La presencia de insectos como cucarachas o gorgojos en las casas representa un desafío habitual para la limpieza y el bienestar. Frente a las soluciones químicas tradicionales, el laurel se ha popularizado como una opción natural y accesible para repeler estos insectos en la cocina.

Conocido científicamente como Laurus nobilis, esta planta aromática destaca no solo por su uso en la gastronomía, sino también por sus propiedades repelentes, ya que su fuerte aroma resulta extremadamente desagradable para las plagas, contribuyendo así a mantener los alimentos protegidos y los ambientes libres de insectos de manera sencilla y ecológica.

Las hojas de laurel contienen compuestos volátiles como el eucaliptol y el metileugenol, responsables del característico olor fuerte y penetrante que actúa como repelente natural. Estos afectan el agudo sentido del olfato que poseen las cucarachas, gorgojos y otros insectos, volviéndose un entorno hostil para su permanencia.

Al percibir el aroma amargo y persistente de las hojas, este tipo de plagas tiende a evitar las áreas donde se ha colocado la planta, reduciendo su presencia sin necesidad de productos químicos tóxicos. Los usuarios que buscan opciones ecológicas encuentran en el laurel una solución sencilla, económica y fácil de implementar. Este mecanismo convierte al laurel en un recurso habitual en muchos hogares para proteger los ambientes del hogar de infestaciones comunes, ahuyentándolos de forma natural.

El laurel puede convertirse en una herramienta eficaz para mantener alejados a cucarachas y gorgojos si se posiciona en lugares estratégicos del hogar, especialmente en aquellos donde estos insectos suelen encontrar alimento, agua y refugio. La cocina es uno de los puntos críticos, ya que aprovechan restos de comida, harinas y granos almacenados para sobrevivir y reproducirse.

Para maximizar el efecto repelente del laurel, se recomienda colocar hojas secas en los rincones y áreas propensas a la aparición de plagas. Entre los sitios más efectivos para distribuirlas están las esquinas de la cocina, los interiores de armarios o alacenas, y sobre todo los recipientes donde se guardan alimentos como arroz, legumbres y cereales. Así, se actúa directamente en los lugares que más atraen a los gorgojos. Las hojas pueden colocarse dentro de los envases, separadas por papel o dentro de bolsitas de tela para prevenir el contacto directo con los comestibles.

En cuanto a las cucarachas, es recomendable situar hojas de laurel detrás de las puertas, especialmente las de acceso al exterior, en marcos de ventanas y en zonas húmedas donde estos insectos suelen refugiarse, como debajo de la pileta o cerca de los desagües.

Además de su función como repelente natural de insectos, el laurel posee numerosos usos dentro del hogar que abarcan aspectos culinarios, aromatización de ambientes y soluciones prácticas para la vida diaria. En la cocina, es ampliamente conocido por su capacidad para aportar aroma y sabor a guisos, sopas, salsas y marinados. Sus hojas, frescas o secas, realzan el perfil gustativo de cualquier plato, convirtiéndose en un condimento esencial que se destaca por su versatilidad.

El laurel también cumple un rol en la aromatización de espacios domésticos. Gracias a sus compuestos volátiles, puede utilizarse para perfumar habitaciones, armarios y cajones. Colocar bolsitas de hojas secas dentro de los cajones, ayuda a mantener un olor fresco y agradable, contrarrestando posibles olores a humedad. Por otro lado, también es útil para proteger prendas y textiles, ya que el aroma intenso colabora en la prevención de la aparición de polillas y otros insectos que dañan la ropa.

EXCLUSIVE: Following a week of violent riots in Los Angeles, conservative activist group Catholic Vote has released a report titled the «Gavin Newsom files,» a report highlighting what the group calls the California’s governor’s «extreme» and «viciously anti-Christian agenda.»

Newsom, the Democratic governor of California, is among the top names being rumored for a 2028 presidential run.

