Latest news with #COVID19
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The Goldilocks Lease–Real Estate Investors Find Profitable Work-Around To Increase Returns Despite Airbnb Bans
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. Airbnb (NASDAQ: ABNB) gave birth to a cottage industry of short-term rentals worldwide, and astute real estate investors dove in with both hands. High profits motivated property owners to become short-term rental specialists. Many local governments responded with short-term rental bans, but landlords have devised a new workaround: the mid-term lease. These goldilocks leases are now generating better returns than short-term rentals while simultaneously complying with local regulations. This trend, which is a winner for real estate investors, but still has the potential to leave traditional renters out in the cold, was recently profiled in Business Insider. Property owner Zeona McIntyre discovered the potential of mid-term leases during the COVID pandemic. When the pandemic set in, the chaos caused by stay-at-home orders and travel restrictions led to her losing nearly all her Airbnb bookings. Don't Miss: GoSun's breakthrough rooftop EV charger already has 2,000+ units reserved — become an investor in this $41.3M clean energy brand today. Invest early in CancerVax's breakthrough tech aiming to disrupt a $231B market. Back a bold new approach to cancer treatment with high-growth potential. 'I was really open to doing whatever I needed to get my properties rented,' she told Business Insider. McIntyre found success on a website called Furnish Finder. The platform focused on offering leases longer than 30 days but less than one year to working professionals. It turned out to be the happy medium between Airbnb and being a traditional long-term landlord. 'I realized there are tons of people looking all the time for longer stays, and longer stays are kind of awesome because people don't need as much from you. They're OK to go buy their own toilet paper and change the batteries because they're living there,' she said. It was a classic case of necessity being the mother of invention, and the mid-term rental business was so good to McIntyre that she converted all of her income properties to the new format. 'My bread-and-butter is these mid-term rentals,' said McIntyre. 'I want a longer tenant in there, and I don't want to have to think about it for three months.' Business Insider says she is not alone in discovering the potential advantages of mid-term rentals. Other landlords are beginning to realize that taking this middle-of-the-road approach offers a host of potential advantages. Trending: This Jeff Bezos-backed startup will allow you to become a landlord in just 10 minutes, with minimum investments as low as $100. The flexibility aspect of mid-term leases and the fact that tenants tended to be working professionals make life easier for both the landlord and the neighbors of the rental unit. Working professionals are much less likely to throw the kinds of loud parties that renters on a two or three-week holiday might throw. On top of that, mid-term landlords are discovering that they have a lot more leeway to operate without government oversight. According to Business Insider, many short-term rental bans or registration requirements apply to properties offering stays of less than 30 days. Short-term rental registration also often included high fees and tax surcharges. Other cities and local governments limited the number of short-term rentals that could exist in a given area. In most cases, mid-term leases are not subject to these kinds of restrictions. That's why McIntyre told Business Insider she believes that mid-term rentals are the "sweet spot of real estate investing." She went so far as to say she considers them to be 'a whole different vibe from short-term rentals, and way less stressful.' Many short-term rental landlords can attest to the high levels of detail and stress that go hand in hand with the high rents. When you factor that in with the reduced regulatory picture, McIntyre's point becomes even clearer. 'Short-term rentals have been under scrutiny, and the ever-tightening regulations are constantly changing,' she said to Business Insider. 'But there is sort of this magic number that, as soon as a listing is over 30 days, these rentals get classified into a long-term rental bucket, and then you don't have the extra taxes or have to have a short-term rental permit." Keep this in mind if you're a landlord looking to boost your returns without going the short-term leasing route. See Next: $100k in assets? Maximize your retirement and cut down on taxes: Book your free call with a financial advisor to start your financial journey – no cost, no obligation. Warren Buffett once said, "If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die." Here's how you can earn passive income with just $100. This article The Goldilocks Lease–Real Estate Investors Find Profitable Work-Around To Increase Returns Despite Airbnb Bans originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Fox News
4 hours ago
- Health
- Fox News
New WHO report fails to rule out COVID-19 lab leak origin as China continues to impede investigation
A World Health Organization (WHO) scientific advisory group on Friday released a report on the origins of COVID-19, concluding that available evidence suggests the deadly pandemic was caused by "zoonotic spillover," either directly from bats or through an intermediate host. The report from the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), which claims to be a panel of 27 independent, international, multidisciplinary experts, said that much of the information needed to fully evaluate all hypotheses has not been provided. However, still citing a believed cause, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that "all hypotheses must remain on the table, including zoonotic spillover and lab leak." As the Wall Street Journal previously reported, the WHO's COVID-19 origin findings come amid a pattern of suspicious activity. The WHO traveled to China in early 2021 with British zoologist Dr. Peter Daszak, who was disbarred last year from doing work for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is accused of using