The News

Korean scientists have once again refuted claims about the influence of zodiac signs on human life, Azernews reports.

A large-scale study conducted by scientists at Kemyung University in Daegu found no connection between the signs of the zodiac and the level of human well-being.

In the final material of the study, published in the journal "Kiklos", the data of more than 12 thousand people were analyzed. The researchers examined eight key indicators of well-being: happiness, depression, stress, job and financial satisfaction, health and family happiness. The results disappointed astrology enthusiasts; the placement effect was not reliably determined by any parameter other than financial satisfaction.

NEW YORK (AP) — Halsey has been privately battling illness, the singer revealed Tuesday.

She shared the news on Instagram in a series of videos that appear to document the singer receiving infusions.

“Long story short, I’m lucky to be alive,” she wrote in the caption. “Short story long, I wrote an album.”

A diagnosis was not immediately clear. Representatives for Halsey did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ request for comment.

I feel like an old lady,” Halsey says aloud in the first video, while rubbing her legs in apparent pain. “I told myself I’m giving myself two more years to be sick. At 30, I’m having a rebirth and I’m not gonna be sick and I’m gonna look super hot and have lots of energy and I’m just gonna get to re-do my 20s in my 30s.”

The singer also released a new song on Tuesday, an acoustic guitar ballad titled “The End.”

The new album on the horizon is a follow-up to her fourth studio album, 2021′s ambitious “If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power,” produced by Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

According to a press release, Halsey is making a donation to both The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Lupus Research Alliance alongside the release of “The End.”

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An Italian appeals court reconvicted Amanda Knox of slander Wednesday, finding she wrongfully blamed an innocent man for the 2007 murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher while she was a suspect in the case, the Associated Press reports.

Why it matters: After a highly publicized trial and conviction in Kercher's murder, Knox was ultimately acquitted of any involvement, but the slander charge remained, despite Knox's stance that the confession, which she later tried to retract, was coerced.

• Reversing the slander conviction would have cleared the Seattle-area resident's name "once and for all," she said.

Flashback: Knox, then a student at the University of Washington, was accused of Kercher's murder while studying abroad in Perugia, Italy.

• Now 36, she has returned to the Northwest, where she has two children and is an independent podcast creator and advocate against wrongful convictions.

What's next: The court's reconviction Wednesday confirmed a three-year sentence for Knox, which she had already served in the four years she was in prison for the initial murder investigation and subsequent trials. She was released in 2011, and faces no additional jail time.

• The court's reasoning in the case will be released within 60 days. One of Knox's attorneys told CNN that they would weigh whether to appeal the after reviewing it.

 I’ve been checked out of Star Wars for quite some time now, more or less since Palpatine infamously – somehow – returned. I’ve kept my eye on the discourse that came with every subsequent project, and from what I’ve seen, it’s mostly been Disney showing pictures of characters people know and everybody clapping at it.

The Acolyte was supposed to be different, a new series unconnected to the Skywalker story, set in the golden age of the Jedi. Unfortunately, if the first two episodes are anything to go by, the golden age of the Jedi is boring as heck.

On a basic level, The Acolyte is about two twins who were separated at a young age after a terrible tragedy saw their hometown burned to the ground. One, Osha, found her way into the Jedi Order before quitting and becoming a meknek, an illegal freelance mechanic. The other, Mae, seems to have fallen in with some kind of dark entity, who trained her to use the Force

The actress shared the unexpected news on Instagram, requesting prayers for a safe delivery and announcing a temporary break from social media.

The announcement sparked surprise and excitement among fans, with many expressing shock at McGee's age. While numerous followers offered congratulations, others questioned how she was pregnant at 54.

McGee, who was married to actor Courtland Davis, has two children from that relationship and one from a previous relationship.

She has been married to her current husband, actor and producer Marcello Thedford, for 16 years.

Best known for her role as Shawn Hunter's love interest on "Boy Meets World," McGee reprise her role in the Disney Channel spinoff "Girl Meets World" in 2015. She also appeared in the 2023 Tubi movie "Classmates," directed by her former co-star Danielle Fishel.

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A group of current and former OpenAI employees published an open letter Tuesday describing concerns about the artificial intelligence industry’s rapid advancement despite a lack of oversight and an absence of whistleblower protections for those who wish to speak up.

“AI companies have strong financial incentives to avoid effective oversight, and we do not believe bespoke structures of corporate governance are sufficient to change this,” the employees wrote in the open letter.

The current and former employees wrote AI companies have “substantial non-public information” about what their technology can do, the extent of the safety measures they’ve put in place and the risk levels that technology has for different types of harm.

