12 August 2026

Axe the tourist tax to make Harvey Nichols absolutely fabulous again, says Alex Brummer

Downunder Voices Newsroom

Mike Ashley’s first swing at Britain’s luxury market didn’t go well in 2002 when he bought Britain’s upmarket sports emporium Lillywhites. At the time it was favoured by Wimbledon stars, athletes and ...

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Investor loan applications may have fallen since the start of the year, but the slump already appears to be turning around The country’s biggest mortgage lender, Commonwealth Bank, reported a bumper $11bn full-year cash profit on Wednesday, backed by robust demand for its lending products, especially mortgages.

Source: The Guardian WorldOriginal source

Australia

12 August 2026

Pay with a glance at a screen as biometric technology company begins push into Australian retail

Customers will be able to pay using face and palm scans, potentially speeding up transactions – but rollout of the technology is likely to be slow Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Verifone is selling the innovation as “pay for your coffee with a smile”, promising faster checkouts for people who opt in to having their face or palm-vein – the veins in people’s hands – biometrics used for Eftpos transactions in Australia.

Source: The Guardian WorldOriginal source

World

12 August 2026

National’s Asian candidates face uphill battle to secure seat in Parliament

Top-ranked list-only candidate Nancy Lu will be hoping election night results go her way, while Indian-origin contenders look like needing to win electorate races to secure a path to the Beehive.

Source: https://www.rnz.co.nz/rss/news.xmlOriginal source

New Zealand

12 August 2026

'Visual pollution': Kelburn residents oppose cellphone tower next to St Michael's Anglican Church

Residents in the Wellington's Kelburn say a planned cellphone tower to be built in front of a church will be 'visual pollution'.

Source: https://www.rnz.co.nz/rss/news.xmlOriginal source

Axe the tourist tax to make Harvey Nichols absolutely fabulous again, says Alex Brummer

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