Por Natasha Bertrand y Zachary Cohen, CNN

La estimación de US$ 25.000 millones que un alto funcionario del Pentágono presentó el miércoles a los legisladores sobre el coste total hasta la fecha de la guerra con Irán es una cifra muy baja que no incluye el coste de reparar los extensos daños sufridos por las bases estadounidenses en la región, informaron a CNN tres personas familiarizadas con el asunto.

Una de las fuentes indicó que el costo real estimado se acerca más a los US$ 40.000 o US$ 50.000 millones si se tienen en cuenta los costos de reconstrucción de las instalaciones militares estadounidenses y la sustitución de los bienes destruidos.

Según ha informado CNN, los ataques iraníes en el golfo Pérsico durante los primeros días de la guerra dañaron significativamente al menos nueve instalaciones militares estadounidenses en tan solo 48 horas, alcanzando emplazamientos en Bahrein, Kuwait, Iraq, los Emiratos Árabes Unidos y Qatar.

Varios sistemas de radar estadounidenses críticos y otros equipos en Medio Oriente también fueron destruidos por ataques iraníes, incluido el sistema de radar de una batería de misiles THAAD estadounidense en Jordania y edificios que albergaban sistemas de radar similares en dos ubicaciones de los Emiratos Árabes Unidos, también divulgó CNN.

Un avión E-3 Sentry de la Fuerza Aérea de EE.UU. también fue destruido en un ataque iraní contra una base aérea en Arabia Saudí.

Jules “Jay” Hurst III, el funcionario del Pentágono que actualmente se desempeña como contralor de la agencia, declaró el miércoles ante la Comisión de Servicios Armados de la Cámara de Representantes que “la mayor parte” de los US$ 25.000 millones que mencionó se han gastado en municiones.

El secretario de Defensa, Pete Hegseth, se negó a decir si esa cifra incluía la reparación de los daños a las bases estadounidenses.

CNN ha solicitado comentarios al Pentágono.

El representante demócrata Ro Khanna se mostró escéptico ante la estimación de US$ 25.000 millones, calificándola de “totalmente errónea” durante la audiencia del miércoles.

Funcionarios del Pentágono habían informado previamente al Congreso que la guerra costó aproximadamente US$ 11.000 millones solo en los primeros seis días, y el departamento solicitó a la Casa Blanca el mes pasado que aprobara una petición al Congreso de más de US$ 200.000 millones en fondos militares adicionales para la guerra en curso, informó CNN.

Trump habla de mantener el bloqueo de los puertos iraníes durante meses.

Durante las reuniones informativas sobre el presupuesto con los periodistas la semana pasada, Hurst declaró que el Pentágono no tiene “una cifra definitiva sobre los daños sufridos por nuestras instalaciones en el extranjero” y que depende “de cómo decidamos reconstruirlas, o si lo hacemos”.

Señaló que el precio de reparar esas instalaciones “no se refleja” en la solicitud presupuestaria del Pentágono de US$ 1,5 billones para el año fiscal 2027, en parte porque el departamento todavía está evaluando “qué queremos construir en el futuro”.

“Nuestros socios también podrían aportar una parte para esa construcción”, indicó Hurst. “Así que no tenemos una estimación precisa de lo que costaría reconstruir esas instalaciones”.

Según informaron funcionarios la semana pasada, el presupuesto solicitado de US$ 1,5 billones para 2027 supondría un aumento del 42 % en la financiación del De

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) -

CIF-SS Division 1 First Round: Santa Margarita 3, San Marcos 0: Matteo Burdick led the Royals with 12 kills but the visiting Eagles sweep (25-19, 25-21, 25-20).

(Despite a size difference, Burdick still delivered double-digit kills and 3 aces for the Royals. Entenza Design).

The Royals end their sensational regular season at 24-3. San Marcos loses just one senior Koji Hefner who finished with 5 kills.

CIF-SS Division 2 First Round: Camarillo 3, Canyon/Anaheim 0: Camarillo at Yorba Linda in quarterfinals on May 5.

CIF-SS Division 3 First Round: Santa Barbara 3, Diamond Rancho 1: Jasper Bell and Kristian Dybdahl each had 13 kills to lead the Dons into the second round where they will play at Servite on Friday. Maddox Denver stuffed the stat sheet for Santa Barbara with 31 assists, 8 digs and 6 kills.

CIF-SS Division 5 First Round: Dos Pueblos 3, Aquinas 2: The Chargers will play at Hemet in the second round.

CIF-SS Division 5 First Round: Bishop Diego 3, Rio Hondo Prep 0: John Michael Flint and Damien Krautmann each had 21 kills to lead the Cardinals to their first playoff victory since 2022.

(The visiting Kares were overpowered by Krautmann and company. Entenza Design).

Bishop Diego will remain home in the second round on Friday against La Quinta/Westminster.

CIF-SS Division 5 First Round: Ventura 3, Vista Del Lago: 0: Ventura at Flintridge Prep on Friday.

CIF-SS Division 6 First Round: Capo Valley Christian 3, Carpinteria 1

CIF-SS Division 7 First Round: Foothill Tech 3, Anaheim 0: Foothill Tech hosts Bell Gardens on Friday.

CIF-SS Division 7 First Round: Godinez 3, Providence (SB) 2

CIF-SS Division 8 First Round: Laguna Blanca 3, Lynwood 0: Owls hosts West Valley on Thursda

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Eleven student-athletes were recognized by San Marcos High School in a ceremony at the gym. Each person announced the four-year college in which they will continue their academic and athletic journey.

