Reinsurers insure insurance companies, and have been raising rates in recent years because of steepening losses, which industry players put down in part to the impact of climate change. Higher reinsurance rates can affect the premiums which insurers charge to their customers.
U.S. property catastrophe reinsurance rates rise up to 50% on July 1-report
Orchestra-conducting robot wows audience in Seoul
A Korean-made robot made its debut as an orchestra conductor before a sell-out crowd in Seoul, Friday, wowing the audience with a flawless performance in place of a human maestro.
Named "EveR 6", the five-foot-ten-inch-tall (1.8m) robot guided more than 60 musicians of the National Orchestra of Korea who were playing traditional Korean instruments.
The robot successfully guided the compositions, both independently and in collaboration with a human maestro who was standing next to it for about half an hour, entertaining the more than 950 audience members who had packed the National Theater of Korea.
The robot was showered with applause when it first appeared from below the stage on a lift and turned to face the audience, bowing in greeting.
Supreme Court backs web developer who didn't want to create same-sex wedding sites
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the opinion for a 6-3 majority. The case was decided on ideological lines.
"Laws along these lines have done much to secure the civil rights of all Americans," Gorsuch wrote. "But in this particular case Colorado does not just seek to ensure the sale of goods or services on equal terms. It seeksto use its law to compel an individual to create speech she does not believe."
In a case that could have profound implications for when businesses may turn away customers, the Colorado website designer argued a state anti-discrimination law couldn't be used to compel her to develop same-sex wedding sites.
Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani interviewed in Jan. 6 investigation
A spokesman for Giuliani confirmed he met with the special counsel. “The appearance was entirely voluntary and conducted in a professional manner,” Ted Goodman said in a statement.
A person familiar with the matter said the interview was not done before a grand jury. The person, who insisted on anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, would not say what questions investigators asked.
George Santos mystery bail guarantors to be revealed on Thursday
The two people who guaranteed bail for George Santos will have their names publicly revealed, a federal judge ruled, rejecting the indicted Republican congressman’s claim that the disclosure could threaten the guarantors’ safety.
Joanna Seybert, a US district judge in Central Islip, New York, said the names would be made public on Thursday at 12pm ET.
Seybert said Santos could in the meantime try to modify the terms of his release if his guarantors, who he has suggested are family members, withdraw their $500,000 guarantee.
Santos, 34, has expressed a willingness to go to jail rather than release the names.
Attorney behind plot to keep Trump in power faces disbarment hearing in California
An effort to disbar conservative attorney John Eastman, who devised ways to keep President Donald Trump in the White House after his defeat in the 2020 election, will begin Tuesday in Los Angeles.
Eastman is expected to spend the day testifying before the State Bar of California in a proceeding that could result in him losing his license to practice law in the state. He faces 11 disciplinary charges stemming from his development of a dubious legal strategy that was aimed at helping Trump remain in power by disrupting the counting of state electoral votes.
The State Bar's counsel will seek Eastman's disbarment during a hearing before the State Bar Court that's expected to last at least eight days. If the court finds Eastman culpable of the alleged violations it can recommend a punishment such as suspending or revoking his law license. The California Supreme Court makes the final decision.
More...Hunter Biden to plead guilty to two tax charges, resolve federal gun violation: DOJ
Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of tax evasion in federal court in Delaware and participate in a pretrial program for a firearm offense, after a multi-year investigation into his tax matters, a case with implications for President Joe Biden's re-election campaign and dealings with congressional Republicans.
U.S. Attorney David Weiss filed a letter in federal court Tuesday citing the charges and the plea agreement. In one case, Biden will plead guilty to the tax charges, which allege willful failure to pay federal income tax. In another case, Biden agreed to enter a pretrial diversion agreement for the gun offense, in which he acknowledged unlawful possession of a Colt Cobra 38SPL revolver, despite being addicted to drugs.
Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers whistleblower, dies aged 92
Daniel Ellsberg, a US government analyst who became one of the most famous whistleblowers in world politics when he leaked the Pentagon Papers, has died. He was 92. His death was confirmed by his family on Friday.
In March, Ellsberg announced that he had inoperable pancreatic cancer. Saying he had been given three to six months to live, he said he had chosen not to undergo chemotherapy and had been assured of hospice care.
“I am not in any physical pain,” Ellsberg wrote, adding: “My cardiologist has given me license to abandon my salt-free diet of the last six years. This has improved my life dramatically: the pleasure of eating my favourite foods!”
The Pentagon Papers covered US policy in Vietnam between 1945 and 1967 and showed that successive administrations were aware the US could not win.
First female Muslim federal judge in US history confirmed by the Senate
The Senate on Thursday confirmed Nusrat Choudhury, a longtime civil rights attorney, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, making her the nation's first female Muslim federal judge.
Choudhury, a former American Civil Liberties Union attorney, was confirmed 50-49 on a mostly party-line vote. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, joined Republicans in opposing her.
Choudhury has served as the legal director of the ACLU of Illinois since 2020. She clerked for U.S. Circuit Judge Barrington Parker, who was nominated to the appeals bench in New York by former President George W. Bush and to U.S. District Court by former President Bill Clinton. She received her law degree from Yale.
She is also the first Bangladeshi-American to serve as a federal judge.
Biden also nominated the first Muslim federal judge, U.S. District Judge Zahid Quraishi, who was confirmed in 2021. The Biden administration has made diversifying the federal judiciary − including with professional diversity − a centerpiece of the president’s agenda.
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