United News of Bangladesh

The head of the company operating the Eiffel Tower will leave his post at the end of the year following an investigation into the exclusion of female staff during a visit by a Hindu religious group. Patrick Branco Ruivo, director general of the Société d'Exploitation de la tour Eiffel, will step down after an independent investigation found several operational failures linked to the Sept. 5 visit. The company said Tuesday that the failures led to female employees being excluded from the visit, describing the situation as “unacceptable.” Ruivo has led the company since late 2018. The 330-meter (1,083-foot) Eiffel Tower, which draws about 7 million visitors annually, was closed Sept. 7 after employees went on strike. A union official said the strike was prompted by “unacceptable” management instructions. Tensions rose after management instructed employees that female workers should not have contact with members of the visiting delegation from Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, known as BAPS. BAPS is a global religious and civic organization within the Swaminarayan sect of Hinduism. The group was in Paris to celebrate the inauguration of a traditional Hindu stone temple in the Paris region. BAPS told The Associated Press that it “never requested that female employees be hidden, removed or excluded from the visit.” The group said its monks' religious practices had been explained to Eiffel Tower management beforehand and were personal commitments that did not require women to be excluded from places they visited. It did not provide details about those practices. Ariel Weil, chair of the Eiffel Tower operating company, said Tuesday that he had ordered measures and training programs aimed at promoting gender equality. The 137-year-old landmark has faced closures over labor disputes before. It was closed for six days in February 2024 after employees went on strike over maintenance concerns and demands for higher wages.

Visitors need a special COVID pass to ride up the Eiffel Tower or visit French museums or movie theaters from Wednesday, the first step in a new campaign against what the government calls a “stratospheric” rise in delta variant infections. To get the pass, people must show they are either fully vaccinated, have a negative virus test or proof they recently recovered from an infection. The requirement went into effect Wednesday at cultural and tourist sites, following a government decree. President Emmanuel Macron wants to rush through legislation to mandate the pass for restaurants and many other areas of public life, as well as requiring that all health workers get a jab. The lower house of parliament starts a debate on the bill Wednesday. Also read: France: Thousands protest against vaccination, COVID passes It has prompted resistance in some quarters, and anti-vaccination protesters are planning a demonstration Wednesday. France’s daily infections dropped sharply in the spring but have shot up again over the past two weeks, and some regions are re-imposing virus restrictions. The government is worried that pressure will grow on hospitals again in the coming weeks. Also read: Eyeing variant, France mulls tighter limits for UK tourists

Health workers racing to save lives as France contends with one of the world's worst coronavirus outbreaks have received a huge show of gratitude with the help of the Eiffel Tower.