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Bondi, Melbourne, Brisbane: Australia destinations overseas visitors can’t pronounce properly

Tourists coming to Australia are often baffled by many of our place names and commonly mangle the pronunciation of some of the country’s most popular destinations, new research has found.

Sydney’s Bondi may be Australia’s most famous and busiest beach – with 1.7 million international visitors a year in 2018 according to Destination New South Wales – but a huge proportion of them are saying it wrong.

To Aussies it is of course pronounced “Bon-die” but many tourists, unfamiliar with the area, pronounce it phonetically as “Bon-dee”.

The pronunciation of Bondi is an example of a type of shibboleth, a word that can instantly distinguish whether someone is part of one group or another. In this case, saying “Bon-dee” would show the person wasn’t local or even resided in Australia.

The research was compiled by Preply, an online language learning platform that connects links up tutors with students.

The firm came to its conclusions by picking 68 major destinations where it’s known visitors can sometimes struggle over the correct pronunciation. It then analyzed Google search data to see how many instances there were of people inquiring about how to correctly say the places’ names and ranked them by the volume of searches.

In Australia, Brisbane and Melbourne were two other places where tourists found their tongues in a twist.

Melbourne sees three million international visitors a year. But you won’t make friends in Australia’s second biggest metropolis if you say “Mel-BOURNE” rather than “Mel-buhne”. Equally, it’s “BRIS-buhne” and definitely not “Bris-BAYNE” as some tourists will insist on saying.

“There’s nothing more embarrassing than arriving at a new holiday destination and mispronouncing its name in front of a local — especially if you butcher the regional accent,” said Preply learning success manager Amy Pritchett.

“When you learn to say these place names correctly, you’ll sound like a native — or at least a savvy tourist.”

Top five mangled global destinations

However, Australian place names were far down the global list of mispronounced metropolises, museums and other destinations.

It seems visitors find saying French place names are particularly mouthful with three of the five most butchered names in the land of the Gauls.

Topping the rankings was the beachside city of Cannes. And – just like most other visitors -Australians commonly get the pronunciation of this stylish French resort wrong.

It is definitely not pronounced “Carn” or “Cans” or “Cann-ess”. Rather, you drop the “es” at the end and simply say “Kan”. Short and sweet is a perfectly acceptable way to go. But if you want to sound really French you can do a distinctive semi linger at the end of the word by adding an “uh,” so “Kan-uh”.

One most Australians probably do better on, as so many have been to London, is the name of the river that runs through it.

Americans commonly think the Thames is pronounced as it looks and verbalizes a “Th” sound to produce the very oddly sounding River “Thaymez”. “Temz” is the way to go and will keep you in the good books of Londoners.

Third on the list is California’s Yosemite National Park. It’s not “Yoh-se-might” but “Yoh-seh-muh-tee” or “Yoh-she-muh-dee”.

The Louvre museum in Paris is definitely not the “Loop” or “Loo-ver” but “Loo-vruh” with a bit of a roll of the tongue on the second syllable.

Rounding out the top five of cringeworthy pronunciations is another French hotspot – the Place of Versailles where the French royals lived in pre-Revolution times.

Don’t say “Ver-sales,” do say “Vair-sigh”.

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Electric car sales Australia: July 2022

As Tesla waits for its next big shipment of cars, Volvo spin-off brand Polestar claimed another electric-car sales win last month.


the 2022 Polestar 2 remained Australia’s best-selling electric vehicle (EV) in July – but a wave of Tesla sedans and SUVs due within days may turn the tables from this month.

The latest VFACTS industry sales data shows the Polestar 2 – the first model from Volvo’s electric spin-off brand to be sold in Australia – remained Australia’s top-selling EV last month, as it was in June, with 94 cars reported as sold.



July was a slow month for electric vehicle sales – in relative terms – with 609 vehicles reported as sold, up from 515 in July 2021, but nearly half of the 1137 sold the month prior to last, in June 2022.

