Table of contents for 2024-02-20 in Cape Times

SOUTH Africa’s steel industry is in a state of crisis and the metals industry, including the engineering sector, has been losing 40 jobs every day in South Africa since 2008. This was according to the Confederation of Employers of SA chairperson Dr Lawrence McCrystal, who in a statement shared a concern of the Steel and Engineering Industry Federation of South Africa (Seifsa) chief operations officer-economist Tafadzwa Chibanguza, that the sector’s employment trends spelt wide-scale social and economic disaster. Networth Investments CEO Harold Vermaak said yesterday that the bulk of the South African carbon steel production industry currently risked extinction by 2030 and in so doing was likely to take “200 000 jobs and a substantial portion of the Transnet and Eskom infrastructure with it”. The Saldanha Steel plant has…

ANGLO American Platinum (Amplats) is restructuring its operations which could result in the loss of 3 700 jobs and closure of the Mortimer smelter. The group is battling depressed platinum group metals (PGM) prices, load shedding from Eskom which reduced pro- duction by 82 000 ounces in the year to December 2023, and rising costs, its results showed yesterday. Amplats is the latest South African PGM miner to embark on a restructuring exercise as prices of the precious metal remain subdued. Last year, Sibanye-Stillwater and Impala Platinum also said they were reducing costs by offering voluntary retrenchment schemes to some employees. For Amplats, the restructuring has come against a dip in its financial perfor- mance for the year ended December 2023.…

OVER TWO AND a half days in September 2023, a luxurious Franschhoek wine estate venue played host to the inaugural Digital Transformation Strategy Summit Africa, curated by Novacom Summits. South African journalist and podcast producer Refiloe Mpakanyane joined the fray to spend time with C-suite leaders and innovative solution providers working in African telecoms; gleaning live dashboard insights about the state of digital transformation on the continent. Mpakanyane taped medium-length video interviews with four seasoned corporate C-suite executives and distilled them into a share-worthy podcast pulse-check featuring eclectic insights into the evolution of Africa’s telecoms-driven digital transformation. Digital economy participation is the new black In conversation with Mpakanyane and The African Pre-seed’s managing editor Adam Wakefield, former director of Google West Africa Dr Juliet Ehimuan put forward three pivotal pillars…

THE EXCESSIVE heat across South Africa currently is a significant concern for the farming sector, according to the Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz). The agricultural organisation’s chief economist, Wandile Sihlobo, said the 2023/24 summer crop season started on a favourable footing. “We received widespread rains, which was unusual in an El Niño season, which would typically start with drier weather conditions. According to data from the Crop Estimates Committee, the farmers managed to plant a sizeable summer grain and oilseed area of 4.4 million hectares, up by 0.4% from the 2022/23 season. “For a while, it appeared as though South Africa was on track for yet another excellent harvest. But since the start of February, the rain has been scant across the summer crop-growing regions of South Africa, thus raising…

SOME political parties and activists have rejected the date hinted at for voting day in the upcoming National General Elections – May 24, a Friday – saying this could reduce voter turnout. In what appeared to be a slip of the tongue, Deputy President Paul Mashatile said South Africans would head to the polls on May 24 and that ANC members should be prepared when they went out and canvassed for the party. “We must go out there, united with one common purpose, to ensure that come the 24th of May, when we go to the elections…” Mashatile said in a clip doing the rounds on social media. As per a long-standing rule, the country’s president announces the election date. IFP National spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa cautioned the ANC…

PREMIER Alan Winde has promised that his administration will fight to have more powers where they are failed by the national government. Delivering his State of the Province Address in Paarl, Winde said they were in the process of putting the Powers Bill through the provincial legislature in place where services were not delivered to the province’s citizens. “This government is going to make sure in the National Council of Provinces and the National Assembly, and even if we have to get to the Constitutional Court, that we will force change and make sure where services from national government are failing the citizens of this province, we will do what is necessary to make sure that you citizens get those services,” he said. Winde took a swipe at those who…