Brynn Behrens Sailing Tulane
Carly Grant Lacrosse Whitworth University
Charlotte Hastings Volleyball Seattle Pacific University
Koji Hefner Basketball Claremont McKenna
Gianna Hernandez Stunt Cheer Westmont
Sofi Hernandez Track Westmont
Monique Jimenez Stunt Cheer Westmont
Jeannie Johnson Beach Volleyball The Master's
Jack Kramer Water Polo Chapman
Logan Patterson Deakyne Track Cal Poly Humboldt
Samara Shalhoub Track Point Loma

Last fall the Royals had twelve student-athletes sign so San Marcos has a total of 23 commit to four-year colleges during the 2025-'26 school year.

The post San Marcos celebrates 11 more student-athletes going to the next level appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

By Will Ripley, CNN

(CNN) — At the unveiling of a towering bronze sculpture of North Korean and Russian soldiers in combat, Kim Jong Un praised troops who chose death over capture while fighting in Ukraine. It was a striking and unusually explicit acknowledgment of Pyongyang’s long-suspected battlefield doctrine.

According to a transcript published by North Korean state media KCNA, Kim declared that those who “unhesitatingly opted for self-blasting” and suicide attacks had shown the highest form of loyalty, a reference to soldiers throwing themselves on grenades or detonating explosives rather than risk being taken prisoner.

Kim made the remarks at the opening of a vast new memorial complex on the outskirts of the capital, walking past rows of freshly laid graves before kneeling to place soil into an open burial site. Inside, bronze statuary and black marble walls etched with names surround displays of soldiers’ remains, personal relics and captured military equipment. The site, part cemetery and part museum, is the centerpiece of a broader campaign to frame the deaths of North Korean soldiers in Russia’s war on its neighbor as acts of heroism and patriotic sacrifice.

For months, North Korean state media has offered vivid and often graphic accounts of how those soldiers died. Previous reporting has described troops detonating grenades as they were surrounded, shouting for comrades to stay back before triggering the blast, or killing themselves after being wounded to avoid capture. In one account, soldiers embraced each other before setting off explosives.

For years, intelligence agencies, Ukrainian officials and defectors have reported that North Korean soldiers were expected to take their own lives rather than be captured. Pyongyang never confirmed it. Now the doctrine is being endorsed at the highest level, in public, at a site built to honor the war dead.

The memorial offers one of the clearest indications yet of the scale of North Korea’s involvement in Russia’s war. Analysis by NK News found that two black marble walls inside the complex list 2,288 names of soldiers believed to have died in combat, alongside 271 graves and more than 1,700 columbarium compartments for cremated remains. The complex has expanded walls and empty space for future graves, suggesting this is not a closed chapter.

South Korean and Western officials estimate more than 10,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia’s Kursk region, with thousands killed or wounded, losses North Korea has not admitted shown so openly until now.

Unveiled on the one-year anniversary of Russia’s declaration of victory in Kursk, with senior Moscow officials in attendance and a message from President Vladimir Putin read aloud, the complex also displays captured military equipment, including what appear to be German Leopard tanks, American Abrams tanks and other NATO-origin systems, though analysts question whether North Korean forces obtained them directly.

A small number of North Korean soldiers are known to have been

CNN

By John Liu and Stephanie Yang, CNN

(CNN) — Oil prices surpassed $126 a barrel on Thursday morning, its highest price since 2022, as President Donald Trump mulls an extended blockade of Iranian ports.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, was up more than 12% overnight into Thursday, before paring some gains to trade at $124 as of 2:28 am Thursday. WTI crude, the US benchmark, was up more than 3%, surpassing $110 per barrel.

The latest surge comes as the national average US gas price reached a four-year high of around $4.23, according to AAA data, as a result of the skyrocketing energy prices triggered by the US-Iran war, which has driven prices up more than 27%.

Global crude prices have risen in recent days as face-to-face negotiations between the US and Iran broke down, keeping the Strait of Hormuz – a critical oil and gas shipping channel – effectively shut still.

In a meeting between Trump and his top advisers, the president said he wanted the US naval blockade of Iranian ports to continue, sources familiar with the talks told CNN, and his team has begun laying the groundwork for such an extension, including a longer-term closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Vandana Hari, founder of energy market analysis firm Vandan Inishgts, said oil prices have “nowhere to go but up” until the reopening of the strait comes into sight.

“As of now, how and when that might happen is anybody’s guess,” she said, adding that another few weeks of stalemate will unlikely sit well with Trump.

Iran has dismissed the impact of the US naval blockade, with the government saying there is “no worry” about the steady supply and distribution of fuel.

“The enemy will achieve nothing through a naval blockade of Iran,” said Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad, who urged the public to cut consumption as the country launches a broad energy-conservation campaign.

However, the possibility of further military escalation in the Middle East has put traders on alert, said Janiv Shah, vice president of oil markets at Rystad Energy.

“Further escalation and any attacks on energy infrastructure could force benchmarks to gain rapidly,” Shah said. “Elements of demand destruction are already visible globally, which could accelerate with higher prices.”

Daily transits through the Strait of Hormuz have reduced to near zero since the war began in late February, resulting in what the International Energy Agency called the “largest supply disruption in history.”

Since the US and Iran reached a temporary ceasefire in early April, there has been a slight increase in the number of oil and gas tankers transiting through the strait, though they remained at single digit level, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The prospect of prolonging the halt on Middle Eastern energy exports bodes poorly for the global economy, which is already suffering from fuel shortages, rising inflation and dampened consumer activity.

With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed for the past two months, analysts said that energy markets may take as