Influenza season is almost upon us and the dangers are real for the community’s most vulnerable.
The Department of Social Affairs and Health wants to remind all citizens that the time for prevention is now. The only effective protection against flu is the vaccination. This serves a twofold purpose in that it keeps the person vaccinated from contracting the flu in the first place, which in turn prevents them from spreading the virus that causes it.
The elderly, people with chronic diseases and pregnant women are those who run the highest risk, though the flu can be dangerous for anyone. This easily transmittable disease can be dispersed simply by shaking hands with someone infected or being in close contact with an infected person who is coughing.
As the virus mutates from year to year, no two strains of flu are the same. A person must be immunised yearly for it to be effective and must also be vaccinated well in advance of the arrival of the virus so the body can form the proper antibodies. The best time to be treated is now, as the virus usually finds its way to the population by the end of October.
The vaccine for the predicted 2019/2020 virus is available now at all local pharmacies and can be administered by your doctor.
Monaco Embassies in USA and Canada meet in Seattle
A joint meeting was held last week between the Monegasque Ambassador to the US and Honorary Consuls from nine major North American cities to discuss collaborative efforts for the next calendar year.
Considered one of America’s greenest cities, Seattle was the setting for the confluence and attracted the Monaco representatives for its achievements regarding environmental issues and sustainable development.
Held over the long Columbus Day bank holiday weekend, and led by Maguy Maccario Doyle, Monaco’s Ambassador to the United States, plans were discussed for upcoming synergistic events and activities in 2020 that encourage communication and cooperation.
Information was exchanged pertaining to the Principality’s interests, and included a visit to the Bullitt Centre, purported to be the greenest building in the world located in Seattle’s vibrant city centre. Meetings were also held with leading academics from the University of Toronto’s School of Environmental Studies who are authorities on topics of interest to Monaco such as ocean acidification, the global melting ice situation and sustainable development. Finally, the retinue took a field trip to meet American sculptor Dale Chihuly to round out the program.
Pacific Northwest hospitality was offered by Chateau Lill owners Greg and Stacy Lill, making the representatives feel welcome and at home.
The cities represented at the meeting were by consulate members from New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Washington DC, Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles, Vancouver, San Francisco and New Orleans.
The Princess Grace Foundation-USA will be paying tribute to their namesake, Princess Grace of Monaco, during a special fundraising gala this November. The celebration will mark the 90th anniversary of the birth of the Hollywood icon and beloved Princess of Monaco.
Known throughout the world as a humanitarian, philanthropist, and artist, Princess Grace was committed to helping others. During her lifetime, Princess Grace of Monaco particularly helped emerging artists realise their career goals.
To carry on Princess Grace’s legacy, Prince Rainier III of Monaco established the Princess Grace Foundation-USA as a non-profit, publicly-supported charity, headquartered in New York. The Foundation’s mission is to assist emerging talent in theatre, dance and film by awarding scholarships, apprenticeships and fellowships to artists in America. To date, nearly 800 artists have received Princess Grace Awards, helping them to launch their creative careers.
With the support of the Princess Grace Foundation-USA, artists have thrived in their creative journeys. Many have gone on to achieve their industry’s most celebrated accolades including Tony Awards, Pulitzer Prizes, Emmy Awards, Bessie Awards, MacArthur ‘Genius’ Awards, and Golden Globe Awards.
Director of Bond25 Cary Fukunaga, director of Crazy Rich Asians Jon M. Chu, creator of SpongeBob SquarePants Stephen Hillenburg, writer of Angels in America Tony Kushner, tap choreographer Michelle Dorrance, and ballet principal dancers Maria Kowroski, Gillian Murphy, Tiler Peck, Ethan Stiefel and Lucien Postlewaite are all Princess Grace Award winners.
To celebrate what would have been Princess Grace’s 90th Birthday, Dani Carew will be spearheading a special presentation of a ‘Tribute to Princess Grace’ to benefit the Princess Grace Foundation-USA, continuing Princess Grace’s legacy of assisting aspiring artists to realise their dreams through the Princess Grace Awards.