THE Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport has lodged criminal complaints following the deaths of three initiates in the province during the recently concluded summer initiation season. The season had about 1 500 boys from the Cape Metro, Cape Winelands, Central Karoo, Garden Route, Overberg, and West Coast completing the rites of passage to manhood. “The summer initiation season of 2023 was not without challenges. The Western Cape recorded three fatalities during the summer initiation season of 2023. “In the wake of the passing of the three initiates, the Western Cape Provincial Initiation Co-ordinating Committee (WCPICC) filed criminal cases with the SAPS in accordance with Section 33(1) of the Customary Initiation Act. “The cases are still in the investigation phase, and no further updates are currently available,”…

THE Energy Council of South Africa this week announced its membership of the UN-affiliated World Energy Council (WEC). Membership of the prestigious global body will serve to strengthen the standing of the Energy Council of South Africa and provide access to a range of international resources and global networks as well as leading practice across global energy systems, the council said. South Africa will be joining over 100 countries as it launches its National Member Committee under the Energy Council of South Africa. Energy Council chief executive James Mackay said: “We must recognise that this positive announcement comes at a time when South Africa is grappling with an unprecedented electricity crisis, with 2023 load shedding hours eclipsing the past eight years combined. “This is compounding South Africa’s ‘triple challenge’ of…

Two very different realities collided during president’s Sona THE opposition parties’ debate on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation address (Sona) and their unreservedly critical approach to several poor governance issues masked in the speech set the scene for alternatives in their election manifestos. Why do I say this? The tension between the we-are-the-vanguard majority party and the cross-spectrum of opposition politicians has played out in stark form in the debate. Many focused on the policy implications – on what it had meant for the nation when the governing party treated the debate and, most concerningly, the sorry state of our nation as an election racket. I know what you’re asking: You mean there could be policy implications in the tail-end of this administration proceeding to the next? Yes,…

Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki told the UN’s top court yesterday that his people were suffering “colonialism and apartheid” under the Israelis, urging judges to order an immediate and unconditional end to the occupation. “The Palestinians have endured colonialism and apartheid ... There are those who are enraged by these words. They should be enraged by the reality we are suffering,” al-Maliki told the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The ICJ is holding hearings all week on the legal implications of Israel’s occupation since 1967, with an unprecedented 52 countries, including the US and Russia, expected to give evidence. Speaking in the Peace Palace in The Hague, where the ICJ sits, the minister urged judges to declare the occupation illegal and order it to stop “immediately, totally and unconditionally”. “Justice…

Houthi militants in Yemen said yesterday that they had attacked the Rubymar cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden and the vessel was now at risk of sinking – raising the stakes in their campaign to disrupt global shipping in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war. The crew are safe, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement. The Houthis had also shot down a US drone in the port city of Hodeidah, he said. “The ship was seriously hit which caused it to stop completely. As a result of the extensive damage the ship suffered, it is now at risk of sinking in the Gulf of Aden,” Sarea said. The Rubymar sustained damaged after two missiles were fired at the vessel from Yemen although the crew were…

Yangon: Two people were killed in a crush outside a passport office in Myanmar yesterday, a rescue worker said, as thousands rush to leave the country to escape a junta military service law. Two women aged 52 and 39 died yesterday after hundreds of people surged to get in line at the passport office in second city Mandalay. “There was a ditch near the crowd. “They fell into the ditch and died from a lack of oxygen,” the rescue officer said, requesting anonymity for security reasons. Another woman was slightly injured. All three had been selling tokens assigning numbers in the queue. | AFP…

Bangkok: A Mongolian man has been arrested at Thailand’s main airport for allegedly trying to smuggle komodo dragons, pythons, tortoises and 24 live fish out of the country, authorities said yesterday. The man was arrested on Saturday after officials searched luggage he had checked for a flight from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport to Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar, customs department spokesperson Phantong Loykulnanta said. The search revealed two komodo dragons, six Indian star tortoises, eight iguanas, five pythons, one boa constrictor and 24 live fish. Authorities charged the man with smuggling protected animals. | AFP…

Kaizer Chiefs’ interim coach Cavin Johnson is not losing any sleep over his team’s bluntness in attack ahead of their Nedbank Cup last-32 clash this weekend. Chiefs have fallen on tough times in recent seasons as their trophy cabinet gathered nothing but dust for the last eight campaigns. So, having missed out on the MTN8 and Carling Knockout already this season, while the DStv Premiership is out of reach, they want to save their season by winning the Nedbank Cup. But that’s easier said than done. Chiefs will open their Nedbank Cup campaign against first division outfit Milford FC at FNB Stadium on Sunday afternoon. History doesn’t back Chiefs to win easily, though, as they’ve struggled against the minnows, including losing to then-NFD side TS Galaxy in the 2019 final.…

