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Month: November 2020

‘Fearless’ women step forward for TEDx

by: Cassandra Tanti
19/11/2020

The upcoming TEDx Monte Carlo Women event will feature an incredible line-up of ‘Fearless’ females who have made their mark internationally, including the feminist pioneer behind a new Hollywood biopic, a former Prime Minister of Australia, and a Belarus opposition leader at the centre of a political nightmare.
“In the midst of uncertainty, the greatest peril is to retreat or become immobilised. At TEDWomen, we’ll hear from bold leaders who are stepping forward and taking action.”
That is the philosophy behind the intriguing TEDx Monte Carlo talk scheduled for 28th November – an all-day virtual event featuring ‘TEDWomen 2020’.
They include award-winning journalist, writer, political activist and feminist organiser Gloria Steinem – who is the subject of The Glorias, a new biopic film by director Julie Taymor.

 
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, leader of a national democratic movement in Belarus, will also be sharing her incredible story. By popular consensus, she received the most votes in the presidential election of Belarus in August. However, the official results were falsified in favour of the incumbent, and she was forced out of her country. She leads the democratic movement out of neighbouring Lithuania as protests continue to rage in Belarus.
Meanwhile, the 27th Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, will also be speaking. She will be joined by the co-author of her book ‘Women and Leadership: Real Lives, Real Lessons’ – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala – who is also the former Finance Minister of Nigeria and is set to be the next leader of the World Trade Organisation.
Joining the line-up is Jamila Gordon, one of Australia’s foremost tech leaders and founder of Lumachain, a platform that uses artificial intelligence to connect the broken links in the global food supply chains.
And rounding out the international line-up is Tracy Young – a construction engineer turned start-up CEO.
“Our objective is to bring forward fearless ideas and connect passions to drive change and make our world a better place. Why lock up ideas in our heads when we can open up about them and just do it?” Nazanine Matin, TEDx Monte Carlo Curator, told Monaco Life. “We’re stronger together and we’d be surprised how many people share our values, opinions, and fearless ideas. The key is to connect people by giving them a platform to share their thoughts, ask difficult questions, challenge the status quo and leave the conversation more enriched.”
The local TEDx line-up includes Founder and Director of SheCanHeCan Vibeke Brask Thomsen, strategist and politics expert Siri Khalsa, Atos CTO Sophie Proust, The Amber Group Founder and CEO Sonia Irvine, DJ Selena Faider, and infectious disease expert at the Princess Grace Hospital Dr. Ryan Lukas Farhad, who will offer some valuable insights into the current pandemic gripping the world.
“I hope participants will learn something new, share their fearless ideas, drive discussions, ask the tough questions and leave the event feeling empowered, enriched, and fulfilled,” said Ms Matin. “We are currently living in very difficult and odd times – for many being locked down at home can cause certain emotional strains – so we hope our conference can give them a different experience.”
The morning will kick off with a meditation session hosted by local Life Balance Coach Rhonda Hudson.
Tickets for the TEDx Monte Carlo Women event are €5 and available by registering here:
https://tedxmontecarlo.com/tickets-fearless/
People are also encouraged to send in their ideas about what it means to be fearless to media@tedxmontecarlo.com
 
 

Who were this year's recognised heroes?

by: Stephanie Horsman
19/11/2020

Monaco’s National Day is a day to honour not only the country and its prince, but to distinguish those who make the country what it is. This year, despite the health crisis, the country celebrated its everyday heroes.

The 2020 National Day ceremonies, which culminated on Thursday 19th November, saw a number of distinctions and promotions handed this week to those whose service or actions stood out this past year.

Prince Albert II presented awards for Physical Education and Sport at Stade Louis II on Tuesday.

Caroline, the Princess of Hanover, presented the honours in the Order of Cultural Merit on Wednesday, while the Prince presented Order of Grimaldi medals of honour to the volunteers of the Monegasque Red Cross and the National Blood Merit at the palace’s Cour d’Honneur.

Prince Albert and Princess Charlene in the Court of Honour at the Palace. Photo: Eric Mathon and Gaétan Luci / Prince’s Palace

On Thursday, dozens of awards and honours were presented to those in the service of the Prince’s government through promotion or distinction. Members of the fire brigade, the Prince’s riflemen, and the palace staff were recognised for their work and given medals for their service, including Lieutenant-Colonel Marc Degabriel of the fire brigade who received the Order of Saint-Charles and who pinned the Order of Grimaldi on the flag of the Monegasque Red Cross for its contribution to the fight against covid 19. 

This year, the Guard at the Standard of the Sovereign Prince was made up of six Carabinieri, including three in Papalin uniform to mark the 150th anniversary of the Company of the Prince’s Guards. 