“We also understand the serious risks posed by these technologies,” they wrote, adding that the companies “currently have only weak obligations to share some of this information with governments, and none with civil society. We do not think they can all be relied upon to share it voluntarily.”

The letter also details the current and former employees’ concerns about insufficient whistleblower protections for the AI industry, stating that without effective government oversight, employees are in a relatively unique position to hold companies accountable.

“Broad confidentiality agreements block us from voicing our concerns, except to the very companies that may be failing to address these issues,” the signatories wrote. “Ordinary whistleblower protections are insufficient because they focus on illegal activity, whereas many of the risks we are concerned about are not yet regulated.”

The letter asks AI companies to commit to not entering or enforcing non-disparagement agreements; to create anonymous processes for current and former employees to voice concerns to a company’s board, regulators and others; to support a culture of open criticism; and to not retaliate against public whistleblowing if internal reporting processes fail.

Four anonymous OpenAI employees and seven former ones, including Daniel Kokotajlo, Jacob Hilton, William Saunders, Carroll Wainwright and Daniel Ziegler, signed the letter. Signatories also included Ramana Kumar, who formerly worked at Google DeepMind, and Neel Nanda, who currently works at Google DeepMind and formerly worked at Anthropic. Three famed computer scientists known for advancing the artificial intelligence field also endorsed the letter: Geoffrey Hinton, Yoshua Bengio and Stuart Russell.

“We agree that rigorous debate is crucial given the significance of this technology and we’ll continue to engage with governments, civil society and other communities around the world,” an OpenAI spokesperson told CNBC, adding that the company has an anonymous integrity hotline, as well as a Safety and Security Committee led by members of the board and OpenAI leaders.

Microsoft declined to comment.

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 Warren Buffett-backed Occidental Petroleum (OXY) and Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Energy announced a joint venture on Tuesday to extract lithium from geothermal electricity production. OXY shares angled lower early Tuesday.

Occidental Petroleum and Berkshire Hathaway Energy Renewables agreed to test and deploy technology to extracting lithium from geothermal brine. Geothermal brine is the hot salty water pumped to the surface of the earth and used to produce electricity.

Under the joint venture, the technology from TerraLithium, a wholly owned subsidiary of Occidental, is being tested at BHE Renewables' Imperial Valley geothermal facility. Testing aims to determine whether it can produce lithium in an "environmentally safe manner."

BHE Renewables operates 10 geothermal power plants in California's Imperial Valley generating 345 megawatts of clean energy. These facilities process 50,000 gallons of "lithium-rich brine" per minute, according to the company.

If the test is successful, Buffett's BHE Renewables plans to build commercial lithium production facilities in California's Imperial Valley, the company reported Tuesday. There are also plans to expand beyond the Imperial Valley under the joint Occidental-BHE Renewables venture.

We are excited to be working with Occidental on this incredible opportunity to make the Imperial Valley a global leader in lithium production," BHE Renewables Chief Executive Alicia Knapp said in the press release Tuesday.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in a 2021 report wrote that lithium extraction from geothermal brine could be a way to get "domestic lithium onto the market while producing electricity simultaneously, all with a minimal environmental footprint."

The DOE notes large lithium resources have been identified mainly in the Salton Sea, located in southern California's Imperial Valley region.

Warren Buffett: OXY Stock, Lithium And Geothermal

Occidental Petroleum stock fell 1.4% to 59.78 during market action on Tuesday. The stock declined 3% to 60.57 on Monday. Shares are down 15% since hitting a recent high of 71.19 on April 12. OXY is currently trading below its 200-day moving average, according to MarketSurge charts.

Oil stocks in general traded lower Monday and early Tuesday, as West Texas Intermediate oil prices eased to a four-month low, below $73 a barrel.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB) substantially increased its stake in the international oil play over the past year, putting OXY among Buffett's top holdings. Berkshire Hathaway holds a 28% stake in Houston-based Occidental Petroleum, according to FactSet.

Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Energy business and Occidental Petroleum teaming up on lithium production comes as Exxon Mobil (XOM) in late 2023 announced plans to begin producing lithium by 2027.

Exxon Mobil aims to become the leading lithium supplier for electric vehicles by 2030. The goal entails production of enough lithium to supply the manufacture of more than 1 million EVs per year.

Exxon set its first lithium production for 2027. Discussions with possible customers, including electric vehicle and battery manufacturers, are ongoing, the company in November 2023.

Occidental stock has a 30 Composite Rating out of 99. The Warren Buffett stock also has a 39 Relative Strength Rating and an 11 EPS Rating.

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 Nick and Aaron Carter’s complicated family issues are finally coming to light.

According to the docuseries Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter, their friend, John Spaulding, believed that Jane Elizabeth Carter created problems between her sons.