On Sunday 10th November, a special screening of The Swan starring Grace Kelly will take place at 6pm at the Princess Grace Theatre, followed by a gala dinner at the Fairmont Hotel with an auction benefitting the Prince Grace Foundation-USA, during which two works of art by Toby Wright and Carol Bruton will go under the hammer.
Grace Kelly was born on 12th November 1929 in Pennsylvania, United States.
The Committee on World Food Security, the foremost intergovernmental platform to ensure food security and good nutrition for all, met last week in Rome with a Monaco delegation in attendance.
The meeting brought forth two annual reports. One on the state of food security worldwide, which saw a depressing increase in world hunger statistics for the third year running. The report found that more than 820 million people, or one in nine, suffer from the effects of hunger. The second report on the state of food and agriculture, which primarily focuses on lessening food loss and waste, expressed a growing concern about malnutrition and its consequences, including obesity.
World Food Day was also celebrated during the meetings on 16th October and three heads of Rome-based UN Organisations, Italian governmental representatives and a UN special rep on human rights were present. Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, whose field of study includes analysing the challenges of the least developed Sub-Saharan African countries in relation to food, was an honoured guest.
The President of the Italian Council, Guiseppe Conte, made clear that his nation would be extremely interested in hosting the 2021 World Food Summit, a meeting meant to rally the international community around the challenge of creating a world with zero hunger.
Monaco is currently and actively involved in the fight against hunger as part of its general participation policy. This year alone, the Principality has donated more than €2.6 million in food security and child nutrition programmes in places where the people are particularly vulnerable, mostly African countries, and will continue to show support where needed.
Photo: Martine Garcia-Mascarenhas, Elmilie Larese-Silvestre, Robert Fillion. DR
Swathes of vineyard landscape in countries like France and Italy – and New World regions like New Zealand, Australia and California – inspire imagery of connoisseurs gently swilling their glasses, and grape vines growing in the sunshine. But when you’re talking about Romania or England, home-grown wine might not be the first thing that springs to mind.
Wine is big business, and it’s only getting bigger. North America and Europe knock back the most of it, worldwide, but even Asian destinations like Japan and China are getting ever more fond of fine wine. Naturally, this boost in interest has been met with increased production, and that includes regions not always associated with vineyards and high-end vino.
New winemaking regions are popping up everywhere, and it can feel difficult to sort those worth exploring from those which don’t compare to the long-standing favourites. If you’re keen to branch out from familiar New Zealand Sauvignons and Spanish Riojas, here are three countries that make incredible wines you might not have thought to try.
Romania
Romania has been on the radar of in-the-know wine lovers for a while now, and it’s a country that continues to go from strength to strength in its vineyards and its sommeliers’ expertise.
There are eight main vineyard regions in Romania, and the change in climate across the country means that you can find different varieties of wine produced in different areas. From the sweet wines of coastal Murfatlar to the flourishing Pinot Noir production in Dealul Mare, right through to a selection of crisp and fresh whites sourced from Tirnave – an area nestled in the Carpathian Mountains.
Because Romania’s reputation as a premium wine producing nation is still being developed, high quality wines from this territory can still be bought for highly affordable prices. A bottle of Pinot Noir from Burgundy will typically set you back around €20, and a Dragon Hills Pinot Noir from Romania is priced at around half that.
The Romanian wine industry can be dated back over 6,000 years, but there’s still time to get ahead of the trend. In the last few decades, vineyard land that was once lost in political turmoil has been returned to the people of Romania, and the support of the EU has meant that better grape varieties and faster regeneration of land are possible. Romania has quickly become the 6th largest producer of wine in Europe, and it seems that the sky’s the limit from here.
Brazil
Although the climate is definitely superb for nurturing vines, the wine industry of Brazil is surprisingly new. They’ve only been really jumping in with both feet to the vineyard game for about 20 years or so – yet in that time, Brazilian wines have made an impressive name for themselves for those in the know.
