Author: Jordan

The Illinois budget passed June 1 includes new taxes on prediction markets, fantasy sports and cryptocurrency, three growing industries in the state and beyond.It also includes a new tax on social media companies championed by Governor JB Pritzker and a tax on digital ads pushed by lawmakers seeking what they describe as more progressive revenue.In the Loop discusses what these taxes will fund and how they could impact residents.GUESTS: Mawa Iqbal, WBEZ senior statehouse reporterNoah Henderson, director of Sport Management Program, Loyola UniversityJustin Marlowe, research professor, UChicago Harris School of Public Policy Source link

ModaMortgages is cutting rates by 20bps across its limited edition 2-year and 5-year fixed-rate buy-to-let products. The reduction means the specialist lender’s limited edition 2-year fixed-rate products now start from 3.34% for single dwelling properties and from 3.44% for HMO and MUFB properties with up to six bedrooms or units. Meanwhile, rates for its limited edition 5-year fixed-rate products now start from 4.94% for single dwelling properties and from 5.04% for HMO and MUFB properties with up to six bedrooms or units. Products are available to individual and limited company landlords up to 80% LTV, with a choice of fee…

Listen to the article 4 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. As the United States faces an uncertain economic future, recyclers in Maryland are focusing on the positives. Economic resilience was a big theme for the Maryland Recycling Network’s annual conference, held on Tuesday in Baltimore and organized in partnership with the Solid Waste Association of North America’s Mid-Atlantic chapter.  Concerns over tariffs, trade wars and rising gas prices have cast a shadow over the U.S. economy, as well as Maryland’s local economy, said Daraius Irani, vice president of business and public engagement…

Investing.com — Zambia’s government is moving toward negotiations with a group of bondholders who have blocked its attempt to buy back a $1.36 billion bond ahead of a coupon increase scheduled for later this year. The bondholder group may soon sign non-disclosure agreements to start confidential discussions about the government’s tender offer launched last week, according to Bloomberg News, citign people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity due to the private nature of the talks. A separate person familiar with the situation said Zambia remains willing to hear the bondholders’ positions and explain its reasoning for the transaction, but…

Overview: Travelling across Southeast Asia has become increasingly seamless for Indian tourists, thanks to the financial perks offered by modern credit cards. From earning rewards on travel expenses to unlocking complimentary privileges, cardholders can reduce expenses, access exclusive experiences, and make every journey smoother when exploring vibrant destinations in this region. Unlocking Travel Potential with Credit Card Benefits India has witnessed an impressive rise in outbound tourism, with over 3.08 crore Indians travelling abroad in 2024. A large share of this growth is directed towards Southeast Asia, with countries such as Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam ranking among the most…

Solar panels are so passé—Riviera thinks so anyway. The Australian yacht builder has teamed up with solar specialist Praxis to develop a new type of “solar skin” for models ranging from 39 to 78 feet. Sunreef has been incorporating a similar sort of integrated photovoltaic technology into its catamarans for about five years, but Riviera is rolling it out to motor yachts.  “The pioneering efforts of our brilliant design team and the credentialed Praxis team have created an ingenious solution to reducing our yachts’ reliance on generated or shore power,” Riviera owner and chairman Rodney Longhurst said in a statement.…

Tipton & Coseley Building Society has reduced rates across parts of its buy-to-let range and reintroduced high income multiple mortgages as it looks to broaden options for brokers and borrowers. The mutual has cut rates on selected products by up to 0.22% and reduced arrangement fees, with the changes focused largely on its expat buy-to-let and limited company buy-to-let propositions. Within its expat range, the society is offering a five-year fixed rate at 5.68% up to 80% loan-to-value (LTV) for house purchase cases, with the arrangement fee reduced to £900. It has also added a new two-year fixed rate at…

In our last post we used a Claude skill to systematically beat down VirusTotal detection rates on offensive security tools, with a brief mention of a new loader we’d been using to apply those techniques in bulk. This post is about that loader, which we call WasmForge. WasmForge is, from the user’s perspective, a build wrapper. You point it at a Go project and you get back a Windows or macOS binary that runs your tool but doesn’t look anything like it. Internally it’s a lot more. It’s a Go-to-WebAssembly compiler, a custom Wazero fork, around eighty host shim functions…

At The Carlingford Community Development Centre are (L to R): David Savage, Chairperson Carlingford Community Development; Colm Prendergast, Client Executive (CFI); and Erin Finegan, Youth Volunteer Carlingford Community Development; along with two young service users. | SuppliedLaunch of new How-to Guide to encourage more community organisations in Louth to apply for social financeSocial Finance Foundation has launched a new How-to Guide to encourage more community organisations in Louth to apply for Social Finance, and has revealed how one Louth community organisation, Carlingford Community Development, was able to avail of the initiative.The online Guide, supported by PTSB and Community Finance Ireland…

Shamika Ravi, Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) India should expand gold monetisation beyond traditional gold loans and develop more financial instruments linked to the precious metal to reduce dependence on gold imports and ease pressure on foreign exchange reserves, according to Shamika Ravi, Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM).In an exclusive interview with ANI, Ravi said gold in India is already being monetised through popular gold loan products, but there is a need to broaden the range of financial instruments available to households.On the monetisation of gold, Ravi also…