Over the last week, he has been locked in a protracted war of words, which has also manifested itself in a court battle, over President Donald Trump’s response to the riots in Los Angeles. Newsom has called Trump’s use of the National Guard and Marines to respond to the rioting both «immoral» and «illegal.»

A longtime progressive, Newsom has recently moved to present himself as more centrist, starting a podcast titled «This is Gavin Newsom» that hosted the likes of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. 

According to Catholic Vote’s report, however, Newsom is «one of America’s most radical, destructive politicians» who «remains the same ideologue who has trampled parental rights, championed the transgender mutilation of children, and taken pro-abortion advocacy to a sickening extreme.»

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«California’s governor claims to be a Catholic ‘man of faith,’» says the report. «But he has a viciously anti-Christian agenda for America.» 

‘As California goes, so goes the rest of the nation’

The report highlights how, despite his recent rebranding, Newsom has long been at the forefront of pushing for ever more liberal policies, championing causes such as abortion and transgender treatments for children.

«Gavin Newsom may be adjusting his style and image. But he remains the same ideologue who has trampled parental rights, championed the transgender mutilation of children, and taken pro-abortion advocacy to a sickening extreme,» says the report.

As a politician with rumored presidential aspirations, Catholic Vote highlights how Newsom has advanced his liberal agenda not just in California but across the entire country.

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Newsom and Trump face off (Pool)

The group quotes Newsom from a 2008 interview, during a court battle over same-sex marriage, saying: «As California goes, so goes the rest of the nation. It’s inevitable.»

Catholic Vote takes particular issue with Newsom’s abortion advocacy, pointing to how he has aggressively expanded abortion in California, signing 12 pro-abortion bills in a single month in September 2022 and nine more again in 2023. The report says that despite professing to be a Catholic, Newsom has not only advocated for a right to abortion but even used biblical scripture to advertise and promote abortion.

The report points to how, as governor, Newsom commissioned billboards in Oklahoma that advertised «Need an abortion? California is here to help,» with a quote from the Bible saying, «Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no greater commandment than these.»

«This was deemed ‘unconscionable’ by the California Catholic Conference, and a ‘reprehensible act of gross blasphemy’ by a leading Protestant pastor. A statement from the Catholic League summed it up best, calling the billboard campaign ‘demonic,’» says the report.

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Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Catholic Vote states that «Few figures demonstrate the drift of America’s political Left – away from the Clinton-era language of ‘safe, legal, and rare,’ and toward today’s ‘#ShoutYourAbortion’ attitude – better than Gavin Newsom.»

The report also points to how Newsom has led the nation to «warp» the concept of parental choice to use it as a tool to advance transgender treatments for children. It points to how Newsom signed a bill in 2022 making California the nation’s first «sanctuary state» for parents from other jurisdictions seeking to give their children hormone treatment, puberty-blocking drugs, and more. It says that in 2023, Newsom again «doubled down on this strategy of imposing radical ideology and calling it ‘freedom.’ When he instituted new penalties on public school districts that fail to promote homosexuality and transgenderism to children, he framed this as a matter of ‘families’ having ‘the freedom to decide what’s right for them.’»

According to the report, Newsom’s office released a statement in 2023 after he signed a slate of «Supporting LGBTQ+ Californians» policies that declared «hate-filled attacks» of «far-right extremists» would «not be tolerated.»

Catholic Vote said that «if California is indeed ‘America’s Coming Attraction,’ as Newsom claims, believers in Biblical truth – and biological reality – should be gravely concerned.»

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Photo from a fire in a June 2025 Los Angeles riot (Getty)

«Inevitably, the advance of LGBTQ ideology threatens religious liberty and authentic freedom of conscience in society. These ideologues demand forms of approval and practical compliance that faithful Christians, and other critics of gender nonsense, cannot give them,» says the report.

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 «Americans have been shocked by the rioting and chaos in Los Angeles. But sadly, this reckless governance is all too common in Gavin Newsom’s California,» Catholic Vote Vice President Josh Mercer told Fox News Digital.

