The Eiffel Tower staircase

The Eiffel tower opened in 1889, during the Universal Exposition, a fair celebrating the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. In 1983, they renovated the Tower: they removed some parts of the staircase and elevators replaced them.  

Eiffel Tower officials sold 20 of these parts  in 1983. Most are still with their first owners. Other parts can be seen in museums in Paris, in eastern France, in Japan, and near the Statue of Liberty.

Artcurial’s Art Deco department in Paris will sell a 14-step section of the historic staircase next month. 

 It connected the second and third floors. It  is 2.75 meters high and 1.75 meters wide. Buyers will need a lot of money — and a big house — to keep it. Experts say it will cost between $140,000 and $175,000.

Artcurial associate director said the staircase section is “more than just a piece of history. It’s an immersive experience, a trip through time and space. Imagine yourself in 1889 on this staircase, between 113 and 276 meters high, with no safety barriers, but with a 360-degree view of Paris.”

Artcurial sold other sections before. The record sale was section 13, which was in very good conditions – like the one they are offering now. A Chinese unidentified collector bought it for about $612,000 in 2016.

 

From ScrippNews (edited)

Man wins Picasso painting

 

A man has won a painting by Pablo Picasso, worth about $1.2 million.

The winner is Ari Hodara. He is an engineer and he likes art. He found out he won when he answered a video call from Christie's in Paris.

At first, he did not believe it. He asked, “How do I know this is not a joke?”

People bought more than 120,000 tickets for the raffle. Each ticket cost about $120. In total, they raised about $13 million for Alzheimer’s research.

This fund raising raffle is called “1 Picasso for 100 euros.” It started in 2013.

The prize this year was a painting called Tête de Femme (“Head of a Woman”). It shows Dora Maar, who was Picasso’s partner and also an artist.

Hodara, the winner, said, “I was surprised. When you buy a ticket, you don’t expect to win. But I am very happy because I love painting.”

His ticket number was 94,715. He bought it over the weekend after learning about the competition by chance.

French journalist Peri Cochin organized the raffle with help from Picasso’s family and foundation.

Although the tickets were sold in dozens of countries worldwide, she said it was great that the winner lives in Paris because it will be easy to give him the painting.

Paris is also the city where Picasso lived and worked for many years.

From the money raised, about $1.2 million will go to the Opera Gallery that owned the painting. The rest will go to France's Alzheimer's Research Foundation.

The first edition of the raffle was in 2013. A 25-year old American  man from the U.S. won, and the money helped protect  the Lebanese city of Tyre - a Unesco World Heritage Site.

A 58-year-old Italian accountant won the second edition, in 2020, after her son bought her a ticket for Christmas. Proceeds were donated to sanitation projects in schools and villages in Cameroon, Madagascar and Morocco.

From BBC (edited)

The World’s Biggest Natural Gas Producers

From Visual Capitalist 

Arguments for and against phone-free venues

Do you agree or disagree with these arguments?                                                                                         👎 Arguments for phone-free venues

1.     Encourages real social interaction. People are more likely to talk, connect, and engage without digital distractions. 2.     Improves atmosphere. A room without glowing screens often feels more intimate and lively. 3.     Enhances dining experience. Guests focus more on the food, drinks, and company. 4.     Reduces noise and eliminates disruptive sounds from phones. 5.     Promotes mindfulness. Being present can improve mood and overall satisfaction. 6.     Creates a unique brand identity. Protects privacy. Less risk of being photographed or recorded without consent. 7.     Encourages longer, deeper conversations. Without interruptions, discussions tend to be more meaningful. 8.     Reduces screen addiction behaviors. Provides a break from constant scrolling and notifications. 9.     Better service interactions. Customers may be more attentive to staff, improving communication and service quality. 10.    Attracts a niche clientele tired of digital overload, differentiating the business.     👎 Arguments against phone-free venues 1.     Some customers may feel uncomfortable or unsafe without access to their phones.   2.     Many people need to stay reachable for job responsibilities.   3.     Limits accessibility for those using phones for translation, menus, or dietary apps.   4.     Can feel restrictive or controlling. Customers may dislike being told what they can or cannot do.   5.     Alienates younger patrons who rely on phones for photos, reviews, and social sharing.   6.     Emergency concerns - Immediate access to a phone can be important in urgent situations.   7.     Awkward for solo customers. Phones often provide comfort or entertainment when alone.   8.     Potential enforcement issues. Staff may struggle to enforce the rule consistently.   9.     Customer dissatisfaction risk. Some patrons may choose not to visit due to the policy.   10.    Risks lost revenue from influencers and foodies who promote via social media. Harms business visibility, as no user-generated content means less free marketing online.

 

 

A phone-free bar in Washington, DC (video)

 

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A phone-free bar in Charlotte, North Carolina (audio)

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Chip wreck (captioned)

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Una publicación compartida por BBC Sussex (@bbcsussex)

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Chip wreck!

Visitors to a UK beach saw something unusual earlier this week. The shoreline was covered in French fries or "chips" in British English.

Thousands of bags of chips washed up on a beach in the county of Sussex. The bags were in shipping containers that fell off cargo ships in the English Channel

 Due to bad weather three of the containers fell into the sea.

Currents carried one of the containers and the chips to the shore. Joel Bonnici, a local man, was the first to find the chips. He said: "From a distance, it looked like the golden sand of a Caribbean beach, but on closer inspection, I saw not just the chips, I also found chip bags. In some areas, the chips were 75 cm deep."

Many people came to the beach to help to clean-up. Removing the plastic bags is a priority.

A local official warned people to be careful if they go to the beach. She said: "Please keep dogs on leads as some of the food items on the beach may be harmful to them."