American taxpayer dollars to fund gain-of-function research at the bat lab in Wuhan, China. Once at the Wuhan lab, Daszak and others were allegedly blocked from doing any of the research necessary to investigate. As noted by the White House when highlighting a report from the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, "The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2" publication — which was used repeatedly by public health officials and the media to discredit the lab leak theory — was prompted by Dr. [Anthony] Fauci to push the preferred narrative that COVID-19 originated in nature. The WHO said it had requested that China share hundreds of genetic sequences from individuals with COVID-19 early in the pandemic, more detailed information about the animals sold at markets in Wuhan, and information on work done and biosafety conditions at laboratories in Wuhan. To date, China has not shared this information either with SAGO or the WHO. "I thank each of the 27 members of SAGO for dedicating their time and expertise to this very important scientific undertaking over more than three years," Ghebreyesus wrote in a statement. "… We continue to appeal to China and any other country that has information about the origins of COVID-19 to share that information openly, in the interests of protecting the world from future pandemics." SAGO published its initial findings and recommendations in a report on June 9, 2022. The most recent report updates the evaluation based on peer-reviewed papers and reviews, as well as available unpublished information and field studies, interviews and other reports, including audit findings, government reports and intelligence reports. Those part of SAGO convened in various formats 52 times, conducted briefings with researchers, academics, journalists and others, according to the WHO. "As the report says, this is not solely a scientific endeavor, it is a moral and ethical imperative," Marietjie Venter, chair of the group, wrote in a statement. "Understanding the origins of SARS-CoV-2 and how it sparked a pandemic is needed to help prevent future pandemics, save lives and livelihoods, and reduce global suffering." "The work to understand the origins of SARS-CoV-2 remains unfinished," the WHO wrote in a statement. "WHO welcomes any further evidence on the origins of COVID-19, and SAGO remains committed to reviewing any new information should it become available."
CBS News
6 hours ago
- Business
- CBS News
4 in Los Angeles area charged in alleged $93 million COVID-19 fraud scheme, FBI says
Four people from the Los Angeles area have been federally charged for their alleged roles in what the FBI calls the "nation's largest known" $93 million COVID-19 tax credit fraud scheme. On June 11, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against four individuals charging them with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to submit false claims. The FBI said two of the defendants named are also charged with attempting to kill a witness and "using a firearm in furtherance of that crime." During the pandemic, Congress authorized tax credits to help alleviate the financial impacts of COVID-19 through the Family First Coronavirus Response Act. This allowed small businesses to apply for refunds on business tax returns, claiming the credit. The authorized tax credits would then allow businesses to be reimbursed for the wages that were paid to employees who could not work due to the pandemic. The defendants named in the indictment: Kristerpher Turner, 52, from Harbor City, aliases "Kris Turner," "Red," "Red Boy," and "Bullet" Toriano Knox, 55, from Los Angeles, aliases "Scooby" and "Dwight" Kenya Jones, 46, from Compton, aliases "Kenya Emua Jones" and "Kenya Hunt" Joyce Johnson, 55, from Victorville, alias "Ms. Jay" According to court documents, Turner was allegedly head of a tax fraud scheme where he and his co-conspirators would submit fraudulent applications to the Coronavirus Response Credits for businesses, including fake companies. "Defendant Turner and his co-conspirators would submit these fraudulent filings on behalf of their own purported businesses, but also on behalf of others recruited to the scheme," the FBI said. Officials claim Turner would direct and manage recruiters, including Knox and Jones, to recruit other clients. The court documents claim Jones recruited her family members and friends, which resulted in false forms being submitted on behalf of multiple businesses. The fraudulent clients would use their personal information to create the fake businesses and prepare the fraudulent tax filings. The FBI also claims others would provide information about preexisting businesses that were ineligible to receive the Coronavirus Response Credits, "so that the co-conspirators could use that information to file fraudulent tax filings on behalf of those businesses." The fraud participants received checks from the U.S. Treasury as a result of the fraudulent tax filings. According to the FBI, for every Treasury check a fraud client received, Turner would allegedly charge between 20 to 40% of the proceeds. Authorities claim Turner directed fraud clients and his recruiters to pay him a portion of the money they received directly to him or entities controlled by him. The indictment claims that between June 2020 and December 2024, the defendants and co-conspirators submitted or caused the submission of fraudulent forms for at least 148 companies, which totaled $247,956,938 in tax refunds they were "not entitled to." As a result of the fraudulent forms and false statements, the IRS issued approximately $93 million in Treasury checks. Court documents allege that during the scheme, when the defendants found out that the IRS was making inquiries, Knox and Jones attempted to kill Turner. The indictment says they wanted to "prevent him from speaking to law enforcement about the fraud." Turner was shot multiple times in broad daylight in Gardena. He survived the shooting but is paralyzed, the FBI says. If convicted of the charges, the defendants could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison on each mail fraud charge. Additionally, Knox and Jones could face life imprisonment on the firearm charge and 30 years on the attempted murder charge.
