:00:00. > :00:00.Bowe Bergdahl will remain there for further treatment. Those are the
:00:00. > :00:00.latest headlines from BBC World News. Now for the latest financial
:00:00. > :00:18.news with Alice and World Business Report. An end in sight to South
:00:19. > :00:26.Africa's longest strike, but the nation's problems run far deeper.
:00:27. > :00:27.Plus, clicking with confidence. New EU rules to protect the online
:00:28. > :00:53.shopper. moment. But let's begin in South
:00:54. > :00:55.Africa, where an end could finally be in sight to the longest strike in
:00:56. > :00:57.the 130`year history of the country's mining industry. On
:00:58. > :00:59.Thursday the three top platinum firms announced they had reached
:01:00. > :01:07.in`principle undertakings with union leaders to break the five`month
:01:08. > :01:10.deadlock over pay. These pictures show a huge rally of the AMCU union
:01:11. > :01:13.on Thursday, where workers appealed to leaders to sign the pay deal. The
:01:14. > :01:16.strike has meant huge hardship for them, as well as serious economic
:01:17. > :01:20.damage for the mining industry and the country as a whole. Labour
:01:21. > :01:23.unrest is pushing South Africa towards recession, and later today
:01:24. > :01:25.it could see its credit rating downgraded, an indication that
:01:26. > :01:40.international investors are losing confidence. Our Africa Correspondent
:01:41. > :01:49.Andrew Harding reports. 20 weeks now, and counting. The miners'
:01:50. > :01:51.strike which is pushing South Africa towards recession. Workers are no
:01:52. > :01:56.longer willing to accept the status quo, demanding that their basic pay
:01:57. > :02:01.should be more than doubled. It is an attitude which is spreading.
:02:02. > :02:04.Workers are beginning to get frustrated, after 20 years of
:02:05. > :02:10.democracy, things have not changed for them. Things might have changed,
:02:11. > :02:15.but if you go to coalitions of employment, salaries of workers are
:02:16. > :02:19.getting less. Industrial action now threatens to spread to steel plants
:02:20. > :02:22.like this one. The owners are worried that South Africa's
:02:23. > :02:29.governing alliance is offering mixed messages, not concrete action. I
:02:30. > :02:36.think at some point, the ruling party is going to grasp the nettle
:02:37. > :02:41.and say they stand for this and will put people back to work. They will
:02:42. > :02:47.make tough and hard decisions, and eventually, sanity will prevail. If
:02:48. > :02:53.they do not do that, it will just be an ongoing, steady decline into
:02:54. > :02:57.recession. On a continent with plenty of booming economies, South
:02:58. > :03:00.Africa has become an increasingly worrying exception. Relations
:03:01. > :03:06.between investors, government, and workers, have not been this
:03:07. > :03:10.problematic for a long time. That is the challenge. The nature of Labour
:03:11. > :03:14.is changing. Trust between Labour and the employers has completely
:03:15. > :03:18.been shattered. And it doesn't exist. Trust between workers and
:03:19. > :03:25.their leaders within the unions is about to be broken. Here is the
:03:26. > :03:31.proof of that. Tensions rising in the Platinum mines. This worker's
:03:32. > :03:36.home was torched because he wanted to end the strike and return to
:03:37. > :03:39.work. The people are scared because of the violence which is happening.
:03:40. > :03:43.People are intimidated when they want to go back to work. Everyone is
:03:44. > :03:51.afraid of his life. So for now, mines like this remain closed.
:03:52. > :03:57.Resilient but obstinately unequal country slouches towards recession.
:03:58. > :04:02.Lebohang Pheko runs the development consultancy, Four Rivers. He is in
:04:03. > :04:09.our Johannesburg studio. `` she joins us. Good to see what
:04:10. > :04:14.programme. We may be now seeing the end of this longest running strike
:04:15. > :04:18.in South Africa's mining industry. But the problems in the country
:04:19. > :04:24.spread far beyond this, don't they? Well, I mean, I think there are a
:04:25. > :04:29.couple of things. It is way beyond London to Anglo`American mines and
:04:30. > :04:35.also to Platinum mines. It has also gone into the quarrying industry and
:04:36. > :04:40.the steel and cement industries. It is trickling into manufacturing as
:04:41. > :04:46.well, which has seen a recession of about 0.7%. And the quarrying
:04:47. > :04:49.industry has seen about 1.3% of lost. Link to that is the decrease
:04:50. > :04:55.in capital flows arising from the mining sector, which are still quite
:04:56. > :04:58.reliant. There is the risk that will make inflation might also begin to
:04:59. > :05:02.creep up again, which is what the Reserve Bank tries very hard to keep
:05:03. > :05:06.under control as part of the key monetary and fiscal instruments. So
:05:07. > :05:12.I mean, that of course may well have an impact on consumer affordability
:05:13. > :05:18.of a whole range of things. And related to this is a crisis in
:05:19. > :05:22.electricity and the supply. There is a lot of load sharing taking place
:05:23. > :05:26.at the moment which also hampers the activity of the mining sector. So
:05:27. > :05:30.there is a trickle`down effect in other sectors and in other realms.
