For years, the federal government has been working on turning old, unexploded warheads left over from the Cold War into a fuel for next-generation nuclear power plants. Now, a significant new deal in the works could allow five private companies to access weapons-grade plutonium for the first time — and convert it into electricity. The Energy Department announced Tuesday it had selected advanced nuclear company Oklo Inc, as well as four other companies, to begin “advanced negotiations” over whether the companies could access its Surplus Plutonium Utilization Program, according to a spokesperson for the department’s office of Nuclear Energy. The negotiations aren’t yet finalized. DOE’s program could “help companies unlock the next level of private funding to broaden domestic nuclear fuel supplies, spur innovation on American recycling technologies, and unlock private sector funding to fuel the nation’s nuclear renaissance,” principal deputy assistant secretary of nuclear energy Mike Goff said in a statement.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/26/climate/trump-administration-plutonium-deal-energy-companies
Temperature records are being smashed across Europe as parts of the continent swelter in a heat wave that is bringing extreme temperatures alarmingly early in the year. The continent is grappling with a powerful heat dome, a persistent high-pressure system which acts like a lid on a pot, trapping hot air and pushing it downward. It can remain in place for days or even weeks and is a weather phenomenon made more likely and more intense by human-caused climate change. On Monday, the UK endured its hottest May day on record, with temperatures spiking to 34.8 degrees Celsius (94.6 Fahrenheit) at Kew Gardens in London, breaking the previous record by 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit). Usually heat records are broken by only fractions of a degree.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/26/climate/europe-heat-climate-intl
Teens’ glued-to-their-phone habits are turning many of them into night owls on school nights — at a time when they need all the sleep they can get. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommend teenagers get eight to 10 hours of sleep every night. But more than half of teens in the United States are spending up to an hour or more on their phone between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. on school nights, new research has found.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/26/health/teen-nighttime-phone-use-study-wellness
Limited-edition releases help the more-than-century-old Oreo brand maintain its cultural relevance, and the BTS partnership could help it capitalize on the increasing popularity of Korean pop culture. The collaboration also provides an extra boost to BTS as the band retakes the global stage after the years-long hiatus during which the K-pop landscape saw massive changes. The crossover with BTS is “much bigger than a US activation,” said Matt Foley, Oreo’s vice president of marketing. BTS, which debuted in 2013, has been on hiatus since 2022 while the members completed mandatory military service in South Korea. The group returned this year with the largest-ever concert in Seoul, South Korea, as part of a promotional tour for their fifth studio album.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/26/business/bts-oreo-hotteok
President Donald Trump finished his monthlong revenge tour in Texas on Tuesday night. The president’s national approval ratings may be near their weakest overall. But a series of red-state primaries in May have shown that conservative voters remain fiercely supportive of Trump – and willing to turn against those he deems disloyal. After toppling incumbents in Indiana, Kentucky and Louisiana, Trump got what he wanted in Texas when Ken Paxton, the controversial state attorney general, defeated four-term incumbent Sen. John Cornyn.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/26/politics/trump-takeaways-tuesday-texas-runoffs-ken-paxton