EAST LANSING, Mich. — Lauren Betts had 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists and No. 2 UCLA pushed its winning streak to 18 games by thumping No. 13 Michigan State 86-63 on Wednesday night.
Kiki Rice finished with 18 points and seven rebounds for the Bruins (24-1, 14-0 Big Ten). Gabriela Jaquez added 13 points, all in the first half, and Gianna Kneepkens chipped in 12.
UCLA now has nine wins over ranked opponents, six in conference play.
Rashunda Jones scored 15 points and Emma Shumate had 12 for the Spartans (20-5, 9-5), who have dropped three of their last four games. Grace VanSlooten and Kennedy Blair, the team’s top scorers entering the game, were held to a combined 18 points on six-for-25 shooting.
UCLA, which led by 31 points, outscored Michigan State 56-22 in the paint and had a 48-28 rebounding advantage.
Their matchup last season in Los Angeles wasn’t decided until late in the game, when the Bruins pulled out a 75-69 victory. Betts missed that game with a foot injury but the Spartans couldn’t avoid her imposing 6-foot-7 presence this time.
Coming off a hotly contested 69-66 victory over No. 8 Michigan on Sunday, the Bruins were in total control from the start.
UCLA scored on its six first possessions while powering to a 44-20 halftime lead, capped off by Jaquez’s three-pointer. Betts had 13 points by the break, while the Spartans were unable to get anything going in halfcourt sets or transition.
Michigan State hasn’t defeated a top-two team at home since 2005.
HALF-TERM is nearly here and while some families are looking to head abroad, Loose Women star Katie Piper says, why not stay closer to home?
For beautiful beaches, plenty of family-friendly hotels and hopefully some sun – head to Kent.
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Katie Piper shares one of her favourite staycation spots that’s perfect for half-termCredit: ITVMargate Old Town has plenty of trendy cafesCredit: Alamy
Talking to Sun Travel about her recent ITV series, The Great Escapers, Katie Piper revealed that as a family, she loves heading to the UK coast – and it all started when she was a child.
She told us: “My mum and dad didn’t have a lot of money, so we didn’t really go abroad.
But in February can also wander through Old Town, visit theOld Kent Market and check out the beautiful Shell Grotto or Margate Caves.
With Dreamland closed until April, head to The Wonder Works instead which is filled with model railways and Scalextrics – tickets for adults are £5 and children can explore for £2.50.
Or for more entertainment, there’s also Lost Island Adventure Golf to play mini golf or AR darts.
When it comes to where to eat, head to Palms Pizzeria, a New York-style pizzeria in The Centre that serves massive pizza slices for £4.
When it comes to staying in Margate a family of four can book a night at the Seaside Escape Two-Bed Apartment for £108 (based on a one-night stay on February 16, 2026).
The self-catering apartment has beachfront access and pretty garden views.
Deal has a long pebble beach and pretty pierCredit: AlamyOne night in Broadstairs can cost as little as £165per night for a family of fourCredit: Alamy
Deal
The relaxed seaside town of Deal is an ideal spot if you want a more chill place to explore.
It has a pebble beach with a 1950s pier with a cafe at the very end.
There are lots of sites to visit likeDeal Castle, as well as plenty of features family-friendly cafes, ice cream parlours, and several pubs with play areas like The Coach and The Crown Inn.
Head to Betteshanger Country Park for mountain bike trails and adventure playground.
A one-night stay for a family of four at the Royal Hotel in Deal starts from £160 (based on a one-night stay on February 16, 2026).
The 3-star hotel sits on the seafront in Deal – and the stay includes breakfast.
The main beach is Viking Bay and for fish and chips, head to The Mermaid restaurant.
For games, head to Broadstairs Leisure amusements for arcades or try out some putting at Lillyputt.
If the weather doesn’t play ball, then you can head indoors to the trampoline parks at Elev8.
The seaside town is also home to Morelli’s Gelato which has been serving fresh ice cream since 1932.
In Broadstairs, a family room in The Royal Albion right on the promenade costs £165 per night (based on a one-night stay on February 16, 2026) and includes breakfast.
As for where Katie is off to next – she reveals the stop is still in the UK.
Katie told us: “We’re looking into a trip at the moment that we want to do in the Easter which is to go to Scotland.
“We’re trying to plan to do it on the sleeper train because it’s a bit of an adventure to go on a sleeper train and my kids have never done that.
“We’ve got a dog now. We got a puppy this year if we go on a sleeper train, then we can take her on the train with us.”
SACRAMENTO — California may be headed toward killing the billionaire birds that lay the golden eggs needed to nourish this Golden State.
The English fable about the farmer and his wife who foolishly whack their golden goose comes to mind when I think about the proposed billionaire tax in California.
The couple possessed a bird that laid a golden egg every morning, but they slaughtered it for one fat meal.
The billionaire tax — or wealth tax — would generate a one-time bounty for the state government of up to $100 billion collected over five years, according to its promoters. But its many critics say it would drive billionaires out of California, costing the state lots more in tax revenue over the long run.
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“Temporary increase in state revenues … probably would add up to tens of billions of dollars spread over several years.”
”Likely ongoing decrease in state income tax revenues of hundreds of millions of dollars or more per year.”
The golden goose is replaced by a mud hen.
Whether billionaires fly the coop or are forcibly penned in by the measure, as its drafters intend — and whatever the policy’s merits — it just seems like bad PR for California.
We might as well run TV ads and erect billboards along the border proclaiming: “Welcome to California, the land of opportunity. Make a fortune so state politicians can grab a sizable chunk.”
We’ve already got by far the highest income tax rates in the nation, topping out at 13.3%. The top 1% of earners pay between 40% and 50% of the entire state income tax collected annually. The top 0.1% kick in about 20%.
California is infamous for its unfriendly business climate, with byzantine regulations and an agonizingly slow permitting system.
“It sends out the worst possible message to the people we need in the state, the people who produce jobs,” says Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable.
Democratic strategist Garry South says: “Bleating about ‘tax the billionaires’ is a good applause line at Democratic gatherings, but it appears oblivious to the fact they’re already being taxed …
“Our revenue base is disproportionately dependent on capital gains and other income sources unique to the well-off.”
This wealth tax is not being pushed by Sacramento Democrats.
And the governor asserts: “You would have a windfall one time, and then over the years you would see a significant reduction in taxes because taxpayers will move.”
“Driving out the entrepreneurs and innovators who have enriched California is not the answer to the pressing societal question” of how to address the “growing concentration of wealth,” says the latest gubernatorial entry, San José Mayor Matt Mahan.
The initiative is being led by a labor organization: the Service Employees International Union–United Healthcare Workers West, which represents 120,000 healthcare workers. It intends to spend up to $14 million to collect nearly 875,000 voter signatures by June 24 to place the measure on the November statewide ballot.
It would impose a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of California’s 200-plus billionaires, based on their wealth as of Jan. 1 this year. The tax would be due in 2027, but it could be paid in installments over five years.
That’s assuming state bureaucrats can even figure out the billionaires’ worth. And the new tax law isn’t tied up in courts for many years, as it surely would be.
Band-Aid for Republican healthcare cuts
The measure’s purpose is to make up for the billions of dollars in federal cuts to California healthcare programs, especially Medi-Cal. Of the total tax take, 90% would go to healthcare and 10% to education.
“If we don’t do something about [the federal cuts], we’re going to see devastating consequences,” says Suzanne Jimenez, the union’s chief of staff.
Unless the billionaires are taxed extra, she says, money will need to be seized from other programs — such as education and public safety — to salvage healthcare.
It’s just the opposite, critics argue: If billionaires flee the state to avoid the wealth tax, all programs will suffer in the long run because the golden geese no longer will be producing billions in annual tax revenue.
Actually, a better, more reliable solution than the billionaire tax for Democrats is to flip the House of Representatives in November. Win enough seats to seize control from Republicans. Maybe take over the Senate, too. Then restore adequate federal healthcare funding.
Some political infighters suspect that the union is using the threat of a ballot initiative to negotiate more healthcare money from the state budget.
“I think this whole thing is a bluff,” says Mike Murphy, a veteran political consultant who has been helping the opposition. “If you don’t want to see this thing on the ballot, make me happy by putting more money in the budget.
“But they picked the wrong time to rob an empty bank.”
The state government is running on red ink, with deficit estimates ranging from $3 billion (Newsom’s figure) to $18 billion (the legislative analyst’s). Even deeper holes are projected for the future.
Jimenez denies the measure is being used as a negotiating hammer.
“No,” she says. “Our focus is to qualify this for the ballot.”
