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Month: August 2019

Prince cheers on Monaco at Mediterranean Beach Games

by: Cassandra Tanti
30/08/2019

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HSH Prince Albert II, always Monaco’s biggest cheerleader, has taken time out of his busy schedule to go to Greece and support the participants of the 2nd Mediterranean Games.

Photo: cijm.org.gr

The Prince landed in Greece for the opening ceremony, and the next day attended the women’s Rowing Beach Sprint event, where the Principality was represented by Clara Stefanelli and Coline Caussin-Battaglia. The ladies fought the good fight and their efforts paid off beating the hometown favourites in their sport.

He then joined all the athletes for a luncheon that included the Ferry brothers, who were set to compete on Wednesday in the Beach Volleyball tournament.

The Prince, an Olympian himself, knows the importance of motivation and support, and was happy to supply it to the competitors.

“I love Greece, I often visit the country and I admire its history, its culture and its people, who are very hospitable,” the Prince told local Media. “Patra is a beautiful city. I love the food here, as well as the beaches with picturesque restaurants by the sea, the smells and the kind and helpful people.”

The Mediterranean Beach Gamesare celebrated every four years bringing together the athletes of the Mediterranean Olympic Committees, members of the ICMG, from three continents: Africa, Asia and Europe.

The first edition was held in Pescara, Italy, in 2015.

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Great night for Liverpool fans in Monaco

by: Cassandra Tanti
30/08/2019

It was a great night for Liverpool fans in Monaco where the 2019-2020 Champions League draw was held on Thursday.


The fans of Liverpool, the defending champions, celebrated their defender Virgil Van Dijk who won the Men’s player of the year award over the football’s biggest two icons, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Van Dijk also won the best defender of the year while his Brazilian teammate, Alisson Becker, won the best goalkeeper award.

On the other hand, the champions league draw put Liverpool in Group E alongside Napoli, Salzburg and Genk, which is considered easy compared to Barcelona’s group alongside Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan and Slavia Prague.

Liverpool have a strong start at the Premier League this season as they are leading the table with three victories out of three games.

Liverpool’s priority this season is to win the Premier League title, which they last won in 1990. However, the team and their fans aim to defend their Champions League title.

Meanwhile, Lucy Bronze was awarded the Women’s Player of the year, and Eric Cantona was given the President’s Award.

Greta Thunberg safely arrives in NYC with Pierre Casiraghi

by: Stephanie Horsman
29/08/2019

Teen environmental activist Greta Thunberg has landed safe and sound in New York City with co-captains Pierre Casiraghi and Boris Hermann on the Malizia II.

After 3,000 nautical miles (5,556km) and two weeks, the Malazia II, a zero emissions sailing yacht carrying the 16-year-old Swedish environmental warrior and skippered by Pierre Casiraghi and Boris Hermann, fulfilled their mission of crossing the Atlantic leaving no carbon footprint. 

The trip began on 14th August from Plymouth and was marked by rough seas with winds whipping up to 30 knots, several cold fronts and some minor situations arising. Other discomforts included the fact the boat had no toilet or shower facilities and the crew lived on freeze-dried food during the crossing.

Greta’s father Svante Thunberg and documentary filmmaker Nathan Grossman were also on board.  

An emotional Pierre Casiraghi sent a message minutes before landing on Wednesday, commending “The courage and determination of Greta, who behaved exceptionally well on board Malizia II, despite extreme living conditions, and thank you to the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and all the support we received during this great adventure across the Atlantic.”

Malizia II was met by a throng of supporters and media at a marina near the southern tip of Manhattan. Supporters chanted “welcome Greta” as the Swedish teenager stepped off the yacht, shook some outstretched hands and said that it felt like the ground was shaking beneath her feet.

Thunberg is in New York City participating at the United Nations climate summit, before making a tour of the United States and Canada, then will be heading to Chile for the COP25 conference in November.

She said that her journey to New York on a solar-powered yacht was symbolic of the lengths young people will take to confront the climate crisis.

 

Eric Cantona to receive UEFA prize in Monaco

by: Cassandra Tanti
28/08/2019

Football legend and former French International star Eric Cantona has been slated to receive the prestigious UEFA President’s Award today in Monaco.

Eric Cantona

This tribute paid to the 53-year-old striker “recognises outstanding achievements, professional excellence and exemplary personal qualities,” according to the UEFA guidelines for the award.

“This award not only recognises his career as a player of the highest calibre, but also honours him for the person he is – a man who refuses compromise, who stands up for his values, who speaks his mind and in particular puts his heart and his soul into supporting the causes he believes in,”said UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, who chose Cantona for the distinction.

Cantona’s life after football has been incredibly active. He became an actor and was a main player in developing beach football as a popular sport.

The President’s Award was created in 1998 and Cantona is the third former Man U player to be presented with the prize.

BA’s impending pilot’s strike causing chaos

by: Cassandra Tanti
28/08/2019

British Airways pilots are set to go on strike on 9th, 10th and 27th September, but early fallout is happening now.

Passengers have been fighting to get through to speak to agents, not only to rebook tickets scheduled for the strike days, but to clarify whether other flights had indeed been cancelled. 

British Airways inadvertently sent out messages on Friday to customers due to fly on other days, stating their flights were cancelled.  Many of these customers frantically made alternative plans, only to hear back later that day that the message had been sent in error and their original flights were not altered after all.   

Passengers who had flights booked on strike days will be given the option to book another day or to get full refunds. Those who received the erroneous email, though, will be looked at on a case-by-case basis only.  

To handle the influx of calls, BA has added more than 100 customer service staff to the roster to help field inquiries.

British Airways has suffered more than one “glitch” this summer.  In early August a computer system failure caused many flight cancellations and delays.

Billionaire Ratcliffe buys OGC Nice

by: Cassandra Tanti
27/08/2019

Monaco-based billionaire Jim Ratcliffe has brought French Ligue 1 club Nice, vowing to establish the club as regular challengers in Ligue 1 and Europe.

Ratcliffe purchased Nice through his chemical company Ineos and was given the all-clear to seal the deal with Nice’s Sino-American owners by the French Competition Authority last week.

The 66-year-old will add his latest purchase to a sports portfolio that already includes the former Sky cycling team and Swiss club Lausanne-Sport.

“We made some mistakes at Lausanne, but we are fast learners, these have been rectified and we are already seeing the benefits,” Ratcliffe said.

The Monaco resident, who is Britain’s third richest man worth over 18 billion pounds, had reportedly made a €100m offer for the club earlier this year. He was also interested in buying Manchester United and was linked with a £2 billion bid for Chelsea earlier this year.

“It has been quite a long journey getting here,” added Ratcliffe. “We have looked at a lot of clubs in the manner we look at businesses in Ineos – for value and potential – and Nice fulfils that criteria.”

Nice, managed by former Arsenal and France midfielder Patrick Vieira, will be part of the ‘Ineos Football’ group.