By Julian Torres, CNN

New York (CNN) — With war in the Middle East raging, oil prices are soaring. To temper the costs, the United States government is turning to oil stored in massive salt caverns.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced yesterday that the US will release 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

What exactly is the SPR? Where is it? How much oil is in it, where does it come from and where does it go when it’s released?

What is the US SPR?

The US SPR is the world’s largest supply of emergency crude oil. The reserve has been maintained by the federal government since 1975 to help protect the US economy from major disruptions in petroleum supply.

The system stores federally owned crude oil in more than 60 underground salt caverns along the Gulf Coast.

Each cavern is enormous, roughly 200 feet in diameter and more than 2,500 feet tall. That is large enough to nearly fit the height of two Empire State Buildings stacked on top of each other.

At full capacity, the SPR can store more than 700 million barrels of oil, but inventories fluctuate depending on fuel being released and purchased. The reserve currently holds roughly 415 million barrels following major withdrawals as a result of a spike in oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The US holds about one-third of the emergency oil reserves that are maintained by members of the International Energy Agency, a global forum of dozens of countries that helps members deal with major oil disruptions. The IEA members collectively hold over 1.2 billion barrels of emergency oil reserves.

Where does the oil come from?

In many cases, the DOE purchases crude oil outright on the open market to fill the underground reserves when prices are relatively low.

In other situations, the government also receives oil through exchange agreements with private companies. Under these agreements, companies temporarily borrow oil from the reserve and repay it later with additional barrels — similar to paying interest on a loan.

The reserve can also store excess oil during periods of weak demand. During the height of the pandemic, for example, the government allowed companies to store surplus crude in the SPR as demand crashed.

When is oil released?

Oil from the SPR has been released during both domestic and international crises, including natural disasters and geopolitical conflicts like the current effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The US president can authorize emergency drawdowns. The DOE then sells the oil to the highest bidders, typically major refining, trading and oil companies.

Because the reserve is connected by pipelines and marine terminals along the Gulf Coast, oil can begin flowing to US refineries within about 13 days after a presidential order to release it.

But oil from the SPR is not only released during emergencies. The secretary of energy can authorize test sales or temporary exchanges with private oil companies during localized disruptions, like when Hurricane Katrina cut off domestic supply chains in 2005.

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John Liu, CNN

En una era marcada por las acciones militares de Estados Unidos en el extranjero y las turbulencias comerciales, el líder chino Xi Jinping apuesta por un plan para proteger a su país de la tormenta: impulsar la innovación para transformar a China en la principal superpotencia tecnológica del mundo.

Durante los próximos cinco años, China busca modernizar su ya poderoso sector industrial, reforzar la “autosuficiencia” tecnológica e impulsar sectores que aceleren su supremacía tecnológica, desde la inteligencia artificial y la robótica hasta la industria aeroespacial y la computación cuántica.

“Por primera vez, China quiere ser líder en varias tecnologías. Antes, el enfoque siempre era igualar a Occidente”, dijo Dan Wang, director para China de la consultora de riesgo político Eurasia Group.

Los detalles de la apuesta de Xi por el futuro fueron aprobados este jueves por el parlamento de China en Beijing, cuando la asamblea anual de una semana llegó a su fin. El documento de política, conocido como el Plan Quinquenal de China, ha sido elaborado durante meses a puerta cerrada por el círculo cercano de Xi y sirve como una guía para el desarrollo del país durante el próximo lustro.

“(Nos) esforzaremos por lograr nuevos avances en el impulso de la innovación original, abordar tecnologías clave y ocupar posiciones estratégicas en ciencia y tecnología”, dijo Xi a funcionarios locales en una reunión para discutir el nuevo plan la semana pasada.

Mientras la economía china enfrenta desafíos estructurales profundos, incluida una persistente crisis inmobiliaria y una baja confianza del consumidor, Xi está concentrando sus esfuerzos en fortalecer el sector tecnológico, apostando de forma proactiva por tecnologías emergentes para impulsar el crecimiento del país en las próximas décadas. La semana pasada, China estableció su objetivo de crecimiento económico más bajo desde que comenzó a adoptar este tipo de metas.

“Ante una dinámica internacional turbulenta y una serie de riesgos y desafíos”, señala el documento, “debemos concentrarnos en hacer bien nuestro propio trabajo… consolidar y ampliar nuestras fortalezas, eliminar cuellos de botella y limitaciones, y reforzar nuestras debilidades”.

Aunque se espera que Xi reciba al presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, en Beijing más adelante este mes para discutir la extensión de una tregua comercial y reducir sus diferencias, los expertos dicen que las relaciones entre las dos mayores economías del mundo seguirán centradas en la competencia durante los próximos cinco años.