However, that can be attributed to fluctuations in supply, rather than demand – with something such as one fewer shipment of cars than usual capable of shuffling the order of the Top Five best sellers, given the relatively low volumes in which electric cars sell in Australia .

Another key factor behind the lower sales result is Tesla, which reported only four cars as sold in July – down from 172 in June – as it waited for its first major shipment of cars to arrive at the end of the month.



The first of these shipments arrived late last week (as reported yesterday), and the first cars are en route to showrooms now – with the first customers reporting on Facebook delivery dates later this week.

The inbound ships contain not only more Model 3 sedans, but also the first customer-bound examples of its Model Y SUV sibling – just a few months after orders opened in mid June.

While it’s unclear how many Teslas will arrive in Australia this month for delivery, the new vehicles will extend Tesla’s significant lead in the electric vehicle (EV) sales race, with the Model 3 already accounting for 45 per cent of all EVs sold so far this year.



That’s despite 95 per cent of these cars being delivered before the end of March (4417 of 4657) – and only 240 reaching customers’ homes since then. In the same period, Polestar reported 541 cars as sold.

As mentioned, July saw most electric car models post lower sales figures than they did in June – though that’s expected to be a result of fluctuating supply and vehicle shipments, rather than demand.



Some sales figures can be attributed to other factors; Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric sales were down to 17 cars (from 78 in June), as these were the last 2022 models to arrive, ahead of an updated 2023 model due this month.

Renault Kangoo ZE electric van sales slowed to a crawl in July – just one of two total Kangoos sold – ahead of a new model early next year, while five Kia Niro Electrics were sold, as supply for the just-launched second-generation model is currently skewed towards the cheaper hybrid variant.



However, none of these models can place higher than fourth in the sales standings. This story will be updated once these figures are received.

alex misoyannis

Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines as a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family.

Read more about Alex Misoyannis LinkIcon

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LDA Capital is an obscure US financier backing the ASX’s hot stocks

LDA Capital’s financing model is intriguing and, while it does appear well suited to speculative growth companies that need capital but lack institutional support, it’s not without risks.

The way a typical LDA financing arrangement works is as follows: LDA will agree to provide a set amount of equity financing to a company – say a minimum of $10 million and a maximum of $50 million, over a certain period. The company, at its discretion, can issue periodic capital calls that draw on the funding.

When a call is made, a certain number of shares are issued to LDA Capital, which then sells them into the open market over, say, 10 days.

The number of shares issued to LDA is limited by the average turnover of the stock to avoid it being stuck with more shares than the market can absorb.

LDA does not pay for the shares upfront, only on settlement. The price it pays for the shares (that is, the amount of new capital raised) is based on the volume weighted average price only despues de the call is made, less a discount of about 10 per cent.

It’s an arrangement that appears well suited to small companies that have drummed up solid retail interest through penny stock websites and sharemarket forums, yet haven’t been embraced by the big end of town.

LDA Capital’s most high-profile Australian play certainly fits that brief: Brainchip, which has emerged up the market cap ranks and was newly admitted into the S&F/ASX 200.

brain explosion

Brainchip has had financing arrangements in place with LDA since August 2020 in which it could call on a minimum of $20 million of financing and a maximum of $45 million of capital over a one-year period. LDA was also paid fees and granted over 100 million options, netting tens of millions of dollars of profit.

Interestingly, Brainchip required an extension to draw the minimum amount under the LDA facility, at which point a new financing arrangement that gave it access to a further $35 million became effective.

The latest, and largest, iron ore play Hawsons Iron, which said in December 2021 that it had secured $200 million through an LDA Capital facility.

Both Hawsons Iron and GetSwift touted the financing arrangements as providing continued and reliable access to capital, even when market conditions were prohibitive or volatile.

Perhaps it’s a case of imitation as the highest form of flattery, as Australian hedge fund Regal Funds Management has also embraced the LDA model.

Regal, which knows its way around the smaller end of the market better than most, provided facilities of $5 million and $20.5 million to micro cap stocks Allegiance Coal and Netlinkz.

