Santa Barbara County News and Events

What went wrong in the women’s competition at the chaotic USATF half marathon championship?

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By Kevin Dotson, CNN

Atlanta (CNN) — North Carolina runner Molly Born won the USA Track & Field (USATF) women’s half marathon championship by a slim margin of just over four seconds on Sunday in Atlanta – but the result is only half the story.

To say Born’s win was mired in controversy would be an understatement. That’s because the four runners that were outpacing the rest of the pack were led off the course by the guide vehicle with just over a mile remaining in the 13.1-mile race.

The quartet ran about 1 kilometer (roughly 0.62 miles) extra, according to one of the runners. By the time the mistake was realized and the wayward runners were led back onto the race course, they had been overtaken by rest of the field. The trio that was set to make the podium ended up finishing in ninth, 12th and 13th place.

The affected runners filed a protest of the results and were denied. They then appealed that decision to USATF.

In a statement, the national track and field governing body determined that the course violated USATF rules and was not adequately marked, which contributed to the misdirection. However, USATF said there is no recourse in the rule book to alter the finishing order of the race.

The protested results would stand, to the satisfaction of seemingly no one, not even the race winner. Born said in an interview after the race, “I don’t really feel like the US champion.”

Jess McClain, who was in the lead before taking the wrong turn, said on Instagram, “I’m going try my hardest to walk away from this weekend remembering the joy I felt in those moments where I thought I was on my way to becoming a National Champion & finally make Team USA outright.”

A statement released by the Atlanta Track Club on Tuesday shed some light on the bizarre chain of events that led to the contentious finish.

What exactly went wrong?

The race began to go off the rails when the frontrunners were still about 13 unlucky minutes away from the fateful intersection.

Police officers who were working to direct traffic for the race received a call of an officer down about a block off the race course about 300 feet from the location of the misdirection. Race organizers say that a motorcycle officer working the race was struck by a vehicle around 8:05 a.m. ET. The officer was treated at a local hospital and released later that day.

Two minutes later, nearby officers working the race responded to the call of an officer down, leaving “a number of key race intersections, including the one where the wrong turn occurred, unattended,” according to Atlanta Track Club.

The officer who left the affected intersection had not yet placed the traffic cones to block the intersection and mark the race course.

At 8:10 a.m., the lead male athletes of the race “successfully navigate” the intersection in question with a race-assigned escort.

Another police officer – who was not assigned to work the race and wasn’t equipped to prevent the wrong turn, according to race organizers – arrived five minutes later at 8:15 a.m. to facilitate the flow of first responder vehicles through the intersection to reach the officer do

Las 5 cosas que debes saber este 4 de marzo

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CNN en Español

Sánchez se reafirma en el “no a la guerra” pese a las amenazas contra España. Trump ve paralelismos entre Irán y Venezuela. ¿Cómo fue el día en que los nazis se quisieron robar la Copa del Mundo? Esto es lo que debes saber para comenzar el día. Primero la verdad.

¿Cuáles son los posibles desenlaces de la guerra que EE.UU., bajo Donald Trump, comenzó contra Irán? Desde una victoria estratégica hasta un colapso y caos en Medio Oriente, lo que hay en juego son miles de vidas y consecuencias políticas internas y regionales. Análisis.

El presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, ha promocionado repetidamente las operaciones estadounidenses en Venezuela como un ejemplo “perfecto” de cómo puede ponerse en marcha un cambio de régimen, estableciendo paralelismos directos entre Venezuela e Irán. Pero las acciones estadounidenses en Caracas y Teherán se han desarrollado de maneras muy diferentes. Análisis.

El presidente del Gobierno español, Pedro Sánchez, aseguró este miércoles que la posición de su Ejecutivo frente al conflicto bélico en Medio Oriente se resume con “cuatro palabras” de “no a la guerra”, el lema que se popularizó durante la guerra en Iraq. Sus declaraciones tuvieron lugar luego de que el presidente Trump amenazara con cortar el comercio con España por su gasto en la OTAN y la negativa a que EE.UU. utilice sus bases militares.