If it does, there will probably be flocks of golden geese voting by absentee ballot in other states.
Hello and happy Thursday. I’m Times columnist Anita Chabria, filling in for Washington bureau chief Michael Wilner. Today we are talking about circling the drain, and whether its possible to escape the flush after the swirl has started.
Yes, I’m talking about President Trump’s latest latest grab at the levers of power, and whether it will pull us all down. Trump floated the existentially disturbing idea recently that the federal government should “take over” elections.
“The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting,” Trump said Monday on a podcast, making no attempt to keep election integrity nonpartisan.
This came shortly after the federal government raided a Georgia election office, still doggedly pursuing the very fake conspiracy that the 2020 vote was rigged against Trump. Lurking in the background of photos of that abuse of power was Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, a longtime peddler of conspiracy theories including that Ukraine housed secret U.S. biolabs.
It’s not just possible but likely that Gabbard will find “evidence” of fraud in Georgia because she has been claiming election interference since at least 2016 and reality has seemingly never been an impediment to her beliefs.
So some sort of report or “proof” probably will appear in coming months that Trump was right all along and that Democrats have tricked us all by stealing votes across the country.
That will be the basis for Trump to demand Congress “secure” the midterm election, and we all know how good they are at standing up to him.
But before we go there, let’s do a quick refresher on how Democrats supposedly steal elections, because that’s at the heart of what comes next.
It’s the immigrants, stupid
Trump (drawing from preexisting conspiracy theories promoted by many folks he has now placed in powerful positions) blames undocumented immigrants for his loss in 2020.
Under a long-running conservative election fraud hoax, Democrats allegedly made some sort of secret deal to allow Black and brown immigrants to illegally enter the country, if they would then promise to illegally vote en masse for Democrats.
“If we don’t get them out, Republicans will never win another election,” Trump said on that same podcast. “These people were brought to our country to vote and they vote illegally, and it is amazing that the Republicans are not tougher on it.”
This narrative has been proven false literally dozens if not hundreds of times in courts across the country, and by the rational minds of those who understand how impossible it would be for a conspiracy of this magnitude and complexity to go undetected — much less actually work.
Long before Harmeet Dhillon, the San Francisco Bay Area lawyer now demanding voter data as head of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, used her official power to pursue this false conspiracy, she spent years upon years filing lawsuits and doing media appearances making the same claims.
And time and again, she and others were swatted down by courts (and common sense and evidence) because illegal immigrants working in collusion with Democrats to steal the vote is not a real thing.
But now election deniers are in power, and the gravitational pull away from truth is accelerating. Conspiracy is reality as we get closer to the ballot box.
ICE them out
And if immigrants indeed are stealing elections in between raping our women and eating cats and dogs, there is an answer: ICE.
Who better to secure ballot boxes than a masked, terrifyingly unaccountable armed federal force of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency that maybe answers only to Corey Lewandowski (the shadowy political operative always at Kristi Noem’s side) and Stephen Miller?
Now that the Supreme Court has ruled that Kavanaugh stops — basically stopping folks for living while brown or Black — are legal, these agents have probable cause galore. Add to that a new, legally unfounded directive that they can detain folks at will, without a warrant, and you have the perfect force to suppress an election.
Imagine if on election day, ICE roams the street in Democratic-leaning, nonwhite neighborhoods, stopping and even detaining folks as they go to polls. Demanding papers, dragging away dissenters.
“Your damn right,” Trump hanger-oner Steve Bannon said recently, “We’re going to have ICE surround the polls come November. We’re not going to sit here and allow you to steal the country again. And you can whine and cry and throw your toys out of the pram all you want, but we will never again allow an election to be stolen.”
Would you go to the polls in that scenario? Would you allow your 18-year-old to go or your elderly parent? I’d think twice, even as crucial as this vote is.
And here’s a bit of outrage you can aim at Democrats: Congressional leadership considered including a ban on ICE at polling places as part of their proposed deal to keep government funded — but didn’t. Once again, for those in the back, Democrats could have tried to stop this, but chose not to.
But wait! That’s not all!
Why can’t we just mail in our ballots, you ask. Well, that would be because changes by Trump to the U.S. Postal Service, and how ballots may be counted, are going to make it harder to ensure that mail-in ballots are received and counted as they traditionally have been handled. So mailing your ballot may work out fine, or may not.
And there you have it, that’s how a free and fair democracy spins into the vortex of authoritarianism, where elections are held, ballots are counted, but reality is lost.
You are antigravity
But folks, we are not there yet. Today is not that day!
There are things you can do, aside from peacefully protesting. People can start to make sure that their identification is in order (as Orwellian as that sounds) and help others to do so as well.
It’s likely that in some places at least, voter identification laws will make it harder to cast a ballot, and people will need to start getting birth certificates, Social Security cards or other paperwork now in order to comply with those rules. Ask who in your community needs that kind of help and how you can provide it.
People are going to need ways to vote in person and support doing it. If you are an employer, would you consider giving folks time off to vote, since poll lines may be long? Would you sign up to help those without transportation get to polls? Would you help with voter registration drives to get people signed up to vote?
And you can be certain that election conspiracy believers will be observing the vote, as they always do. Can you train now to be a responsible and fair poll watcher, to ensure there is balance and fairness in these observations?
The one thing we can’t do is believe Trump is unstoppable, that the point of no return has already passed, and democracy is flowing out the sewer pipes into the sea. In fact, we have 271 days to reverse this.
It will take mass participation on multiple levels — but it can be done.
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P.S. Jeff Bezos Wednesday gutted his newspaper, the Washington Post. Its motto is “Democracy dies in darkness,” but also, democracy dies in layoffs by billionaires who can afford to send their wives into space for fun, but don’t want to pay for journalism that criticizes a dear leader.
Thank you to everyone who has offered support for the Washington Post journalists impacted by today’s layoffs. If you would like to buy some beers or food to support our colleagues today, you can Venmo me. We are so grateful for your kind words, truly. https://t.co/wlIPR6gixw
Palestinian women tell of harrowing experience at hands of Israeli military at reopened Rafah border crossing in Gaza.
Palestinian women have described a “journey of horror” as they passed through the Rafah border crossing on their way home to Gaza from Egypt, with the few allowed to enter the war-torn territory being separated from their children, handcuffed, blindfolded, and interrogated “under threat” for hours.
For the 12 Palestinian women and children allowed to enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing on Monday, the journey back home was “long and exhausting, marked by waiting, fear and uncertainty”, Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim Al Khalili said, reporting from Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
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The small group of returnees was subjected to harsh security procedures by Israeli forces who hold the power at the Rafah crossing to determine “when and if” people will be allowed to return to their homes in the Palestinian territory, Al Khalili said.
“They took everything from us. Food, drinks, everything. Allowing us to keep only one bag,” said one of the returnees, speaking to Al Jazeera about her ordeal at the hands of the Israeli military on Monday.
“The Israeli army called my mother first and took her. Then they called me, and took me,” the woman said.
“They blindfolded me and covered my eyes. They interrogated me in the first tent, asking why I wanted to enter Gaza. I told them I wanted to see my children and return to my country. They tried to pressure me psychologically, wanted to separate me from my children and force me into exile,” she said.
“After questioning me there, they took me to a second tent and asked political questions, which had nothing to do with [the journey]… They told me I could be detained if I didn’t answer. After three hours of interrogation under threat, we finally went on the bus. The UN received us; then we headed to Nasser Hospital. Thank God we were reunited with our loved ones,” she added.
Another member of the group, Huda Abu Abed, 56, told the Reuters news agency that passing through the Rafah border “was a journey of horror, humiliation and oppression”.
Accounts of being blindfolded, handcuffed and interrogated for hours by Israeli forces were given to reporters by three women, Reuters said.
Some 50 Palestinians had been expected to enter the enclave on Monday, but by nightfall, only 12 – three women and nine children – had been allowed through the reopened crossing by Israeli authorities, Reuters said, citing Palestinian and Egyptian sources.
Worse still, of the 50 people waiting to leave Gaza on Monday, mostly for critical medical treatment, only five patients with seven relatives escorting them managed to clear the Israeli inspections and cross into Egypt.
On Tuesday, just 16 more Palestinian patients were allowed to cross into Egypt via Rafah, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said, reporting from Khan Younis.
The numbers being allowed to cross at Rafah are far below the 50 Palestinians who Israeli officials said would be allowed to travel in each direction via the crossing every day, Khoudary said.
“There is no explanation as to why crossings are being delayed at Rafah,” Khoudary said. “The process is taking an extremely long time.”