These arrangements allow small companies to raise new capital on the back of retail enthusiasm, but they are not without risks.

Some traders like them to so-called death spiral financing. The term is used to describe convertible note placements to institutions that can result in a ballooning number of shares being issued to ensure they are fully paid back.

While these situations are different, without a fixed share price, such an arrangement creates the potential for an increased number of shares to be issued per dollar of financing required.

Whether the companies that adopt this financing find themselves in a death spiral or able to achieve escape velocity is what retail punters are betting on all the time.

The bet LDA and Regal are taking is simply that there’s a sufficient supply of punters out there willing to take their stock.

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The big question for investors amid Taiwan tensions relates to inflation

The immediate tensions in Taiwan following Pelosi’s visit will probably calm down in the coming days. But the whole episode – from the US administration’s provocative visit to China’s furious reaction – underscores the deep divide between these powerful nations. Throw in the war in Ukraine that will probably leave Russia in the diplomatic deep freeze for decades, and you have a strong reminder that geopolitical tensions will most likely only worsen.

Again, investors sitting in Australia are within their rights to ask: how much does this stuff really matter?

High inflation really matters

The answer may come from Credit Suisse strategist Zoltan Pozsar, who challenges investors to think of geopolitical tensions between the US (and the West more broadly) and China and Russia as part of an economic war destabilizing the low-inflation world we’ve enjoyed for decades.

And higher-for-longer inflation really matters for investors.

Pozsar’s view is that low inflation has simplistically been built on three things: immigration keeping wages low in the US (and arguably other Western countries); cheap goods from China helping to raise living standards despite stagnant wages; and cheap Russian gas powering Europe generally, and Germany specifically.

But the past few years have changed these settings.

Donald Trump’s anti-immigration policies reduced the US labor supply, and wage growth was accelerated by COVID-19-related border closures that further reduced immigration and led many workers to take early retirement.

Amid growing tensions between China and the US, China’s COVID-zero policy has choked the supply of cheap goods to the world.

And Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted the US to weaponize the US dollar to smash Russia’s economy, with Russia weaponizing energy in response.

economic war

It’s widely accepted that this current bout of inflation is supply-driven, caused by the Ukraine war, COVID-19 issues and supply chain disruptions. But it’s also widely accepted that inflation will fade relatively quickly.

Pozsar sees these supply problems as the result of an economic war between increasingly autocratic leaders, particularly in Russia and China.

“Think of the economic war as a fight between the consumer-driven West, where the level of demand has been maximized, and the production-driven East, where the level of supply has been maximized to serve the needs of the West – until East -West relations sourced, and supply snapped back.”

Viewed through this prism, Pozsar says central banks have an extremely difficult task. Rather than trying to get inflation up in a world where globalization was pushing down the cost of labour, commodities and goods, they now have the task of “cleaning up the inflationary impulses coming from a complex economic war”.

He argues political leaders may become more important than central bankers for markets; unpredictable political decisions that affect supply will matter more than monetary policy.

Pozsar emphasizes this is a thought-provoking scenario rather than a forecast, and there are important counterpoints to consider.

For example, China will find it hard to step up any economic war on the US and the West without damaging its own economy. Indeed, the relatively mild sanctions it has announced against Taiwan demonstrate this.

The US can ill afford an economic war, while Russia is already paying the economic price for an actual conflict.

But for investors, Pozsar’s argument is worth chewing on. It’s easy to see inflation coming down sharply in the next 12 months, as markets are clearly doing right now. But as this column has argued before, it’s hard to see inflationary impulses – rising commodity prices amid an energy transition, tighter labor markets as the global population ages, less globalized supply chains in a world of geopolitical tensions – going away.

Or as Pozsar puts it: “Do you see inflation as cyclical (a messy reopening exacerbated by excessive stimulus) or structural (a messy transition to a multipolar world, where two great powers are challenging the hegemony of the US)?