THERE ARE at least 30 000 reasons why many athletes will be out to outrun Kabelo Mulaudzi during this year’s Absa Run Your City Series that comprises five races in the country’s major cities. That’s how much in rand the athletes stand to swell their bank balance by should they win any of the 10km races in Gqeberha, Cape Town, Durban, Tshwane and Johannesburg. Mulaudzi was the star of last year’s series, the Boxer Athletic Club star winning the two of the five events. He is sure to be a marked man this year in the popular race series that boasts a little over R1.5m in overall prize money in a country where road running doesn’t pay particularly well. “We are proud to once again offer an impressive combined series…

NORTHAM Platinum plunged 8.1% in opening trade on the JSE yesterday as investors responded negatively to the company’s R800 million loss on its disposal of Impala Platinum shares, following the world number two PGM miner’s mandatory offer to Royal Bafokeng Platinum shareholders. Northam’s price gap narrowed and it closed 4.23% weaker at R106.75 on the JSE yesterday. The stock is 15.18% weaker in the past 30 days, and softer by 20.63% in the year to date. “Northam dropped 8.1% on the open, thanks to the trading update. The market will never miss an opportunity to punish a share for managements’ stupidity (RBPlats deal),” said market analyst Martin Rogers. Northam disposed of all of its shares in RBPlat after Implats made a mandatory offer amounting to R90 per share to…

TELKOM SA’s share price lifted more than 4% yesterday after it reported “good progress” in performance in the third quarter to December 31. This was after compelling value propositions drove next generation (NGN) revenue growth and operating earnings in line with the data-led strategy, CEO Serame Taukobong said in a trading update yesterday. Group revenue increased 2% to R11.31 billion, and group earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) was stable at R2.48bn. Mobile revenue was up 4.8% to R5.96bn. Mobile service revenue increased 7.1% and Mobile Ebitda was up 3.5% to R1.2bn. Openserve fixed data next generation revenue grew by 6.2% and its Ebitda was up 7% to R1.01bn. BCX’s revenue was marginally down at 0.7%. IT business revenue increased 13.1% to R2.12bn. Swiftnet revenue increased 4.7%…

If there’s one thing about Zendaya that we can agree on, it’s that she is a fashion icon. The American actress never misses a beat when it comes to serving looks. She recently attended the London premiere of Dune: Part Two, an epic science fiction film in which she plays the role of Chani, and looked gorgeous. The singer donned a Mugler Autumn/Winter 1995 robot costume that looked as if it had been designed for her, and fans couldn’t get enough of it. What makes it even more fascinating is that it was in theme with her character in the film. However, we can’t say the same about her co-star, Timothée Chalamet, who looked so basic, especially when standing next to Zendaya. “That poor boy looks like he’s wearing…

THE ANC complied with the Constitutional Court ruling and handed over cadre deployment records to the DA, accusing the opposition party of deliberate misrepresentation, threats and false expectations of what might be contained in the records. DA spokesperson for public administration, Leon Schreiber, said the ANC had provided the documents by the 5pm deadline. “The DA will now study the records to ascertain whether the ANC has complied with the court order in full, which directed it to hand over complete meeting minutes, email correspondence, WhatsApp conversations, CVs and all other relevant documentation dating back to January 2013,” Schreiber said. ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri yesterday said the party had nothing to hide and that a number of the records for the period 2018 to 2021 were handed over to…

FEW lives have been improved by the land restitution process and, in many ways, families and communities have been shattered even more, utterly forgotten and abandoned. This is according to Siona O’Connell, University of Pretoria Professor and author of Impossible Return, after the Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Department yesterday presented the findings of a study on land restitution and financial compensation paid to beneficiaries. About 2.3 million people, according to the department, have benefited from land restitution and R25 billion was spent on the purchase and transfer of 3.9 million hectares. “When we evaluate the success and failure of land restitution, it is important for us to understand it was not only about asset loss but psychological impact that went with it,” Minister Thoko Didiza said. “Without going…