“There are about 20,000 people waiting [in Gaza] for urgent medical attention abroad,” she added.
George Skelton and Michael Wilner cover the insights, legislation, players and politics you need to know in 2024. In your inbox Monday and Thursday mornings.
When government officials arrogantly persist in blatantly lying, the public just might turn angrily against the prevaricators.
Or maybe they’re not lying technically. They simply might not care whether they’re telling the truth, or what it is. Their only intent is to spew a tale that fits a political agenda. Regardless, the citizenry can stomach only so much.
But, in fact, the public rebellion has been building during a yearlong nightmare of unjustified, inhumane, un-American violence by federal immigration agents. Their targets have been people with brown skin suspected of living in the country illegally. Never mind that many not only are documented, they’re U.S. citizens.
Such has been the slipshod and authoritarian way President Trump’s promised mass deportation program has been carried out.
Polls have consistently shown that voters strongly support the president’s goals of protecting the border and also deporting the “worst of the worst” undocumented criminals. But people have increasingly objected to his roughhouse methods, including masked federal agents slapping around and pepper-spraying legal protesters.
It’s not clear whether the two Minnesota citizens victimized by quick-draw federal agents were protesting. You can’t believe the Trump administration.
And that’s the danger in habitually lying: People can become so cynical that most disregard whatever they’re told by their so-called leaders. And that cripples what’s necessary for an ongoing healthy democracy: a cooperative relationship based on trust between citizens and those they’ve chosen to govern.
Some things we do know about the slain Minnesota citizens.
Alex Pretti, 37, was an intensive care nurse in a VA hospital. He was shooting video with his cellphone of agents and protesters when he was pepper-sprayed and wrestled to the ground by several agents as his legally carried handgun was removed. Then he was shot in the back several times.
He was not a “domestic terrorist” and “assassin” who wanted to “massacre law enforcement,” as Trump sycophants immediately lied on TV before backing off, after most of America saw videos of the killing and the president got nervous.
Renee Good, 37, was a mother and poet who appeared merely to be trying to drive through protest chaos when an agent shot her three times through the windshield. She did not try to run down the agent, as the administration claimed.
Good was not “obviously a professional agitator” who “violently, willfully and viciously ran over the ICE officer,” as Trump wrote on social media.
Public outrage at the lying and the brutish immigration enforcement has pressured elected officials into action all around the country.
Sure, you can call it political grandstanding and, of course, much of it is. But good politics and sound democracy involve listening to the public and acting on its desires.
In Sacramento, the state Senate held an emotional two-hour debate over a bill aimed at permitting people to sue federal law enforcement when their constitutional rights are violated. Rights such as the ability to peacefully protest and to be protected against excessive force. Lawsuits already are allowed against state and local officers. But federal agents are practically untouchable.
Senate Bill 747 by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) passed on a 30-10 party-line vote — Democrats for and Republicans against. The measure moved to the Assembly.
The vote was yet another sorry sign of today’s unhealthy political polarization. Not one Republican could break out of the Trump web and vote to hold illegally operating federal agents accountable in civil courts. But neither could one Democrat detect enough fault in the bill to vote against it.
Some law enforcement groups oppose the legislation because they fear it would spur additional suing against local cops. Look for an amendment in the Assembly.
The heated Senate debate reflected Democratic lawmakers’ frustration with Trump — and many of their constituents’ fears.
“The level of anxiety and anger is higher than I’ve ever seen in my 13 years in the Legislature,” Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) told me.
“People are coming into our offices fearful for relatives or friends who are hiding out, afraid to go to doctors’ appointments and their kids are staying away from schools.”
During the debate, several senators mentioned two young protesters who were each permanently blinded in one eye by rubber bullets shot by Homeland Security officers in Santa Ana. Lawmakers also railed against “kidnappings” off the street of people simply because of their skin colors, accents and dress.
“California is not going to let these thugs get away with it,” Wiener vowed.
“There’s a lot of hyperbole on this floor,” Sen. Tony Strickland (R-Huntington Beach) asserted. He called for repeal of California’s “sanctuary” laws that greatly restrict cooperation by state and local officers with federal immigration agents.
Easing those laws is probably a good idea. But more important, we’ve got to restrain undisciplined federal agents from shooting unarmed people in the back.
Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), who revealed that she has been packing a firearm for 30 years, said that Pretti should never have brought his gun to a protest even if it was legal — which it isn’t in California.
And she’s right. But he never brandished the weapon and shouldn’t have paid with his life.
Neither should Pretti have been immediately attacked as a bad guy by lying federal officials. They’re now paying a political price.
Angela Dugalic scored 22 points off the bench, Kiki Rice had 17 and Lauren Betts added 16 as the UCLA women’s basketball team recorded its eighth win against a ranked opponent with a dominant 88-65 victory over No. 8 Iowa on Sunday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion.
“I’m proud to be part of this team,” Dugalic said. “It’s fun to play with these girls. We’re not taking any team for granted. At the end of the day, if you’re our next opponent, that’s who we’re concentrating on.”
The No. 2 Bruins (21-1 overall, 11-0 Big Ten) won their 15th straight game and improved to 10-0 at home. They lead the conference by one game over No. 9 Michigan, which beat No. 13 Michigan State in overtime Sunday.
Charlisse Leger-Walker finished with 10 points, five assists and five rebounds. Gianna Kneepkens added 10 points, four assists and four rebounds, and Rice dished out seven assists for UCLA, which improved to 3-1 all time against Iowa and 3-0 under coach Cori Close.
“I’m thrilled for Angela getting a career high today, but what I’m happy about most is how many different people are stepping up,” Close said. “We’ve got plenty of weapons. This group couldn’t have been more happy for Angela. I love the way they celebrate each other’s growth.”
Ava Heiden netted 19 points and Hannah Stuelke added 13 for the Hawkeyes (18-4, 9-2), who were trying to rebound from Thursday night’s 81-69 loss to unranked USC at Galen Center.
It was supposed to be UCLA’s toughest game since its defeat to No. 4 Texas in December. Instead the Bruins made it look easy by getting every player involved. They racked up 29 assists and were 50% from three-point range and eight for eight at the free-throw line.
UCLA guard Gabriela Jaquez drives to the basket against Iowa in the first half.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
No. 1 Connecticut routed No. 15 Tennessee by 30 to stay undefeated while Texas, No. 5 Vanderbilt, No. 6 Louisiana State and No. 7 Louisville also won Sunday.
Having lost to the top two teams in the country, Iowa coach Jan Jensen was asked to compare them.
“Both are outstanding at every position,” Jensen said. “Lauren [Betts] is so hard to guard. One difference is UConn’s full-court pressure. You could put your money on both of them to be there at the end. Maybe a slight edge to UConn, only because they press, but I have all the respect in the world for Cori and her staff. They do it the right way. UCLA is really good. They saw what we were trying to do and made us not play our best.”
Close said her team is not where she wants it to be quite yet.
UCLA guard Kiki Rice, right, looks for a pass in front of Iowa guard Chit-Chat Wright during the first half Sunday.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
“Losing to UConn in the tournament last year taught me that you can never be satisfied,” Close said. “The edge is a really good place and I want us to live on that edge every day, not rely on our talent.”
Rice’s layup capped a 6-0 run to put the Bruins up by 13 with 4:21 left in the first half. Iowa closed within eight before Kneepkens drained a corner three at the buzzer to give UCLA a 39-28 lead at halftime. UCLA outscored Iowa 28-10 in the paint in the half.
Betts’ jumper increased the Bruins’ lead to 22 with 3:10 left in the third, but she picked up her fourth personal foul two minutes later and Iowa took advantage while scoring the final five points of the quarter. Dugalic’s third three-pointer gave UCLA its largest lead, 86-59, with a little more than three minutes left.
“The confidence we have is mainly because we know we put in the work in practice,” Betts said. “Coach never lets up in terms of playing to our standard. We try to get ball inside because we have amazing post presence. We want to do that.”
UCLA hosts Rutgers on Wednesday before its showdown with Michigan next Sunday.
“Angela earned everything she got today,” Close said. “Sure, she benefits from how dominant Lauren is, but we posted her up, we ran plays to get her three … show me a more versatile forward in the country than her.”
Jane McDonald was a favourite with TV viewers on Loose Women but she quit the show in 2014
Jane McDonald was a Loose Women regular for many years(Image: ITV screengrab)
Jane McDonald has become a household name thanks to her travel shows and singing career, but many fans still remember her from her Loose Women days.
