.  As Newsom likened the president to an apex predator, the governor also had a warning message for Europe: traditional diplomacy won’t work with Trump. “(Trump) is T. rex: You mate with him or he devours you. One or the other, and you need to stand up to it,” he said. “Europeans should decide for themselves what to do, but one thing they can’t do is what they have been doing. And they have been played. This guy has been playing folks for fools.” The California governor, who has been selling red knee pads for “all your groveling to Trump needs” on the website of his political action committee Campaign for Democracy, upped the ante by saying he should have brought the knee pads to Davos and hand them out to the European leaders. “I can’t take this complicity – people rolling over,” he said. The California governor also took a jab at the latest Nobel Peace Prize winner, Maria Machado, who handed her award to Trump following the arrest of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.  “Nobel prizes that are being given away. It’s just pathetic,” he said. “And I hope people understand how pathetic they look on the world stage.” Newsom was in Davos to pitch California as a stable zero-emission vehicle market, touting 2.5 million EV sales, according to the governor’s office.  During Trump’s news conference to mark his one-year anniversary since inauguration, the president mentioned the California governor twice, calling him “awful. “California is a failed state,” Trump said. “If Newsom was president, this country would be like Venezuela.” Pres. Trump was scheduled to travel to Davos later on Tuesday for the World Economic Forum where he will meet with other NATO leaders.

Jurors were selected Tuesday in the federal court trial of former Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig, who is accused of lying to investigators about his suspected involvement in an illegal sports betting operation. The 35-year-old Puig, who spent six seasons with the Dodgers, is charged with obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal investigators. Puig last played Major League Baseball in 2019, most recently with Cincinnati and Cleveland. He also played in South Korea, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. Athletes Jan 19 Trial to start for ex-Dodger Yasiel Puig in sports betting case MLB Nov 14, 2022 Ex-MLB Star Yasiel Puig to Plead Guilty to Lying in Illegal Gambling Case The panel of 12 jurors and two alternates was expected to return to the courtroom Tuesday afternoon after a recess. Puig was in the downtown Los Angeles courtroom for the proceedings. Opening statements were expected to begin later Tuesday. Puig’s legal team Waymaker LLP said in a statement that “Puig is finally getting his day in court and looks forward to presenting the full story.” The federal charges against Cuban-born Puig stem from a 2017 investigation into an illegal gambling business run by ex-minor league pitcher Wayne Nix. The investigation into the 49-year-old Newport Coast resident’s actions to launder illicit proceeds and hide income from the Internal Revenue Service led authorities to Puig, according to federal prosecutors. In May 2019, federal investigators said Puig started placing the illegal bets. By June 2019, Puig owed Nix’s gambling operation $282,000 for sports gambling losses, federal prosecutors said. From July 4, 2019 to September 29, 2019, Puig placed 899 additional bets on tennis, football and basketball games through betting websites, prosecutors said. Puig was interviewed by investigators as part of the larger investigation in January 2022. It was during that interview that Puig lied several times, prosecutors said. He denied all knowledge of the Nix gambling business and persons participating in it, authorities said. Puig and prosecutors reached a plea deal in August 2022, but he reneged on the agreement weeks later, leading to the current charges. He had agreed to plead guilty to one count of making false statements and pay a fine of at least $55,000. “I want to clear my name,” Puig said in a statement at the time. “I never should have agreed to plead guilty to a crime I did not commit.” In August 2025, Puig posted a statement on X that included: “This story isn’t over yet, and you weren’t told the full story the first time.” If convicted on all charges, Puig could face 10 years or more in prison. “This case is strange in the sense that Puig doesn’t deny he was a big gambler,” said NBCLA legal analyst Royal Oakes. “He placed hundreds of bets and lost almost $300,000, but he is being charged with lying to the feds when they asked about his contacts with bookies.” Nix pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to operate an illegal sports gambling business and filing a false tax return. He is awaiting a sentencing date. If you or someone you know has a gambling addiction, please call the National Council on Problem Gambling at 1-800-522-4700 to speak to a counselor. Help is also available via an online peer support forum at www.gamtalk.org, and additional resources can be found at NCPG website.