IN a legal battle between two women who both claimed they were the customary wives of the now dead husband, the court declared that the first wife, who was married to him for 26 years and bore him 13 children, is in fact the lawful wife. Wife no 1 turned to the Bloemfontein High Court for an order forcing Home Affairs to register her marriage to her late husband, who died in 2018. She asked the court to declare her marriage valid in terms of the Recognition of the Customary Marriage Act and to note that they were married in community of property She issued a letter from the chief of the area where they resided to the court as proof that she and the dead man were indeed married.…

NEW research published in the international journal Mining shows that 48 of South Africa’s 230 operating mines could close in the next 10 years. The research by UCT academic, Dr Megan Cole, quantified the risks associated with closing down mines across South Africa. Mine closure is a growing concern in mining countries worldwide due to environmental and social impacts. This is particularly true in developing countries like South Africa, where poverty, social deprivation and unemployment are widespread and environmental governance is not strong. “The majority of these mines are coal mines located in Mpumalanga, where coal reserves are running out and pressure to mitigate climate change is limiting investment; and gold mines in the Free State and Gauteng, which operate at very deep levels in challenging conditions,” said Cole, from…

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa would have us believe that Tintswalo is the epitome of the ANC’s success. We went out in search of Tintswalo. Guess what? She’s a figment of his and his whole band of loyal ANC looters’ imagination. Trying to find Tintswalo was a by-product of Ford Motor Company’s annual Rally to Read project. Rally to Read delivers donations of educational material and resources to disadvantaged schools in the Gqeberha area of the Eastern Cape. It’s an initiative with the Department of Education and Read Foundation that includes Elukholweni Primary School, WB Tshume Primary School, Nomathamsanqa Primary School, Nkuthalo Primary School, Rocklands Primary School, David Vuku Primary School, Empumalanga Primary School, and Mzomtsha Primary School. Mr President, I doubt you or any of your executives have recently driven unaccompanied…

An intensifying conflict between the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) army and the Tutsi-led M23 rebels, allegedly backed by Rwanda, has disrupted food supplies to the eastern city of Goma, affecting over 2 million residents and displaced individuals. Clashes have escalated since the start of the year in towns and villages around the provincial capital as rebels seized territory, forcing thousands to seek refuge in the city. The use of heavy artillery and shelling has killed dozens, and hospitals in Goma have struggled to cope with the influx of injured civilians. The UN and other aid agencies have warned that the fighting risks worsening the humanitarian crisis in the eastern Congo region, where more than 5 million people have been displaced in the four provinces of the region due to…

A man who piloted a small boat carrying migrants to Britain from France in December 2022 was yesterday found guilty of manslaughter after four men died during the attempted crossing. Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Ibrahima Bah was also convicted of one count of facilitating a breach of immigration law. Bah was pilot of the inflatable boat which started taking on water shortly after setting sail, witnesses from among the 39 people who survived said. The boat ripped apart and the survivors were rescued by a fishing vessel. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made stopping the thousands of migrants attempting to get to Britain in overcrowded small boats one of his priorities, saying the journeys are dangerous and benefit criminal gangs | Reuters…

London: Campaigners yesterday lost a legal challenge to stop a controversial road tunnel to ease traffic congestion near the prehistoric Unesco World Heritage Site of Stonehenge in southwest England. Druids, who celebrate the pagan solstice festival at the site each year, in December joined protesters outside London’s High Court. Opponents of the £1.7 billion (R40bn) project noted planning officials’ assessment that it could cause “permanent and irreversible damage” to the site. But High Court Judge David Holgate said ministers had “rightly focused on the relevant policies” and that the Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site’s evidence “provides no basis for undermining that conclusion”.. | AFP…

BRUSSELS: European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen yesterday won the backing of her German centre-right party for a second term, putting her in a strong position to clinch another five years running the EU’s executive body. Germany’s opposition Christian Democrats gave their support to Von der Leyen to be their candidate for commission president. It confirms a widespread assumption that Von der Leyen would seek another term. The former German defence minister is now likely to become the candidate of the pan-European centre-right European People’s Party, at a congress in Bucharest in March. | Reuters…

