The reputable Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport has suggested that the majority stake in AS Monaco football club could be bought by a wealthy businessman from Abu Dhabi for the sum of half a billion euros.
The current owner of a 66-percent stake in AS Monaco is Dimitri Rybolovlev, the Russian billionaire Monaco resident.
While the club itself has denied the reports, the Gazzetta remarked that minority shareholder HSH Prince Albert, who takes a keen interest in the club, would not be against such a sale following a string of court cases in which Mr Rybolovlev has been involved.
Andrew Cannon, Honorary Consul of Monaco in Melbourne; Charles Leclerc, Formula 1 driver; HE Catherine Fautrier, Ambassador of Monaco to Australia; and Hadrien Bourely, Honorary Consul of Monaco in Sydney. Photo: DC
The racing driver Charles Leclerc, the 2017 Formula 2 World Champion, has been received by the Ambassador of Monaco in Australia, HE Catherine Fautrier.
HE Fautrier received the 20-year old driver, who was born and bred in Monaco, on Wednesday, March 21, on the occasion of his first Grand Prix as a Formula 1 driver, as part of the Alfa-Romeo Sauber team.
A reception was organised at the “Monaco House” in Melbourne, in the presence of the Honorary Consuls of Monaco in Melbourne and Sydney, Andrew Cannon and Hadrien Bourely.
Raphaël Simonet, Head of Division at the Directorate of the Environment, represented the Principality at the sixth plenary session of IPBES – the Intergovernmental Scientific and Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, held in Medellin, Colombia.
IPBES, created in 2012, is an intergovernmental body open to any member of the United Nations. This sixth session, which runs from March 17 to 24, brings together around 800 people, including government delegates and stakeholders involved in the Platform’s activities.
Intended to improve the links between knowledge and decision-making, the Platform aims to identify and develop decision support methods that take into account all relevant knowledge on biodiversity and ecosystem services from scientific research, governments, NGOs and local actors.
During this sixth plenary session the summaries for decision makers of the four regional assessment areas – the Americas, Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe and Central Asia – and the evaluation of land degradation and restoration are likely to be approved.
Topics related to IPBES procedures, as well as financial matters, will also be discussed. Progress will be examined in terms of overall assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services, and thematic and methodological analyses that experts from around the world have developed in recent years.
On March 26, a second assessment will be extracted from a fifth report on the state of the world’s soils, each day more degraded by pollution, deforestation, mining and unsustainable agricultural practices that impoverish them.
Some 600 researchers have volunteered for three years on these assessments, which synthesise the data of about 10,000 scientific publications. The final result covers almost the entire planet.
An air traffic controllers’ strike on Thursday, March 22, will result in several cancelled departures at Nice-Côte d’Azur Airport. Out of the total of at least 34 cancellations, 31 are Air France flights to Paris. Three BA flights to Heathrow and Gatwick have also been cancelled, according to the Airport.
More airlines are expected to notify the airport authority that flights will be cancelled. See live flight information here.
Meanwhile, the rail unions expect many services to be cancelled on the same day, with only 40 percent of TGV services likely to run, 25 percent of intercity services and about half of TER regional trains. Monaco Monte-Carlo depends on the TER services and the daily commute is likely to be complicated.
Other French professionals due to strike are teachers, with 10 percent of schools likely to be closed in Paris on Thursday.
The sixth annual Monaco Private Label (MPL) Summit brought together more than 230 investors from 27 countries in Palm Beach, Florida, from March 16 to 18.
For this first edition held abroad, members of the MPL Club were invited to a round table focused on innovation and new technologies. A lunch debate, moderated by Jean Castellini, Minister of Finance and Economy, punctuated the conference.
The MPL Summit concluded, in the presence of Prince Albert, with a charity gala dinner benefiting the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.
Monaco Private Label, created in 2009 on the initiative of the Prince’s Government, aims to present the Principality worldwide to international investors with high potential.
The signing of the convention by Colonel Tony Varo, Head of the Monaco Fire Brigade, and Vice-Admiral Charles Henri Garié, Commander of the Marseille Fire Brigade Battalion (BMPM). In the background, Patrice Cellario, Minister of the Interior, and Julien Ruas, deputy mayor of Marseille, in charge of the battalion of firefighters and the prevention and management of urban risks. Photo: BMPM
In the presence of Minister of the Interior Patrice Cellario, a partnership agreement was signed on Tuesday, March 20, by Colonel Tony Varo, Head of the Monaco Fire Brigade, and Vice-Admiral Charles Henri Garié, Commander of the Naval Fire Battalion of Marseille.
The accord formalises cooperation and exchanges between the Monaco Fire Brigade and the Marseille Fire Brigade Battalion in training, operational participation and professional expertise. The principle of reciprocity will allow for experiences and know-how to be shared between the two emergency response units.
The Monegasque delegation also visited the operational centre of the Marseille Fire and Rescue Services and was then received at the town hall by the Mayor of Marseille, Jean-Claude Gaudin.