Employee advocates sounded the alarm Tuesday that wage theft and intimidation against day laborers have increased in the past year as immigration enforcement operations expanded up. As day laborers are often paid with cash and hired on the spot, employee advocates said trust is breaking down, especially for undocumented workers who fear demanding fair pay could put them at risk. Jesus, declined to reveal his identity out of immigration enforcement fears, said he goes to an Orange County Home Depot parking lot every day, hoping for steady work and fair pay.  In December, Jesus said he was hired by a contractor to install tile at a home, with the promise of being paid up to $2,000 for the job.  Instead, after finishing the job in two and a half weeks alone, Jesus said he was paid $900, less than half of what he was promised.  Immigration Jan 19 ‘Living in fear isn't living at all.' Long Beach family self-deport as ICE operations continue Immigration Jan 16 LA's Fashion District resembled ‘war zone' during immigration operation, business owner says Advocates at the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center said that complaints like Jesus’ are becoming more common with at least one or two day laborers coming to the organization every week, saying they haven’t gotten paid for their work. “One of the new threats that employers are making in our region is that they tell the day laborers, ‘You better leave and stop asking for your pay, or I am going to report you to the immigration authorities,’” said Alexis Tenorio, workers’ rights director for the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center. Tenorio said the number of reports of wage theft from undocumented workers has increased 40% in the past year amid ongoing immigration enforcement. But he said workers, regardless of immigration status, must report wage theft and receive support by contacting the Department of Industrial Relations.  “They don’t need to know much information. They need to know where you worked, how much you worked, and whether your employer followed the law,” Tenorios said.  But for workers like Jesus, reporting wage theft is a hard step to take as he said he just wants to keep working to support his family. Anyone who has been a victim of wage theft was encouraged to contact the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center or local worker rights groups for help. 

From using a handheld vacuum to keeping a bowl of lemongrass by their bed, Richard Johnson and his wife will try anything to help them with an ongoing mosquito problem plaguing an El Segundo neighborhood. “Look how tiny they are there,” Johnson said, as he showed us his portable bug zapper. “They’re just really tiny.” He’s referring to Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which have made their presence felt in Southern California over the last decade or so. Unlike the traditional and more noticeable Culex mosquitoes, which appear outdoors at dusk and dawn during the warmer months, these smaller “ankle biter” mosquitoes are known to wreak havoc on people during any time of the day, outdoors and indoors.  For the last two months, they’ve made living in El Segundo unbearable for many. “It’s horrible. We’re living no sleep. The kids are miserable,” said Samantha Hedding, who lives across the street from the Johnsons. “They’re going late to school because they’re up all night dealing with mosquitoes.” The issue has been happening since November with very little relief. Residents in the neighborhood most affected believe the problem is coming from a strip of land owned by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The easement separates homes in El Segundo from LADWP’s Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant. San Fernando Valley Jan 16 Raccoon roundworm eggs detected in a dog in San Fernando Valley Mission Viejo Jan 12 Thermal drone leads to dog's rescue in Mission Viejo “Most, if not all, of the affected neighborhoods directly butt up to the City of LA properties,” said Chris Pimentel, Mayor of El Segundo. NBC Los Angeles reached out to LADWP for a response. However, Pimentel said his city has been coordinating with the City of Los Angeles and the LA County West Vector Control District to try and identify the problem spots. “The tricky part is it’s not ours, right? So you’re coordinating with someone because it’s not our land,” he explained. “And obviously a something like big, like a municipal water treatment plant that treats 230 million gallons of water a day, that’s a sensitive site. And the chemistries that go in, you have to make sure it doesn’t affect the chemistries they use for the treatment.” Pimentel, who also lives in the neighborhood, said they have been able to identify some problem areas, but they believe there are more. He added he understands his constituents’ frustration. “If there is a silver lining, you know, vector control, who’s been testing since December,” Pimentel said. “We don’t have any issues with any outbreak pieces. No West Nile in them. It’s like it’s cold comfort when you’re living with the welts.” Neighbors acknowledged the problem has gotten a little better. “It has lightened, but it’s very awkward,” Hedding said. “One night will be light. And when we’re thinking, ‘Oh great, we got relief.’ And then the next night, right back to square zero.” Meanwhile, Johnson said he recently had his doors and windows reinforced ,and he’s not sure how they’re getting into his home. “I don’t know how it’s going to end until somebody takes care of it,” he said.

