Every year the Monaco Town Council joins forces with La Turbie in a programme to plant one tree for each child born in Monaco over the previous year. This year’s informal planting ceremony will take place on Thursday, January 25, with many of the new arrivals and their families present.
Now in its tenth year, the project brings a personal touch to a programme of reforestation carried out in conjunction with France’s National Forest Office.
One birth – One tree is part of the global campaign “Plant for the Planet”, recognised by the United Nations Environment Programme, sponsored by HSH Prince Albert and with the aim of planting a billion trees worldwide.
The planting will take place at 9:30 am on Route de La Turbie, next to the radio-controlled cars circuit.
Photo: Facebook Festival International du Cirque de Monte-Carlo
Two exhibitions will precede the annual Circus Festival later this month. At the Marriott Riviera Hotel, “Croqu’en cirque”, organised by the Monegasque Association for the Friends of Circus and will showcase works by the painter Michel Costiou, from January 18 until February 4.
In the Fontvieille shopping centre and Carrefour, photographs by Alain Hanel will be on show from January 8 until February 4.
Meanwhile, a stamp created by the Office des Timbres Poste de Monaco featuring the 42nd Festival’s poster and with a face value of €1.20 has been on sale since January 3. The traditional shop window competition, with this year’s theme being “the 250th anniversary of modern circus” is also underway.
Photo: Facebook Festival International du Cirque de Monte-Carlo
Underlining Monaco’s position as the world capital of Circus, the European Circus Association and the World Circus Federation meet on January 18 and 19, also at the Marriott Riviera Hotel.
As a foretaste of what’s to come, the Open Door “Circus Animals” show, rehearsals with commentary, offers free entry to the public on Saturday, January 20, from 3 pm to 4 pm under the Fontvieille big top. The traditional ecumenical service will take place under the big top on Monday, January 22, at 7 pm.
The friendly football match between Prince Albert II of Monaco’s Barbagiuans and the circus artistes’ team, is scheduled at the Cap d’Ail stadium on Monday, January 22, at 8:30 pm.
The roundabout between avenue des Ligures and avenue des Guelfes will be specially decorated by the Town Planning Department, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of modern circus.
Finally, 33 of the Principality’s school classes, some 800 pupils, will be lucky enough to attend an educational rehearsal on Thursday, January 25, in the big top. The festival runs until January 28.
Villa Girasole, headquarters of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, has reduced its power consumption dramatically over the last 12 years.
Between 2005 and 2017, the building’ power consumption ratio drop from 84 to 34.62 kWh/m2, a reduction of nearly 60 percent. This very encouraging result places this old building, constructed in 1882, in the category of buildings with high-energy efficiency.
Since 2011, Villa Girasole has benefited from a photovoltaic solar installation composed of 36 panels covering an area of 60m2 and producing nearly a quarter of its electricity needs.
The total improvement is explained by several factors: the increase in production of solar electricity, the installation of double-glazed windows that respect the architecture of the building, the insulation of the attic, repairs to the low-voltage switchboard and rational energy consumption.
The radical reduction in the old building’s energy footprint has been achieved with modest expenditures and contributes to the Principality’s transition to a low-carbon economy, essential for action against climate change and one of the main themes of the Prince Albert II Foundation.
On Friday, January 19, the Creation of a National Pact for energy transition in the Principality will be revealed. As a tool for progress consisting of a clear and legible charter and action plan, the National Pact will enable everyone – residents, workers, companies, institutions, associations – to contribute to Monaco’s energy transition.
In February 2017, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation was certified ISO 50 001 for Energy Management.
The long-running “clean hands” corruption case has taken a new turn as the public prosecutor who appealed the first instance judgment on January 25, 2017, has requested the partial invalidation of this first court decision, according to local French-language newspaper Monaco-Matin.
Referring to the part of the case involving the Odeon Tower, General Counsel Pierre-Jean Gaury said that his task was difficult given the shortcomings of the enquiry.
However, he added that he has not despaired of obtaining convictions for corruption against a number of key figures, including Silvio Perlino, the offshore construction specialist and Lino Alberti, the Italian-Monegasque entrepreneur who allegedly distributed envelopes containing large amounts of cash, as well as Gerard Spinelli, the Mayor of Beausoleil.
Twelve months ago Mr Spinelli was acquitted of receiving a bribe in return for downplaying the impact of the Tower on his neighbouring commune. The developers of the Odeon Tower, the Marzocco brothers, have also escaped culpability. The police enquiry was first launched towards the end of 2009, more than eight years ago.
An impressive collection of the greatest women, men and teams in sport have been nominated for the 2018 Laureus World Sports Awards, following a ballot by the world’s sports media, the foundation said in a press release.
Tennis superstar Roger Federer’s impressive return to form after a knee injury, which saw him win his fifth Australian Open and eighth Wimbledon titles, sees him nominated in both the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year and Laureus World Comeback of the Year categories. Federer, a four-time Award winner, could become the most decorated Laureus Award winner at the 2018 ceremony in Monaco on February 27.
The football world also features heavily, with Cristiano Ronaldo up for Sportsman of the Year, Real Madrid nominated for Team of the Year, Kylian Mbappé in contention for Breakthrough of the Year, and FC Barcelona and Chapecoense nominated for the Comeback of the Year Award.
Joining Federer and Ronaldo in what is sure to be a hotly contested Sportsman of the Year category is athletics world championships 10,000m gold and 5,000m silver medal-winning athlete Mo Farah, four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome, four-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton and French and US Open champion Rafael Nadal.
In the Sportswoman of the Year category Wimbledon champion Garbiñe Muguruza and three-time 800m world champion Caster Semenya join an all-American quartet of Australian Open champion Serena Williams, 16-time world athletics championship medalist Allyson Felix, 19-year-old swimming sensation Katie Ledecky and Overall World Cup champion skier Mikaela Shiffrin.
Votes can be cast at myLaureus.com until February 26, with the winner being announced on stage at the Awards in Monaco.
Nice-Côte d’Azur Airport has set a new record for number of passengers in 2017, with a total of 13.3 million people using the gateway to the Riviera during the year, up by 900,000 from 2016, a 7.1 percent annual increase.
Nice airport upgraded its passenger facilities in Terminal 2 during the year, having done the same for Terminal 1 in 2016.
Dominique Thillaud, Chairman of the Management Board of Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur, said: “I am very pleased with the excellent results of Nice-Côte d’Azur Airport. This growth was achieved by improving the quality and speed of services provided to passengers, and contributed to the attractiveness of our territory. The key to our success today and tomorrow is our competitiveness.”
Nice-Côte d’Azur Airport is the second largest airport in France after Paris, with 114 direct destinations and 56 regular airlines serving 40 countries. Outside Paris, it is also the only French airport to offer a daily service to New York, Doha and Dubai.
