By Lilit Marcus, CNN

Koror, Palau (CNN) — A neon-pink blob appears in my line of vision.

Even though I’m wearing a snorkel mask, I’m holding my breath. Slowly, the blob floats closer and closer before suddenly puffing up like a balloon. The water is swirling in its tiny wake and the sun glowing above us.

It is the most relaxed I have ever felt in my adult life, and I only had to travel halfway across the world to make it happen.

The blob, despite looking pink to my underwater eyes, is a golden jellyfish. If this were another snorkeling trip in another part of the world, the sight of a jellyfish would be a warning, with a guide steering us away to prevent anybody from getting stung. But this little guy is special. Not only does it not sting, it’s a member of a rare and beautiful species that only exists here, in this one place, a lake in the remote Micronesian island nation of Palau.

Before I knew that Palau existed or that I wanted to go there, my journey began with a photograph.

A photo of a lake full of tiny golden organisms peacefully bobbing along en masse has long been used as one of the standard background images for Apple computers and iPhones.

Although I had no context for where the photo was taken or what it depicted, it felt mesmerizing. It was my first screensaver on my first laptop.

In a time where almost anyone in the world can order the same dresser from Ikea and the same coffee from Starbucks, it feels miraculous that there are still living creatures who can only be found in one very small, specific point on Earth.

Officially, it’s named Ongeim’l Tketau, but everybody just calls it Jellyfish Lake. While there are many species of jellyfish all over the world, the unique conditions here have enabled golden jellies to thrive.

Measuring at 400 meters long and 30 meters deep, the lake is “completely stratified,” explains marine biologist Elspeth Strike. That means it has three distinct, separate layers of water, each with very different conditions. Only the top level has oxygen and thus can support life.

“In the world, there’s only 11 marine lakes that are stratified in this way, so it’s pretty special,” says Strike.

It’s not just the water conditions that make such a favorable environment for these organisms. The lake is in the middle of a limestone rock island, which created a sort of sinkhole shape. Over thousands of years, acidic rainfall filled up the sinkhole and made a lake. Tiny fissures in the limestone allow some ocean water to mix with the lake water, creating the only-in-this-spot conditions.

And while the golden jellies are the star attraction here, another species also calls this lake home: moon jellyfish, which are an opaque white hue. Some people refer to the two species as moon jellies and sun jellies.

Moon jellyfish are flatter, shaped like saucers with a flower or star-shaped center. I saw one or two moon jellyfish for every 10 golden ones, but it’s also possible they were more difficult to notice.

Getting to Jellyfish Lake is no simple weekend trip.

Palau’s tiny airport only accommodates a few flights a day. The easiest and most affordable option for me was via Taipei. Palau is one of a handful of countries with formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan so the two have established strong air connectivity and even set up

By Laura Paddison, CNN

(CNN) — Cuba is struggling with devastating nationwide blackouts as the United States’ effective oil blockade strangles fuel supplies. But this crisis may also be accelerating a China-backed clean energy revolution that’s been quietly unfolding in the Caribbean nation.

Cuba is currently pulling off one of the fastest solar revolutions on the planet, with help from China, according to data from the energy think tank Ember. Imports of Chinese solar panels and batteries have soared over the past year and, with Chinese investment, Cuba has built dozens of solar parks.

The country is still heavily dependent on fossil fuels, but some experts believe the intense US pressure — with threats to take “control” of the island — may hasten Cuba’s path toward clean energy. More renewables mean less dependence on fuel imports, helping “remove this lever of coercion,” said Kevin Cashman, an economist with the Transition Security Project, a US-UK research organization.

Others caution that Cuba’s energy situation is so bleak, its grid so broken and its economic situation so dire, that renewables can only be a small part of the puzzle right now. In the meantime, lengthy and disruptive blackouts continue and most ordinary Cubans have yet to feel the benefit of the solar surge.

A clean energy revolution “sounds nice on paper, but you’ve got to have the resources,” said Ricardo Torres, a Cuban economist at the American University in Washington DC.

Oil is the backbone of Cuba’s electricity system and most of it is imported. In the 1980s, it came mainly from the Soviet Union. When that fell in the 1990s, Cuba switched to Venezuela, with a unique agreement where Cuba sent medical professionals to Venezuela in exchange for oil.

In early January, after the Trump administration captured Venezuela’s president, it cut off this oil supply. Shortly after, imports to Cuba from other oil suppliers, including Mexico, also dried up after the US threatened them with additional tariffs.

The impacts have been devastating. In March, the country experienced three nationwide blackouts, cutting electricity for its roughly 10 million residents. Trash piled up in the streets, hospital surgeries were limited and people burned wood to cook.