The 62-year-old star used to be one of the ITV programme’s most popular presenters, chatting over the hottest topics of the day for a decade before announcing that she was permanently vacating her seat on the panel.
While fans of the daytime show have become used to a rotating cast of presenters, many were disappointed to see Jane go when she stepped down in 2014.
So why did she leave Loose Women? And will she ever go back to the show?
When was Jane McDonald on Loose Women?
Jane was already well known for television programme The Cruise and a string of albums when she joined the show as a presenter in 2004.
She featured on Loose Women along fellow stars such as Carol McGiffin, Andrea McLean, Sherrie Hewson and Denise Welch and became hugely popular with viewers.
When did Jane McDonald leave the ITV show?
However, in January 2014, the star announced that she was leaving, telling fans that the time was “right” for her to move on as she had an album and a tour in the pipeline.
She said in a statement at the time: “It has been an incredible 10 years for me on Loose Women and I’ve loved every minute of it. I’ve got a busy and exciting year coming up with a new album and national concert tour.
“So the time is right for me to step aside from Loose Women and concentrate on new opportunities.
“I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again on tour and I thank you all for your continued support, loyalty and best wishes.”
Would Jane McDonald return as Loose Women panellist?
The star has previously suggested that she isn’t likely to make a permanent return to the programme, as she was widely quoted as telling Woman magazine: “It was a period in time when everything was different. We could get away with things that we could never do now.
“And it was an era of girls who were not just colleagues – we were a force to be reckoned with. We were like Sex And The City when we hit the town. We’d have taken a bullet for each other.”
However, she did add: “Never say never.”
Guest appearances
Jane has gone on to make guest appearances on the ITV show over the years.
In 2021 she returned to the programme to talk about the death of her fiance Eddie Rothe, who had passed away that year after being diagnosed with lung cancer.
Opening up in a moving segment, Jane told how it had been a “privilege” to nurse her partner before he died.
“At first I thought, ‘How am I going to do this?’” she said. “But then you get a strength when you are nursing your loved one. I learnt how to do it. I changed all the dressings and I cared for him and I nursed him and I’m glad I did.”
For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the newEverything Gossipwebsite.
Cruising with Jane McDonald is on Channel 5 at 1.05pm on Sunday (February 1).
CARDI B loves bad boy Stefon Diggs, but one wrong move and she’s out, two sources have told The U.S. Sun.
The controversial NFL star is gearing up for next weekend’s Super Bowl, with the chance to lead the New England Patriots to glory in San Francisco.
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Sources have told The U.S. Sun Cardi B is determined to stand by Stefon Diggs amid more controversyCredit: GettyDiggs has an astonishing six kids with six different women scattered across the United StatesCredit: TikTok/shesoken_
As The U.S. Sun exclusively revealed, the Patriots star has six baby mamas dotted across the United States, with the most recent addition to his ever-growing brood arriving late last year.
Diggs, 32, and Cardi welcomed their son on November 4.
Incredibly, most of Diggs’ children were born within a few months of each other in 2025, fueling intense speculation and online debate.
Amid paternity battles and feverish social media chatter, Cardi has quietly backed her man behind the scenes.
An insider told The U.S. Sun that she was fully aware of Diggs’ reputation from the start — and believes he has changed.
“Cardi has known since day one that Stefon had a reputation as a womanizer and had seen multiple women in the past, but her love for him is above all of that,” the source said.
“She knows he has been faithful since they made things official and that he’s been transparent about his previous relationships, only seeing her since they committed to each other.”
The insider added that while Cardi “hates all the drama,” she admires Diggs’ role as a father.
“She loves that he’s not a deadbeat dad,” the source said. “She believes he’s a present, loving, and supportive father.”
Diggs’ first child, daughter Nova, was born in 2016, but his family has expanded rapidly in recent years.
In late 2024, Instagram model Aileen Lopera filed a paternity suit claiming Diggs was the father of her unborn child. Their daughter, Charliee Harper Diggs-Lopera, was born in April 2025.
Diggs initially requested DNA testing, and by late 2025, The U.S. Sun exclusively revealed he was the biological father.
The lawsuit was quietly dismissed in January 2026, suggesting the matter was resolved privately.
NO MESSING
Around the same time, Diggs also welcomed children with other women, including K’yanna Barber, who has previously been linked to Drake.
Rather than viewing Diggs’ children as competition or conflict, Cardi, who starting dating the Patriots star in October 2024 after divorcing rapper husband Offset, reportedly sees them as part of an extended family.
“She sees his children as an extension of the family and enjoys when they’re all together, spending time as one big extended family,” the source said.
“She doesn’t harbor hate toward Stefon’s exes or the mothers of his children. She doesn’t judge — she just wants everyone, especially the kids, to be happy and grow up in a stable, healthy environment.”
Still, Cardi has drawn a firm line.
The source said the New York rapper has been blunt with Diggs, warning him there will be no forgiveness if he crosses it.
“She’s been very clear with Stefon: if he messes up, if another woman comes forward with a baby after they became official and started a family together, she’s done,” the insider said.
“She told him plainly that if he cheats or has a child behind her back, it’s over.”
STEFON DIGGS’ KIDS
Nova Diggs
Born on October 14, 2016, Nova is Stefon’s eldest child and the most recognizable to NFL fans. She has been a fixture at his games since his time in Buffalo, often seen celebrating on the field or “negotiating” his contracts in viral social media clips. Her mother is Tyler-Marie, a singer from the Buffalo area. While the two are no longer a couple, they have maintained a visible co-parenting relationship for nearly a decade.
Shiloh Diggs
Shiloh was born in 2023 and is Stefon’s second-oldest child. She is the daughter of Kennedy Moore, a model from Diggs’ home state of Maryland. While Diggs kept her arrival relatively private compared to Nova’s, he shared photos of them together during the 2025 holiday season, confirming her place in his growing family tree.
Charliee Harper Diggs-Lopera
Born on April 2, 2025, Charliee was at the center of a high-profile legal battle. Her mother, Los Angeles-based model Aileen Lopera (known online as Lord Gisselle), filed a paternity suit in late 2024. In November 2025, DNA testing legally confirmed Stefon as the father. The case was officially resolved in January 2026 after Aileen dismissed her lawsuit, with both parties reportedly agreeing to a private co-parenting arrangement.
[Daughter – Name Not Public]
In April 2025—the same month Charliee was born—Stefon reportedly welcomed another daughter with New York City-based Instagram model Cayy Benji. While this child is rarely mentioned in formal interviews, Diggs was seen spending time with her during his 2025 Christmas break, solidifying reports of her paternity within the “wave” of children he fathered that year.
“Baby Brim” / “Touchdown”
Stefon’s most famous addition is his son with superstar rapper Cardi B, born on November 4, 2025. This is Cardi’s fourth child and Stefon’s first confirmed son. While the public and the parents themselves use the nicknames “Baby Brim” and “Touchdown,” Cardi B explicitly denied rumors in late January 2026 that his legal name is “Grayson,” stating that they are not yet ready to reveal his official name to the world.
[Son – Name Not Public]
The sixth and final child reported as of early 2026 is a son with Miami-based influencer K’yanna Barber. Barber is famously known as the “Kiki” referenced in Drake’s hit “In My Feelings.” Reports of her pregnancy surfaced in late 2024, and she is believed to have given birth in late 2025. Like several of his other 2025 additions, Diggs was pictured holding the infant during the 2025 holidays.
While fiercely loyal, Cardi reportedly struggles when Diggs is publicly criticized.
“She does get upset when people talk badly about him, seeing it as disrespect,” the second source said.
“She’s had arguments over how some people address or treat him in public — but she’s learning how to handle it better.”
Behind the scenes, Cardi has played an active role in helping Diggs navigate co-parenting and blended-family dynamics.
“When she loves, she fights for her man. Period,” the source said. “She talks to him often about how to best navigate situations involving multiple baby mamas and co-parenting. She gives him advice on being the best father he can be, and he appreciates the constant support she shows him.”
It promises to be another whirlwind few weeks for Diggs.
Fresh from taking part in his first Super Bowl, he is set to head to court to contest felony strangulation and misdemeanor assault and battery charges stemming from an alleged incident in a Boston suburb on December 2.
Rapper Cardi B gave birth to Diggs’ son last NovemberCredit: Instagram / iamcardib
The woman, who has not been publicly identified and was employed by Diggs as a personal chef, filed a police report on December 16 — several weeks after the alleged incident.
According to Dedham police, she appeared “emotional and hesitant” to identify the suspect, citing his fame and public profile in New England.