«As our new report, Newsom Files points out, the California governor refused to deal with vexing problems like drug dealers, shoplifters and the rampant homeless camps. Instead, Gavin Newsom was busy dreaming of the White House and spending taxpayer funds to put up billboards in Oklahoma that quote the Bible and urge people to fly to California to get an abortion,» he said. «With his wacky priorities, it’s no wonder people are fleeing California in droves.»

Brandon Richards, a spokesperson for Newsom, responded to the report by telling Fox News Digital that «we’re not taking seriously any organization co-founded by a political hack who has sworn allegiance to President Trump,» possibly referring to Catholic Vote’s 2024 endorsement of Trump’s campaign and Catholic Vote founder Brian Burch’s selection to be the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican. 

Richards said «we encourage Catholic Vote, which does not represent the Catholic Church, to read Leviticus: ‘You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’»

The USS Nimitz carrier strike group is on its way to the Middle East from the South China Sea, a U.S. official told Fox News. 

The Nimitz strike group was previously scheduled to replace the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group, which has been deployed for several months, but is now heading to the Middle East ahead of schedule. The two will now be in the Middle East at the same time. 

USS Carl Vinson was the only aircraft carrier in the region as of last Friday, U.S. defense officials told Fox News. 

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USS Nimitz – commissioned on May 3, 1975 – is the oldest active aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy. This is possibly its final sea voyage, as the Nimitz is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2026. The deployment is significant because the Nimitz was also deployed in 1980 when its helicopters were part of the failed U.S. effort known as Operation Eagle Claw to rescue the American hostages being held at the US Embassy in Tehran. The U.S. has been in a shadow war against Iran ever since. 

USS Nimitz departed the South China Sea on Monday morning and was heading west, Reuters reported, citing data from the ship tracking website Marine Traffic. Two sources, including one diplomat, told Reuters the carrier had been scheduled to attend a formal reception in Danang City, central Vietnam, on June 20. 

It has since been canceled. 

One of the sources said the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi notified him about the reception being called off due to «an emergent operational requirement.» 

The United States is shifting military resources, including ships, in the Middle East amid Israel’s preemptive attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities and leadership and Iran’s retaliatory strikes that have been ongoing for four consecutive days. 

A fishing boat passes USS Nimitz (CVN-68) as it sails out of San Diego Bay to the Pacific Ocean to perform readiness drills before returning to its homeport of Naval Base Kitsap on Nov. 18, 2024 in San Diego. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

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American air defense systems and a Navy destroyer helped Israel shoot down ballistic missiles coming in from Iran on Friday, U.S. officials told Fox News.

The U.S. has both ground-based Patriot missile defense systems and Terminal High Altitude Air Defense systems in the Middle East capable of intercepting ballistic missiles.

The U.S. Navy also had the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner, which is capable of defending against ballistic missiles, begin sailing from the western Mediterranean Sea toward the eastern Mediterranean, U.S. officials told Fox News. They said the Navy also had directed another destroyer to move forward so it could be available if requested by the White House.

An Israeli attack on the Shahran oil depot on June 15, 2025 in Tehran, Iran. (Stringer/Getty Images)

One of the officials cited the Nimitz, which was in the Indo-Pacific at the time, as well as USS George Washington, which had just left its port in Japan, as assets the Navy could possibly surge to the Middle East if so ordered. 

American fighter jets were also patrolling the sky in the Middle East to protect personnel and installations, and air bases in the region are taking additional security precautions, the officials said.

Typically, around 30,000 troops are based in the Middle East, and about 40,000 troops are in the region now, one of the U.S. officials told The Associated Press. That number surged as high as 43,000 last October amid the ongoing tensions between Israel and Iran as well as continuous attacks on commercial and military ships in the Red Sea by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.

Former President Joe Biden initially surged ships to protect Israel, a close U.S. ally, following the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Iran-backed Hamas terrorists. It was seen at the time as a deterrent against Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Iran.

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On Oct. 1, 2024, U.S. Navy destroyers fired about a dozen interceptors in defense of Israel as the country came under attack by more than 200 missiles fired by Iran.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.