It is Cuba’s worst energy crisis in decades, but blackouts have been part of daily life for many years, as the country’s aging electricity infrastructure frequently buckles under the weight of a demand it cannot meet.

The crisis reached new levels in 2024, with multiday nationwide blackouts. It marked a “turning point,” Torres said, and was the year solar started to take off, promoted by the Cuban government as a solution to energy problems.

The speed of the solar surge has been startling. China exported around $3 million of solar panels to Cuba in 2023; that figure rocketed to $117 million in 2025, according to Ember.

A big part of the country’s clean energy push is an agreement with China to open 92 solar parks across the country by 2028, projected to bring a total of 2 gigawatts of solar power online, enough to power more than 1.5 million homes.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Read more

By Dana O’Neil, CNN

Newtown Square, Pennsylvania (CNN) — Not since the littlest piggy cried “wee, wee, wee all the way home” will a pinky toe face so much scrutiny.

Less than 48 hours before his assigned tee time to start the PGA Championship, Rory McIlroy stood on the side of the fairway at No. 4, his right foot bare. This was not an Edward Lewis in “Pretty Woman” getting familiar with the grass moment. This was McIlroy, bothered by the same blister that plagued him through last week’s Truist Championship. After three practice holes, McIlroy finally cried “uncle,” hitching a ride on the back of a golf cart and exiting the course.

Cue up the blister experts (presumably they exist) and the sock puppets arguing over which foot coverings are best. It’s time to discuss the benefits of Vaseline and moleskin to reduce friction and hit up the local CVS for blister bandages. In the next 48 hours, we will discuss toes more than a pedicurist.

Because this is not anyone. This is Rory McIlroy, the Pied Piper of golf. He is the world’s No. 2 player (behind Scottie Scheffler) but No. 1 on the popularity charts. Plenty of folks – especially Scheffler – attracted a crowd at Aronimink Golf Club on Tuesday, but none matched McIlroy.

As two patrons walked clear across the other side of the course while McIlroy practiced, one said to the other, “Where’s everyone going?” To which his buddy replied, “To watch Rory. Where else?”

Golf offers a unique dichotomy as a spectator sporting event. It is at once entirely elitist, this week appropriately plopped on the Main Line made famous by the movie, “The Philadelphia Story,” a misnomer of a movie title if ever there was one. It’s both geographically inaccurate – the Main Line is not, in fact, within the city boundaries – and aesthetically hilarious. The Main Line has about as much in common with Philly as Katharine Hepburn has with Gritty.

The sport is all popped collars and Vineyard Vines. It feels more Grove at Ole Miss than frat party in State College. Fans feeling the vapors here can loll about in actual lounge chairs while sipping their cocktails and viewing play on a big screen.

Yet for those who can afford to buy a ticket, golf is weirdly accessible. You cannot, for example, lean over the on-deck circle to watch Aaron Judge prep for an at bat, nor can you poke an eye through a gated NFL practice facility. Yet the very-not-everyman golfers are always within an arm’s length, milling about the grounds like weekend duffers.

When Scheffler finished his practice round on Tuesday afternoon, he was surrounded by autograph seekers screeching his name. One tried to get an edge. “I want to high school with your brother,” he yelled.

Scheffler has three sisters.

The roar around McIlroy

But the star of the day was McIlroy. In the last two months, he has won his second consecutive Masters, attended a state dinner at the White House with King Charles III and Queen Camilla and made a cameo in “Devil Wears Prada 2.” He started Tuesday bright and early with a news conference, strolling casually from the clubhouse to the interview tent in shorts and a tan sweatshirt. His hair was not quite bedhead messy, but not necessarily c

By Alexandra Banner, CNN

President Donald Trump is not giving up on his idea to add a 51st state. First, he floated annexing Canada. Now, he’s targeting a country in South America.

Here’s what else you need to know to get up to speed and on with your day.

1⃣ Price of war

The Iran war has cost the US $29 billion so far — an estimate that’s higher than the $25 billion figure the Pentagon provided to Congress just two weeks ago. However, one war budgeting expert told CNN that the conflict will ultimately cost US taxpayers at least $1 trillion. Read more.

WATCH: Trump: “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation”

2⃣ Drug cartels

The CIA is escalating a secret war on drug cartels with deadly operations inside Mexico, CNN reported Tuesday. The agency’s involvement has varied, according to sources, from more passive intelligence sharing and providing general support to direct participation in assassination operations. After the story was published, the CIA called the reporting “false” but did not specify which details it was disputing. Read more.

3⃣ Hantavirus worries

With grim memories of the Covid-19 pandemic still fresh, federal and state officials have repeatedly assured the public that hantavirus is not a comparable threat. It is true that it’s no Covid, but some health experts say the messaging has at times been overly confident and too quick to dismiss the possibility of a threat. Read more.