Cricket S’s four-day competition heads into the final round this week. The competition has been fiercely contested and defending champions the Dolphins lead the standings on 103.52 points. The KwaZulu-Natal side is slightly ahead of the second-placed Titans on 102 points. The Lions are a bit further back in third on 95.5, while Western Province are in fourth spot on 92.5. The competition has also served up a perfect final round of group fixtures with the Lions and Titans set to do battle in the Jukskei derby, while the Dolphins head down to Cape Town to face WP at Newlands tomorrow. With 20 points allocated for an outright victory in addition to bonus points, both matches are virtual semi-finals. Here, we have chosen four players that could swing the tide…

Having tasted the sweetness that comes with being the best team in Africa, Banyana Banyana are eager to succeed now more than ever, says coach Desiree Ellis. Banyana have had an incredible run in recent years. They won the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in 2022 and finished in the last 16 at the World Cup last year. And while those two achievements were for a first, the pressure has mounted on the team to succeed whenever they compete. This includes qualifying for the 2024 Olympic Games, especially having missed out on the last edition in Tokyo four years ago. Banyana have done well in trying to achieve that feat so far, as they breezed through the first two rounds of the qualifiers, beating the Democratic Republic of Congo and…

This in view of the continued deterioration of South Africa’s fiscal position that has dampened investor sentiment THE BUSINESS sector wants Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana to table a prudent Budget Review tomorrow, amidst continued deterioration of the fiscal position, which has damped investor sentiment. Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) yesterday said that there were four key things that business was looking for in the Budget: a primary surplus, infrastructure investment, bailouts to troubled SOEs, and changes to tax rates. BLSA CEO Busi Mavuso said even though there has been a clear effort to rein in spending, economic growth has consistently disappointed. Mavuso said the revenue side has not been able to deliver enough money to fully restore government finances due to a number of bottlenecks such as the Covid-19…

PRICEwaterhouseCoopers (PwC) South Africa believes Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will announce in the Budget tomorrow that the National Treasury will go ahead with a planned increase in taxes to raise R15 billion more revenue for the 2024/2025 fiscal year. “South Africa’s fiscal space will be constrained in 2024/2025 due to weak revenues and rising debt-servicing costs,” said PwC South Africa chief economist Lullu Krugel. The Finance Minister has acknow- ledged in recent months that increasing taxes in the current economic environment will be difficult. “By our estimates, to raise an additional R15bn in tax revenues would require increasing the personal income tax rates by 0.5 percentage points across all tax bands, or one percentage point on those earning more than R500 000 a year. “Alternatively, the National Treasury…

Renowned South African reality TV star, musician and socialite Inno Matijane has announced her transition as a transgender woman. And as her pronouns have changed to her/she, the Way Ngingakhona star recently took to social media to provide more details about the process. “After all the painful dysphoria I went through, and with the help of therapy, I can proudly say my pronouns are she/her, and I started transitioning on 4/02/24,” she wrote on X. Matijane took a break from social media during her transition. She stopped posting in July last year and only reappeared on her birthday on January 27. She is back and sexier than ever, with many of her fans showering her with love and well wishes. They included @phindile_mdanda who wrote on X: “Congratulations, Inno. I…

THE relationship between the ANC and EFF in KwaZulu-Natal appears to be on shaky ground after the EFF supported a motion to have eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda removed from council. Initially the fallout looked to be restricted to eThekwini, but EFF provincial chairperson Mongezi Twala said yesterday the party was still assessing its relationship with the ANC in the province. Last year, the EFF withdrew from a coalition deal with the IFP, which saw all members serving as deputy mayors resign, allowing the ANC to run three district municipalities and five local municipalities. However, a split between the parties emerged when the EFF backed the IFP's motion of no confidence against Kaunda last month. EFF caucus leader Themba Mvubu said there was no need for the voting to be through…

Animal welfare groups appalled by the conditions in which cattle were kept aboard the ‘death ship’ THE controversial biggest livestock carrier vessel, Al Kuwait, placed the spotlight firmly on ethics of live animal transportation after the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) found “awful conditions” thousands of cattle endured aboard the ship. Dubbed the “death ship”, the vessel docked at the Port of Cape Town at about 8.11pm on Sunday, coming from Rio Grande, Brazil, and destined for Iraq. According to the NSPCA, their team including NSPCA veterinary consultant Dr Bryce Marock and the Cape of Good Hope SPCA started their inspection of the welfare of the 19 000 cattle the same night it arrived, with the co-operation of the vessel’s captain. Unaware of the matter, residents living in the CBD…