Court documents allege Diggs entered her unlocked bedroom and confronted her over a text-message dispute regarding money he allegedly owed her.
As the argument escalated, Diggs allegedly struck her across the face. When she attempted to push him away, he then tried to choke her, according to the report.
“The male then tried to choke her using the crook of his elbow around her neck,” the police report stated.
Another issue for Diggs, who is on a whopping $70 million, three-year deal with the Patriots, could be him shelling out an estimated $2 million alone on child support, according to an expert who spoke to The U.S. Sun.
Despite the mounting pressure, Cardi is standing by her man.
“She believes he’s telling the truth,” the source said. “She knows how frustrating these situations can be, but she’s there for him 100 percent, fighting alongside him.
“She sees herself as a lioness standing beside her lion — defending him, wanting him to be respected and loved, while also holding him accountable for his actions.
“To her, love means going to war for your partner when needed — being their strongest support in any circumstance.”
The U.S. Sun reached out to Cardi B’s reps, but is yet to hear back.
Model Aileen Lopera filed a paternity suit in late 2024 and Diggs was confirmed as the father in November 2025Credit: Instagram/lordgisselleK’yanna Barber was previously linked with Drake and had a baby with Diggs last yearCredit: Instagram/4theloveofkj
Heading into one of the most critical games of the season, UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close believes the adversity her team overcame during an 80-67 win at Illinois on Wednesday will help the mindset going into Sunday’s home contest against No. 8 Iowa.
UCLA (20-1 overall, 10-0 Big Ten) is on a 14-game winning streak and moved up a spot to No. 2 in this week’s polls behind unbeaten Connecticut. All-American center Lauren Betts had 23 points and nine rebounds despite early foul trouble versus the Illini, and the Bruins won despite shooting one for 10 from three-point range.
“Illinois was a tight game and I actually thought there was some great value in that we were challenged,” Close said after practice Friday at Mo Ostin Basketball Center. “They cut it to five in the second half and we had to practice poise and make some adjustments to how they were playing. They’re the first team that’s played us one-on-one in the post. We had to make some adjustments in our defense in the second half.
“I could’ve coached better. I could’ve made adjustments in the first half to disrupt their rhythm. We got challenged, we had to respond with less margin for error and had to do it quick in a pressurized, hostile environment. That’ll be a lesson that bodes well for us as we go down the stretch to possibly a more contested game against Iowa.”
Senior guard Kiki Rice reflected on the Illinois game: “They had a great crowd. Everything’s not going to be easy. Illinois has a really good young core and is going to be really good in coming years. They made it difficult for us.”
Iowa (18-3, 9-1) lost 81-69 to unranked USC on Thursday night to fall into a second-place tie with No. 9 Michigan in the conference. The Hawkeyes will be the ninth ranked opponent UCLA has faced and the highest since its lone defeat to Texas in Las Vegas on Nov. 26. Iowa had won eight straight before being upset by the Trojans.
“I like the trajectory, the coachable spirit and the desire to put winning first from this group,” Close said. “Illinois was probably our worst execution of a scouting report in awhile. We did not play with the same urgency, focus and connectivity that we had been leading up to that. Every game teaches us something different and that one had some painful lessons. We did not take care of things under our control and we did not have the same level of urgency to execute the game plan.”
What was the coach’s message to her team?
“Get better,” Close said matter-of-factly. “That’s the answer to every question — find ways to improve, to use every day’s experiences to make improvements in your game.”
Guard Charlisse Leger-Walker, a graduate student who played four years at Washington State and hails from New Zealand, anticipated a difficult game at Illinois.
“That’s what we expect from most teams — they’re going to take a good swing at us,” she said. “They threw some different things at us that we haven’t necessarily seen this season. We can learn from that. It helps prepare us for what other teams may try to do to us.”
Close expects a competitive game Sunday.
“Both teams have arguably been playing the most consistent basketball in the conference,” she said. “They stumbled last night against USC, but I have so much respect for the job Jan [Jensen] has done with that group. They’re disciplined, they know their identity and they play to their strengths really well.
“I shouldn’t have to motivate too much for Sunday’s game. It’s pretty much the top two teams in the conference having the chance to battle it out on our home court. It’s two very different styles of play. Who can assert their will and play the game the way they want to play it? This is another opportunity to develop more consistency and get closer to where we want to go.”
If the teams’ last meeting is any indication, Sunday’s game at Pauley Pavilion could be decided on the final possession. The third-ranked Bruins edged unranked Iowa, 67-65, in Iowa City last February behind 22 points and 12 rebounds from Betts and 12 points from Rice.
“Iowa is a really good team,” Leger-Walker added. “Everyone in the Big Ten is really strong. It’s on us to be prepared and to make sure we’re locked in to what we want to do in terms of scouting and our own strategy. They’re going to come hard and we have to be ready for that.”
Iowa freshman Journey Houston scored a career-high 16 points and Ava Heiden added 13 against USC. The Hawkeyes have won 17 of their last 20 regular-season Big Ten games.
Close cited Rice and Leger-Walker as examples of players who have valued loyalty.
“Kiki and Charlisse are both absolutely committed to work ethic and growing and it is a joy to coach them,” Close said. “Kiki stayed four years and paid her dues but so did Charlisse. She stayed four years and then happened to have a COVID year and an injury situation she responded to. Two kids who were committed and loyal and stayed the course, and I want to honor them because less and less people are doing that.
“The reality is that we are not going to have as many four-year players as we used to. I can’t build only from the freshmen out anymore. I don’t like that. I wouldn’t prefer that, but my job is to lead in the landscape I’ve been given. Instant gratification is something you’re always trying to battle. The way we’ve chosen to attack entitlement or instant gratification is to practice gratitude and to serve selflessly. I want players to maximize their opportunities, but there’s also a lot of value in having to work long and hard for what you want.”
From Ryan Kartje: At the bitter end of a brutal January, Kennedy Smith put her head down, determined to will her way to the hoop. All month long, USC faded in the most unfortunate moments, letting games get away from them. There was the 16-point lead lost in Ann Arbor. The frustrating final five minutes against Oregon. The seven fourth-quarter turnovers at Minnesota. And so on.
The Trojans had lost six of their last seven entering Thursday, not far from the worst stretch of Lindsay Gottlieb’s tenure as coach. But as No. 8 Iowa climbed back in the third quarter, threatening to add another defeat to that list, Smith, the Trojans’ emotional leader, took matters into her hands.
She drove once, then again, then again. Four times in a matter of two minutes, the relentless Smith attacked the hoop, carrying the weight of USC’s weeks-long slump on her shoulders as she did. When she finally let up, the Trojans were well out in front again, rolling from there to an 81-69 victory.
The Hawkeyes (18-3 overall, 9-1 Big Ten) had not lost in Big Ten play coming into Thursday, while Gottlieb’s Trojans had struggled to find a foothold in the conference. But it all finally came together at Galen Center in what was arguably USC’s best game to date, an upset that could turn the tide of the Trojans’ season.
Gottlieb said after the game that she felt a single win like Thursday’s could spark a turnaround.
Nevertheless, she said, “right now, this was really, really needed.”
From Broderick Turner: The Lakers have upgraded guard Austin Reaves (left calf strain) to questionable from out and listed guard Luka Doncic (left ankle soreness) as questionable for Friday night’s game against the Washington Wizards.
Reaves has been out since getting injured on Christmas Day against the Houston Rockets, a span of 17 games.
In 23 games this season, Reaves is averaging career highs in points (26.6), assists (6.3) and rebounds (5.2). Reaves is shooting 50.7% from the field and 36.5% from three-point range.
Alex Tuch had his fourth career hat trick to push his season goals total to 22, leading the surging Buffalo Sabres to a 4-1 victory over the Kings on Thursday night.
Alex Lyon made a season-high 37 saves for his 10th consecutive victory to break the franchise record set by Gerry Desjardins in December 1976.
Tuch reached the 20-goal mark for the fourth straight season and fifth overall. Mattias Samuelsson also scored to help the Sabres win for the 20 time in 24 games.
Adrian Kempe scored for the Kings, and Darcy Kuemper made 28 saves. The Kings had won three straight games and earned points in six in a row.
Nikita Tolopilo made 32 saves, Drew O’Connor opened the scoring with 9:42 left and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Ducks 2-0 on Thursday night.
Tolopilo was denied his first NHL shutout after missing the first 2:11 of the second period because of concussion protocol after he was run over by Ryan Poehling late in the first period.
Lukas Dostal made 24 saves for the Ducks (28-23-3).