Photo: Eric Mathon and Gaétan Luci / Prince’s Palace

Here is the full list of recipients:

Delivery of stripes to soldiers of the Force Publique and the Compagnie des Sapeurs-Pompiers:

– to the rank of Captain: Lieutenant Serge SEPE

– to the rank of Lieutenant: Major Alain SACANY

– to the rank of Staff Sergeant: Sergeant Olivier CASSINI

– to the rank of Sergeant: Corporal Guillaume BRUNA-ROSSO

– to the rank of Master Corporal: Corporal Philippe DESTREBECQ

– to the rank of Corporal: 1st Class Sapper Fabien RAY

– the 1st class distinction:

. Sapper Jean-Philippe DOMINIAK

. Sapper Raphaël GARCIA

. Sapper Dorian HUART

. Sapper Mathieu LORME

To the Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince:

– to the rank of Chief Warrant Officer: Warrant Officer Denis RAYMOND

– to the rank of adjutant: Marshal des Logis-head Nicolas MARRADI

– to the rank of Maréchal des Logis-Major: the Marshal of Logis-head Bruno VOGELSINGER

– to the rank of Marshal des Logis-chef: the Marshal of Logis Thierry AMET, Marshal of Logis Jean-Christophe AGOSTA

– to the rank of Maréchal des Logis:

. Brigadier Fabien ROEHRIG

. Brigadier Simon LAINEZ

. Brigadier Grégory MARMORET

– to the rank of Brigadier:

. 1st Class Rifleman Eric DIETHRICH

. 1st Class Rifleman David CABAUD

. The Rifleman of 1st Class Rémi TOSCAN

. 1st Class Rifleman Franck ORGERET

– the 1st class distinction:

. the Rifleman Sylvain BILOTE

. the Rifleman Sébastien WALTZ

. Carabinieri Mickaël BELLATALLA

. Carabinieri Charly MINOTTI

Presentation of decorations at the Compagnie des Sapeurs-Pompiers:

– Knight in the Order of Saint-Charles: Lieutenant-Colonel Marc DEGABRIEL

To the Monegasque Red Cross:

– Order of Grimaldi – Covid-19 Promotion 

Presentation of medals of honour and long-service medals to Palace staff

• 1st CLASS MEDAL OF HONOR IN VERMEIL: (1)

Mr Alain LEUCCI Head Upholsterer 30 years of service

• FIRST CLASS WORK MEDAL IN SILVER: (2)

Mr. Franck SABATINI Electrotechnician 27 years of service

Mr. Alain PEREZ Head of the Maintenance Department 27 years of service 

• SECOND CLASS SILVER MEDAL OF HONOR: (2)

Mr Ludovic VALLAT Responsible for the gardens 25 years of service

Madame Marie-Claire AMET Switchboard operator 25 years of service

• 3rd CLASS BRONZE MEDAL OF HONOR: (1)

Mr. Patrick GIORDANO Head Mason 18 years of service

• SECOND CLASS WORK MEDAL IN BRONZE: (7)

Mr. Guillaume ESPOSITO Gardener 10 years of service

Mr. Ludovick DURAND Plumber 10 years of service

Mr Marcio BORGES MARQUES Valet 10 years of service

Madame Léni BORGES MARQUES Housekeeper 10 years of service

Madame Natalie BRAMIN Lingère 10 years of service

Madame Karine PLISSONNEAU Upholsterer 10 years of service

Madame Isabelle LE GUERINEL Switchboard operator 10 years of service

 
Photos: Eric Mathon and Gaétan Luci / Prince’s Palace, Manu Vitali and Mikael Alesi / Government Communication Department.
 
 

Roca Team crush Antwerp

by: Stephanie Horsman
19/11/2020

AS Monaco Basketball led from start to finish in their match against Telenet Giants played at the Lotto Arena in Antwerp, winning 75-67.
The Roca Team’s fourth Euro Cup 7 victory puts them firmly in third place in their division, keeping hope alive that they will be qualifying for the Top 16.
Marcos Knight was the undisputed star of the night, racking up 20 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Despite his stellar performance and the team’s win, Knight saw gaps in his team’s performance saying, “I think our legs were a bit heavy. We are able to pass the ball better and defend better. We’re going to go back to training and work on that.”
Assistant Coach Mirko Ocokoljic, who has the reins whilst Head Coach Zvezdan Mitrovic is out, concurred, adding, “We won, I’m happy with the victory, but I think we need to analyse the match. I am sure we can do a lot better. The reason is perhaps the long interruption, 20 days, then the tough match on Saturday against Dijon.”
Matthias Lessort also had a fantastic night, scoring 16 points, and JJ O’Brien had a strong showing as well with 11.
Monaco made 19 shots out of 45, with nine out of 26 at the three-point line. There were 16 total assists, including Knight’s six and Team Captain Dee Bost’s five.
On the Antwerp side, Ibrahima Faye was the team’s high scorer with 14 points, and
Stephaun Branch and David Dudzinski both held their own with 12 points apiece.
The Roca will be on the court again on 21st November, when they play Limoges in a Jeep Elite game at home at Stade Louis II.
 