“If it’s the former, inflation has peaked. If it’s the latter, inflation has barely started and could actually be understood as an outright instrument of war.”

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Mykonos restaurant owner hits back at newlyweds who were charged $850 bill

The owner of a restaurant in Greece that has been accused of scamming tourists has finally spoken out.

Dimitrios Kalamaras, owner of DK Oyster in Mykonos, has hit back at tourists’ bad reviews, claiming they’re all influencers trying to score a free meal.

DK Oyster’s TripAdvisor rating is a measly 2.5 stars accumulated from its 1455 ratings. The page is flooded with one-star accounts of people accusing the restaurant of terrible service, aggressive tactics and sneaky outrageous prices, the new york post reports.

the post previously reported a story on a Canadian couple, Lindsay Breen and her husband Alex, both 30, who claimed they were refused menus, pressured into ordering food and surprised with a shocking bill.

“Unfortunately, all of us who work in the hospitality sector have been approached by notorious ‘influencers’ who, instead of making their living by advertising products and services to their audience, they put pressure on certain businesses for exorbitant fees and free meals,” Mr Kalamaras told Kennedy News.

“In DK Oyster we have advertised in the ways we consider suitable for our restaurant and we will not succumb to the influencers who have been attracted to the beautiful island of Mykonos,” he continued.

The restaurant sits on the shores of Mykonos on the Platis Gialos beach, welcoming tourists as they explore the top tourist destination.

The owner described the spot as a “very popular destination” for people that certain influencers would like to mingle with.

But for the Breens, they were just trying to enjoy their honeymoon.

The newlywed couple – who shared the story of their $A850 bill for a beer, an Aperol spritz and a dozen oysters – claimed they were surprised by the charge because they were denied a proper menu, pressured into ordering food and provided a bill in Greek .

Mr Kalamaras denies the accusations.

“This person who is trying to get famous through Instagram posts under the name of Lindsay Breen starts with a lie,” he said of Breen, who works as a recruiter.

“She claims that she ‘repeatedly asked for a cocktail menu,’ and adds that ‘the server didn’t seem to want to provide one’. Despite that, she placed an order.

“An influencer, an experienced well-travelled person who makes a living through their experiences in the world did what most adults in the right mind would not do, ordered drinks and food from a waiter who refused to present a menu,” Mr Kalamaras insisted .

The restaurant owner acknowledged the many bad reviews on TripAdvisor making claims similar to what the Breens made, but claims they are all false.

“This false claim has been used so much against our restaurant by dozens of anonymous users on TripAdvisor, that we decided to place three huge blackboards by the entrance of the restaurant displaying the menu and the prices,” he said.

Despite Mr Kalamaras’ denial of the complaints, DK Oyster was recently fined more than $30,000 for scamming two American tourists, the Greek City Times reported.

“I thought that this way our guests, if the reviews were indeed written by actual customers, would at least have an idea regarding the range of our prices in order to be sure to check the menu thoroughly before ordering,” he said.

Lindsay and Alex claim they quickly glanced at the menu outside DK Oyster and believe the oysters were listed at €9 but later learned that the restaurant priced their menu based on items per 100g.

“So it says calamari is 29 dollars but in fine print, it will say that’s for 100g of calamari so your bill comes up to 300 euros,” she said.

But Mr Kalamaras stands by his restaurant and workers, insisting that cheap clients are ruining the reputation of the spot.

“Every time I received such a complaint, always by anonymous users through TripAdvisor, I consulted with the personnel, reminding that it is crucial for our reputation to be sure that procedures are followed carefully,” he said.

“They always assured me that they abide by the rules.”

Mr Kalamaras suggests that guests carefully browse the menu and prices before ordering.

“I cannot stop every single person entering our premises and explain the significance of such a practice,” he said.

The owner suggests that customers who are “not malevolent” should either leave or request to talk to a manager if denied a menu.

“The manager can help before ordering and consuming, not at the time they are requested to pay the charged amounts,” Mr Kalamaras said, referring to the Breens’ claims that Alex was pressured into paying the high-priced bill.

