Prince Albert with NFL founder Philippe Verdier (L). Photo: NFL.
After only five days, this year’s No Finish Line has already covered 255,661 km – 24,000 km more compared to last year – by 10,986 walkers or runners, including a Princely participant on Wednesday evening.
As he does every year according to his schedule, Prince Albert did a few laps of the 1.4 km circuit in Fontvieille alongside NFL founder Philippe Verdier.
Prince Albert with NFL team 2017. Photo: NFL.
The 18th edition of NFL’s “Heading to the Stars” is hoping to reach the 400,000-km mark. Every kilometre completed equals €1 donated to charity on behalf of the sponsors, like Barclays and JB Pastor & Fils Monaco, to help sick and disadvantaged children through the association Children & Future.
There are 13,534 registered NFLers this year, 893 more people than in 2016, and fifty volunteers.
NFL winds up at 4 pm on National Day, November 19.
Christ as Salvator Mundi, the Leonardo da Vinci painting put up for auction by Dmitry Rybolovlev and expected to make in the region of €85 million ($100 million), sold for a record €382 million ($450 million) in New York on Wednesday.
The auction record was broken at €179 million ($200 million, for a Pablo Picasso painting sold in 2015), when there was a short pause. Bidding for the 65 x 45-cm oil-on-panel painting at the Christie’s sale came to an end after 19 minutes.
The identity of the buyer was not disclosed, nor was the part of the world from which the winning bid was made.
The painting had generated huge interest before the sale for a number of reasons. The artwork – originally commissioned by King Louis XII of France more than 500 years ago – had been undiscovered and painted over before being bought by a dealer for $10,000 in an estate sale in 2005.
It has also played a central role in the dispute between Rybolovlev and art dealer Yves Bouvier, who had sold the painting to the Russian with a mark-up of close to €43 million ($50 million). A scandal surrounding the relationship between Rybolovlev and his entourage and Philippe Narmino, Monaco’s head of the judiciary, led to Narmino’s sudden resignation on September 22, 2017.
Following the sale of the painting on Wednesday, a spokesman for the owner of AS Monaco said that the family wanted to put a painful chapter behind them.
The 50th meeting of the RAMOGE Commission will be held on Wednesday, November 22, under the chairmanship of the French delegation, represented by HE Marine de Carné de Trécesson, Ambassador of France to Monaco.
The purpose of the meeting is to make a progress report on the ambitious work programme decided in December 2016 for the years 2017-2018.
The RAMOGE Agreement aims to carry out scientific and operational activities to help protect habitats and species that are emblematic of the RAMOGE area, preserve areas of ecological interest and reduce the threat posed by marine litter, to fight against pollution and to create networks for monitoring the marine environment within the zone.
RAMOGE relies on cooperation between Monaco, Italy and France to find the synergies necessary for the effectiveness of its actions, with an area that extends from La Spezia to Marseille.
Three major activities were organised this year. In April 2017, as part of the Monaco Ocean Week, a symposium on the wise management of anchorages brought together the managers of the anchorage zones by offering them the most respected techniques and management methods.
In September, at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco in association with the Pelagos Agreement, a symposium was held bringing together the municipalities of the PACA region and Liguria to involve them in the problem of marine litter, and to encourage them to integrate in their waste management the notion that all waste left in nature is found sooner or later at sea.
In October, an anti-pollution exercise was held off Hyères in which Italian and Monegasque ships came to lend a hand to the French ships to cope with a fictitious hazardous spill, making it possible to strengthen the coordination between the various human resources and materials.
The RAMOGE Agreement, signed in 1976 and amended in 2003, is the instrument that France, Italy and Monaco have adopted for the coastal zones of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Principality of Monaco and the Ligurian Region. It constitutes a pilot project for integrated coastal management, prevention and the fight against marine pollution.
Monaco’s Ofer Global’s takeover attempt for New Zealand Oil & Gas has strengthened to 36 percent acceptances, while a former competitor in the takeover tussle, Australia’s Zeta Energy, has also said it will add its 17 percent holding, taking the figure to 53 percent.
Ofer Global had earlier said that it wants between 50 and 70 percent of NZOG. Ofer Global – through its takeover vehicle Singapore-based OG Oil & Gas – has indicated that it wants to extend oil and gas exploration around New Zealand, possibly including two deepwater prospects. It would seek a joint venture partner for the exploration projects.
The latest offer from the Ofer Group of 78 cents a share has been unanimously accepted by NZOG’s board. The offer remains open until December 9.
Ofer Global is chaired by Eyal Ofer and has extensive interests globally in shipping, real estate, and banking and investments.
Mrs Mourou, Joel-Benoît D’Onorio, Laurent Anselmi, Mr Gaudemet, Prof Yves Gaudemet and Dr Michel-Yves Mourou
Joel-Benoît D’Onorio has recently been honoured by the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences in Paris for his work “Monaco, Monarchy and Democracy”, which is in its second edition.
A constitutionalist, the laureate has long taught public law at the Faculty of Aix-en-Provence, of which he is an honorary professor. He still chairs the Institut Portalis which contributes to the training of undergraduate students.
The distinction was conferred on him under the gold Coupole of the Institut de France, which gathers together all the academies including the famous French Academy, during a majestic ceremony accompanied by the drums of the Republican Guard.
Present from Monaco were Dr Michel-Yves Mourou, President of the Council of the Crown, Mr Laurent Anselmi, Director of Judicial Services and President of the Council of State, as well as Professor Yves Gaudemet, President of the Superior Committee of Legal Studies of the Principality, himself an academician.
At the end of the ceremony, Professor D’Onorio, whose clear and complete work contributes significantly to the knowledge of Monegasque institutions, was warmly congratulated by all those present.
Christ as Salvator Mundi, the Leonardo da Vinci painting put up for auction by Dmitry Rybolovlev and expected to make in the region of €85 million ($100 million), sold for a record €382 million ($450 million) in New York on Wednesday.