Photo: GOYVAERTS/GMAX AGENCY
 
 

WHO to “strengthen preparedness” for future crises

by: Stephanie Horsman
19/11/2020

Monegasque delegates took their places at the latest virtual conference held by the World Health Organisation (WHO), where the member states agreed to improve their readiness for health emergencies so future Covid-style crises don’t catch them off guard.
The 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA) hosted by the World Health Organisation took place virtually this year with 194 member states participating in a six day conference that ran from 9th to 14th November.
The conference finalised the review of its agenda as it stood back in February and adopted a draft resolution that “renews the commitment to better prepare for health emergencies such as Covid-19, through ‘full’ compliance with the International Health Regulations.”
The member states, therefore, have agreed to dedicate domestic investment and public funds to emergency preparedness plans, as well as vowing to streamline decision-making processes to improve institutional capacity and public health infrastructure.
This new resolution comes in direct response to the near-universal lack of readiness experienced at the onset of the Covid crisis. The idea is that every nation must be ever-vigilant so that when situations like the pandemic arise again, there will be better, swifter reactions.
The WHO strategy for Covid-19, and for any future infectious disease control, is a five-part plan starting with mobilisation of the communities to ensure compliance and participation in preventing the spread of a disease. The next step is to control the spread by isolating clusters and providing appropriate track and trace methods, followed by suppression through social distancing and other infection prevention methods. At the same time, clinical care will be provided to help those already ill, keeping in mind that front line workers and the vulnerable must be particularly protected. The final step is to work together to develop therapies and vaccines that are accessible on a global scale.
Health workers were particularly honoured during the opening ceremony of the conference, and it was agreed that 2021 was to be designated as the International Year of Health and Care Workers.
The Monegasque delegation was led by Carole Lanteri, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Mission of Monaco to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
 
Photo source: Pixabay
 
 

How to watch National Day celebrations

by: Cassandra Tanti
18/11/2020

Unfortunately, due to Covid restrictions, traditional National Day celebrations will not take place in view of the public this year.
However, there will be a special broadcast on Thursday from 9.55am live on the Facebook page of the Prince’s Palace, showing the Te Deum mass in the Cathedral of Monaco, as well as the taking of arms, the handing out of the Order of Grimaldi distinctions – including the new ‘Promotion Covid-19’, the presentation of the Order of Saint-Charles decorations and the presentation of rank insignia and medals in the Cour d’Honneur of the Prince’s Palace.
To view the broadcast, visit the Prince’s Facebook page here.
 
Related stories:

Special Order of Grimaldi honours

 
Photo: Screenshot of preview presentation from the Prince’s Facebook page
 
 
 

Guide to PCR tests at Nice airport

by: Stephanie Horsman
18/11/2020

Since the 30th October, the French government has reimposed travel measures for the lockdown period, requiring passengers to provide certain documentation as well as presenting a negative PCR test before being allowed to travel. Nice Airport’s new testing centre has taken the pressure off by offering an in-house pre-flight service to travellers who present an antigen test request form.
The new travel procedures in place for the current French national lockdown require that passengers meet certain requirements as stated in an official travel declaration, as well as presenting a negative PCR test before flying.
This is not always that easy to obtain, so Nice Côte d’Azur has opened a Covid testing centre in Terminal 2 that allows passengers to arrive from four hours to 90 minutes before scheduled flight departure times and be given results in-hand in roughly 30 minutes. The tests have a validity period of 72 hours.
In order to benefit from the on-site centre, travellers must download and fill in a form beforehand. The form is available on the airport’s website and will be transmitted directly to the test centre. They are offered in English, French, Italian and German.
The testing room is open from Monday to Friday, 8am to 2pm. It is closed on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays.
“By working hand in hand with French public services, the city of Nice, the health authorities, the airlines and their ground-handling agents, we are creating the optimal conditions to enable the largest number of people to be tested all while maintaining fluid passenger flows and the punctuality of departing flights,” Franck Goldnadel, Chairman of the Board for Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur said.
The tests are completely voluntary and free of charge.
Visit the airport website by clicking here.
 
Photo by Nice Côte d’Azur airport