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Month: April 2021

Monaco eases some restrictions

by: Cassandra Tanti
15/04/2021

Monaco’s positive health situation has allowed the government to relax a number of restrictions, including the night curfew which has been put back to 9pm, and the reopening of evening restaurant service.
After an alarming start to the year, authorities have managed to control the spread of the Covid-19 virus in the Principality, with the incidence rate drastically reduced and far fewer deaths and hospitalisations.
Meanwhile, the government continues to vaccinate around 1,000 per week, with more than 32% of the population now protected against the coronavirus.
As a result, the government was able to announce at a press conference on Tuesday the next, less restrictive phase of measures which will come into force on Monday 19th April for two weeks.
Minister of State Pierre Dartout said that the curfew has been pushed back one hour to begin at 9pm and last until 6am.
Restaurants will be allowed to resume evening service for residents and hotel guests only under the same conditions as the lunch service. Diners will have a time limit of 10pm to return home, 30 minutes after restaurants close. Employees living in France or Italy will not be permitted at evening service because of the 7pm curfew in these neighbouring countries.
Outdoor activities will also be allowed to resume for school children when they return from holidays on 26th April.
It is a “stop-and-go” approach that will allow the government to reassess the situation every two weeks.
Health Minister Didier Gemerdinger revealed that 12,077 people have received their first vaccination in Monaco, all of which have been the Pfizer jab. He said that the Principality is due to take delivery of Moderna vaccines soon, however authorities have decided not to use the AstraZeneca inoculation because “the age group affected by this product has already been vaccinated.”
The next group to be called up for vaccination is those aged between 45 and 54, which will happen over the next few days.
 
 

TV Festival screening to launch debate on lion farming

by: Stephanie Horsman
15/04/2021

This year’s Monte-Carlo Television Festival will host the premiere screening of Lion’s, Bones and Bullets, a hard-hitting animal rights documentary that reveals the underbelly of what the world thinks is ‘lion trophy hunting’ but, in reality, is the mass production, commercialisation and domestication of Africa’s wildlife for “traditional Chinese medicine”. 
The Monte-Carlo Television Festival is known for being a showcase for talented entertainment-industry professionals who have, over the past 60 years, created some of history’s most successful TV programmes.
But it also puts the spotlight on more serious, environmental topics. This year it is animal rights, namely, the exploitation of lions on the African subcontinent that are being cruelly raised for slaughter to make traditional Chinese “medicines” and potions.
A documentary entitled Lions, Bones and Bullets, produced by Jagged Peak Films, will be premiered in June at the Monte Carlo Television Festival through a collaboration between the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and the Festival organisers. It will be screened at the Grimaldi Forum.
Told through an adventure story, producer and investigator Richard Pierce travels from lion farms in South Africa to dealers in Southeast Asia “to uncover the elaborate wildlife con”. After presenting the problem, the film explores realistic alternatives.
“Lion farming and the increasing sale of lion bones to Asia involve exploitation, cruelty, injustice, misconception, fraud and corruption and is a threat to wild lion populations,” says Richard Pierce. “It is mind-blowing in terms of the huge negativity involved and it has no redeeming aspects. Lions are a flagship species. What happens to lion populations will be a major factor in determining the future of wild animals in Africa.”
The investigative documentary claims to uncover an elaborate international wildlife industry worth nearly US$100 million a year. Producers say it reveals, for the first time, the link between lion farming on an industrial scale in South Africa, and the growing demand and utilisation of lion bones in Southeast Asia.
“Lions, Bones and Bullets is a story that needed to be told,” says Executive Producer Anton Leach. “I realised not enough people know that lion farming is not just an emerging industry, it is a booming industry.
“We are honoured to have the world festival premier at the 60th Monte-Carlo Television Festival and believe this is the best forum to start a global debate about lion farming and the future of wildlife conservation.”
Lions, Bones and Bullets has benefited from support by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.
“By denouncing the lion bones trade hidden behind hunting, it is a clear and vital wake-up call that is sent to the world, inviting us to open our eyes and rethink our relationship with nature in the respect of wildlife,” says Olivier Wenden, Vice-President and CEO of the Prince Albert II Foundation.
Lions, Bones and Bullets will premiere on Monday 21st June at 7pm at the Grimaldi Forum during the Television Festival.
“Our Festival has always put environmental issues at the forefront, notably through the Prince Rainier III Special Prize, awarded to the best documentary dealing with these topics,” says Laurent Puons, CEO of the Monte-Carlo Television Festival. “We are convinced that this important screening will expose the secrets of the multi-million-dollar industry of lion farming to the world and open up a wide-scale ethical debate on the issue.”
 
