EXCLUSIVE Huge 'shakedown' by US car rental giant drives people insane... amid fears of secret dystopian plot
Before handing over the keys, he'd driven the SUV through a high-tech archway outfitted with cameras, LED lights and AI-powered sensors.
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Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Trump says the US 'pretty much' has a deal on TikTok
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, July 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday the United States "pretty much" has a deal on the sale of the TikTok short-video app. Last month, Trump extended to September 17 a deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the U.S. assets of TikTok.
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
These are the most boring cities in the US
While booking your summer vacation, you may want to avoid these most boring cities in the United States, according to one analysis. It's always exciting visiting a new place and finding out what it has to offer. While experiences vary, a recent analysis by FinanceBuzz, a personal finance site, found which cities people may find boring based on activities and dining options available. FinanceBuzz analyzed 75 of the biggest cities in the country and rated them from most to least boring. The ratings were based on population makeup, culinary scene, outdoor activities, nightlife and celebrations and things to do. Here's the list of the top 10 most boring cities in the U.S: Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville topped FinanceBuzz's boring scale over its large number of chain restaurants and its low number of nightclubs and concert venues compared to other cities. 'There are large stretches of the city where population density is relatively low, naturally leading to lower instances of things like nightclubs and award-winning restaurants,' FianceBuzz said in its recently published report. Wichita, Kansas Wichita has a good amount of outdoor recreational activities but only has one restaurant recognized by the James Beard Foundation for exceptional achievement in the culinary arts in recent years. 'Wichita also ranks in the bottom five in the country in terms of international visitors per capita, indicating that it isn't offering much in the way of eye-catching attractions for outsiders,' FinanceBuzz said. Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi has no award-winning restaurants and doesn't offer many things to do compared to other cities. The city is 'in the bottom 15 when it comes to the number of sports teams in the city and bottom 10 in terms of must-do attractions per capita,' FinanceBuzz said. Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls has several restaurants with James Beard awards, but it also has 'the highest percentage of eateries that are chain restaurants of any city in the country,' FinanceBuzz said. The city also struggles with fun attractions and has few sports teams. Memphis, Tennessee Memphis not only has 'the 12th-fewest number of annual events and celebrations relative to population size,' according to FinanceBuzz, but the quality of its parks and the number of hiking trails leave something to be desired. San Antonio, Texas FinanceBuzz did mention some highlights of San Antonio, such as the Alamo and River Walk, but when nightfall comes, there aren't many clubs and concert venues to visit compared to other cities. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma More than half the food joints in Oklahoma City are restaurant chains and it may be hard to find hiking trails compared to other cities. The city also has 'some of the worst parks in the country,' FinanceBuzz said. Columbus, Ohio Despite being a college town, Columbus 'has the 14th-lowest rate of nightclubs per capita,' FinanceBuzz said. The city also struggles with fun attractions. Tallahassee, Florida While Tallahassee has a young and vibrant population thanks to Florida State University, it may be hard to find fun attractions, concerts or sports games in the area compared to other cities, according to FinanceBuzz's analysis. The city also has no award-winning restaurants. Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix 'has the sixth-lowest rate of annual celebrations and events per capita in the country,' according to FinanceBuzz, and concert venues are scarce compared to other cities.
The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
Colleges will soon have to fork over millions of dollars as Trump's bill extends a tax on their endowments
President Donald Trump 's "big, beautiful bill" has passed and is causing panic for the heads of America's top universities. The bill — which was unanimously opposed by Democrats in the House and the Senate — was sold by Trump as a method for providing tax relief and expanding American wealth. Among its various provisions, the bill levies a tiered tax on university endowments, which previously were not taxable. The new tax is justified by the Trump administration as a way to prevent universities from "[abusing] generous benefits provided through the tax code". The taxes range from 1.4 percent to 8 percent at the wealthiest institutions. Universities rely on their endowments to fund essential operations and to provide services to their students. In 2017, during Trump's first term, Congress started taxing universities with endowments of $500,000 or more per student at 1.4 percent. The new bill expands that. Harvard and Princeton both have endowments of $2 million or more per student. They will be subject to an 8 percent tax on their investment income. It could be worse; the original House bill set the tax at 21 percent, and Vice President J.D. Vance — himself a product of a wealthy school and its endowment funding — wanted to set the tax at 35 percent, according to the New York Times. Harvard has the largest endowment of any U.S. university, with an estimated $53.2 billion. At an 8 percent tax rate, the school will be paying approximately $4.24 billion to the federal government. Only nine U.S. universities qualify for the highest tax rate; Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, CIT, Juilliard, Amherst and Pomona. Schools with endowments of between $750,000 and $2m per student will be taxed at 4 percent. That tier includes universities such as Notre Dame, Dartmouth, the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Baylor, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Vanderbilt, the University of Chicago, Columbia and Brown. In the case of a school such as the University of Chicago, the college has an endowment of $850,000 per student, so it will be taxed at the 4 percent rate. With an endowment estimated at $10.4 billion, the university will pay $416 million each year. The University of Notre Dame's endowment is approximately $18 billion, so it will pay around $720 million each year. All other schools that qualify — meaning they have at least 500 tuition-paying students — will be taxed at 1.4 percent. The tiered endowment taxes aren't the only changes to higher education that the "big, beautiful bill" has introduced. Student loans are also being re-tooled. A lifetime borrowing cap of $100,000 for graduate students and a $200,000 cap for law and med school students is now in place. The bill also set a $65,000 cap on Parent PLUS loans, which are unsubsidized loans that parents can use to support their dependent undergraduate students. Those loans will no longer be eligible for repayment programs. Repaying student loans has also changed. The new bill puts limits on deferments and forbearances and replaces existing income-based payment plans — aimed at helping lower-income borrowers — with two ways to repay. One plan is a standard repayment plan that lets borrowers pay over 10 to 25 years based on their loan amounts, regardless of their income. The other is labeled at a "Repayment Assistance Plan" that is based on a percentage of a borrower's discretionary income. The approximately eight million borrowers enrolled in former President Joe Biden's SAVE repayment plan will have to wait a little longer for a judge to rule on the program's legality.