On Jan. 23, Swiss Federal Supreme Court sent the U.S. gymnast’s case back to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to re-examine the matter “on the basis of an audio-visual recording” that could provide evidence in Chiles’ favor, the court said Thursday in a news release.
“The Federal Supreme Court acknowledged that this new evidence may justify a modification of the contested award,” Switzerland’s highest court stated. “It referred the case back to the CAS for it to re-examine the situation, taking this new evidence into account.”
From Gary Klein: Sean McVay did not waste any time attempting to address the Rams’ problematic special teams going into next season.
The Rams hired Raymond “Bubba” Ventrone as their special teams coordinator, a person with knowledge of the situation said Thursday. The person requested anonymity because the hiring has not been announced.
Ventrone, a former NFL player, was the Cleveland Browns special teams coordinator the last three seasons. He also has been a coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts, and coached for the New England Patriots.
Sunday, Feb. 8 at Santa Clara Seattle vs. New England 3:30 p.m. PT, NBC, Peacock, Telemundo, KLAC AM 570 Halftime show: Bad Bunny National anthem: Charlie Puth Odds: Seahawks favored by 4.5 points Over/Under: 45.5 points
This day in sports history
1926 — The major league rules committee mandates that pitchers must have access to a rosin bag.
1971 — UCLA starts its 88-game winning streak with a 74-61 win over UC Santa Barbara.
1983 — John Riggins rushes for a Super Bowl-record 166 yards in 38 carries to spark the Washington Redskins to a comeback 27-17 victory over the Miami Dolphins. For Riggins, the game’s MVP, it’s his fourth consecutive 100-yard rushing game during the playoffs, also a record.
1992 — Jockey Mike Smith wins six races in one day at Aqueduct for the second time in the month. His first six-winner day at Aqueduct was on Jan. 13.
1993 — Monica Seles beats Steffi Graf 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to capture her third straight Australian Open.
1994 — The Dallas Cowboys, behind MVP Emmitt Smith and safety James Washington, beat Buffalo 30-13 for their second straight NFL title while giving the Bills four straight Super Bowl losses.
1996 — Magic Johnson finishes with 19 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in the Lakers’ 128-118 victory over Golden State. It is Johnson’s first regular-season game back from a 4 1/2-season retirement.
1999 — Martina Hingis wins her fifth Grand Slam title and third straight Australian Open with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over France’s Amelie Mauresmo.
2001 — Daron Rahlves wins the super giant slalom, the first American to capture the event at the world championships.
2002 — Utah’s Karl Malone becomes second player in NBA history to register 34,000 points by scoring 18 in a 90-78 win over Chicago at the Delta Center; trails only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points).
2006 — Teemu Selanne scores two goals for his 1,000th point in the Ducks’ 4-3 overtime victory over the Kings.
2010 — Serena Williams ends Justine Henin’s hopes of a Grand Slam title in her return from retirement with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 victory in the Australian Open final.
2011 — MVP DeAngelo Hall has one of his team’s five interceptions and returns a fumble 34 yards for a touchdown to help the NFC match a Pro Bowl scoring record in a 55-41 victory over the AFC. AFC quarterbacks Philip Rivers, Peyton Manning and Matt Cassel each throw first-half interceptions to help the NFC open a 42-0 lead.
2011 — Loui Eriksson’s second goal, an empty-netter at 18:49 of the third period, helps seal an 11-10 victory for Team Lidstrom against Team Staal in the NHL All-Star Game.
2015 — The Phoenix Open continues without Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. The biggest shock is Woods, who bogeys on his last hole for an 82, the worst score in his two decades as a pro. Mickelson shoots 76 and misses the cut by two shots.
2016 — Angelique Kerber upsets Serena Williams 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to win the Australian Open title, ending the six-time champion’s unbeaten streak in finals at Melbourne Park.
2018 — Houston guard James Harden puts up highest scoring triple-double in NBA history (60 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists) as the Rockets beat Orlando Magic, 114-107 in Houston.
2022 — Australian Open Men’s Tennis: Rafael Nadal wins record 21st Grand Slam singles title with an epic 2-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 win over Daniil Medvedev of Russia.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Lauren Betts overcame early foul trouble to score 23 points and pull down nine rebounds, leading No. 2 UCLA to an 80-67 win Wednesday night over Illinois.
Betts, the Bruins’ 6-foot-7 AP All-American center, picked up her second and third fouls — the latter on a technical foul — with 1:29 left in the first quarter.
She sat out the rest of the first quarter and the second quarter, returned to the court after halftime, and ended up playing nearly 24 minutes. She had just six points at halftime.
Angela Dugalic scored 12 points for UCLA (20-1, 10-0 Big Ten), which won its 14th straight. Gabriela Jaquez had 11, and Kiki Rice, Gianna Kneepkens and Sienna Betts — Lauren’s sister — each added 10.
Cearah Parchment had a career-high 26 points and seven rebounds for Illinois (15-6, 5-5) before fouling out with 36 seconds left. She was 10 of 13 from the field.
Destiny Jackson had 15 points and six assists, Maddie Webber scored 12 points and Berry Wallace had 11 for the Illini.
Illinois, which played without injured Gretchen Dolan, has lost five of seven after an 11-game winning streak.
UCLA led 45-31 at halftime. Illinois cut the lead to five points twice in the third quarter, but didn’t get any closer.
The Bruins won despite making just one three-pointer, going one of 10 from distance. They had 48 points in the paint to Illinois’ 24 and also doubled the Illini in bench points, 24-12.
UCLA hasn’t lost since it fell 76-65 to No. 4 Texas on Nov. 26 in Las Vegas.
In the 10 games before facing Illinois, the Bruins beat their opponents by an average of nearly 40 points and scored an average of more than 91 points a game.
WASHINGTON — It took Democrats nearly a year to respond with a unified message to President Trump’s signature policy initiative, harnessing national outrage over the administration’s immigration enforcement tactics in Minnesota this week to leverage government funding and demand change.
Yet divisions persist as the party barrels toward midterm elections and, a year from now, the start of primary season. And Gavin Newsom stands right in the middle of them.
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A calibrated position by the California governor has placed him to the right of the party’s progressive base that has opposed the very existence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for years — well before Republican lawmakers passed legislation doubling the agency’s budget, increasing its presence and visibility in American life.
Newsom has rejected calls for ICE to be abolished since the 2024 campaign, when Democrats saw clear alarms in public polling that showed President Biden and his vice president, Kamala Harris, on the back foot against Trump on immigration. To the contrary, Newsom has highlighted California’s cooperation with the agency, and his efforts to protect that relationship from progressive local lawmakers.
While Trump’s federalization of the California National Guard last summer was prompted, in part, by protests in Los Angeles against ICE raids across the city, the governor’s reaction focused more on the president’s alleged abuses of power than on the ICE raids themselves. To the extent he did comment on them, Newsom characterized their deployment as unnecessary and gratuitous, a political tool used to intimidate the population.
After the killing of U.S. citizen Renee Good, 37, by ICE officers earlier this month, and days before the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, also 37 and a U.S. citizen, by Border Patrol agents last weekend, Newsom told conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro that his position against abolishing the agency had not changed. And he disassociated himself from a social media post by his office that characterized ICE’s conduct in Minneapolis as “state-sponsored terrorism.”
“California has cooperated with more ICE transfers probably than any other state in the country, and I have vetoed multiple pieces of legislation that have come from my Legislature to stop the ability for the state of California to do that,” Newsom told Shapiro.
The immigration enforcement agency received a massive influx of cash for detention facilities and recruitment last year with the passage of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Republicans now hope to build on that law with even greater appropriations this year, providing ICE with more funding than most foreign militaries, including the armies of Iran, Turkey, Canada and Mexico.
“I disagreed when I think a candidate for president by the name of Harris said that in the last campaign,” Newsom added, of calls to abolish the agency. “I remember being on [MS NOW’s Chris Hayes’ show] hours later saying, ‘I think that’s a mistake.’ So, absolutely.”
A progressive rallying cry
It’s a position in stark contrast with potential 2028 Democratic hopefuls that could pose a challenge to Newsom’s presidential ambitions.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic lawmaker from New York said to be considering a bid, has referred to ICE as “a rogue agency that should not exist.” The agency “doesn’t deserve a dime” of federal dollars, she has said, “until they can prove they are honoring human rights.”
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont), also rumored to be considering a run for the nomination, has advocated explicitly for ICE to be replaced with a new entity, built from scratch, without the baggage of the Sept. 11–era agency.
“Frankly, we need to tear down the ICE agency and have a new federal agency to enforce immigration law under the Justice Department,” Khanna said this week.