He revealed, “Jane blamed Nick for Leslie’s death. She told Nick that he should’ve been there for her. He had the money, why didn’t he do something?”

John added, “I don’t think it was Nick’s responsibility. But I think Aaron took what his mom was saying to heart and I think that damaged their relationship. I think that was her goal, I think she was trying to do that.”

In the same series, another family friend named Jen shared that Aaron’s mother used harsh words for him.

“Once Aaron found out that Nick wasn’t coming to Leslie’s funeral, the first thing that Jane did was tell Aaron, ‘He doesn’t love you. See? He doesn’t love you,’” Jen continued, “And that’s not the truth. But Aaron became very upset and aggressive… I don’t understand why a parent would push so hard to divide two brothers.”

Aaron passed away on November 5, 2022.

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 California wildfire wreaks havoc as wind-driven blaze forces scorches 11,000 acres and forces residents to flee their homes - with at least two firefighters injured

A wildfire in Tracy, California is raging and has already burned some 11,000 acres across the West coast state, and forced the evacuation of thousands.

The Corral Fire was first reported on Saturday afternoon at around 2.30pm. By around midnight, the fire was just 13 percent contained, according to the California Fire department.

The fire, which is being driven quickly by wind, jumped Interstate 580, prompting evacuation orders for the communities east of the major artery.

The fire reportedly began at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Site 300 on the border of San Joaquin and Alameda counties. 

Site 300 is home to facilities that support the development of explosive materials, as well as hydrodynamic testing. 

Those running the site assess the operational ability of non-nuclear weapon components, and test new conventional explosives to potentially add to the nuclear stockpile. 

Overnight winds of up to 40mph were expected to continue spreading the fire. 

At present, it remains unclear how the blaze began - the investigation into its origins is ongoing.

The Tracy Police Department said firefighters will do a controlled burn near Tracy Hills, which is just below the area that's been evacuated.

A controlled burn was previously scheduled for May 28 at the Site 300 lab 

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. reported two fire-related power outages Saturday evening.

The first occurred because Cal Fire requested that energy be cut to several lines to ensure the safety of their firefighters. That outage hit roughly 1,600 people.

The second, which impacted about 2,350 customers, was caused by damage to PG&E equipment.

By late Saturday evening, power was restored to all but about 200 customers. 

 Source 

UFC returned to Newark, N.J. with a great card, headlined by the Fight of the Night bout by UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier. Recap every scorecard from a night that kept the judges busy.

Main and co-main event scheduled for five rounds, all other bouts scheduled for three rounds. | Prelim Results | Main Card Results 

UFC 302: Makhachev vs Poirier 

Mitch Raposo vs Andre Lima 

Andre Lima (30-27, 30-27) defeats Mitch Raposo (29-28) by Split Decision | Prelim Results | Main Card Results 

Ailin Perez vs Joselyne Edwards 

Ailin Perez (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) defeats Joselyne Edwards by Unanimous Decision | Prelim Results | Main Card Results 

Mickey Gall vs Bassil Hafez 

Bassil Hafez (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) defeats Mickey Gall by Unanimous Decision | Prelim Results | Main Card Results 

Phil Rowe vs Jake Matthews 

Jake Matthews (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) defeats Philip Rowe by Unanimous Decision | Prelim Results | Main Card Results 

Grant Dawson vs Joe Solecki 

Grant Dawson (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) defeats Joe Solecki by Unanimous Decision | Prelim Results | Main Card Results 

Jailton Almeida vs Alexandr Romanov 

Jailton Almeida defeats Alexandr Romanov by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:27 of Round 1 | Prelim Results | Main Card Results 

Cesar Almeida vs Roman Kopylov 

Roman Kopylov (29-28, 30-27) defeats Cesar Almeida (29-28) by Split Decision | Prelim Results | Main Card Results 

Randy Brown vs Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos 

Randy Brown (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) defeats Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos by Unanimous Decision | Prelim Results | Main Card Results 

Niko Price vs Alex Morono

Niko Price (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) defeats Alex Morono by Unanimous Decision | Prelim Results | Main Card Results 

Kevin Holland vs Michal Oleksiejczuk 

Kevin Holland defeats Michal Oleksiejczuk by Technical Submission (armbar) at 1:34 of Round 1 | Prelim Results | Main Card Results 

Co-Main Event: Sean Strickland vs Paulo Costa 

Sean Strickland (49-46, 50-45) defeats Paulo Costa (49-46) by Split Decision | Prelim Results | Main Card Results 

Main Event: Islam Makhachev vs Dustin Poirier 

Islam Makhachev defeats Dustin Poirier by Submission (D’arce choke) at 2:42 of Round 5 | Prelim Results | Main Card Results