“La colaboración disminuirá en todos los ámbitos, desde el mundo académico hasta las industrias. Ambos lados quieren reducir su dependencia del otro, por lo que el desacoplamiento es mutuo”, dijo Wang, de Eurasia Group, quien advirtió que las tensiones bilaterales podrían volver a intensificarse tras un período de calma provocado por la tregua comercial.

En un mundo incierto, China se está posicionando como un “ancla estabilizadora para la economía global”, dijo Henry Huiyao Wang, presidente del grupo de investigación Center for China and Globalization, con sede en Beijing.

“La China con la que Estados Unidos trata hoy es un país altamente organizado, que sigue impulsado por una fuerte vitalidad y un impulso de crecimiento, y que avanza con una clara determinación estratégica a través de sucesivos planes quinquenales”, dijo el analista, quien anteriormente fue asesor del gabinete chino, el Consejo de Estado de China.

El modelo liderado por el Estado en China está ayudando al país a reduc

By Jeremy Diamond, Gianluca Mezzofiore, Zeena Saifi, CNN

Tel Aviv, Israel (CNN) — Specks of orange light streak across the night sky as air raid sirens wail in the background.

It is an unnerving spectacle that has become a feature of the war here, as Iran has increasingly outfitted some of its ballistic missiles with cluster munitions, aiming to pierce Israel’s sophisticated air defenses.

The specks of light are small bombs, each carrying up to 11 pounds of explosives, which are released at high altitude from the head of the missile before raining down indiscriminately over a wide area. Most of Iran’s ballistic missiles carry about 24 bomblets, but one of its weapons – the Khorramshahr – can be equipped with up to 80, according to experts.

A CNN analysis of two separate Iranian cluster munitions attacks confirmed multiple impacts spread out across an area of seven and eight miles, respectively, falling at random on homes, businesses, roads and parks.

Israelis are relatively well protected by the early warnings that precede ballistic missile attacks and bomb shelters are widely accessible. Still, one bomblet killed two people on the outskirts of Tel Aviv last week and many others have been injured. The two men, both construction workers, were not in a shelter or protected space at the time of the attack.

Cluster munitions are by definition indiscriminate, which is why their use against populated areas is prohibited under international humanitarian law. There are several types of cluster munitions, including bombs dropped from aircraft and multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) that can disperse hundreds of bomblets.

Amnesty International previously decried Iran’s use of cluster munitions during the 12-day war last June as a “flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.” The human rights group has also accused Israel of similar violations for its past use of cluster munitions in Lebanon in 2006. Israel has acknowledged using cluster munitions in the past but claims it does so in accordance with international humanitarian law. Iran has not responded to CNN’s request for comment on its use of cluster munitions.

Iran now appears to be equipping more of its ballistic missiles with a cargo warhead, which can carry cluster submunitions, than in previous conflicts with Israel. An Israeli military official said about half of all ballistic missiles fired at Israel during this war have been equipped with cluster munitions.

The munitions represent a significant new challenge for Israel’s air defenses, which have successfully intercepted most ballistic missiles, but struggle to stop the bomblets, due to their small size and the relatively little time to intercept.

“It’s a mechanism to bypass active missile defense,” said Tal Inbar, a missile expert who consults for Israeli defense companies.

In some cases, Inbar said, an Iranian ballistic missile can be successfully intercepted by Israel’s long-range interceptors, but the bomblets are still deployed – either because the missile was not hit head-on, or because the bomblets were already released.

Inbar said the bomblets can be intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system – which is intended for shorter-range missiles and other projectiles – but such intercept attempts are not always successful.

“Iranian designers have probably turned to a high-altitude dispersal approach in part to minimize the chance of a successful ground-based interception,” said N.R. Jenzen-Jones, a munitions expert and the director of Armament Research Services, adding that the munitions are small and falling at high speeds. “Whilst there a

By Isabelle Khurshudyan, CNN

(CNN) — Pentagon spending in September included nearly $9 million on Alaskan king grab and lobster tails, more than $200 million in furniture and $5.3 million in Apple devices – just some of the expenditures that added up to a record $93 billion price tag for the month, according to new analysis published by government watchdog  Open the Books.

September spending at government agencies typically dwarfs other months because it marks the end of the fiscal year. That’s when “use it or lose it” funding rules kick in for departments rushing to spend the remainder of their budget so as to not forfeit the unused money and have to send it back to the Treasury Department.

But according to Open the Books, no federal agency has ever spent so much on grants and contracts in a single month as the Pentagon’s $93.4 billion in September 2025. More than half of that was spent in the final five working days of the month, the watchdog said.

