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Month: May 2020

Monaco stockpiles masks

by: Stephanie Horsman
22/05/2020

The Principality ordered some 11.5 million masks at the height of the crisis. Now those masks are being safely stored by the government for a rainy day.

After the shortage of protective masks worldwide brought on by the recent health crisis, the government of Monaco took action by ordering a vast surplus so that they would not be caught unaware if a repeat were to occur. It has been reported that there are currently upward of 10 million masks being held in stockpile at the barracks of the Carabinier du Prince.  

Nearly 900,000 masks have been distributed in recent weeks, the rest, a variety of FFP2, surgical and fabric, remain ready to go in the basement storage warehouse of the barracks.

This task is big enough to have warranted the assignment of two people to track the inventory.

“We also have all the serological tests, hydroalcoholic gels, overshoes, overcoats, pairs of protective glasses, gloves … It’s quite impressive,” notes the commander and chief of the Carabinieri Company, Gilles Convertini. 

With a “hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst” attitude, the residents of Monaco can rest assured that the government will be ready for anything that comes next.

 
 

ISM adds career-related diploma to IB programme

by: Cassandra Tanti
22/05/2020

Come the next academic year, the ISM will be offering an exciting new diploma for students wishing to pursue career-related learning.
We spoke to Head of Secondary James Wellings about why the IBCP is a perfect fit for the Monaco-based school.
 
Monaco Life: Can you tell us about the new diploma being offered at the International School of Monaco (ISM) from August?
Currently, we offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP), which is an exceptionally well-recognised, very good but extremely challenging programme. It’s probably the most challenging post-16 programme that exists in education, because it draws on six core subjects which are done to a high academic standard. It is brilliant for many students, but some just don’t want to do six subjects academically.
So, we wanted to find an alternative that would suit anybody. The International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme (IBCP) incorporates the educational principles of the IB into a programme specifically developed for students who wish to engage in career-related learning.
There are two subjects instead of six, and they study enterprise and entrepreneurship which is very hands-on. They actually start their own enterprise and do placements with businesses in Monaco, and they have a business mentor who is actually a successful entrepreneur.
There are no formal examinations, it is all done through coursework, so, it’s a really nice hybrid of an academic and vocational approach.
And Monaco is a city of entrepreneurs, so I don’t think there is any better place in the world to offer this course and provide a great opportunity for students.
Who is this diploma suited to?
Any student could do the IBCP. Traditional thinking is that top A-star students would always go on to do the IBDP, and many of them do because they love that academic challenge. But the IBCP can still create a lot of challenges, just in a different way. For students who don’t want to or don’t thrive in the challenge of an academic environment of six high-stakes examinations at the end of a two-year programme, this is another option for them.
We are starting with a relatively limited programme, so we are only offering enterprise and entrepreneurship for students who want to access marketing and business management degrees at university. In the future we may add more subjects, such as a sports-based subject for students who play high-level sport, and a tourism-based programme for events management.
Students who want to be a doctor or engineer, for example, do the IBDP programme, but if they want a broader range of learning in business and entrepreneurship, then the CP is just as good as the BP. So students obtain a Pearson BTEC International Level 3 Diploma in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship.
Does this diploma have a good standing at universities?
We have done a lot of due diligence, and one of the reasons we chose this particular programme is because it is accredited by the International Baccalaureate, the same organisation that created the DP programme. It is taught in more than 100 schools in 14 different countries across the world.
Do you think this may become more popular than the traditional IB diploma?
My prediction is that the IBDP will remain the most popular programme because of the standing it has within the world of education and with universities, and we think it’s a great programme, we just want to provide more choice. So, I suspect in this first year, we will have about three quarters of our students doing the DP and one quarter doing the CP. That might change a little bit in the coming years.
For parents and students who are interested in the IBCP, where can they find out more information?
Parents can just email admissions@ismonaco.com and we will send out all the details. There is also plenty of information for current and prospective parents on the ISM website https://sites.google.com/view/post-16-options/home
 
 

Next best thing: Monaco’s Virtual Grand Prix 

by: Stephanie Horsman
22/05/2020

The coronavirus may have deprived Monaco of its Grand Prix this weekend, but the show must go on with fans and players alike gearing up for the big race on Sunday.   
It may not be the “real thing”, but it’s looking as if this weekend’s Virtual Monaco Grand Prix is going to be an exciting race, nonetheless, with new blood entering the circuit.
It has been confirmed that eight real-life Formula 1 pilots will be competing on Saturday, alongside top sim racers, celebrities and sports personalities. On the roster are Monaco’s Charles Leclerc for Ferrari, Lando Norris for McLaren, Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi, Williams drivers George Russell and Nicholas Lafiti and Red Bull’s Alex Albon will be joined by the Virtual Grand Prix debuts by Mercedes pilot Valtteri Bottas, and Esteban Ocon for Renault.
Apart from the real-world racers, Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang makes his debut for McLaren, surfer Kai Lenny is in the driver’s seat at Red Bull, Despacito singer Luis Fonci is up for Racing Point and Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is on deck with Alfa Romeo.
There will be a pre-exhibition race at 4pm before the main event which starts at 6pm on Sunday. Drivers will join the race remotely, with a host broadcast live from the Gfinity Esports Arena.
The broadcast will be available on F1.com and the official Formula 1 YouTube, Twitch, Weibo, Huya and Facebook channels. It is expected to run for 1 hour 30 minutes, with a qualifying period followed by a 39-lap race.
The Virtual Monaco Grand Prix will also be broadcast live with international broadcast partners in over 100 countries, including Sky Sports in the UK, ESPN in the US, and FOX Sports Asia across Southeast Asia.

