French President Emmanuel Macron ended his visit to China on Wednesday with a significant prize – an order for 184 Airbus A320 aircraft to be handed to 13 airlines. The order had not previously been publicised and is valued at €15 billion ($18 billion).
Delivery of the aircraft is expected to start as early as next year. The Chinese operate a policy of balancing their orders between Airbus and Boeing. The American manufacturer has previously said that China will need a total of 7,240 new commercial aircraft over the next 20 years.
The Western press has largely interpreted Macron’s visit not only as a significant political and business success, but as representing a major expansion of France’s role as a European intermediary in the wake of the UK’s declining influence in the EU post-Brexit decision.
Competitors participating to the 10th edition of the Africa Eco Race, which started from Monaco on December 31, have managed to cross the buffer zone separating Morocco and Mauritania. And despite threats from Polisario, the guerrilla group fighting the Moroccan government, the 2-week Monaco-Dakar rally headed on Monday, January 8, to its final destination in Senegal without encountering any problems, the yabiladi news website reports.
After 12 days, the 14 competitors participating to the Africa Eco Race, an annual rally event organised in North Africa, in response to the cancellation of the 2008 Dakar Rally linking Monaco to the Senegalese capital, arrived on Monday in Boulenouar, Mauritania. The racers did not encounter any problems crossing the Moroccan and Mauritanian border, a passage which was supervised by United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).
Meanwhile, Mohamed Khaddad, Polisario’s Coordinator with MINURSO, told the Spanish radio station La Cadina Ser that the rally’s organisers did not inform or coordinate with the Polisario Front. Last week, the separatist movement openly threatened to stop the Africa Eco Rally and prevent the competitors from crossing the Guerguerate area “in case they provoke us by carrying a Moroccan flag”.
Photo: Africa Eco Race
A week ago Wednesday, the front prevented participants in the UAE Desert Challenge from entering Mauritania, stopping them for more than one hour.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Saturday that he was deeply concerned about recent increased tensions in the vicinity of Guerguerat in the Buffer Strip in southern Western Sahara between the Moroccan berm Berm – a sand wall which is 12 times the length of the Berlin Wall and second in length only to the Great Wall of China – and the Mauritanian border.
He said that regular civilian and commercial traffic should not be obstructed and no action should be taken which may constitute a change to the status quo of the buffer strip and called the two parties to exercise maximum restraint and to avoid escalating tensions.
Representing 27 different nationalities, drivers of 34 bikes, 1 quad, 35 cars, 9 SSV and 12 trucks will travel from Morocco and Mauritania before crossing the finish line at Lac Rose in Senegal on Sunday, January 14.
Ready, set, go. Photo: Eric Mathon/Palais Princier
The second edition of the Riviera Water Bike Challenge has just been announced for Summer 2018. See their Facebook page for updates.
It was straight out of a movie. The camera pans across the azure bleu Mediterranean sea toward the Nice coastline, where it focuses on ten pristine Schiller S1 water bikes, gently bobbing in the water at Beau Rivage beach, ready to be taken for a Sunday morning charity ride.
Enter Prince Albert of Monaco, joined by nine of the biggest names in sport, like F1 Champion Nico Rosberg and Paula Radcliffe, Olympian and world record holder for the women’s marathon, who saddle up at 10 am for the Riviera Water Bike Challenge (RWBC), with their teams cheering from boats alongside, ready to transition to pedal at any moment to the finish line some 21 kilometres away at the Monaco Yacht Club.
Prince Albert sets off from Nice. Photo: Eric Mathon/Palais PrincierLeaving Nice facing tough waves. Photo: Eric Mathon/Palais Princier
And like every blockbuster, a little suspense is needed – in this case, strong south-easterly winds producing whitecaps to make the outcome of the race unpredictable.
The ending couldn’t have been better scripted, a neck-and-neck battle of the bikes on water between Fondation François-Xavier Mora – captained by South African swimming champion Ryk Neethling (who was named Ambassador of the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation later in the day) and rugby player Percy Montgomery – and Team Monaco Police.
Sprinting the 20 metres to the finish at 12:29 pm, Fondation François-Xavier Mora won the race by mere seconds; team COCC finished third.
A fine finish for Fondation François-Xavier Mora, seconds ahead of Dan Luger and Team Monaco Police. Photo: Eric Mathon/Palais PrincierThe winners Photo: Eric Mathon/Palais Princier
Cut to the end with Princess Charlene warmly congratulating participants and awarding the winners.
A rather remarkable story, especially as the idea and approval for the charity challenge came only three months ago, to support the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation’s project in Burkina Faso, and in partnership with the Monaco Red Cross and Burkina Faso Red Cross, to put into service an aquatic rescue centre.
The Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation was set up in 2012 to address “one of the greatest silent killers on our planet” by teaching children essential water safety skills and how to swim. According to the Foundation, drowning “claims a life every 85 seconds”, which means in the two and half hours it took to complete the Nice-Monaco course, 105 people lost their lives.
The major fundraising event to support the RWBC was a gala dinner and auction held in the presence of Prince Albert at the Monaco Yacht Club on Friday, March 24, which raised €266,000.