“Unfortunately, there are people on TripAdvisor, openly encouraging guests to eat, eat and drink whatever they want and then refuse to pay the bills.”

He continued: “I understand that some people may find our prices beyond their budget and I totally respect their opinion even if they do not appreciate the value of our services, cuisine, concept and experience.”

Mr Kalamaras also noted Lindsay’s claims that other local restaurateurs warn tourists about DK Oysters and noted similar claims on TripAdvisor, but he suggests that it cannot be verified and that complainers are copying each other’s grievances.

Mr Kalamaras also said that he replies to some of the TripAdvisor comments to defend the shop and the quality of their service.

“We believe that the value of the offered experience is high and we have no intention to explain why we charge more than a supermarket or a traditional taverna, which can be quite wonderful but is surely a completely different concept than ours,” he said.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission

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Nuriyah Café in Sydney’s owner responds to negative review

A cafe owner has issued a heartwarming response after a disabled member of staff was criticized in a one-star review.

Adam Kakaati came to the defense of his barista Vari Desho, who has Tourette’s, after a customer wrote in a review that his tics made her feel “uncomfortable”.

The customer said they felt forced to leave Nuriyah Café, in Gregory Hills in south west Sydney, without eating or paying for their food.

“Unfortunately the front of house team member had a physical condition which we initially dismissed,” the post read.

“It causes him to ‘bark’ and as we said, we thought it would happen especially as when he took our order it stopped completely.

“Unfortunately it then got much worse and much louder and more constant. We felt sooo bad and really wanted to stay but when it got so bad we couldn’t even have a conversation we very reluctantly had to cancel our order and leave.”

Mr Kakaati quickly hit back with a Facebook post of his own, saying the review left him feeling “so angry”.

“Today at Nuriyah it was brought to our attention that a customer took it upon themselves to post a negative review regarding one of our employees,” he said.

“Here at Nuriyah we treat all our staff and customers like family and we wanted to address how we feel about the incident that occurred over the weekend.

“We welcome and support anyone with a life changing condition.”

“I was so angry to see that review. It’s not right,” he told the Macarthur Chronicle.

“I told him don’t ever say sorry to someone like that. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

Regulars at Nuriyah agreed, showing their support on Facebook.

“I know this man personally, and it is very heartbreaking to see someone go to such lengths to write a review like that,” one wrote.

“He is such a nice man, who would do anything to make sure you are happy and comfortable. Shame on you.”

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Australian bank Up launches new ‘save now, buy later’ scheme, Maybuy

A new type of lay-by is making a comeback in an attempt to lure young banking customers away from buy now, pay later schemes.
australian digital bank Up this week launched a new product as an echo of the old-school method of lay-by.

The company’s chief executive, Xavier Shay, said the anti-buy now, pay later feature, called Maybuy, would encourage customers to save before large purchases, rather than having them pay them off later.

Australian digital bank Up this week launched a new product as an answer to the old-school method of lay-by. (Nine)

“We kind of see Maybuy as an anti-buy now, pay later,” he said.

May buy will create an automated savings plan for users looking to purchase items online.

Upon reaching their goal, consumers receive a notification letting them know that they have the money to buy the item – if they still want it.

It’s a system older Australians know well, saving up bit by bit before buying something.

Richtech's ADAM Robot Barista is a $60,000 (USD) robot capable of making four coffees a minute, or capable of being your Cocktail waiter shaking up your next drink.

The new, wacky and innovative technology on display for 2022

“I remember that feeling, as a kid, of there being that new video game that I wanted and saving up my coins and going to Target every week,” Shay said.

“It’s not just getting the thing you want, it’s feeling good about ‘hey I’m actually in control of this’.”

It’s also a way to take on the big four banks and the likes of Afterpay.

Up is fully owned by Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, which hope to claim a bigger market share.