Photo from the documentary Lions, Bones and Bullets
 
 

Is this the timeline for France’s reopening?

by: Cassandra Tanti
15/04/2021

Restaurants, bars and cafés would be allowed to open terraces from mid-May in the first phase of a three-stage reopening in France, if the government follows a timeline proposed by industry representatives. Here is what that timeline looks like.
French President Emmanuel Macron is meeting with around 15 mayors of the hardest hit departments in France at 4pm Thursday in a videoconference to take stock of the health crisis and discuss prospects for reopening, before chairing a meeting with a dozen of his ministers.
While the head of state is not expected to make an immediate announcement, he did say when placing the country into a “light lockdown” in early April that his government was working towards a mid-May reopening.
Meanwhile, on 2nd April, unions UMIH and SNRTC, and independent industry representatives GNI and GNC gave business leaders the timeline that they are pushing the government to adopt. Without any clear direction from authorities, this schedule, obtained by Monaco Life, is the one that anxious business owners are using to prepare for an eventual reopening.
The timeline proposes three, two-week stages starting in mid-May, dependent on a positive evolution of the health situation.
Phase one
The first phase would start on Friday 15th May and last two weeks. Restaurants, cafés and bars would be allowed to open their terraces only to customers.
Catering companies would also be able to host events outside, with six people per table for dining and a one-metre distance between tables. Sharing platters and buffets are not allowed. For ‘cocktail’ events, guests must be seated and served drinks at their tables.
Nightclubs would remain closed.
Phase two
The second proposed phase would start on Friday 29th May and will allow customers inside cafés, bars and restaurants. The exact number of people will depend on the size of the venue.
The same rules would apply for events, according to the six-per table restriction. For ‘cocktail’ events, guests will be allowed inside venues while restrictions outside will be relieved, with people no longer required to sit while drinking. Buffet-style dining and drinking are still banned.
For the first time since the pandemic was declared, nightclubs would be able to open terraces, if they have them.
Phase three
The third and final phase would be scheduled for Saturday 12th June, just under one month after the “reopening” begins. It will allow for the full resumption of service, both inside and out, of restaurants, bars and cafés with no limitations.
For events, a maximum of 10 people per table would be set. Cocktail receptions will be able to resume normal service, with “comfortable” furniture allowed for guests and controls at service points to limit the flow of people.
In addition to terraces, nightclubs will also be able to open interior spaces within a 20% capacity limit.
Health pass to eat out?
The communication says that the reopening will be carried out in accordance with health protocol worked out by the industry and validated by the government in October 2020 with, in addition, “the use of QR codes”. Business leaders told Monaco Life they have not been informed as to what this QR code system could entail, however it points to the possible use of a digital health pass by customers, greenlighting those who have either been vaccinated, tested negative for Covid, or recovered from the virus.
Nothing is set in stone
The government has not signed off on this timeline and everything depends on the evolution of the Covid-19 virus. Given the current situation, it is hard to imagine it would be “business as usual” by mid-June.
However, for a mid-May reopening, the government is banking on the projection that at least 20 million French citizens will have received the anti-Covid vaccine by then, with 30 million getting the jab by the summer.
The French President is not expected to outline details of the reopening until the end of April, which would leave businesses two weeks to pull it all together.
 
Photo by @lisa_frederic
 
 
 

Leclerc's winning Ferrari gifted to Prince Albert

by: Cassandra Tanti
15/04/2021

A Formula One Ferrari, identical to the one driven by Charles Leclerc in 2019, has been gifted to Prince Albert for his personal car collection and will soon be available to view by the public.
Charles Leclerc has entrusted the SF90 single-seater to the Principality after taking ownership from Ferrari headquarters in Maranello.
Equipped with its own engine, the racing car is identical to the one with which he won the Grand Prix at Spa in Brazil and Monza, Italy in 2019.
‘The Cars Collection of HSH the Prince of Monaco’ is a personal collection handed down from his father Prince Rainier III, who began to accumulate classic cars in the late 1950s.
Today, there are more than 100 cars within the museum walls at Fontvielle, from a 1903 De Dion Bouton to a 2013 Lotus, and now Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.
The museum is temporarily closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic but will reopen its doors as soon as the situation allows.
 