After Pretti’s death, Newsom also called for a pause to any “new funding” for ICE. He did not call for a review of its existing, historic levels of funding.
“Suspend the LAWLESS mass deportation raids nationwide NOW — ICE is no longer just deporting dangerous criminals,” the governor wrote on X. “Send the border patrol back to the border. End the militarization of ICE.”
Showdown on Capitol Hill
Pretti’s death is already complicating efforts to avert another government shutdown in Washington, as Democrats — joined by some Republicans — view the episode as a tipping point in the debate over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies.
Senate Democrats pledged this week to block funding for the Department of Homeland Security unless changes are made to ICE operations in Minnesota. And Democrats in the House are calling for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s departure as a condition in shutdown negotiations with the White House. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) threatened to pursue her impeachment if Trump doesn’t fire her first.
Both demands track with Newsom’s latest position. The California governor was harshly critical of Senate Democrats when, during the shutdown late last year, a core bloc voted with Republicans to reopen the government without achieving any meaningful concessions in their weeks-long fight over healthcare tax breaks.
The latest Democratic uproar over ICE tactics threatens a similarly broad spending package that also includes funding for the rest of the government, including the departments of Defense, Education, Health, Labor and Transportation.
“Senate Democrats have made clear we are ready to quickly advance the five appropriations bills separately from the DHS funding bill before the Jan. 30 deadline,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said this week.
“The responsibility to prevent a partial government shutdown,” he added, “is on [Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.)] and Senate Republicans.”
Times staff writer Ana Ceballos, in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
A note to readers: I will be out on parental leave until April, but fear not, California Politics will be in capable hands. You’ll keep getting the latest each week from my distinguished colleagues.
I’ll see you all soon, Michael Wilner
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Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter, where the college football season has finally, officially come to an end. Indiana is our national champion — a sentence I never thought, as a long-ago IU sports columnist, that I would write under any circumstances. Many have tried since last Monday to make sense of what Indiana’s title says about this new era of college football. But in truth, I don’t know that we learned much more than we already knew.
A great quarterback is, as always, a must. Winning at the line of scrimmage, on both sides of the ball, is essential. Older, more experienced players — like Indiana’s fleet of 24-year olds — are usually better than younger, inexperienced ones, especially in this age of the transfer portal. And a great coach, in the college game, can make up for pretty much anything.
Fight on! Are you a true Trojans fan?
None of those lessons are really all that revelatory. That doesn’t mean they’re easy to apply. But what Indiana has shown definitively this season is that more programs are capable of winning a national title now than ever before. USC has always been among those annual contenders. Only now, the waiting room is a bit more crowded than before.
But with the college football season firmly in the rearview mirror, let’s set aside football briefly to zoom in this week on USC’s basketball programs, both of which are facing a make-or-break stretch of their schedules.
The return of Alijah Arenas was supposed to be USC’s saving grace midway through the conference slate, as he swooped in just in time for the home stretch. But nothing came smoothly the five-star freshman last week. After Arenas left Galen Center gasping with an early, 360 lay-in, he hit just one of his remaining 10 shots from the field against Northwestern. Then on Sunday, he made three for 12.
He was understandably rusty. Coach Eric Musselman took the blame after the game for putting too much on the freshman’s plate in his debut. But I could understand why he played Arenas as much as he could. Because, in many ways, it feels like the rest of USC’s season hinges on the freshman finding his stride as fast as possible.
Sunday’s road win at Wisconsin, however, offered an alternative case. Arenas continued to struggle, but USC’s offense rolled on without him. Chad Baker-Mazara scored 29, and Ezra Ausar scored 17 as the Trojans charged back to beat the Badgers in front of a hostile crowd.
The win was USC’s first against a Quad 1 team and arguably its biggest statement of the season. Still, the Trojans rank 51st in the NCAA’s NET rankings and are firmly on the NCAA tournament bubble, according to ESPN’s bracketology.
Sunday offered a glimpse of what they’re capable of. But so did Wednesday’s loss to Northwestern.
The truth is that the Trojans, especially in this injury-ravaged form, have to play their best to beat teams like Wisconsin. They have to rely heavily on Baker-Mazara, who has been anything but reliable with his performance the past month, and hope that someone else, such as backup point guard Jordan Marsh, scores in bunches.
In the wake of Wednesday’s loss, it was clear there was frustration in the locker room.
“This is all about habits and consistency,” Ausar said. “That’s where we lack — all around as a team.”
The margin for error is similarly thin for Lindsay Gottlieb and the USC women, who sit at 11-9 and 12th in the Big Ten after a narrow loss to Michigan on Sunday. But the women of Troy are still 25th in the NET rankings, a point that Gottlieb was sure to reiterate to me when we spoke on Friday.
I asked her what silver linings she could see after losing five of six.
“None of [our losses] have been terrible relative to resume. Three of them, we didn’t have Kennedy [Smith]. We still had big leads in some. That doesn’t absolve us from not taking them to the finish line, but what you take from it, other than [the] UCLA [game], we’re not getting blown out.”
Kara Dunn has been on a roll for USC.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
Five of the Trojans’ last eight opponents are currently ranked in the top 20, so the recent losing streak doesn’t mean USC is a lost cause the rest of the way. What it does mean is that the ceiling of this year’s squad is looking lower than we might have thought it would be without JuJu Watkins.
That shouldn’t come as a huge surprise with its superstar sidelined. But USC has pieces that could have helped replace her in the aggregate. Freshman Jazzy Davidson continues to improve. Kara Dunn has been a revelation recently on offense, having scored 21 or more in each of her last six games. Smith is still the same lockdown defender as ever.
It’s elsewhere that USC’s roster is lacking this season. And like with the Trojan men, there aren’t many ways to rearrange the hand that Gottlieb has been dealt. The frontcourt has little in the way of firepower (USC’s four-big rotation has taken just 164 shots combined this season, eight fewer than Londynn Jones on her own), and the point guard position has been a problem at times, too.
Both teams still have a path to the NCAA tournament. Both offer some reason to believe. But as both enter a critical stretch of their season, there’s still plenty of time left to stumble as well.
Eric Gentry after last season’s win over Nebraska.
(Bonnie Ryan / Associated Press)
—The Gary Patterson hire could be a huge success. There’s also some risk baked in. Patterson’s credentials, among the coaches accessible to USC in its search, are unmatched. Ask anyone who has been around college football, and they will tell you that he’s one of the best evaluators of defensive talent this century. Few coaches have gotten more out of less on that end than Patterson. But if you’re searching for reasons to be skeptical, the fact that he hasn’t been a full-time coach since 2021 — or that he left his last consultant gig at Baylor right before the 2024 season — might give you some pause. A lot has changed about coaching college football since then. Even at the time, the perception at Texas Christian was that his tenure there had grown stale. Whether the game has passed him by or not, we’ll have to wait and see. But from 2017 through 2020, Patterson still had arguably the Big 12’s best defense, ranking in the top 30 nationally in yards allowed all four seasons. It sounds like he’s been itching to be back in an on-field role. Maybe, at USC, he’ll be reinvigorated. Because if he can get his Trojan defense to that level, USC will be in the Playoff.
—The College Football Playoff is sticking to 12 teams … for now at least. This was the expected outcome, given the ongoing disagreement between the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference over the format. The Big Ten wanted 24 (!!) teams. The SEC wanted 16. The Big Ten wanted more automatic qualifiers. The SEC wanted more at-large bids. The stalemate leaves us with the status quo, which is … really not that bad. A 24-team playoff would totally de-emphasize the regular season to a degree that I personally think would have a negative impact on the game. There’s already a calendar issue, as is, with 12 teams. Imagine how expansion might make that worse.
—Remember Abdul-Malik McClain, the former USC linebacker arrested for EDD fraud? I wrote pretty extensively five years ago on the strange saga that started with his brother, wideout Munir McClain, being suspended from USC’s football team suddenly and without any clear reason. As it turned out, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, it was his brother, Abdul-Malik, who was the target of federal scrutiny for a scheme that sought to defraud the government of over $1 million in COVID-related unemployment benefits. Abdul-Malik McClain, who the DOJ says was responsible for at least three dozen fraudulent applications, pleaded guilty in June 2024 to one count of felony mail fraud. He was finally sentenced last Tuesday to time served and ordered to pay $228,995. But he’ll pay a fraction of that. The Court, in its opinion, ordered McClain to pay just $50 per month.
