Venturi Racing takes win in Mexico  

After a six-week hiatus, Monaco-based Rokit Venturi Racing was back in action again for their first Formula E race held in Puebla, Mexico.

Venturi Racing resumed its season seven­ campaign with a trip to sun-drenched Mexico in the season’s fourth double header event at the Autodromo Miguel E. Abed.

Driver Edoardo Mortara was on brilliant form in the qualifiers, progressing to Super Pole twice. This left the team in an incredibly strong position for both E-Prix events. Starting in sixth, he crept his way up to third, giving him his second podium of the season in the first race.

The second race came only one day later, and Mortara started strong from his number three pole position. After an excellently executed race, the Swiss-Italian pilot went on to win the race. He led 27 of the 32 laps in race, giving the team 25 points and putting him in the top spot in the standings, with a 10-point lead over number two driver Robin Frijns.

Teammate Norman Nato finished 14th in the first race and was not able to complete the second race, though he performed well. Nonetheless, their combined points haul has raised the team’s standings from 10th place to 6th literally overnight

This was the first win since season five at the Hong Kong E-Prix, bringing an end to a 834-day winless streak and giving the team a 40 point boost in the standings, the most they have ever had in a single race weekend.

Venturi Racing’s next race will be held in New York City on 10th and 11th July where drivers zip around the streets of Brooklyn with the majestic Manhattan skyline as a backdrop.

 
Photo: Rokit Venturi Racing Press Centre
 
 
 

Monaco bans smoking and vaping on beaches

The government has decided to make all beaches in the Principality non-smoking this summer for the comfort of beach-goers and to protect the environment.
For over a decade, the Principality has run the ‘Monaco Plage Propre’ campaign, providing sun-seeking smokers with free self-service ashtrays to keep the beaches clean.
But on Thursday, the government announced that it will ban smoking altogether on beaches from this Saturday 26th June to Thursday 30th September.
The rule will apply to the new Larvotto beach, set to reopen soon to the public, as well as the Plage du Solarium near quai Casiraghi.
The ban applies to both tobacco and electronic cigarettes.
There will be designated areas for smokers on some beaches, identified by a tick sign, except the Pêcheurs beach because of its small size.
“Through this action, the Principality wishes to protect its population from the risks associated with passive smoking, and to guarantee the balance of its natural environment,” said the government in a statement.
 
 
 
Photo by Strauss Western on Unsplash
 
 
 

Monaco's ‘Summer of Dance’

Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo is celebrating the return of live shows with two summer highlights this July.
To kick off the start of the 2021 edition of ‘L’Été Danse’ (Summer of Dance), the troupe will perform two creations by Mimoza Koike and Julien Guérin, both members of the ballet, from 15th to 17th July. With the full support of Artistic Director Jean-Christophe Maillot, these two young talents will bring their own new ballets to life over the three nights. Koike’s dance spectacle is called Tsunagu, a journey paying tribute to the people and places that shaped her artistic personality and the naturalism and poetry of her choreographic art with music by Iiia Osokin.
Also on the bill is Le temps du Tendre by Guérin with music by Vivaldi, who looks at love through the eyes of the 17th century approach to it. For Guérin, love is one of the “essential reasons for living. Love — true love shared — has always remained the most elusive and unintelligible of emotions. Without it, life is neither possible nor worth living. It is the driving force that moves us, empowers us, embraces us and sometimes even overpowers us. An overwhelming attachment to someone else, sublimated or incarnate.”