Photo by G. Luci / Prince’s Palace
 
 

Another stellar Roca team win

by: Stephanie Horsman
15/04/2021

AS Monaco Basketball is being kept extremely busy these days. The team has racked up 14 victories in 16 days, the latest being an 86 to 78 win over Elan Chalon on Wednesday night. 
No one can say the Roca team aren’t giving it their all this season, and the results have boosted them to new heights. Not only have the boys qualified for the Euro Cup 7 finals and gained right-of-passage to the prestigious Euroleague, but they have also dominated their Jeep Elite opponents consistently and professionally.
Their latest victory came on Wednesday when they went toe-to-toe with Elan Chalon at the Chalon-sur-Saône Colosseum.
The night belonged to JJ O’Brien and Marcos Knight, who both played incredible games. O’Brien was top scorer of the game and had four assists, and went four for five in three-point range, whilst Knight went for perfection, going eight for eight and scoring 100% on the evening. Branden Frazier was no slouch either, picking up 13 points and going three for five on his three-point shots. Finally, Abdoulaye Ndoye is also notable for going 100% on the night as well.
The third quarter was when Monaco poured on the heat and it was smooth sailing from then.
“After all the emotions experienced in recent days, the challenge was to stay focused,” said Coach Zvezdan Mitrovic after the match. “The first half was not very intense, Chalon then dominated us on the rebound, but overall, we had control over this match and the ball circulated well.”
The team made 33 out of 69 shots on the night, going 10 for 29 in the three-point zone. They had an astonishing 27 rebounds, 17 assists, eight strays and 11 steals.
O’Brien had 18 points to his credit, Knight had 17, Frazier 13 and Ndoye 10.
The team now gets a well-deserved rest. They return on the 20th of April when they take on the Metropolitans 92 of Paris at the Palais des Sports Marcel Cerdan at 7pm.
 
Monaco Life with AS Monaco Basketball press release
 

Uncertainty surrounding two Covid jabs

by: Stephanie Horsman
15/04/2021

Delay in the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in Europe comes as the European Union Commission announces it will not renew contracts with the US pharma giant and Astra Zeneca over blood clotting worries.
American pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson announced on Tuesday a voluntary delay in rolling out their single dose coronavirus vaccine in Europe amidst concern about serious blood clotting issues, similar to those experienced with the Astra Zeneca jab.
“We have been reviewing these cases with European health authorities,” the company said. “We have made the decision to proactively delay the rollout of our vaccine in Europe.”
It comes as hundreds of thousands of doses were intended to hit European shores in the coming weeks, 600,000 of these earmarked for France. The country has already received 200,000 doses of the J & J jab and, according to a government source, authorities still plan to use them.
“The doses, which arrived earlier this week, are being shipped to city general practitioners and to chemists,” French government spokesman Gabriel Attal told reporters.
The European Medicines Agency, the body that evaluates the safety of vaccines and other medications, had already begun a review on the J & J vaccine to assess reports of blood clots, saying reports point to a “safety signal, but it is currently not clear whether there is a causal association between vaccination”. The EMA added that they were investigating the cases and will decide “whether regulatory action may be necessary.”
Meanwhile, the European Union Commission said Wednesday that it will not be renewing contracts for Covid-19 vaccinations from either Johnson & Johnson or from beleaguered British-Swedish company AstraZeneca, according to a source at the Italian Health Ministry as reported by Italian daily La Stampa.
“The European Commission, in agreement with the leaders of many (EU) countries, has decided that the contracts with the companies that produce (viral vector) vaccines that are valid for the current year will not be renewed at their expiry,” the newspaper reported.
The focus, they say, will be on inoculations that use the messenger RNA technology rather than viral vector ones, such as the doses made by J & J and Astra Zeneca.
The President of the EU Commission, Ursula Van der Leyen, said the EU was in talks with BioNTech and Pfizer for new contracts to supply 1.8 billion doses.
“We need to focus on technologies that have proven their worth. M-RNA vaccines are a clear case in point,” she said.