Prince Albert presented Monaco’s athletes competing in the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang, South Korea, at the Fairmont Hotel on Wednesday.
The four Olympic athletes who will defend the colours of the Principality during the XXIII Olympic Winter Games, from February 9 to 25, are Alexandra Coletti and Olivier Jenot, in alpine skiing, Rudy Rinaldi (pilot) and Boris Vain (brakeman) in bobsleigh.
The event took place in the presence of Patrice Cellario, Minister of the Interior, HE Yvette Lambin-Berti, Secretary General of the Monegasque Olympic Committee and many other personalities.
The Sovereign Prince also unveiled the name of the flag bearer of the Monegasque delegation during the opening ceremony. This honour will go to 24-year-old Rudy Rinaldi.
Prince Albert awards the 2018 Prince’s Prize for Innovative Philanthropy to Douglas Woodring of Ocean For Recovery Alliance. Photo: PAF2
On Monaco, January 22, Prince Albert awarded Douglas Woodring, Founder and Managing Director of Ocean Recovery Alliance, the 2018 Prince’s Prize for Innovative Philanthropy.
The Award is a global initiative jointly developed by The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and The Tocqueville Foundation, “to highlight projects and initiatives that have triggered innovative activity in the field of philanthropy, seeking out individuals and organisations that inspire others and demonstrate strong impact or potential impact”.
Mr Woodring, whose non-profit association Ocean Recovery Alliance focuses on bringing together new initiatives to help improve the ocean environment, received the award for his years of dedication, focus and persistence on reducing plastic pollution, and by doing so with creative, scalable programs that can be replicated across borders.
According to the Prince Albert of Monaco Foundation, it is one of the first NGOs to work with both the UN Environment and the World Bank on their respective programs aimed at reducing plastic pollution.
During the presentation of the award, Prince Albert commented that Mr Woodring founded the Ocean Recovery Alliance with the strong conviction that improving the health of the global ocean require to bring together innovative solutions, technology, collaborations between the public and the private sector, national and multilateral policies.
Mr Woodring said, “We have taken a different, creative, yet realistic approach to solving this issue globally. Our Program bring focus to the issue of plastic in its ‘afterlife’, either through use in a company or institutional setting, or via trash hotspots which need to be cleaned and prevented, via community engagement”.
A new legislation, Bill 237, has been approved by Monaco’s elected National Council in order to promote the activity of blockchains in the Principality. The bill paves the way for a three-year experiment in which the State will not impose additional constraints on technical regulations.
To accompany this experimentation and to participate in the promotion of Monaco as an essential actor in blockchains, the bill’s text creates the Monegasque Authority of Blockchains (AMB), composed of experts and professionals involved in the digital field. This entity will be in charge of conducting the experiment and taking stock of it.
This assessment will, if successful, produce legal and regulatory provisions that are fully consistent with the projects Monaco wishes to pursue, namely to develop a new business sector in the Principality and attract many companies which are today looking for a flexible, modern and pragmatic regulatory framework.
By becoming a pioneering state in the global regulation of blockchains and inviting economic players to use this technology on its territory, Monaco could ensure real leadership in an economic activity that will be decisive in the coming years, the National Council said.
Monaco’s Directorate of the Environment will carry out a high-resolution mapping of the Principality’s air quality that will take into account the prevalent 3D effects, such as relief, elevation, and height of buildings.
As part of a programme called “Quality of life – Monaco’s High Resolution Air Quality Modelling and Mapping Platform”, 52 sensors will be deployed throughout Monaco from January 29 to February 26.
In order to refine our knowledge of the distribution of pollutants, the sensors are intended to measure the emissions of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and hydrocarbons over a period of one month in winter and a month in summer, in order to establish an estimate of the annual concentrations of these pollutants in the Principality.
Photo: DC
NO2 and hydrocarbon sensors are the main markers of automotive pollution and fuel combustion. The purpose of SO2 sensors is to evaluate the impact of the combustion of heavy fuel oil used by ships.
This campaign, carried out in partnership with Air PACA, will be renewed between mid-June and mid-July 2018. These two measurement campaigns will help calibrate and validate the high-resolution modelling of air quality, mapping the dispersion of pollutants.
The Opera de Monte-Carlo is informing ticket holders of a change of access to the opera house on Thursday, January 25, from 4 pm to 8 pm.
Due to the official start on Thursday of the Monte-Carlo Rally at Place du Casino, anyone attending the evening performance of Contes d’Hoffmann should note access to the event will be modified between 4 pm and 8 pm.
To park in the Boulingrins car park (Casino car park), drivers will have to pass through the upper entrance of the car park on boulevard des Moulins.
Pedestrian access will be along the Café de Paris.
Local resident Sébastien Ogier will try for a sixth straight world title in the Monte Carlo Rally, which starts from Place du Casino on Thursday, January 25.
“Only a sixth world title will satisfy me, anything less will be a failure,” Ogier told AFP. “It’s going to be a fight, tougher than ever, but that is what we want,” the 34-year-old said. The Monte-Carlo Rally is especially significant as it’s the season opener and one of just four on tarmac.
French ace Ogier of Ford won last year’s the title despite only winning twice, including the Monte-Carlo, while Belgium’s Thierry Neuville secured four wins last year behind the wheel of his Hyundai.
In addition to Ford, Toyota, Citroen, and Hyundai are all fielding top drivers for the new 13-rally season that sees a number of changes. Seven legs of the championship are contested on dirt tracks including the summer heat of Turkey, back on the schedule at Poland’s expense.
Ogier is counting on his Ford Fiesta to once again come up trumps. “The truth is it’s the same car as last year,” Ogier said. “There are evolutions here and there, but no revolutions,” he said. “But Ford will make it perform better.”
