The famous international architect Renzo Piano has offered to design a new bridge to replace the collapsed Morandi Bridge in Genoa, free of charge. The 80 year-old, who designed the Shard in London and the Pompidou Centre in Paris, said he was offering his services as a gift to his hometown following the sudden collapse of the bridge on August 14.
Pic: Commons Wikimedia
Mr Piano made his offer to the Governor of the Liguria region, Giovanni Toti, who was happy to accept it.
“My commitment is primarily moral, to make sure that the new bridge will have the traits of Genoa, our qualities and a little of our parsimony,” the architect said. He added: “I can not think of anything other than this bridge.” Giovanni Toti responded by saying that the offer has been accepted “with joy.”
Forty-three lives were lost when the Morandi Bridge collapsed suddenly in a storm following several warnings of the urgent need of repairs or replacement. The highway operator, Autostrade per l’Italia, which is majority-owned by the Benetton family, has come under fire for putting profits above safety.
Professionals in the shellfish business have sounded the alarm over the future of the oyster. Climate change has already resulted in the French oyster harvest falling by one-third over the last five years, a meeting in Montpelier on the International Day of Shellfish Culture on Tuesday, August 28, was told.
One of the causes is a disease that has been affecting oysters for 10 years, Ostreid Herspesvirus. The herpes-like disease is particularly destructive for oysters in the first year of life. Fortunately, it is not contagious for humans.
Fabrice Permet, researcher at the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (Ifremer), said: “the warming of the sea is not a problem in itself for the oyster. It develops very well in water whose temperature goes up to 30 degrees. The warmer the water, the faster the oyster grows.” However, the disease is also encouraged by the warming of the water and global warming lengthens the periods of risk during which water reaches a temperature between 16 and 24 degrees.
Acidification is also a problem for shellfish, including oysters, the meeting heard. Oyster farmers in the south of France are the most affected by climatic changes. In the Thau lagoon, between Sète and Agde, the high temperatures recorded this summer and the lack of wind have led to more stagnant water and the slow death of living organisms.
AS Monaco makes up for lack of access to training sessions
AS Monaco invited its fans to its training session at Stade Louis II on Wednesday, August 29. The reason for the venue is that work is being undertaken at the La Turbie training ground and supporters have not been able to attend the training sessions so far this season.
ASM are due to meet Olympique Marseiile at home on Sunday evening for the fourth match of the Ligue 1 season.
The club said it would be “an exceptional and unique moment” for the fans and arranged that players would be available for autographs and selfies after the session. Premium subscribers to the club were seated in the best front-row seats.
The club has said that more opportunities for fans and players to meet will be provided during the rest of the season.
Meanwhile, Benjamin Henrichs has been signed from Bayer Leverkusen on a five-year contract in the region of 25 million euros.
The 21 year-old right-back and German international said on the club’s website: “I am very proud to be involved with Monaco, a European top club for many years. I will do everything to adapt quickly and help the team win many victories. I cannot wait to work with the staff and my new teammates.”
A fifty year-old French driver who asked directions from police officers after drinking two bottles of rosé and half a litre of pastis was handed a four-month jail sentence, suspended, on Monday by Monaco’s Criminal Court.
The restaurant owner had just crossed the border into Monaco shortly after 18:30 on Friday, August 24, when she pulled over on the blvd. du Jardin-Exotique and asked police officers for help because she was not feeling well and was concerned about the possibility of having an accident.
The officers at the scene realised that the driver was seriously intoxicated. However, because of an asthmatic condition, she was unable to provide a breath sample. The court noted that this was the first recorded incident in which a drunk driver had approached the police for help.
An enthusiastic dancer from an early age, one young British woman is making her mark in Monaco as part of the MC Performers. Emma Wilkinson started dancing at the age of four in Surrey, UK, first with ballet and then all other dance forms, as well as singing.
At age 12, a teacher told her Mother she had potential and she auditioned for and was awarded a place at the prestigious Central School of Ballet in London. At age 15, she became too tall for her male partners, so switched to another field where she could indulge her passion, jazz.
Emma started dancing professionally at age 18, and her first gig was in Monaco in a cabaret show. She dreamed of dancing at the Lido in Paris and six months later was granted an audition. Unsurprisingly, she was offered a position and performed as a Bluebell dancer at the Lido from 2012 until earlier this year.
To say it was hard work would be a great understatement. The dancers performed two shows a night, six days a week. At the Lido she danced for the likes of Dita von Tees and Monaco’s own Lewis Hamilton. The performed arrived for work at 7:30 and were done around 1:00. Needless to say, the Bluebell dancers were very popular in Paris and enjoyed an interesting night life. The line-up of dancers included girls from UK, Australia, US, Russia, Brazil and Mexico, with 40 performers on stage each night performing 10 different choreographies.
The highlight of her experience was performing at the Cannes Film Festival where she performed in front of Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney, Victoria’s Secrets models, and Nicole Kidman. At age 26, as the wear on her body started to take its toll, she left in April this year and moved back to Monaco.
Emma is now working with MC Performers, the troupe headed by Roisin Wittstock. So far, they have performed at the Monaco Bike Challenge and most recently with Stas Mikhaylov, Russia’s most popular singer, who topped the bill at an exceptional dinner show as part of the SBM summer programme at the Summer Sporting on August 11.
Emma is also developing tap and heels teaching programmes in Monaco at A-Corps Ecole de Danse, indulging her limitless passion for dance.
MORE INFO: From September 3-7 readers can find out more info at the dance school about the classes from 16:00-19:00.
Number for the dance school: +33 4 93 78 42 07, owner Marguerite Boffa.
Website: www.a-corps-danse.com
As the athletics family continues to grow with an expansion into new territories, 2021 will be a major milestone year for the sports of trail and mountain running with the inauguration of the IAAF World Trail and Mountain Running Championships, a result of a unique partnership between the IAAF and the International Trail Running Association (ITRA) and World Mountain Running Association (WMRA).
At a joint press conference on Tuesday, August 28, ahead of the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) in Chamonix, France, both organisations announced that they would join the Monaco-headquartered athletics global governing body, marking the beginning of a new era for two of the largest running communities in the world.
IAAF President Sebastian Coe said: “Running is the most natural thing in the world and we want to encourage people around the world to run in whatever environment they most enjoy.
“As the global federation, it is our ambition to bring all runners together under one umbrella and this process will reach a significant milestone in 2021 when we will host the first combined IAAF Trail and Mountain Running World Championships. It is new and exciting territory for us, and we look forward to offering new opportunities for distance runners to compete in the spectacular settings and on the challenging courses that traditional mountain and trail events offer.”
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) is the world governing and rule making body for the sports of athletics, which encompasses track and field, race walking, road, cross country, mountain, trail and ultra-running.
All the headlines and highlights from Monaco, direct to you every morning
