SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The Santa Barbara International Film Festival continues with great films and documentaries.

The Morning News was joined by Belle Casares to talk about her short documentary profile The Last Puestero, which made its U.S. premiere on February 11th.

The film tells the story of Adonai Jara, a gaucho who spends days alone in a remote Patagonian ranch outpost, protecting cattle from pumas and poachers. A painful reality hits and shows how times are changing.

Two encore screenings will be held at the Film Center on Thursday, Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. and again on Friday, Feb. 13 at 5:40 p.m.

The post “The Last Puestero” makes U.S. premiere at SBIFF appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

Expect a slight boost in temperatures Thursday. Highs rise into the 60s and low 70s with mostly sunny skies by the afternoon. There is a slight chance for showers as a system to the north moves closer, however data shows most of the area remaining dry. Winds might be breezy at times but not near advisory levels. Surf Advisories ate gone for Thursday but appear into the weekend.

High Surf begins in San Luis Obispo beaches through Point Conception Friday. Waves will be 7-11Ft with hazardous rip currents. Friday and Saturday will be sunny, mild and dry. Skies turn cloudy by Valentine's night and rain chances increase. Bundle up if you have late night plans!

Three significant storms are set for next week. the most impactful rain system will begin Sunday night into early Monday. This will be a firehose of moisture and looks to drop over an inch of rain for most areas. Significant snowfall is expected with this system as well, some snow levels may lower to our peaks! Rain will occur most of the night as this slow system drags over the area, avoid travel if possible. The next pulse of rain arrives Monday night into Tuesday, then Tuesday and Wednesday. Theres a large set of possible outcomes with these storms. Some data shows significant rainfall rates, exceeding debris flow threshold, while others show less than an inch. This is an important forecast to stay up to date on. Rain chances continue throughout the week.

The post Mild through Valentine’s Day, tracking a series of large storms next week appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

Por Daria Tarasova-Markina, CNN

Poco después del mediodía del 19 de julio de 2024, Hrystyna Garkavenko, la hija de 19 años de un sacerdote, llegó a su iglesia en Pokrovsk, al este de Ucrania. Aunque era devota, no estaba allí para rezar.

Familiarizada con el edificio gracias al cargo que desempeñaba su padre allí, la joven subió al segundo piso y entró en una de las habitaciones. Allí, en una ventana protegida por persianas, instaló un teléfono móvil como cámara de transmisión en vivo, apuntando hacia una carretera utilizada por las tropas y vehículos ucranianos que iban y venían del frente, más al este. La señal se enviaba directamente a la inteligencia rusa.

Esta no fue ni mucho menos la única tarea que Garkavenko realizó para la principal agencia de inteligencia rusa, el Servicio Federal de Seguridad (FSB, por sus siglas), según la fiscalía ucraniana. A lo largo de ese año, intercambió mensajes con un agente del FSB, transmitiéndole información sobre la ubicación del personal y el equipo militar ucraniano en Pokrovsk, un centro estratégico.

“Solo quería hablar más con esta persona. Y solo porque quería hablar con él, acepté ayudarlo”, declaró Garkavenko a CNN en una inusual entrevista telefónica desde la prisión, donde cumple una condena de 15 años por traición.

Se negó a revelar a CNN si sentía algo por el agente. Pero Pavlo Uhrovetsky, jefe de la Fiscalía Regional de Donetsk, afirmó que “además de su activa postura prorrusa, la joven había desarrollado una relación más que amistosa con esa persona”.

Garkavenko es una de los miles de ucranianos que se cree que fueron reclutados por el FSB y otras agencias de inteligencia rusas para espiar a su propio país. Según el Servicio de Seguridad de Ucrania (SBU, por sus siglas), se han abierto más de 3.800 investigaciones por traición desde que Rusia lanzó su invasión a gran escala en febrero de 2022, y más de 1.200 personas ya han sido declaradas culpables y condenadas. En promedio, los condenados enfrentan entre 12 y 13 años de prisión, aunque algunos son condenados a cadena perpetua.

CNN se ha puesto en contacto con el FSB para solicitar comentarios.

Andrii Yakovliev, abogado defensor y experto en derecho internacional humanitario y penal de la Iniciativa Mediática para los Derechos Humanos, una ONG ucraniana, declaró a CNN que Ucrania garantiza las condiciones para un juicio justo y que, en general, los tribunales del país respetan el debido proceso. Añadió que los fiscales suelen acudir a los tribunales solo si tienen pruebas suficientes y no acusan a nadie de ser blanco o negro para obtener una condena.

“Pasar información a la inteligencia rusa es la traición más común en tiempos de guerra”, dijo a CNN Ivan Kisilevych, jefe del Departamento de la Fiscalía General.

Según el SBU, la gama de tareas realizadas por encargo del FSB es muy amplia y la geografía (en términos de proximidad a los combates) no importa.

“En las zonas de primera línea, detenemos con mayor frecuencia a agentes que recopilan y transmiten información sobre los movimientos o posiciones de las fuerzas ucranianas”, declaró el SBU. “En el oeste y centro de Ucrania, los agentes rusos recopilan y filtran con mayor frecuencia información sobre instalaciones militares e infraestructuras críticas, e intentan sabotear cerca de centrales térmicas, dependencias policiales y líneas ferroviarias”.