The chip spill is the second such event in Sussex recently. Last month, thousands of bananas washed ashore.

Adapted from BBC 

The History of Hotels (Video)

 

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Germany's labor shortage

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Una publicación compartida por Gac German (@german_application_center)

 

Germany is Europe's largest economy. Companies like Volkswagen, Mercedes, Porsche, and BMW make some of the most famous cars in the world. Germany is also a leader in renewable energy, pharmaceuticals, and financial services.

Germany is facing a massive labor shortage because many older workers are retiring and the birth rate is falling. There are not enough young people to fill hundreds of thousands of job vacancies.   According to a report by the Bertelsmann Foundation think tank, Germany’s labor shortage is of about 288,000 workers per year and the workforce will shrink by 10% by 2040.

On the other hand, India is a country with 600 million people below the age of 25. Only 12 million come into the workforce every year. So there's a huge labor surplus.

Germany is trying to fix their shortage problem by asking workers from India to fill many vacancies. Germany‘s goal is to attract people to work in engineering, healthcare, and manufacturing as well as nurses, caregivers and  IT professionals.

The German government is making it easier for Indian people to get visas. For example, last year Germany increased the number of visas available to Indians from 20,000 per year to 90,000. 

Visa approval time for Indian applicants is now just two weeks.  Before 2024 it was nine months.  The visa application process became fully digital, eliminating the need for in-person consulate visits. 

Official Germany figures show that there were 136,670 Indian workers in the country, up from 23,320 back in 2015.

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Article adapted from DW and NDTV

  

How did potatoes change the world? (video)

 

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German potatoes - The Kartoffel-Flut

 

They are calling it the Kartoffel-Flut: the potato flood. Germany, the largest producer of potatoes in the European Union, together with Belgium, France and the Netherlands are enjoying the biggest harvest in a generation, owing to optimal growing conditions. Last year’s yield was 17% higher than the long-term average..

In fact, there are so many potatoes—one farm near Leipzig had a surplus of 4,000 tons—that farmers are giving them away. There are 200 distribution points in Berlin. Schools, homeless shelters and even the zoo are stocking up.  The Berliner Tafel, a food bank, took 22 tons.

The potato is filling and calorie-dense relative to other vegetables. It is used in an extraordinary variety of meals. The organizers of the giveaway launched a recipe challenge to inspire Kartoffel cooks, sharing tips for soups, salads and plenty more.

After the potato discovery by Spanish conquerors in the Andes, the potato became a staple food worldwide. Potatoes now feed over 1 billion people in more than 150 countries. Crop failure can have disastrous consequences. After the harvest in Ireland was infected and lost in 1845, 1 million people died and almost 3 million emigrated.

To avoid famine, in 1756 Frederick the Great of Prussia issued a “potato decree” that obliged farmers to plant potatoes on at least a tenth of their land. Local traditions say that his royal guards protected potato fields for farmers to think it a precious crop. Today visitors leave potatoes on Frederick’s tomb at Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam. ■

  

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Article from The Economist  (edited)

 

Joke Battle

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Una publicación compartida por Remy Todwell🇨🇭 (@englishwithremy)

 

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US climber scales Taiwan's tallest building without ropes (video)

 

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Climbing the Taipei 101 skyscraper

Climber Alex Honnold, the famous 40-year-old American, successfully scaled the 1,667 feet Taipei 101 skyscraper - formerly the world's tallest building - on Sunday January 25 without any ropes.  

His nerve-shredding stunt was broadcast live by Netflix, although the feed was on a 10-second delay in case tragedy struck.

Cheers erupted from a street-level crowd as Honnold reached the top of the spire of the tower about 90 minutes after he started. Wearing a red short-sleeve shirt, he waved his arms back and forth over his head and took selfies.

Honnold received a 'mid six-figure sum' for agreeing to take part. He also acknowledged that the amount was "less than what my agent wanted." According to sources close to the organization, the payment fell in the mid-six-figure range in dollars, that is, between USD 400,000 and USD 600,000.

Although for much of the public this is a high figure, within the context of professional sports and entertainment it is low, especially considering the extreme risk the climber assumed during the broadcast.

The building has 101 floors, with the hardest part being the 64 floors of the middle section - the 'bamboo boxes' that give the building its signature look.

Divided into eight, each segment has eight floors of steep, overhanging climbing followed by balconies, where he took short rests as he made his way upward.

'It was like what a view, it´s incredible, what a beautiful day,' he said afterward. 'It was very windy, so I was like, don´t fall off the spire. I was trying to balance nicely. But it was, what an incredible position, what a beautiful way to see Taipei.'

Having a cheering crowd was unusual for Honnold, whose climbs are usually in remote areas.

'When I was leaving the ground, it was intense, there were so many people watching, But then honestly, they were all wishing me well. I mean basically it just made the whole experience feel almost more festive, all these nice people were out supporting me and having a good time,' he said.

The much-anticipated event caused excitement across the globe but many people questioned the 40-year-old's motive, because he is a married father of two girls. 

Critics of Honnold asked why he risked his life with two young daughters: June and Alice

Honnold is not be the first climber to ascend the skyscraper but is the first to do so without a rope. 

French rock climber Alain Robert scaled the building on Christmas Day in 2004, as part of the grand opening of what was then the world's tallest building.  He took nearly four hours to finish, almost twice as long as what he anticipated,. He injured an elbow and faced wind and rain.

Honnold, who trained for months, previously did not think the climb would be hard.. He practiced the moves on the building. 

Before the climbing, speaking on a podcast, he said: 'I don't think it'll be that extreme. We'll see. I think it's the perfect sweet spot where it's hard enough to be engaging for me and at the same time, I feel I can do it without ropes.  It will be an interesting climb.'

From Daily Mail (edited)