A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was unveiled on Tuesday honoring Rachel McAdams for a film acting career highlighted by a best supporting actress Oscar nomination. McAdams got emotional while accepting the honor, giving thanks to her parents, who were in attendance. “When I was about 8 years old, growing up in tiny little St. Thomas, Canada, I wrote my parents a very desperate letter, asking them to figure out how to fulfill my greatest dream — to be on Ed McMahon’s `Star Search’,” McAdams said. “They were of course incredibly supportive. I do want to freeze time for a second because you only get a few of these moments in life to thank you on a stage for everything. All of it. All of it is because of you and the love you gave us and the beautiful childhood you gave us, and for believing in me long before I could grasp how to believe in myself.” McAdams was also joined at the ceremony at 6922 Hollywood Blvd., between Highland Avenue and Orange Drive, near the El Capitan Theatre, by director Sam Raimi and actor Domhnall Gleeson. The ceremony came 10 days before the release of “Send Help,” a psychological thriller directed by Raimi in which McAdams portrays an overlooked and undervalued employee who with her dismissive, arrogant new boss (Dylan O’Brien) are the only survivors of a plane crash on a deserted island. Raimi also directed McAdams in the 2022 Marvel film, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” in which she reprised her role of emergency surgeon Christine Palmer from the 2016 Marvel film “Doctor Strange.” Gleeson and McAdams co-starred in the 2013 romantic science fiction comedy-drama “About Time.” The star is the 2,833rd since the completion of the Walk of Fame in 1961 with the initial 1,558 stars. Born Nov. 17, 1978, in London, Ontario, and raised about 17 miles south in St. Thomas, Ontario, where she was involved with theater while growing up, McAdams received a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from York University in Toronto in 2001. McAdams made her television debut in the unaired MTV pilot “Shotgun Love Dolls,” filmed during her spring break from college in 2001. She made her film debut later that year in the Italian-Canadian comedy, “My Name Is Tanino,” as an American girl vacationing in Italy who an Italian liberal arts student (Corrado Fortuna) falls in love with. Her Hollywood film debut came in the 2002 comedy “The Hot Chick” as a catty high school student who swaps bodies with a small-time criminal (Rob Schneider). McAdams rose to fame in 2004 with her portrayals of “queen bee” Regina George in the comedy “Mean Girls” and 17-year-old heiress Allie Hamilton in the romantic drama ‘The Notebook.” The following year McAdams appeared in the comedy “Wedding Crashers.” McAdams received a best supporting actress Oscar nomination in 2016 for her portrayal of investigative journalist Sacha Pfeiffer in “Spotlight,” losing out to Alicia Vikander for her performance as Danish painter Gerda Wegener in “The Danish Girl.” McAdams’ other film credits include “Midnight in Paris”; “Sherlock Holmes” and “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows”; “The Little Prince”; “Morning Glory”; “The Time Traveler’s Wife”; and “The Family Stone.” McAdams’ television credits include the second season of the HBO anthology crime drama “True Detective.” McAdams received a best actress in a play Tony Award nomination in 2024 for her Broadway debut, playing the title role in “Mary Jane,” a woman caring for her chronically ill young son.