El asesor del Ministerio de Defensa, Serhiy Beskrestnov, advirtió esta semana que agentes rusos buscaban reclutar ucranianos para registrar terminales de internet satelital Starlink que las fuerzas rusas podrían usar, tras el bloqueo de sistemas rusos no aprobados . Los rusos ofrecen US$ 300 a los ucranianos que estén dispuestos a hacerlo, afirmó.

El perfil de los ucranianos reclutados por Rusia es amplio. Si bien algunos

By Issy Ronald, CNN

(CNN) — The Irish government is implementing a pioneering scheme that will give 2,000 artists a basic income for three years, allowing them to focus on their creative output while maintaining an adequate standard of living.

Under the scheme, which follows a three-year pilot, eligible creatives will receive €325 ($386) a week for three years followed by a period of three months when their income will steadily reduce.

The income is taxed, but is not contingent on their output, allowing creatives to have a relatively stable income, plan ahead and work fewer other jobs to sustain themselves.

Any type of artist, from writers, visual artists and actors to musicians, make-up designers and directors, will be eligible to apply.

“It’s a fundamental change,” said Peter Power, an artist, musician and designer who sits on the steering committee of the National Campaign for the Arts, which lobbied for the scheme.

“It changes your relationship with banks, landlords, savings, pensions. The fundamental architecture of being a secure citizen becomes available to you… it’s hard to put a metric on that,” he told CNN.

For artists like Aisling O’Mara who were lucky enough to make it onto the pilot scheme, the basic income offered a lifeline and a way to remain in the creative industries. It was “life changing,” she told CNN Wednesday, particularly because she discovered she was pregnant around the same time she was accepted onto the scheme.

Without it, “I don’t think it would be feasible for me and my daughter to continue living the way we are, and I don’t think it would have been possible for me to still be in this industry,” she said.

“The thing about acting is you need to give it time, you need to be able to put time into your auditions… you need to prep for these things,” she added.

Her career, which she balances with teaching work, flourished while she was on the scheme and she is now playing the lead role in a theatrical adaptation of Katriona O’Sullivan’s bestselling memoir “Poor.”

Still, she is acutely aware of the financial instability even successful actors face. “I have friends in their 40s who are hugely successful in the industry couch surfing… that is wild to me.”

How art is ‘valued’

Not every artist will receive a basic income under the government’s new policy. More than 8,000 eligible artists applied for the original pilot scheme but only a quarter were randomly selected to participate.

And there is a time limit to the income too, meaning that creatives like O’Mara will have to recalibrate once their three years come to an end. They will be ineligible to apply for the next funding cycle, and have to apply for the chance to receive the basic income again, three years later.

“We all want a society that’s fair for everybody but for now there’s a limit,” said Power. “This is an entirely new branch of funding, of ideology around how art is valued culturally and socially. This is new, we have to see this as a first step.”

When asked what support was available for artists in between these funding cycles, a spokesperson for the Department for Culture, Communications and Sport told CNN that “record funding over €140 million ($167 million) has been provided for the Arts Council in 2026 which is an increase of 75% since 2020.”

They did not say whether the

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN

(CNN) — Samples of popular commercial dog foods contained “dangerous levels” of heavy metals, plastic contaminants, and acrylamide, a cancer-causing compound created when food is subjected to high heat, according to a new investigation.

“The levels of heavy metals and other contaminants we found were alarming,” said Molly Hamilton, the executive director of Clean Label Project, which conducted the investigation. The Colorado-based nonprofit tests consumer products for purity and offers manufacturers a certified label if their commodities meet strict standards.

“Pet owners care for their dogs as deeply as parents care for their children,” Hamilton said. “They should be able to buy dog food without worrying it might harm their pet.”

Dog foods contained three to 13 times more heavy metals than human food tested over the past decade by Clean Label Project, according to the report. The levels are similar to those found in prior research done by veterinarian Dr. Joseph Wakshlag, a professor and nutritional specialist at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca, New York.

“We wrote a paper in 2018 comparing the intake of heavy metals between people and dogs based on a calorie,” said Wakshlag, referring to a report he coauthored with three Cornell colleagues. Wakshlag was not involved in the new investigation.

“Compared to a person, we found dogs consumed three to seven times the amounts of heavy metals each day,” he said.

Dry dog food, also called kibble, contained the highest levels of heavy metals and other contaminants, followed by air- and freeze-dried dog food. Fresh and frozen dog foods contained the lowest levels of heavy metals, according to the laboratory tests.

The report did not release specific test results by brand or product name.

“Over 85% of dog owners feed dry foods to their pets, and most dogs are eating one type of dog food each and every day, often for their entire life,” Hamilton said. “If dry dog food is all they consume, it’s possible the accumulation of heavy metals could be contributing to the higher cancer rate in dogs.”

Studies show heavy metals can accumulate in the kidney and liver in a dog, potentially contributing to chronic disease. Exposure to lead and cadmium has been linked to canine cancer, a leading cause of death in dogs. About 1 in 4 dogs will develop cancer during their lifetime, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

The Pet Food Institute, or PFI, which represents manufacturers of dog food, told CNN in an email it will review the Clean Label Report.

“PFI and U.S. pet food makers are continuously monitoring to best support the health and safety of dogs and cats,” a spokesperson said.

Fewer contaminants in fresh and frozen dog foods

Clean Label Project purchased 79 samples of best-selling fresh and frozen dog foods, kibble and air- and freeze-dried products. A federally certified laboratory then conducted 11,376 individual tests for plastics, pesticides, lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium and acrylamide.

Fresh and frozen dog foods, which only entered t