Up chief executive Xavier Shay said the anti-buy now, pay later feature would encourage customers to save ahead of large purchases rather than pay them off after. (Nine)

Canstar editor-at-large Effie Zahos said the feature was “very clever.”

“It puts the responsibility back into buying,” she said.

“Essentially they’re looking for new customers. Ideally they want you to have this as your main transaction account and then have your savings accounts off that.”

It’s estimated that as many as a third of adult Australians have a buy now, pay later account, but with costs on the rise, the idea of ​​”save now, buy later” could be making a comeback.

“I think the challenge for this product is convincing consumers there’s nothing wrong with doing things the old-fashioned way,” Zahos said.

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Sydney cafe, Nuriyah Cafe, owner defends employee with Tourette Syndrome

Read the one-star restaurant review an angry customer left a café because their barista with a disability made them ‘uncomfortable’ – as the trendy eatery fires back in an epic way

  • A café owner stood up for his employee after a review criticized his disability
  • Review said a barista at the café, who has Tourettes, made them uncomfortable
  • Adam Kakaati, the café owner, said the review was insensitive and angered him

An upset café boss has rushed to defend one of his employees after a nasty online review criticized the barista’s disability.

Adam Kakaati, the owner of Nuriyah Café in the southwest Sydney suburb of Gregory Hills, said Vari Desho is the best barista in town despite suffering from Tourette Syndrome.

However, an angry customers said Mr Desho’s ‘tics’ – involuntary noises or movements – caused them to leave the café without eating or paying for their food because they were uncomfortable.

Adam Kakaati, the owner of Nuriyah Café (left) in the southwest Sydney suburb of Gregory Hills, said Vari Desho (right) is the best barista in town despite suffering from Tourette Syndrome

Adam Kakaati, the owner of Nuriyah Café (left) in the southwest Sydney suburb of Gregory Hills, said Vari Desho (right) is the best barista in town despite suffering from Tourette Syndrome

The customer gave Nuriyah Cafe a one-star review because Mr Desho's Tourettes Syndrome made them uncomfortable (pictured, the negative review)

The customer gave Nuriyah Cafe a one-star review because Mr Desho’s Tourettes Syndrome made them uncomfortable (pictured, the negative review)

‘Unfortunately the front of house team member had a physical condition which we initially dismissed,’ the review said.

‘It causes him to ‘bark’ and as we said, we thought it would happen especially as when he took our order it stopped completely.

‘Unfortunately it then got much worse and much louder and more constant. We felt sooo bad and really wanted to stay but when it got so bad we couldn’t even have a conversation we very reluctantly had to cancel our order and leave.’

Mr Kakaati was quick to fire back with a post of his own.

‘Today at Nuriyah it was brought to our attention that a customer took it upon themselves to post a negative review regarding one of our employees,’ he wrote on Facebook.

‘Here at Nuriyah we treat all our staff & customers like family and we wanted to address how we feel about the incident that occurred, over the weekend.

‘We welcome and support anyone with a life changing condition.’

The defensive boss later said the review made him ‘so angry’ because Mr Desho isn’t able to help his condition.

‘His knowledge towards coffee, everything about the machine, and the way he makes it, no one does it better than him,’ Mr Kaakati told the Herald Sun.

Adam Kakaati said his employees at Nuriyah Cafe are 'like family' and said the review made him 'so angry' because Mr Desho didn't do anything wrong (pictured, food from Nuriyah Cafe)

Adam Kakaati said his employees at Nuriyah Cafe are ‘like family’ and said the review made him ‘so angry’ because Mr Desho didn’t do anything wrong (pictured, food from Nuriyah Cafe)

‘I told him don’t ever say sorry to someone like that. You haven’t done anything wrong.

‘People said ‘he might affect your business’, but I don’t care. He has a family to provide for and he’s one of the best workers I have.’

Commenters underneath Mr Kakaati’s emotional post also defended Mr Desho and called out the reviewer for being insensitive.

‘I know this man personally, and it is very heartbreaking to see someone go to such lengths to write a review like that,’ one person wrote.