—Eric Gentry’s measurables at the Shrine Bowl were even more insane than you’d expect. When I first wrote about Gentry, upon his transfer to USC a few years back, I wrote how there wasn’t a linebacker like him in the NFL. His most recent measurables bare that out. He ranks in the 99th percentile in height (6-6 ⅜) and in arm length (35 ¼”), and in the 96th percentile in hand size (10 ½”)
—2026 hoops signees Adonis and Darius Ratliff both shot up 247’s recruiting rankings this week. The twin sons of former NBA player Theo Ratliff moved up 34 spots and 20 spots, respectively, in the site’s latest re-rank. Musselman and his staff were high on both early on – seems like others are getting on board with their evaluation.
Times of Troy survey
After an anxious few weeks for Trojan fans, USC finally has its next defensive coordinator. So after all that anticipation, how do you feel about the Gary Patterson hire?
—Thrilled! We got a Hall of Famer! —Cautiously optimistic it could work —Mildly concerned it will fail —Convinced this will be a disaster
USC’s women’s golf team, which opens the spring season ranked No. 2 in the nation, kicked off the spring with a 3 ½ to 1 ½ match play victory over crosstown rival UCLA.
USC did so without its top-ranked player, Jasmine Koo, in the five-woman field. The sophomore ranks No. 9 in the nation at the start of spring. Instead, Elise Lee (No. 16), Sarah Hammett, and Kylie Chong (No. 44) won to edge out UCLA.
George R. R. Martin at the world premiere of “A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms’ in Berlin.
(Ebrahim Noroozi / Associated Press)
When HBO decided to green-light a half-dozen ideas for “Game of Thrones” spinoffs, the executives in that conference room were probably imagining someone like yours truly in front of my TV, devouring whatever they put in front of me. So I was pretty much guaranteed to gravitate towards “A Knight of The Seven Kingdoms,” the latest Thrones spin-off to premiere on HBO.
But what I didn’t expect was how different the tone would be in this slice of the Thrones universe. The story follows Ser Dunk, a bumbling and abnormally large hedge knight, who resolves to enter a tournament that seems impossible for him to win. The show is much lighter and funnier than its predecessor, and Dunk might actually be a character you’d want to root for. It’s too early to know where this spinoff is headed. But the pilot gave me enough to get me invested.
Until next time …
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at ryan.kartje@latimes.com, and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says Europe will not ‘tolerate unthinkable behaviour, such as digital undressing of women and children’.
Published On 26 Jan 202626 Jan 2026
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The European Commission has launched an investigation into Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, Grok, regarding the creation of sexually explicit fake images of women and minors.
The commission announced on Monday that its investigation would examine whether the AI tool used on X has met its legal obligations under the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires social media companies to address illegal and harmful online content.
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Brussels said the investigation would examine whether X had properly mitigated “risks related to the dissemination of illegal content in the EU, such as manipulated sexually explicit images, including content that may amount to child sexual abuse material”.
In a statement to the AFP news agency, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Europe will not “tolerate unthinkable behaviour, such as digital undressing of women and children”.
“It is simple – we will not hand over consent and child protection to tech companies to violate and monetise. The harm caused by illegal images is very real,” she added.
Grok has faced a recent outcry after it was uncovered that users could ask the chatbot to create deepfakes of women and children by simply using prompts such as “put her in a bikini” or “remove her clothes”.
EU tech commissioner Henna Virkkunen said the rights of women and children in the EU should not be “collateral damage” of X’s services.
“Non-consensual sexual deepfakes of women and children are a violent, unacceptable form of degradation,” Virkkunen said in a statement.
X has been under investigation by the EU over its digital content rules since December 2023.
This month, Grok said it would restrict image generation and editing to paying customers after criticism of the tool’s capabilities.
A nonprofit organisation, the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, published a report last week that found Grok had generated an estimated 3 million sexualised images of women and children in a matter of days.
In December, the EU ordered X to pay a 120-million-euro ($140m) fine for violating the DSA’s transparency obligations.
The EU is not the only body investigating Grok’s tool; the United Kingdom’s media regulator, Ofcom, announced it had launched an investigation into X to determine whether it had complied with requirements under the UK’s Online Safety Act.
George Skelton and Michael Wilner cover the insights, legislation, players and politics you need to know in 2024. In your inbox Monday and Thursday mornings.
SACRAMENTO — When a California governor goes to Europe and lectures world leaders that they must “grow a spine” and “stand tall” against the American president, I wince.
Not that they shouldn’t, nor that President Trump doesn’t deserve almost any nasty thing said about him. It just seems a tad arrogant.
A world stage in the Swiss Alps is not the proper place for a state governor to be scolding leaders of foreign nations about how they should deal with the U.S. president, no matter how despicably Trump behaves.
Gov. Gavin Newsom is merely the top elected official of one state, even if he can boast that it’s the fourth- or fifth-largest economy in the world. It still doesn’t have a seat at the United Nations or an awesome military that is the heart of NATO and the Western alliance.
Contrary to hackneyed bragging points, California is not a “nation state.” We’re a state — highly populated, but one of 50.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week, Newsom was like the lightweight boxer trying to punch far above his class.
And that’s fine for here in the U.S. This is the arena where it belongs.
One can argue that Newsom overdoes it, reaching for all the national exposure he can grab and not focusing enough on the job Californians hired him for at the state Capitol. But there’s no disputing his political success nationally. He’s leading the early polls of potential contenders for the presidential nomination.
But that was probably of little concern for the foreign leaders and other global elites attending the prestigious annual World Economic Forum.
Newsom was given two speaking slots, presumably to inform international movers and shakers about California’s golden investment opportunities. But after arriving, he began blathering about the evil American president, Trump’s threats to hike tariffs and seize Greenland and how European leaders are allegedly cowering before him.
The governor soon after was disinvited to speak at one event, a series of interviews hosted by Fortune magazine at USA House, the Trump administration headquarters.
Newsom blamed Trump for blocking his participation, accusing White House staffers of pressuring the event sponsors.
Well, duh! You can’t shoot spit wads like a little kid at a big meanie and not expect some to be shot back.
“No one in Davos knows who third-rate governor Newscum is or why he is frolicking around Switzerland instead of fixing the problems he created in California,” asserted White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly, using the classless president’s oft-repeated derogatory name for the governor.
Whatever. Snatching Newsom’s mic was probably the right decision. Davos delegates didn’t need to hear a political stump speech attacking the American president or be berated by a governor for also not beating up on him.
This was some of the fiery, expletive-laced stuff the governor had been telling reporters, referring to European leaders:
“Wake up! Where the hell has everybody been? Stop this bullshit diplomacy of sort of niceties. … Have some spine, some goddamn balls ….
“The Europeans should decide for themselves what to do, but one thing they can’t do is what they’ve been doing. … And it’s embarrassing. Just, I can’t take this complicity, people rolling over. I should have brought a bunch of knee pads for all the world leaders. … I mean, it’s just pathetic.
“And I hope people understand how pathetic they look on the world stage.”
The leaders of Canada and France demonstrated how to make the same point — but with dignity — about standing firm against bullying.
French President Emanuel Macron said, “We do prefer respect to bullies. And we do prefer rule of law to brutality.”
Newsom was allowed to keep one speaking slot: an interview on the forum’s main stage with Ben Smith, editor in chief of the news outfit Semafor.
“Is it surprising the Trump administration didn’t like my commentary and wanted to make sure that I was not allowed to speak? No,” Newsom said. “It’s consistent with … their authoritarian tendencies.”
There’s something distasteful — perhaps even unpatriotic — about an elected American official, regardless of party, vilifying a U.S. president when among allied leaders abroad. Even if it is the dreadful Trump.
But American politics has changed greatly for the worse in recent years, as evidenced by the Newsom-Trump spitball flinging.
California Gov. George Deukmejian spoke at the 1989 Davos forum and was a model of civil diplomacy, promoting the state’s trade and investment opportunities and laying off demagoguery.
Of course, Deukmejian and President Bush were both Republicans. So the Duke didn’t assail the president, not that he would have anyway. He had too much respect for the presidential institution when traveling abroad.
But unlike today’s top elected Republicans, Deukmejian didn’t shy away from giving the president advice. At Davos, the governor urged Bush not to renege on his “read my lips, no new taxes” pledge that got him elected. To reduce the federal deficit, cut spending, the governor cautioned.
Bush ignored such advice and raised taxes — and lost his 1992 reelection bid to Democrat Bill Clinton.
Clinton’s campaign motto is still a classic: “It’s the economy, stupid!”
Newsom needs to pick up on that. Or at least work it into his anti-Trump rant.