Globe and Mail
6 hours ago
- Health
- Globe and Mail
WHO expert group fails to find a definitive answer for how COVID-19 began
An expert group charged by the World Health Organization to investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic started released its final report Friday, reaching an unsatisfying conclusion: Scientists still aren't sure how the worst health emergency in a century began. At a press briefing on Friday, Marietjie Venter, the group's chair, said that most scientific data supports the hypothesis that the new coronavirus jumped to humans from animals. That was also the conclusion drawn by the first WHO expert group that investigated the pandemic's origins in 2021, when scientists concluded the virus likely spread from bats to humans, via another intermediary animal. At the time, WHO said a lab leak was 'extremely unlikely.' Venter said that after more than three years of work, WHO's expert group was unable to get the necessary data to evaluate whether or not COVID-19 was the result of a lab accident, despite repeated requests for hundreds of genetic sequences and more detailed biosecurity information that were made to the Chinese government. 'Therefore, this hypothesis could not be investigated or excluded,' she said. 'It was deemed to be very speculative, based on political opinions and not backed up by science.' She said that the 27-member group did not reach a consensus; one member resigned earlier this week and three others asked for their names to be removed from the report. Five years ago, we predicted how COVID-19 would change our world. Here's what we got right – and wrong Venter said there was no evidence to prove that COVID-19 had been manipulated in a lab, nor was there any indication that the virus had been spreading before December 2019 anywhere outside of China. 'Until more scientific data becomes available, the origins of how SARS-CoV-2 entered human populations will remain inconclusive,' Venter said, referring to the scientific name for the COVID-19 virus. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was a 'moral imperative' to determine how COVID began, noting that the virus killed at least 20 million people, wiped at least US$10 trillion from the global economy and upended the lives of billions. Last year, the AP found that the Chinese government froze meaningful domestic and international efforts to trace the virus' origins in the first weeks of the outbreak in 2020 and that WHO itself may have missed early opportunities to investigate how COVID-19 began. U.S. President Donald Trump has long blamed the emergence of the coronavirus on a laboratory accident in China, while a U.S. intelligence analysis found there was insufficient evidence to prove the theory. Chinese officials have repeatedly dismissed the idea that the pandemic could have started in a lab, saying that the search for its origins should be conducted in other countries. Last September, researchers zeroed in on a short list of animals they think might have spread COVID-19 to humans, including racoon dogs, civet cats and bamboo rats.
Al Jazeera
6 hours ago
- Health
- Al Jazeera
COVID-19 origin still ‘inconclusive' after years-long WHO study
The World Health Organization (WHO) says efforts to uncover the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic are still ongoing and incomplete, as critical information has 'not been provided'. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said 'all hypotheses must remain on the table' to determine the cause of the virus, also known as SARS-CoV-2, after an expert group investigating its origins reached an unsatisfying conclusion in its final report released on Friday. 'We continue to appeal to China and any other country that has information about the origins of COVID-19 to share that information openly, in the interests of protecting the world from future pandemics,' Tedros said. The global pandemic, which began in 2020, killed millions worldwide, with countries enforcing lockdowns in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus. With the first cases detected in Wuhan, China, in late 2019, information from the country is seen as key to preventing future pandemics. In 2021, Tedros launched the WHO Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), a panel of 27 independent international experts. Marietjie Venter, the group's chair, said on Friday that most scientific data supports the hypothesis that the new coronavirus jumped to humans from animals. But she added that after more than three years of work, SAGO was unable to get the necessary data to evaluate whether or not COVID was the result of a lab accident, despite repeated requests for detailed information made to the Chinese government. 'Therefore, this hypothesis could not be investigated or excluded,' she said, however adding, 'It was deemed to be very speculative, based on political opinions and not backed up by science.' Venter also said there was no evidence to prove that COVID had been manipulated in a lab, nor was there any indication that the virus had been spreading before December 2019 anywhere outside of China. 'Remains inconclusive' In 2021, a group of experts from the WHO first travelled to Wuhan to examine the origins of the virus with their Chinese counterparts. By March of that year, their joint report found that the most likely hypothesis was from bats to humans via an intermediate animal. They said at the time that a lab leak was 'extremely unlikely'. However, that investigation faced backlash for lacking transparency and access, and not taking the lab-leak theory seriously. After that, SAGO was launched. According to the SAGO report, 'the weight of available evidence … suggests zoonotic [a disease spread between animals to humans] spillover … either directly from bats or through an intermediate host'. 'Until more scientific data becomes available, the origins of how SARS-CoV-2 entered human populations will remain inconclusive,' Venter said. 'Understanding the origins of SARS-CoV-2 and how it sparked a pandemic is needed to help prevent future pandemics, save lives and livelihoods, and reduce global suffering,' she added. Tedros said it was a 'moral imperative' to determine how COVID began, noting that the virus killed at least 20 million people, wiped at least $10tn from the global economy and upended the lives of billions.