Photo of Mimoza Koike’s ‘Tsunagu’ by Takashi Shikama

Next up, from 22nd to 24th July, the dancers will take audiences on a journey to the shores of the Mediterranean with two creations.
The first, In Memorium by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, a former winner of the Nijinsky Award for Emerging Choreographers at the Monaco Dance Forum, was created back in 2004 for the Ballets de Monte-Carlo. This haunting ballet asks audiences to remember those who are no longer with us and will be accompanied by A Filetta, a Corsican musical group who will add their voices to the dancer’s moves.
This is described as “the presence of the dead persisting only through the memories they leave with the living. Some archaic rituals take the form of dances in honour of the dead. This bond between reality and memory is at the heart of In Memoriam.”
The second piece will be Core Meu by Jean-Christophe Maillot, which combines the Apulian Tarantella with classical ballet, an unusual but evocative and joy-filled mix. Antonio Castrignano and Taranta Sounds will accompany the dance.
All shows will be performed at the Grimaldi Forum and all start at 7pm. For tickets and more info, visit the ballets website at www.balletsdemontecarlo.com
 
 
Top photo by Alice Blangero
 

Twins all smiles as they embrace palace duties

Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella are Monaco’s new socialites. After appearing with their father at the weekend’s Rugby Sevens tournament, they were by his side again on Wednesday for the Festival of Saint Jean. 
The Princely twins were on good form on Tuesday 23th June as they joined their father, Prince Albert II, for the Festival of Saint Jean, in celebration of Saint John the Baptist.
After attending a religious ceremony in the Palace’s Palantine Chapel, the traditional “batafoegu” bonfire was lit in the Palace Square as the Prince and his young children looked on from a palace balcony.
Gabriella wore a blue and white striped cotton summer dress, whilst her brother wore a checked blue and white shirt, and both were impeccably behaved as they watched the scene below.
The Prince’s Palace shared pictures of the evening on its Facebook page:


The Festival of Saint Jean is held each year on 23rd and 24th June and is hailed as a celebration of enlightenment and joy, as well as the birthday of the saint. The two-day fest is marked by fire and light, representing the longest day of the year.
Saint Jean’s birthday has been fixed as 24th June, but the celebrations start the evening before in Monaco at sunset. Normally there is a parade with music and dancing in folk costume to accompany the bonfire, but due to the ongoing health situation, only the bonfire tradition went forward this year.
On the evening of the 24th, the bonfire moves to the Place des Moulins where a religious ceremony takes place prior at Saint Charles Church.

Photo of Prince Albert and son Prince Jacques at the Rugby Sevens tournament by Eric Mathon / Prince’s Palace 

Meanwhile, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella were all smiles as they accompanied their father to the Rugby Sevens Olympic qualifying tournament at the Louis II Stadium on Sunday, where they happily had their picture taken with the Monaco Sevens mascot.
They also joined Prince Albert at the high-profile Monaco Grand Prix in late May. Their mother Princess Charlene was in South Africa and unable to attend due to an ENT infection.
 
 
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Top photo by Eric Mathon / Prince’s Palace
 

 

Monaco helping to empower refugees

Monaco has committed to help refugees in West Africa access training in humanitarian and development professions that lift them out of their current circumstances.

The Principality, along with UNHCR and Bioforce, signed a memorandum of understanding on 22nd June, just after World Refugee Day on 20th June. It occurred just ahead of the 70th anniversary of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees signed on 28th July 1951.

For this new project entitled ‘Partnership for the access of refugees to humanitarian and development professions in West Africa’, Monaco will be offering ​​a grant of €600,000 between 2021 and 2024.

The partnership will give refugees in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) job training in humanitarian professions, particularly those offered by the Bioforce training centre based in Dakar, Senegal.

It will allow refugees to participate in the decision-making processes that affect them, and give them a purpose and a way to help themselves and their fellow migrants, who are in extremely vulnerable situations.

The partners are uniting to achieve the UNHCR’s objective set out in the ‘Education of refugees 2030’ strategy, aiming to give 15% of refugee students access to higher education by 2030. This is a huge jump from the current 3%.

“Access for refugees to quality higher education is indeed an integral part of the protection mandate of UNHCR, which recently launched the ‘Aim Higher’ campaign to address this challenge,” said the three entities in their joint release.

 
Photo from left to right – Gilles Collard – Laurent Anselmi – Paolo Artini, Communication Department – Manuël Vitali