Foundation Ambassador Terrance Parkin with Princess Charlene, Prince Albert and Gareth Wittstock Photo: Eric Mathon/Palais PrincierRWBC Teams Photo: Eric Mathon/Palais Princier
Sunday’s Riviera Water Bike Challenge was Monaco at its finest, a community coming together through sport to raise awareness and money for the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation. Ten teams comprised a total of 50 athletes and amateurs – including four Ambassadors of the Foundation, Pierre Frolla, Nic Lamb, Jamie Mitchell, Terence Parkin – and 43 Monaco businesses supported the event.
Paula Radcliffe summed it up best to Monaco Life: “It was a really fun day. The team ambiance on the boat and also between teams was great, with lots of friendly competitiveness and teasing going on, and I really enjoyed it.
“The wind made it tough going and we had to work hard but everyone was really encouraging each other. I am definitely up for it next year.”
Before the race start, there was a minute of silence in memory of Saturday’s London attack victims.
For more pictures see Instagram: rwbchallenge. Article first published June 5, 2017.
Borussia Dortmund bomber. Photo: Twitter The Straits
The 28-year-old man suspected of bombing the bus carrying the Borussia Dortmund football team to their match at home against AS Monaco last April did it for financial reasons, a court in Dormund was told.
The German-Russian man, identified as Sergei W., admitted on Monday that he had staged the bomb attack on the team bus but said he had done so only as part of a money-making scheme and not to harm or kill anyone. He has been charged with 28 counts of attempted murder for detonating the roadside bombs.
He admitted to the court that he planned to reap profit when the club’s share price dropped after the attack, in which the club’s Spanish defender, Marc Bartra, was wounded. The match was delayed by a day.
Facing life imprisonment if convicted, the accused has said he deeply regrets his actions. He had bought about €44,000 worth of options on the day of the attack, which he planned to sell at a profit when the share price dropped.
Stephan Degueurce-Roberge Photo: Monaco Embassy to United Kingdom
Grifco PR, one of the UK’s foremost luxury travel PR agencies, will be handling public relations for the Monaco Government and Tourist Authority and its Visit Monaco website within the UK and Scandinavia. The company will be responsible for the consumer, trade, MICE, and social media communications.
Grifco will liaise with and support key stakeholders to increase the principality’s visibility within these markets, ensuring that it is at the forefront of the discerning traveller’s mind, feastmagazine.org reports.
The agency abounds in Ultra High Net Worth clients, including North Island, Seychelles, and Bramble Ski & Haute Montagne, the Alps’ largest luxury chalet operators.
“We are delighted to welcome Grifco onboard to oversee our UK and Scandinavian PR campaign as the principality enters this new era, and have complete confidence in the team’s ability to deliver”, said Stephan Degueurce-Roberge, Managing Director at the Monaco Government and Tourist Authority.
“Monaco is undoubtedly one of the world’s most iconic destinations, and we look forward to introducing visitors to a side of our principality they may not have known about before; the destination of choice for the indulgent traveller conscious of leaving a positive impact behind when they leave.”
This year will also see the launch of “Green is the New Glam” campaign in Monaco. Bridging the gap between luxury and sustainability has been a priority for the country for a long time. The initiative will see the destination’s luxury eco-travel credentials reach unparalleled heights, launching a variety of new experiences that are green and glamorous at the same time, according to breakingtravelnews.com.
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, Commodore of the Gustavia Yacht Club, and Charles P “Buddy” Darby, Founder and CEO of Christophe Harbour, have officially launched the inaugural Gustavia Yacht Club-Christophe Harbour CUP.
Designed to strengthen community ties across the 45 nautical miles between the two Caribbean islands of St Barts and St Kitts, the informal and friendly event from Sunday, February 25, to Tuesday, February 27, 2018, is open to any owner of a sailing yacht 50+ ft – or “close enough”.
There is no registration fee with the two host partners covering all event costs.
And, as “no party is complete without a Cup from which to drink champagne”, the Gustavia Yacht Club has commissioned, “at significance expense”, from master craftsmen in the UK a Sterling Silver Cup that the 2018 winner will get to keep for one year. In January 2019, it will be replaced with a smaller keepsake version and the original cup will be up for winning for the second edition of the St Barts to St Kitts race.
The exclusive Gustavia Yacht Club, founded in 2016 and with more than 200 active members, has been actively helping the community of St Barts to cope with the effects of the hurricane IRMA on September 5, 2017. The Club has already raised and dispensed €190,000 to worthy causes on the island.
The February sailing yacht race will also showcase Christophe Harbour in St Kitts. With its elite superyacht services and world-class amenities, this naturally protected harbour is certain to be the Eastern Caribbean’s next premier yachting destination. The marina – which offers secure alongside mooring, 24/7 dockage access, a deep-water harbour with wide turning basin, in-slip fuelling, and ample power for superyachts up to 250 ft – provides onsite customs clearance and immigration services, as well as a warm welcome to owners, captains and crew visiting or home porting.
Yacht owners interested in the Gustavia Yacht Club-Christophe Harbour CUP should email info@GustaviaYachtClub.org, or call Celia +590 690 85 58 37 or Cristina +39 348 37 068 61 – no later than January 30.
Organisers may cancel the event if there is not enough yacht participation.
Article first published January 2, 2018, on StBartsLife.net.
And, as “no party is complete without a Cup from which to drink champagne”, the Gustavia Yacht Club has commissioned, “at significance expense”, from master craftsmen in the UK a Sterling Silver Cup that the 2018 winner will get to keep for one year. In January 2019, it will be replaced with a smaller keepsake version and the original cup will be up for winning for the second edition of the St Barts to St Kitts race.