‘He is such a nice man, who would do anything to make sure you are happy and comfortable. Shame on you.’

‘It makes me so happy to see a business that supports inclusion and stands by it when challenged. It’s people like this that will make positive change when it comes to stigma and judgement,’ another said.

What is Tourette Syndrome?

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder, which most often begins between the ages of 2 and 21, and lasts throughout life.

TS is NOT degenerative and people with TS can expect to live a normal life span.

Symptoms:

TS is characterized by rapid, repetitive and involuntary muscle movements and vocalisations called ‘tics’, and often involves behavioral difficulties.

The term ‘involuntary’, used to describe tics, is a source of confusion since it is known that most people with TS do have some control over their symptoms.

What is often not recognized is that the control which can be exerted, from seconds to hours at a time, only delays more severe outbursts of symptoms.

Tics are experienced as a build up of tension, are irresistible and eventually must be performed.

Typically tics increase as a result of tension or stress and decrease with relaxation or concentration on an absorbing task.

TS symptoms have long been misconstructed as a sign of behavioral abnormality or ‘nervous habits’, which they are not.

Source: Tourette.org

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Bank of England raises 0.5pc to 1.75pc, warns of long recession

“The Bank is forecasting stagflation and saying that the medicine is higher interest rates,” said Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics.

He reckoned interest rates might need to climb to 3 per cent in the coming year, and – like many commentators – he did not rule out another sharp move of 0.5 percentage points in September or November.

Matthew Ryan, head of market strategy at financial services firm Ebury, said he had “run out of fingers and toes keeping track of the number of occasions that the MPC has revised upwards its inflation forecasts in the past year”.

“The priority now clearly remains focused on controlling inflation at the expense of growth,” he said.

The BoE said even the labor market would not escape the economic carnage: the unemployment rate, which is now at a historic low of 3.8 per cent, will march up to 6.3 per cent by 2025.

The Bank of England’s big problem is that no matter how high interest rates go, this will have little impact on household and business energy bills, which are being driven by the Ukraine war’s impact on global commodity and energy prices.

Inflationary pressures have “intensified significantly,” the BOE said in its statement. “The latest rise in gas prices has led to another significant deterioration in the outlook for activity in the United Kingdom.”

energy nightmare

The worst of the energy inflation is yet to come in Britain. The maximum amount that energy companies can charge households is set at fixed intervals by the regulator Ofgem, which in April jacked up the cap by 54 per cent, for an average annual gas-electricity bill of £1971 ($3,440).

Energy analysis firm Cornwall Insights expects the next review, in October, will lift this to £3358, at 70 per cent surge.

The government has been shelling out money to help cushion the blow: every household is getting a £400 payment, with welfare recipients receiving an additional £650 grant.

On the business side of the ledger, Cornwall predicts that many companies might experience a fivefold surge in energy costs when their two-year contracts are renegotiated in October.

“While the business energy markets have so far managed to cope with the price increases … October’s increase in bills, coupled with other economic concerns being seen in the market, could tip businesses over the edge,” Cornwall’s analysts said in a note.

“This is particularly true for certain firms whose profitability is most exposed to energy cost increases, including hospitality, leisure, retail and many in the industrial sector. … The corresponding job losses [could] reverberate throughout the economy.”

The most recent GDP growth figure for Britain was 0.5 per cent in May, following a 0.2 per cent decline in April. The annual rate in the 12 months to May was 3.5 per cent.

But retail sales are falling, business confidence has declined, and the PMI flash economic indicators for both services and manufacturing are decelerating.

If the Bank of England continues raising interest rates as the economy begins to shrink, it would be the first time it has had to do this since the stagflationary dollars of 1975.

political pressure

The grim economic outlook is likely to put further pressure on the government, which has been accused of doing too little to ease the cost-of-living pressures and prevent a decline in living standards.

Prime ministerial hopeful Liz Truss has blamed the BoE for not moving sooner on inflation, and has vowed to review its mandate. But she is also proposing massive tax cuts that could further stoke inflation.