Short film remake

Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc will physically take to the streets of the Principality early on Sunday morning under the orders of famed film director Claude Lelouch.
Lelouch’s distinguished career includes the acclaimed classic 1966 film ‘A Man and a Woman’, notable for the racing background of one of its main characters played by actor Jean-Louis Trintignant, the nephew of two-time Monaco GP winner Maurice Trintignant.
But Lelouch’s body of work also includes the epic short film ‘C’était un Rendez-vous’ which depicts a driver’s eight-minute mad dash from Paris’ Porte Dauphine to Montmartre, a sequence entirely shot in a single take in the early hours of the morning with an onboard view and supported by the roaring sound of a Ferrari 275 GTB rushing past many of the beautiful city’s landmark sites.
The French director and cinematographer will attempt a Monegasque remake of the latter – called ‘Le Grand Rendez-vous’ – during which Leclerc will rush a Ferrari road car fitted with cameras around Monaco’s closed course.
 
 

EasyJet to restart UK-Nice flights in June

by: Cassandra Tanti
21/05/2020

EasyJet is to resume a very small number of flights between the UK and Nice from 15th June with increased safety measures on board including mandatory wearing of face masks. It will be the first time the airline has taken to the skies since grounding its entire fleet on 30th March.
The airline says there is sufficient customer demand to restart domestic routes in the UK and France. Further routes will be added in the following weeks, as and when passenger demand rises and lockdown measures ease further across Europe.
The airline will resume flights from its main airports in the UK, including London Gatwick, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Belfast International. It will also begin flying again from cities in France, including Nice , Paris Charles de Gaulle, and Lyon, as well as Geneva in Switzerland, Lisbon and Porto in Portugal, and Barcelona in Spain.
The company will introduce enhanced cleaning and disinfection of its aircraft, make disinfectant wipes and hand sanitiser available on board, and require all passengers and cabin crew, as well as ground crew, to wear masks. There will be no food service onboard, initially.
EasyJet will not, however, block the middle seats in its planes, saying the measures “have been implemented in consultation with aviation authorities” and are in line with government and medical advice.
Irish carrier Ryanair has also announced a resumption of flights, saying it intends to restart 40% of its flights in July, operating almost 1,000 a day, but with only half the number of passengers between July and September than previously forecast.
News of easyJet’s return to the skies comes just days after the Europe-based airline revealed that it had suffered a major cyber attack which captured names, email addresses and travel details of nine million passengers, including 2,200 customers that had their credit card details stolen.
At this stage, there is no evidence of any personal information having been misused, EasyJet saidin a statement.
 
Photo: Pixabay
 

FEDEM calls for lift on firing ban, telecommuting

by: Stephanie Horsman
21/05/2020

The Principality’s employer’s union, the Federation of Monegasque Enterprises (FEDEM), has formally requested the government scrap a ban on dismissals and the obligation to allow employees to telework which were instated during lockdown.

At the start of the health crisis, a series of layoffs by employers in the Principality made headlines. The government’s response was swift, and under the leadership of Minister of Social Affairs and Health Didier Gamerdinger, a law was passed to prohibit such dismissals during the epidemic.

Now, FEDEM is claiming that the law “attacks freedom of work, the right to property, the principle of legal certainty, as well as the right to social protection.”

It argues that the law is essentially taking away the rights of employers to dismiss employees as well as forcing them to allow workers to telecommute. 

The employers’ union says that, whilst it understands “fully that in view of the current pandemic context, the Monegasque State needed to take the necessary measures to ensure the safety of the population, and in particular of the employees working in Monaco”, they find it “unacceptable” that such measures have become law.

The fear for business leaders is that the government is looking to dictate how they run their companies, allowing them unprecedented control over hiring and firing practices.  

The union argues that law, published on 15th May in the Official Journal, restricts employers and binds them “excessively and radically to the possibilities of dismissal, by restricting them to only five cases which include serious fault, dismissal initiated before the Covid-19 crisis, death of the employer, disappearance of the cause of the employment contract, and impossibility of reclassifying unfit employees.”  

Meanwhile, the union says it is unclear how the law is beneficial in the long run, saying “these provisions do not contribute to the preservation of health or the fight against the spread of the disease and affect the good management of companies.”

The union’s motion was filed on 18th May and will go before the magistrates in due course.

 
 

Monegasque boats sanctioned for French waters

by: Stephanie Horsman
21/05/2020

Yachts flying the Monegasque flag have been given official authorisation by maritime decree to travel or stopover in French territorial waters.  

France and Monaco have had longstanding reciprocal agreements on many things, due largely in part to the fact that France surrounds Monaco on three sides, making these agreements beneficial to all concerned.  

The one side of Monaco not enrobed by France borders the sea. So, it seems only logical that the Principality and France would have cause to give each other certain access to the territorial waters of the other.

By a maritime decree dated 18th May, the French have granted rights to Monegasque vessels in their waters, and conversely, boats bearing the flag of France have the right to navigate and stopover in Monaco.

Stopovers at the port and at anchor are limited along the coastline to a maximum distance of 54 nautical miles, about 100km, from the ports of Monaco for French craft.

For the moment, pleasure craft looking to moor are still subjected to the current rules regarding lockdown and deconfinement in each individual municipality. Sailors must therefore appeal to the town hall before assuming they will be welcome in port. Additionally, a call by VHF or phone must be made by any vessel entering French waters.

 

 Photo: Waters off Cannes, Pixabay