Los votantes de tres estados acudieron a las urnas el martes para la primera jornada de pr

Conclusiones del proceso de primarias electorales en EE.UU. en Texas y Carolina del Norte

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Análisis por Aaron Blake, CNN

Los votantes de tres estados de EE.UU. acudieron a las urnas este martes para el primer día de primarias camino a las elecciones intermedias de 2026, y la gran noticia fueron un par de primarias para el Senado de Texas que parecen indicar un camino bastante favorable para las esperanzas de los demócratas de obtener la mayoría.

La victoria del representante estatal James Talarico sobre la representante en el Congreso estadounidense Jasmine Crockett en las primarias demócratas dio al partido de la oposición lo que parece ser su candidato más elegible.

En el otro lado, el fiscal general de Texas, Ken Paxton, con un lastre de problemas, forzó una segunda vuelta con el senador republicano John Cornyn.

El martes se celebraron primarias no sólo en Texas sino también en Carolina del Norte y Arkansas.

A continuación se presentan algunas conclusiones de esas contiendas y otras primarias del martes.

La historia de las primarias demócratas para el Senado de Texas terminó siendo en gran medida una oportunidad perdida para Crockett.

La congresista llegó a la contienda con gran expectación y contaba con ventajas intrínsecas. Pero su campaña nunca pareció implementar las medidas tradicionales —de ataques y enfrentamientos— necesarias para complementarlas.

Crockett se presentó a las primarias a última hora hace apenas tres meses. Su publicidad de campaña fue escasa. (De hecho, el gobernador republicano de Texas, Greg Abbott, representó una gran parte del dinero gastado en su nombre, ya que buscaba impulsar su candidatura con la esperanza de perjudicar a los demócratas).

En ocasiones, su mensaje parecía centrarse más en el proceso y las quejas que en lo que haría como senadora. En los últimos días de la campaña, su equipo obligó a un reportero de The Atlantic a abandonar un evento.

Nada de esto sugería que estuviera lista para el momento clave, y eso se notó el día de las primarias. A pesar de que la mayoría de las encuestas la mostraban como líder, desde el principio quedó bastante claro que esta era la noche de Talarico.

Una forma de verlo es que los votantes de las primarias demócratas tomaron una decisión más pragmática en lugar de elegir a una agitadora. Pero también, la campaña de la agitadora simplemente no funcionó.

Las primarias del Partido Republicano transcurrieron como se esperaba, con Cornyn y Paxton encaminándose a una segunda vuelta que concluirá el 26 de mayo.

En circunstancias normales, se diría que Cornyn es claramente el desfavorecido en la segunda vuelta. Por lo general, estas primarias se dividen entre el voto a favor del titular y el voto contra el titular. Y la mayoría de los votantes en las primarias votaron en contra del titular.

Pero el bagaje de Paxton, que incluye una acusación pasada y denuncias de infidelidad por parte de su esposa, sugiere que votar por el fiscal podría ser un obstáculo para algunos partidarios del representante Wesley Hunt, quienes podrían decantarse por Cornyn o quedarse fuera de la segunda vuelta después de que Hunt terminara tercero.

Además, la victoria de Talarico en las primarias demócratas podría aumentar la preferencia de los republicanos por el candidato con más posibilidades de ser elegido, que parece ser Cornyn.

Se espera mucha discusión sobre si el presidente Donald Trump, quien

When the Pentagon gave Anthropic the boot, OpenAI swooped in. Some staff are frustrated with how it unfolded

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By Hadas Gold, CNN

(CNN) — Messages written in chalk covered the sidewalk outside OpenAI’s San Francisco offices Monday morning: “Where are your redlines?” “You must speak up.” “What are the safeguards?”

The messages, according to social media and news reports, were written by activists. But some of those feelings are shared by many within the building, after OpenAI struck a deal with the Pentagon on Friday to use its AI models in classified systems.

Anthropic had already rejected an update to its contract with the Pentagon because it felt the language didn’t adhere to the company’s redlines around the use of AI in mass surveillance and autonomous weapons. The Pentagon blacklisted the company as a result, designating it a supply chain risk.