Meanwhile, the Bank is also trying to unload the holdings of government bonds that it bought to keep the economy afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is looking to start selling off about £10 billion a quarter from September, followed by smaller sales of corporate bonds.

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RBA interest rates: Otivo reveals the Perth postcodes set to be hardest hit by mortgage stress

Almost a quarter of a million WA homeowners will find themselves in the grips of mortgage stress as interest rates continue to climb, with little sign of a slowdown on the horizon.

The Reserve Bank on Tuesday announced that it would lift its official interest rate by 50 basis points to 1.85 per cent for the fourth month in a row.

The cash rate target has now increased by 1.75 percentage points since the start of May to 1.85 per cent, with the hike expected to add about $472 a month to repayments on a $500,000 loan, with Commonwealth Bank the first of Australia’s big four banks making the move to hit borrowers with the full increase.

With families across Australia already struggling under the weight of the surging cost of living, new data suggests the move will plunge 1.8 million owner-occupied mortgaged households into financial stress — including 228,621 in WA.

The new report by digital financial advice service Otivo, in partnership with Digital Finance Analytics, surveyed 52,000 households to reveal the real impact of interest rate rises on Australians with owner-occupied mortgages — with a household deemed to be under “mortgage stress” if there is more money going out than in.

The Otivo Mortgage Stress Report stated that at the end of July 2022, more than 1.7 million (or 45 per cent) of Australians were already suffering under mortgage stress.

More than 1.8 million Australians will suffer off the back of the RBA’s latest cash rate hike.

The report further predicted Tuesday’s RBA announcement would force an additional 140,839 Australians into the same boat, bringing the total to 1.8 million.

Otivo then drilled down to reveal the top three postcodes in each State or Territory expected to feel the most significant impact off the back of the latest cash rate hike.

The report revealed some of Perth’s most affluent suburbs would soon be hit with mortgage stress, with homes in some of the city’s most prestigious areas warned to curb spending and brace themselves for the bleak outlook.

An eyewatering 59 per cent (or 1760) households in postcode 6153 (Applecross, Ardross, Brentwood, Mount Pleasant) are expected to fall victim to mortgage pain, with the latest rise pushing an additional 644 homes into stress compared with July’s numbers.

Second on the list is 6152 (Como, Karawara, Manning, Salter Point, Waterford), with an extra 580 households bringing the total number of homeowners under stress to 2087.

Further south, 518 more homes in Mandurah’s 6210 postcode area (Coodanup, Dudley Park, Erskine, Falcon, Greenfields, Halls Head, Madora Bay, Mandurah, Meadow Springs, San Remo, Silver Sands, Wannanup) will take the total number in the 6210 postcode area to 3623 homeowners.

Otivo chief executive Paul Feeney said the mortgage stress report reiterated the need for Australians to seek personal financial advice, regardless of what interest rates and inflation do over the coming months.

“With Australians looking down the barrel of the rising cost of living and higher interest rates, and more than 1.8 million Australians set to be suffering from mortgage stress off the back of the RBA’s latest cash rate hike, now more than ever Australians need quality and affordable financial advice to help them stay on top of their finances,” he said.

Mr Feeney’s top tips for Australians under financial pressure due to mortgage stress

Review or create a budget—Understand what money is coming in and what money is going out. What are the non-negotiable costs (such as your mortgage, utilities, groceries and transport costs) and where can you cut back. If you want to avoid mortgage stress, you’ll need to make some small changes to your monthly spending patterns.

Understand the benefit of an offset or redraw — If you have a mortgage, put spare cash into an offset account or redraw facility. This lowers your loan balance that interest is charged on, saving you money each month.

Discuss your mortgage with your lender — If you’re concerned about interest rate rises, discuss this with your lender and understand if there is an opportunity to get a better rate. Banks are often open to helping their clients if they are under financial stress. You will have to make it up eventually but this may provide some short-term relief for your household right now.

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