Wednesday, April 29

Blog

Are we too comfortable with credit cards?
Business

Are we too comfortable with credit cards?

Enable.me financial advisor Nadine Higgins said people are likely to spend more money using card than cash. Photo: 123RF Have you ever got to the end of the month and been surprised by the state of your credit card bill? It is a smack in the face felt by many. New Zealanders had $6.1 billion outstanding on credit cards in July according to the Reserve Bank. Enable.me financial advisor Nadine Higgins told Afternoons people were likely to spend more money using card than cash. "It is just something I observed in my own life, if I'm completely honest, and it is what I have observed with my clients," she said. "I have gone to the counter to pay for something, say at a restaurant, and I swipe my card and I have not even clocked exactly what the number is. "And so that is how far away we ar...
Asia markets plunge after global rout last week
World News

Asia markets plunge after global rout last week

A monitor shows Japan's Nikkei Stock Average temporarily plunging more than 2500 yen in Tokyo on Monday, 5 August, 2024. Photo: Tetsuji Noguchi / Yomiuri / AFP Stock markets in Asia plunged on Monday, following big falls last week by major indexes around the world. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 and Topix indexes were both down by more than 10 percent in afternoon trade. It comes after weak jobs data in the US on Friday sparked fears of a recession in the world's largest economy. Meanwhile, the yen has been strengthening against the US dollar since the Bank of Japan raised interest rates last week, making stocks in Tokyo more expensive for foreign investors. "The selloff was instigated by the sharp appreciation of the [yen] as global investors turned cautious on Japanese corporate earnings, e...
Uber Eats fees gobbling profits – restaurants
Business

Uber Eats fees gobbling profits – restaurants

Some restaurants say Uber Eats fees are greedily gobbling up their profits and they are now urging people to bypass the delivery giant and order from them directly. Jazzy Seng, manager of Christchurch eateries Thai Box and Thai Container, with both takeaways using Uber Eats, told Checkpoint Uber Eats takes a 30 percent cut. "Uber Eats is set up to extract as much money as possible, while still remaining viable for people by taking 30 percent from restaurants and take away joints like us and then they take a further service fee from customers who order from uber eats," she said. She said customers did not see the cut from their end, because they were shown a different set up. "They don't know what goes into Uber Eats and what they're spending." The restaurants take a cut, meaning their pr...
Industry season three: Why you need to watch ‘the most cynical show on TV’
World News

Industry season three: Why you need to watch ‘the most cynical show on TV’

By Caryn James of the BBC Yasmin (Marisa Abela), an heiress who works at Pierpoint. Photo: Simon Ridgway/HBO Does anyone enter the world of high finance for altruistic reasons? Ha! That is a laughable idea in Industry, the most cynical show on television. Largely because of that cynicism, it's also one of the best. The series about young professionals at the London branch of Pierpoint, a major investment bank, is ruthlessly clear-eyed about the cutthroat nature of its business and the competitiveness of its characters who are, if we're being charitable, ethically challenged. If we're being blunt, they are very attractive snakes, slithering around and selling each other out in an atmosphere of high-tension trades and privileged lives fuelled by sex and drugs. It's fascinating and grea...
Olympian tennis couple broke up to focus on the sport. They just won gold together
World News

Olympian tennis couple broke up to focus on the sport. They just won gold together

Katrina Siniakova and Tomas Machac at the tennis mixed doubles medal ceremony. Photo: Getty Images An Olympian couple called it quits on their relationship to focus on their sport. Now, they've just won gold together at the 2024 Paris Olympics - and sparked rumours of a rekindled romance. Czech tennis stars Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac were crowned mixed doubles champions on Friday, beating China's Wang Xinyu and Zhang Zhizhen 6-2, 5-7 and 10-8. An impressive win aside, it was their court-side celebration that had heads turning - just weeks after confirming their breakup, the pair celebrated their win with a warm embrace and a kiss. Machac and Siniakova have become one of tennis's most recognisable power couples over the years. The duo began dating in 2020 and juggled their perso...
Police seek suspension of majority of South Island New World liquor licenses
Business

Police seek suspension of majority of South Island New World liquor licenses

(File image) Photo: New Zealand Herald / Andrew Warner Police are seeking the suspension of South Island New World liquor licenses for alleged continual breaches of online alcohol advertising controls. A two-day hearing in Christchurch District Court began on Monday and will continue into Tuesday. Police alcohol harm prevention officer, Inspector Ian Paulin, has applied to the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority to suspend the off-licences of 35 Foodstuffs South Island's New World supermarkets - the majority of stores in the South Island. The Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act only allows discounts of more than 25 percent to be promoted inside licensed premises. Paulin alleged the supermarket chain had breached those rules through online advertising relating to the advertisement of D...
ASIO lifts terror threat level to ‘probable’ amid heightened tensions over war in Gaza
World News

ASIO lifts terror threat level to ‘probable’ amid heightened tensions over war in Gaza

(File image). Photo: 123RF Australia's official terror alert level has been raised to "probable" amid heightened community tensions over the war in Gaza. Security authorities believe the chances of a violent extremist act are now more likely than when authorities lowered the alert level to "possible" in November 2022. ASIO's director-general Mike Burgess said Australia's security environment had become more volatile and unpredictable. "More Australians are being radicalised and being radicalised more quickly," Burgess said. "More Australians are willing to use violence to advance their cause. Politically motivated violence now joins espionage and foreign interference as our principal security concerns." He also noted the conflict in Gaza was not the "cause" for raising the terror level,...
New Zealand PM welcomes Vanuatu leader Charlot Salwai
World News

New Zealand PM welcomes Vanuatu leader Charlot Salwai

Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER The Prime Minister of Vanuatu has been welcomed to Parliament with a formal pōwhiri and gun salute. Charlot Salwai will be in New Zealand until Thursday, visiting Auckland as well. New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon welcomed Salwai and spoke of the longstanding relationship between the two countries. Luxon also acknowledged Vanuatu's RSE workers, thanking them for their support and their contribution to New Zealand. Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER Source link
Rising obesity in kids in India can lead to poor health later: Experts
Health

Rising obesity in kids in India can lead to poor health later: Experts

Childhood obesity is one of the leading and steadily increasing health concerns, experts said on Sunday.  With a large segment of the population falling in the younger age group, childhood obesity is a growing concern that could lead to significant health problems in adulthood. Addressing the rising issue of childhood obesity in India, experts emphasise the long-term health risks associated with it and the need for early intervention. Initiatives like school-based education and healthy meal programs are crucial in managing and preventing obesity. Lifestyle changes remain the primary tool so that adulthood risks can be managed, with bariatric surgery remaining an option for more serious/specific cases. "Childhood obesity is a significant problem in our country, given our large young popu...
How a $920 fridge created a $10k ‘debt spiral’
Business

How a $920 fridge created a $10k ‘debt spiral’

An EFTPOS card being swiped at a terminal. Photo: 123RF A case in which a woman ended up with $10,000 debt after buying a $920 fridge has sparked a warning from the Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme (IFSO) - and a refund to the borrower. The case was recently investigated by the scheme, which does not identify the people who complain nor the providers they complain about. The woman had needed a new fridge, and found one that cost $920. The shop offered her a credit card to purchase it, with an available credit balance of $6000. She then used the card to buy other things and ended up struggling with the repayments, so the card provider recommended she take a personal loan to pay it off. But the woman then had to give up her job because of medical issues, which put her int...