The contracts are steeped in legal and technical complexity. But in public forums and in private conversations, OpenAI employees are venting about how OpenAI leadership handled the Pentagon negotiations. Many employees “really respect” Anthropic for standing up to the Pentagon and are frustrated with OpenAI’s handling of their own contract, one current employee told CNN on the condition of anonymity to speak freely.

As the hours ticked down to the Pentagon’s Friday deadline for Anthropic to agree to its contract, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman surprised many when he said he agreed with his rival, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and shared the same redlines.

But it turned out Altman had been negotiating for their own deal. Criticism erupted hours later, when OpenAI announced its Pentagon contract, seemingly swooping in to take Anthropic’s place. After OpenAI published some of the terms of the contract on Saturday, many outside observers immediately questioned how the redlines on autonomous weapons and mass surveillance would actually be upheld, with some saying the language would still allow the safeguards to be disregarded.

In response, Altman fielded questions publicly over X on Saturday evening and announced on Monday that OpenAI had adjusted its Pentagon contract to more clearly establish guardrails that would prevent OpenAI services from being used in surveillance programs. (Autonomous weapons were not mentioned in the added language he posted online.)

Many employees recognize the need to support the government as the US competes with China in AI, according to the current employee. But they also felt a contract of such importance and magnitude was rushed through.

“It’s partly how it was perceived, how it was communicated, and what the narrative has become,” the employee said.

Some employees publicly expressed their frustrations. Research scientist Aidan McLaughlin posted on X Monday morning before Altman’s contract update: “i personally don’t think this deal was worth it.” He later called the internal discussion about the subject “overwhelming” but said he felt “incredibly proud to work somewhere where people can speak their mind.”

Jasmine Wang, who works on AI safety issues at OpenAI, posted that she Read more

Everything we know on the fifth day of the US and Israel’s war with Iran

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Firefighters inspect destruction at the site of an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut


CNN

By Jessie Yeung, Rhea Mogul, CNN

(CNN) — The latest Middle East conflict continues spiraling days after Israel and the US launched their joint operation on Iran, killing more than 1,000 people there, triggering retaliatory strikes on Israel and neighboring Gulf states and plunging the region into fear and uncertainty.

US and Israeli leaders have issued confident pronouncements that Iran’s military has been battered and is on the back foot, with nearly 2,000 targets struck. But Iranian missiles and drones keep coming, targeting American assets across the region.

Back home, US lawmakers remain divided, with a Senate vote on President Donald Trump’s war powers scheduled for Wednesday.

The war has disrupted global travel, stranded foreign nationals and families, sent global commodity prices soaring, and caused Asian stock markets to plummet Wednesday. Meanwhile, the number of civilian deaths and injuries in Iran and Lebanon is climbing.

In Iran, a three-day mourning ceremony for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated Saturday in the initial wave of US-Israeli strikes, will begin Wednesday night, according to state media.

Here’s what to know on day five.

What’s happening in Iran?

  • New strikes: Additional US-Israel strikes targeted another set of Iranian leaders, US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday. He praised the operation, claiming Iran’s military installations had been essentially “knocked out,” from its navy to its air force and more. So far, more than 1,700 targets have been struck in the joint operation, according to US Central Command (CENTCOM).
  • Death toll climbs: More than 1,000 people, including children, have been killed in Iran since Saturday, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. The group said its report is preliminary, and the number could rise.
  • New supreme leader: A group of senior Iranian officials has been meeting virtually to select a new supreme leader after the initial US-Israel strikes killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency. Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, is among a small handful of clerics tipped as likely successors. But it’s unclear where they are, or even if they are alive.
  • Traffic cameras: The Financial Times has revealed new details about that operation – including that Israel had hacked Tehran’s street security cameras, using them for years to build a complex surveillance system.

What’s happening around the region?

  • Attacks on Lebanon: Israel is also striking Lebanon, targeting the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah and issuing evacuation orders for dozens of villages.
  • Iran strikes back
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