The expensive month comes as President Donald Trump has made cutting government spending a focal point of his second term, gutting the federal workforce last year with mass layoffs across federal agencies. At the same time, Trump has called for huge increases to the Pentagon’s budget, posting in January that the 2027 fiscal year budget should be $1.5 trillion – a roughly 50% increase.

“This will allow us to build the ‘Dream Military’ that we have long been entitled to and, more importantly, that will keep us SAFE and SECURE, regardless of foe,” Trump said.

The September 2025 spending included a record $6.6 billion of purchases from foreign governments and foreign-owned businesses, smashing the previous high of $5.2 billion from September 2023.

The money spent on shellfish and steak – more than $15 million on ribeye, according to Open the Books – was likely for troops on extended deployment ahead of the current war in Iran, experts said.

“These are not for parties for (Secretary Pete) Hegseth and his buddies,” said Jerry McGinn, the director of the Center for the Industrial Base at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.

“You’re doing something nice for the troops,” McGinn added.

Often described as a “surf and turf” meal, it’s a tradition in military culture as a symbolic precursor to deployments, combat operations or extended missions. The food products bought in September also typically cover holiday meals, including Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s, for service members deployed those days.

The steak-and-lobster dinners are meant to be a thank you to troops. When asked if lobster being served during deployments had a place for morale-boosting purposes, one retired Army officer with multiple combat tours told CNN, “I mean, it’s always disgusting, but I guess.”

In addition to the $225.6 million in furniture expenditures – purchases that typically spike in September regardless of presidential administration, according to Open the Books – musical instruments cost $1.8 million. That included a $98,329 Steinway & Sons grand piano for the Air Force chief of staff’s home, a $26,000 violin, and a $21,750 custom handmade flute from the luxury Japanese brand Muramatsu.

McGinn said government agencies typically reserve bulk orders of furniture and technology for September to use up the rest of the budget, adding “this is not uncommon.”

Because the Department of Defense’s budget was under a continuing resolution – a funding stopgap from Congress that keeps the budget at the previous fiscal year’s level until the new on

By Isabelle Khurshudyan, CNN

(CNN) — Pentagon spending in September included nearly $9 million on Alaskan king crab and lobster tails, more than $200 million in furniture and $5.3 million in Apple devices – just some of the expenditures that added up to a record $93 billion price tag for the month, according to new analysis published by government watchdog Open the Books.

September spending at government agencies typically dwarfs other months because it marks the end of the fiscal year. That’s when “use it or lose it” funding rules kick in for departments rushing to spend the remainder of their budget so as to not forfeit the unused money and have to send it back to the Treasury Department.

But according to Open the Books, no federal agency has ever spent so much on grants and contracts in a single month as the Pentagon’s $93.4 billion in September 2025. More than half of that was spent in the final five working days of the month, the watchdog said.

The expensive month comes as President Donald Trump has made cutting government spending a focal point of his second term, gutting the federal workforce last year with mass layoffs across federal agencies. At the same time, Trump has called for huge increases to the Pentagon’s budget, posting in January that the 2027 fiscal year budget should be $1.5 trillion – a roughly 50% increase.

“This will allow us to build the ‘Dream Military’ that we have long been entitled to and, more importantly, that will keep us SAFE and SECURE, regardless of foe,” Trump said.

The September 2025 spending included a record $6.6 billion of purchases from foreign governments and foreign-owned businesses, smashing the previous high of $5.2 billion from September 2023.

The money spent on shellfish and steak – more than $15 million on ribeye, according to Open the Books – was likely for troops on extended deployment ahead of the current war in Iran, experts said.

“These are not for parties for (Secretary Pete) Hegseth and his buddies,” said Jerry McGinn, the director of the Center for the Industrial Base at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.

“You’re doing something nice for the troops,” McGinn added.

Often described as a “surf and turf” meal, it’s a tradition in military culture as a symbolic precursor to deployments, combat operations or extended missions. The food products bought in September also typically cover holiday meals, including Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s, for service members deployed those days.

The steak-and-lobster dinners are meant to be a thank you to troops. When asked if lobster being served during deployments had a place for morale-boosting purposes, one retired Army officer with multiple combat tours told CNN, “I mean, it’s always disgusting, but I guess.”

In addition to the $225.6 million in furniture expenditures – purchases that typically spike in September regardless of presidential administration, according to Open the Books – musical instruments cost $1.8 million. That included a $98,329 Steinway & Sons grand piano for the Air Force chief of staff’s home, a $26,000 violin, and a $21,750 cu