:05:31. > :05:33.Indeed, as you say, there are talks of strikes happening in the gold
:05:34. > :05:38.industry, the steel industry as well. We saw the economy in South
:05:39. > :05:42.Africa contract in the last quarter. There is a risk it could
:05:43. > :05:46.happen in the next. Are you worried that the country might enter a
:05:47. > :05:50.period of recession? We are also of course awaiting the latest ratings
:05:51. > :05:59.from each and Moody 's. What are you expecting from that? `` Fitch. We
:06:00. > :06:03.will see. I have found some of the ratings downgrades unfair and
:06:04. > :06:05.unfounded. In the last year or two we have been puzzled, because
:06:06. > :06:11.certainly countries like for example Egypt, who managed to retain a
:06:12. > :06:16.particular rating despite the great turmoil that, so there are some of
:06:17. > :06:21.us who might not use that as too much of an index, but certainly in
:06:22. > :06:24.terms of our own domestic policy about domestic economic policy
:06:25. > :06:27.direction, we need to think about what we want our Labour industry to
:06:28. > :06:32.look like and where we want to position it over the next five or
:06:33. > :06:35.ten or 15 years. And I think that these strikes illustrate the extent
:06:36. > :06:39.to which we can't rely on the mining sector in the same way that we have
:06:40. > :06:42.previously. The way that we need to really think about reskilling a
:06:43. > :06:48.whole generation of workers. And a way that we really need to
:06:49. > :06:51.rehabilitate a very historically fractious relationship, particularly
:06:52. > :06:56.in the mining sector, which has been a sight of struggle even pre`
:06:57. > :07:00.apartheid. Restoring that issue of trust we heard in the film earlier.
:07:01. > :07:05.Thank you for joining us live from Johannesburg. Online shopping has
:07:06. > :07:08.seen massive growth in recent years, and from today consumers in Europe
:07:09. > :07:12.will get more protection when buying over the internet, as new rules come
:07:13. > :07:15.into force across the 27 EU member states. It is called the EU Consumer
:07:16. > :07:18.Rights Directive. Here are some of the things it will mean. A 14`day
:07:19. > :07:21.cooling off period, in which consumers can return products bought
:07:22. > :07:23.online A ban on "pre`ticked" boxes for additional services, a common
:07:24. > :07:35.one is travel insurance when buying a holiday. Refunds within 14 days of
:07:36. > :07:37.goods being returned. A ban on excessive surcharges for using a
:07:38. > :07:46.credit or debit card, for instance when buying flights. And a ban on
:07:47. > :07:52.excessive charges for customer service phone lines. Philip Smith is
:07:53. > :07:56.from Trusted Shops, a website which certifies online retailers who sign
:07:57. > :08:07.up to a code of conduct. He is in our North of England studios. Good
:08:08. > :08:12.to see you. These changes to regulations, they are long overdue,
:08:13. > :08:17.aren't they? We have all been shopping online for quite sometime
:08:18. > :08:21.now. Yes, basically the idea behind the directive is that they harmonise
:08:22. > :08:27.these laws across the member states in Europe. So they will be
:08:28. > :08:32.effectively replacing the distance selling regulations that we have
:08:33. > :08:37.particularly in the UK. So they will be implemented in the UK through the
:08:38. > :08:41.consumer contract regulations. So distance selling regulations that we
:08:42. > :08:45.have which came into force back in 2000 will basically be replaced by
:08:46. > :08:52.this new directive. And how will this new directive be enforced? Will
:08:53. > :08:56.all websites that we go to, whether we are buying an item of clothing or
:08:57. > :09:00.buying a flight, will they all have to sign up to these new directive
:09:01. > :09:05.is? Yes, when you are shopping online, any online retailer is going
:09:06. > :09:10.to have to make these changes. So it's really important that they do
:09:11. > :09:15.that. And this kind of `` there are kind of four main areas they will
:09:16. > :09:19.have to change. One will be the order button, so when a consumer
:09:20. > :09:29.reaches the checkout the button will not be allowed to say goodbye, or
:09:30. > :09:33.order now, any more. It will have to explicitly inform the consumer they
:09:34. > :09:36.are entering into a contract and will have an obligation to pay. So
:09:37. > :09:40.some of the rules may seem quite small, just changing the wording on
:09:41. > :09:44.a button. If a retailer doesn't change that wording, they are not
:09:45. > :09:49.actually entering into a contract with the consumer. It is very
:09:50. > :09:53.important retailers make these changes. OK, we can all start
:09:54. > :09:57.clicking away with a bit more confidence. Thank you for talking us
:09:58. > :10:02.through that new directive. In other business News: The Governor of the
:10:03. > :10:05.Bank of England Mark Carney has warned UK interest rates could rise
:10:06. > :10:08."sooner than financial markets currently expect". He was speaking
:10:09. > :10:11.at the Lord Mayor of London's annual banquet. UK borrowing costs have
:10:12. > :10:14.been at a record low of 0.5% since 2009. The comments sent the pound,
:10:15. > :10:22.already at a five`year high, up sharply. Russian gas exporter
:10:23. > :10:23.Gazprom says it will halt supplies to Ukraine, if it fails to pay
:10:24. > :10:29.Ukraine owes some $4 billion for gas, a figure disputed by Kiev. The
:10:30. > :10:32.row has unsettled politicians in Europe, which gets half of its
:10:33. > :10:35.Russian gas via pipelines that cross Ukraine. But so far EU`brokered
:10:36. > :10:50.talks have failed to get the two sides to agree.