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Day: 11 August 2020

Mandatory masks in tourist hotspots

by: Cassandra Tanti
11/08/2020

The Monaco government has announced that masks will be mandatory in popular outdoor hotspots from Wednesday, including Casino Square and the Palace Square.
During a press conference on Tuesday afternoon with Minister of State Serge Telle, Minister of the Interior Patrice Cellario, and Director of Labor Pascale Pallanca, the government revealed its latest action amid rising Covid numbers in the Principality.
Just days after Prince Albert revealed that he was strongly considering the compulsory wearing of masks in public areas, the Minister of State confirmed the mandate.
“General deconfinement in Europe and the busy summer season have created new cases of coronavirus,” said Serge Telle. “We must be very vigilant and responsible”.
Monaco has registered 133 positive cases of Covid-19 since testing began, including 113 who have fully recovered. The last positive cases in Monaco were, for the most part, people who were infected outside of the Principality. To date, only one resident has died from coronavirus.
The latest mandate follows the government’s recent decision to make masks compulsory in queues and at large venues such as Stade Louis II for the upcoming Herculis EBS athletics meet on 14th August.
As of Wednesday 12th August, people will be required to wear masks in the Place du Palais, the streets of Monaco-Ville, the Place du Casino and the area surrounding the Fontvieille shopping centre.
 
Photo of Casino Square by Monaco Life, all rights reserved
 
 

Council accepting scholarships applications

by: Stephanie Horsman
11/08/2020

The National Council is now accepting applications for its Study Grants programme from now until 15th September.
In the elections of February 2018, the National Council pledged to have 50% more money available for scholarships, and good to their word, they have opened up the application process for these grants.
Eligible Monegasque students can now benefit from more assistance with tuition fees for higher education at certain schools. In principle, at the participating institutions, the state can offer grants based on tuition fees ranging from 40% to 100% coverage depending on the student’s needs.
A full list of these institutions can be found on the government website, and include such top flight schools as École Polytechnique, Harvard, Oxford, École des Beaux-Arts de Paris, Cambridge, Princeton and Yale.
The initial application forms must be submitted by 15th September, though they may be submitted incomplete if there is information not yet available to the applicant. Any missing documentation must be filed by 1stMarch 2021 in order to properly calculate the amount of the scholarship. After this date, the grants will be given out at a “flat-rate allowance” with a 25% penalty for Monegasques and their spouses. All other requests will be cancelled.
The application form and requirements are available online here.
For the complete list of institutions of higher learning that can be applied for, follow the link here.
 
 
 
 

Monaco International Film Festival gets new president

by: Stephanie Horsman
11/08/2020

The Monaco International Film Festival has just announced Edward Sylvan, co-founder of international distributor Sycamore Entertainment Group, as its new President, paving the way for the local festival to leap to the next level.
The Monaco International Film Festival will return in February 2021 with a new president. Edward Sylvan has taken the reigns and reportedly has plans to enhance the digital profile of the event, making it more accessible to more like-minded filmmakers and distribution companies – no small feat in the time of social distancing and the global pandemic.
Co-creators of the Monaco International Film Festival, Rosana Golden and Dean Bentley, agree.
“During these challenging times, we continue to look towards the future and embrace opportunities that will grow the MIFF and The Angel Film Awards. We are confident that working with Edward Sylvan and Sycamore will bring our beloved festival to the next level,” the pair said in a joint statement.
The festival touts itself as a “celebration of peace, love and the art of making movies”, and tends to avoid films that are largely based on gratuitous violence.
“I am honoured to be appointed as president of the MIFF,” Mr Sylvan said in a statement. “The festival’s mandate is what I have stood for my entire life and serves as a platform to promote films of equality, diversity and other complex subject matter using nonviolent storytelling. It takes an extremely high level of filmmaking talent and creativity to tell stories this way. I am excited to join this wonderful team and be a part of taking the MIFF to new heights.”
Sycamore Entertainment, the company headed up by Sylvan, specialises in acquisition, marketing, and distribution of feature-length films and his name will open up doors for the festival. He hopes to attract more international filmmakers to add to its diversity.
 
 
 

Masks now mandatory in St-Tropez

by: Stephanie Horsman
11/08/2020

Time to pull out the glamorous face masks, St-Tropez is the latest French town to require them in all public places.

Known for high-end beach clubs, celebrity sightings and its massive Tuesday and Saturday Provençal market, St-Tropez is synonymous with the good life on the French Riviera. Now it is also known as one of the latest French towns to have adopted an obligatory mask-wearing rule in all public indoor and outdoor spaces.

After a spate of widely-publicised positive Covid tests cropped up in local restaurants, forcing reclosures and scaring off tourists, the town responded by making face masks mandatory as of last Saturday.

Posters to that effect were scattered all over the central town square, the open-air market, the port, and on the streets harbouring the boutiques and galleries frequented by the rich and glam.

The order was issued by the Prefecture of the Var, taking the decision out of the town’s hands and making the transition almost immediate. Police were giving free masks to visitors who did not have one, but as of Monday, they have started handing out €135 fines for non-compliance.

France saw nearly 10,000 new cases last week and is on the verge of being put on the UK quarantine list.

 
 

Tour de France 2021 to begin in Brittany

by: Staff Writer
11/08/2020

The 2021 Tour de France will start in Brittany after Copenhagen’s staging of the ‘Grand Depart’ was pushed back by a year due to a potential clash with football’s postponed European Championship, race organisers said on Monday.
Brittany will also host the first four full stages of the race.

“Delighted to announce with Christian Prudhomme that we will start in Brest, pass through Finistere, Cotes d’Armor, Morbihan and Ille-et-Vilaine. It will be a great celebration and a boost for the economy,” said the region’s president Loig Chesnais-Girard.
The start of next year’s Tour was brought forward by six days to avoid clashing with the men’s road race at the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics.
The new 26th June start date, however, created a clash for Denmark with the European Championship, which runs from 11th June to 11th July.
Denmark is due to host three group matches as well as a last-16 match, all taking place at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen in June.
The Danish start to the Tour will be held from 1st to 3rd July, 2022.

 
(Reuters)