Brazilian wines today have a reputation akin to that of a secret fan club – you won’t hear them discussed often, but when you do, it’s always with wide eyes and excited whispers.
Because the majority of Brazil’s biome is rooted in rainforest, there is one select part of the nation that’s dedicated to winemaking – Rio Grande do Sul, a state in Brazil’s deepest south. Brazil’s wines were originally grown here largely for consumption within the country itself, and it’s only in recent years that they’ve started making a splash worldwide.
Brazil is now the fifth largest wine producing nation in the Southern Hemisphere, and has a traditional feel to its viticulture. 90% of Brazil’s wineries are family run businesses, and a high number of Italian expatriates settling in the country over time has given additional advantages to the region’s wine-making.
Despite having over 90,000 hectares of vineyard, and more than a century of experience in producing sparkling wines, Brazil is still relatively new to the international wine scene. But as much as nearby Chile and Argentina have become mainstays of any true wine-lover’s cellar, it shouldn’t be long before Brazil takes its place as a go-to favourite.
England
Even the most seasoned of wine lovers expresses a healthy dose of surprise and scepticism, often at the same time, at the suggestion that England could be a great wine-making region. There has even been an old joke among English wine producers: “How do you make a small fortune? Start with a large fortune, then open a vineyard.” But right now, it seems that the English wine industry is finally having its moment
England can hardly be said to enjoy an easily predicted and consistent climate, and it’s safe to say that the reputation that English cuisine has across the globe hardly lends itself to visions of wining and dining. Yet the simple fact is that English wine is on the up and up – winning international awards, boasting a crisp and distinctive flavour, and wooing everyone from TV celebrities to royalty.
While climate change is a worry to us all, its demonstrable effects have given plenty of advantages to the English weather when it comes to cultivating grapes for wine. What’s more, the country’s soil quality, including its chalk content, is not actually that different to that of the Champagne region of France. That means that nowadays, the English are pretty much working with the same bountiful natural advantages as the most capable of French masters.
With the vast majority of wine in the UK still imported from elsewhere, English wines have given natives a chance to ‘shop local’ and reduce their carbon footprint – but it’s really the increased quality and relative affordability of English wine that is spurring a new momentum.
Cross-Channel rivalry is only going to make England and France that much more competitive in their wine production in the years ahead – just as Romania’s ambitions, Brazil’s growing winemaking reputation and countless other countries jostle for a position on your palate.
Sourcing great new wines
For all three of these unusual regions, there may be a few choice wines you can find on the supermarket shelves, but it’s more likely you’ll still need to turn to online stockists to find the best of the bunch for now. Superb reds, whites, roses and sparkling wines are popping up in new niche destinations all the time – and thanks to the internet, you won’t have to scour the shelves in order to wow your guests.
Keep a finger on the pulse of these and other burgeoning leaders in the wine market, and you’re sure to find world-class wines for those not-quite-famous-yet prices.
In an effort to provide more assistance and service to families, the Monaco cemetery has been equipped with electric golf vehicles, just in time for the busy Toussaint period.
The two carts are now available to transport people with reduced mobility, giving them easier access to the funeral grounds and Chapel. They will also help carry flowers that are to be placed on graves, whether during funerals, commemorative ceremonies or during the period of All Saints’ Day.
The golf buggies are positioned in the upper and middle sections of the cemetery and are driven by a guard or staff member of Somotha. A phone number is clearly indicated on each cart to reach staff in case of absence.
Also during this Toussaint period, a florist will be present at the cemetery of Monaco parking lot from Thursday 31st October until Sunday 2nd November to allow relatives to buy flowers directly on site.
The cemetery already offers digital information terminals that help geolocate burial sites and indicate the path to access them.
Finally, as every year, Monsignor Bernard Barsi will host a mass in the cemetery chapel on Friday 1st November at 3pm, followed by a blessing of the graves.
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