4⃣ Trump-Xi meeting

President Trump will begin a multi-day state visit to China today that carries global consequences. Trade, Taiwan and the war in Iran are all top items on the agenda when he meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Read more.

ALSO: The elaborate preparations for Trump’s visit

5⃣ ICE rebrand

President Trump thinks Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, needs a rebrand — starting with a new name: National Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or NICE. He’s teased the idea repeatedly on social media and in interviews, leaning into a softer acronym for one of the administration’s hardest-edged agencies. Read more.

Breakfast browse

Sibling duo contend for the PGA Championship

Two English siblings are battling for a major title this week. Fittingly, the showdown is unfolding just outside Pennsylvania’s City of Brotherly Love.

Catherine, Princess of Wales, visits Italy today

It marks her first overseas royal trip since her cancer treatment.

Video: Mamdani backs down from property tax hike

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has ditched a nearly 10% property tax hike in his budget proposal. CNN’s Katherine Koretski explains Read more

Análisis por Brett H. McGurk

En los momentos más sombríos de la Crisis de los Misiles Cubanos, el presidente John F. Kennedy reflexionó en privado sobre la cuestión central que se le planteaba: ¿Quién cedería primero?

Durante días, Washington y Moscú se mantuvieron inmersos en una lucha de voluntades: cada bando estaba convencido de que el tiempo y la presión les favorecían, y ambos temían que ceder pudiera acarrear un peligro mayor más adelante.

Esa misma lógica ahora se cierne sobre el estrecho de Ormuz.

Irán ha cerrado de facto el estrecho al tráfico comercial normal, declarando que los barcos deben atravesar sus aguas y pagar una tasa de tránsito.

Estados Unidos, a su vez, ha bloqueado los puertos iraníes, advirtiendo a Teherán que si el mundo no puede usar el estrecho como antes, Irán tampoco puede hacerlo.

El resultado es un punto muerto, sin salidas inmediatas y con un puñado de opciones que van de malas a peores.

Lo más probable es que ambas partes se conformen, creyendo que el tiempo está de su lado.

Los líderes iraníes se presentan como dispuestos a llevar a su país al borde del colapso económico si fuera necesario para la supervivencia del sistema revolucionario.

Esta opinión tiene algo de cierto. Los líderes iraníes son ideológicos —comprometidos con expulsar la influencia estadounidense de Medio Oriente y enfrentarse a Israel— y muchos han sufrido personalmente cosas peores, incluida la brutal guerra Irán-Iraq de la década de 1980.

Pero incluso los sistemas más robustos tienen un límite, y el bloqueo a los puertos iraníes se agravará con el tiempo.

Incluso antes de que comenzara esta crisis, Irán sufría una inflación cercana al 60 % y una crisis económica histórica.

Estas condiciones contribuyeron a que los iraníes salieran a las calles a principios de este año en protestas que el régimen finalmente reprimió por la fuerza. Ninguno de esos agravios ha desaparecido.

El presidente Donald Trump también se muestra dispuesto a adaptarse a la situación, afirmando que no siente “ninguna presión”.

Tiene razón al decir que la economía estadounidense ha demostrado resiliencia y que, como mayor productor mundial de petróleo, Estados Unidos está más protegido que en décadas pasadas de las repercusiones de una crisis en Medio Oriente.

Pero el comercio de energía se realiza en un mercado global, y con aproximadamente el 20 % del suministro mundial de petróleo que antes transitaba por el estrecho ahora interrumpido o desviado, la presión sobre la economía global se agravará con el tiempo y, finalmente, llegará a Estados Unidos.

Teherán cree que Trump no podrá resistir esa presión indefinidamente, sobre todo de cara a las elecciones de mitad de mandato.

Por lo tanto, ambas partes creen que la otra cederá primero, lo que significa que ninguna podría ceder jamás.

La diplomacia innovadora rara vez surge de la presión más agresiva que la contraparte. Los avances requieren compromisos, y los compromisos requieren concesiones.

En este momento, ni Irán ni Estados Unidos parecen dispuestos a hacerlas. Ambos están enfocados en doblegar la voluntad del otro, en lugar de avanzar hacia un acuerdo.

Para Irán, esto significa negarse a renunciar a su reivindicación de soberanía sobre el estrecho y a su exigencia de que el tráfico comercial transite por las vías fluviales bajo su control y pague un peaje.

Teherán ha lanzado misiles y drones contra los barcos que no se han adaptado a esta nueva realidad.

El presidente Donald Trump declaró el lunes que el alto el fuego de un mes de duración entre Estados Unidos e Irán se encuentra en una situación crítica, prácticamente sin solución