DEAR Grandchildren. This year of 2024 you must really have patience with Pappa, Miemie, your parents and our peers. We will speak a lot about 1994. That was one of the most exciting times of our lives. It was the year when inclusive and participatory democracy was born in our land. Democracy literally means the people govern, the people, all of us, you as well little ones, shall determine the direction into which our country travels, the type of life we want to build together. In the 1993 interim Constitution of our country, we declared that we wanted to build a country where everyone enjoys a life of justice. Justice has sisters and brothers named dignity, healing, freedom and equality. The sisters and brothers always play together. Where there is…

CITY health authorities have raised the alarm over an increase in the number of teenage girls seen for their first antenatal visit, along with a drastic decrease in the use of condoms. Between July 2022 and June last year, 632 teenagers aged 12 to 17 visited a clinic for their first antenatal visit, compared with 355 the previous corresponding year. The increase was seen across all Cape Town’s health districts, the City said. At the same time, the number of clinic visits for contraceptive services decreased. The number of female condoms distributed in 2022/23 financial year dropped to 451 271 compared with 671 488 the previous year, while male condom use dropped from 29 086 050 to 19 259 681. This represented a decrease of…

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has been given the green light to investigate the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s (Prasa) employment of thousands of ghost employees. The SIU’s probe will also look into two lucrative contracts of supply and maintenance. This follows after President Cyril Ramaphosa signed proclamations authorising the unit to investigate allegations of maladministration and improper or unlawful conduct by officials or employees. The state’s anti-corruption agency is also tasked with recovering financial losses suffered by the entity, the gazette dated February 14 stated. Prasa revealed to Parliament’s standing committeeon public accounts in 2022 that after launching their Operation Ziveze, 1 159 employees suddenly resigned and they had uncovered 3 000 ghost employees. The entity’s top brass also stated that it had referred the matter to the…

As Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana prepares to deliver the Budget speech this week, the tragic loss of two SANDF personnel and the injury of three others in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) conflict serve as a stark reminder of the critical need to bolster South Africa’s defence capabilities. It’s imperative that Minister Godongwana prioritises increasing the SANDF budget to ensure the readiness and effectiveness of our armed forces, both in defending our nation and contributing to peacekeeping efforts on the continent. Over the years, the defence budget has experienced cuts, resulting in a weakened SANDF. These reductions have compromised our ability to adequately defend our borders against potential threats and fulfil our obligations in peacekeeping missions. The recent events in the DRC underscore the urgency of addressing this issue.…

The mother of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is being refused access to his body for a third day, his team said yesterday as his widow was to meet European foreign ministers. Navalny’s death in an Arctic prison last week has shocked the country’s exiled opposition which – along with the West – pointed the finger at the Kremlin. Navalny’s allies said investigators told his mother, Lyudmila, the investigation into his death in prison “has been extended”. Russia’s prison service said Navalny, 47, died on Friday after a walk in his remote prison above the Arctic Circle. His mother travelled to the isolated prison colony in the town of Kharp – 2 000km from Moscow – on Saturday but was told his body was not there. She was then…

Paris: The Eiffel Tower, one of the world’s top tourist attractions, was closed yesterday after staff went on strike, unions said. The strike, which was called to protest over the way the monument is managed financially, could be extended, they said. The tower’s operator, Sete, said that “visits of the monument will be disrupted”. The stoppage is the second strike at the Eiffel Tower. Unions have criticised operator Sete for its business model that they say is based on an inflated estimate of future visitor numbers, while under-estimating construction costs. The Eiffel Tower attracts nearly 7 million visitors a year, about three-quarters of them foreigners. | AFP…

AMBALA: The Indian government has offered guaranteed support prices for pulses, corn and cotton in a bid to break a deadlock with protesting farmers, Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said after week-long clashes between security forces and protesters. Tear gas and barricades were used to deter the farmers, who form an influential voting bloc, months ahead of a general election due by May, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks a third term. The offer follows marathon talks with farmers’ unions after the protesters, who are demanding higher prices backed by law for nearly two dozen crops, were halted about 200km from New Delhi. | Reuters…