Maserati Monaco Sports Group Racing topped the timing sheets at pre-season testing in Valencia with just one month to go until the beginning of Formula E’s Gen3 era in Mexico.
MSG Racing, formerly ROKiT Venturi Racing, finished second in the constructors’ championship last season and will be looking to go one better in the ninth season of Formula E. The curtain-raiser in Mexico City will herald a new era for the sport, with the introduction of the new, faster, and more efficient Gen3 car, which was revealed in Monaco earlier this year.
Edoardo Mortara, who narrowly missed out on the drivers’ championship last year, and his new teammate, Maximilian Günther, completed a combined 597 laps in the new car, amassing over 2000km at a four-day event in Spain.
It was Günther who impressed most, topping the timing sheets on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Mortara’s best finish was on Wednesday, when he finished fourth. The signs are therefore overwhelmingly positive for the team, with the season fast approaching.
MSG Racing team principal James Rossiter reflected on the team’s testing, saying, “At this stage, our findings are very positive, and we’ve already learned a great deal about Gen3 Formula E and our technical package. This week, we’ve seen such great potential from Maserati MSG Racing team and both our drivers, and I’m very excited to see how we line up in Mexico City.”
Photo by Maserati MSG Racing
Hugo Micallef remains unbeaten after fifth professional victory
Hugo Micallef – “The Fresh Prince of Monaco” – remains undefeated in professional boxing after beating Lesther Lara in Nantes to register a fifth victory for the welterweight boxer.
The Monégasque boxer beat the more experienced Nicaraguan by unanimous decision after six rounds in the Parc des Expositions de la Beaujoire in Nantes on Saturday night, adding to his four other professional victories against Ezequiel Gregores, Gonzalo Omar Manriquez, Mauro Loli and Illias Kallouch.
Micallef responded well after a late change to the bout. The Monegasque, on the books at Top Rank, was initially meant to fight Mexican boxer Jose Angel Rosales Romero, but for a late change just days before the fight.
In the search for a sixth-consecutive professional victory, Micallef is expected to fight again early in 2023, although no date has yet been lined up.
Photo from Hugo Micallef’s Instagram
Argentina beat France on penalties to win World Cup
Argentina beat France on penalties in one of the great all-time World Cup finals on Sunday, despite a hat-trick from former Monégasque Kylian Mbappé.
The final was presented as a battle between Mbappé and Lionel Messi. The two Paris Saint-Germain teammates are at opposite ends of their careers. For the latter, it was the last chance to win the only trophy that eluded the Argentinian great, often described as the best player to grace the Beautiful Game.
It was first-blood Messi. France captain Hugo Lloris said pre-match, that Les Bleus were “prepared to suffer”, but the extent to which Didier Deschamps’ men struggled in the first-half was nonetheless a shock. Messi opened the scoring from the spot after Ousmane Dembélé, who put in one of the worst individual performances in World Cup final history, tripped Ángel Di María in the box.
Argentina continued to push. The provider turned goalscorer after a beautiful free-flowing move, leaving Di María visibly emotional as he celebrated in front of a reported 50,000 Argentinian fans.
France looked completely bereft of ideas, and Antoine Griezmann, so often the metronomic force that made France tick looked like the only functional piece in a broken clock. Without the pieces around him, he couldn’t exert his usual level of control on the biggest stage.
However, Argentina, seemingly sauntering to their third World Cup victory, took their foot off the accelerator. Doing that against a side containing Mbappé is always a risky move, and Lionel Scaloni’s side were punished.
Randal Kolo Munai got the better of Nicolás Otamendi and earned a penalty in the 80th minute, which was confidently dispatched by Mbappé. The former AS Monaco man then got on the scoresheet again just a minute later, levelling the scores with an acrobatic volleyed effort.
The unlikely comeback sent the final to extra-time, and as legs became weary, spaces began to appear. Argentina took the lead again through Messi, in what felt like a game of oneupmanship at times. Naturally, therefore, Mbappé replied, completing his hat-trick, becoming the first player to do so since Geoff Hurst in 1966. He also becomes the all-time World Cup final top-scorer in the process. Randal Kolo Muani then had a huge chance to finish the game in the last minute of extra time, but he was denied by a brilliant Emiliano Martinez save.
No individual or collective brilliance could prevent the game from going to penalties, where Argentina finally killed off their opponents. After Messi and Mbappé dispatched their opening penalties, Kingsley Coman’s effort was saved by Argentina’s Martinez. Former Monaco midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni then missed his spot-kick, leaving Gonzalo Montiel as the player to hammer the nail in the coffin, ending Les Bleus’ dreams of becoming the first country to win back-to-back World Cup winners since Brazil in 1962.
Post-match, French president Emmanuel Macron rued the country’s missed chance. “We were very far off at the end of the first half. There have already been comebacks like that, but it’s very rare in the history of football. We came back amazingly. What Mbappé and the whole team did is extraordinary. We found our hunger again. I really believed we would do it. We had a miraculous second half, coming back from nowhere, and we had match point,” he said.
France’s loss is Argentina’s gain, the Albiceleste exorcise the demons of 2014, and give Messi the greatest prize in his final World Cup game.
A last-second Elie Okobo three-pointer secured a slender victory for AS Monaco Basketball (92-89), sending them to the top of the Euroleague, in what Sasa Obradovic described as an “improvised” victory.
Friday night’s visitors to the Salla Gaston Médecin, Alba Berlin, arrived in the Principality as the underdogs. The German side were bottom of the Euroleague and had lost their last 10 matches in the competition.
Having marched into an early lead, those in attendance would have been fooled into thinking that the result was a foregone conclusion. Alba clung on to Monaco, showing a strong defensive resistance and taking their opportunities when they came. Tim Schneider, who made all five of his three-pointer attempts was a source of deflation for the Roca Team, who struggled to build a gap.
Holding a seven-point advantage heading into the final-quarter, Jaron Blossomgame (16 points), who also found success outside the arc, made his three-pointer to create a 10-point lead (77-67). However, 12 of the next 14 points would go Alba’s way, with another Schneider T3 giving the away side the lead (77-80).
An Alpha Diallo (20 points) dunk handed Monaco a slender advantage with just a couple of minutes on the clock (85-83). But Donta Hall then missed one of his signature dunks, and parity was then restored with just 17 seconds left on the clock.
Mike James, as he was during the midweek defeat against Barcelona, was largely constrained. Someone else had to step up to prove the match-winner, and that person was Elie Okobo (11 points). The Frenchman took control of the final possession, biding his time before taking his shot from just behind the arc with under a second on the clock. The shot made, the Salle erupted with Prince Albert II and all of those in attendance celebrating joining Fenerbahçe and Barcelona at the top of the Euroleague. All are tied on 10 wins.
With only 48 hours between the two Euroleague matches this week, Obradovic bemoaned the lack of preparation time and attributed this factor to what was an underwhelming, but ultimately successful night of basketball. “Not having time to prepare the game, meant they surprised us. We improvised because of a lack of preparation. Their defence surprised us. Sometimes we adapted well, other times not so well,” said the Roca Team coach.
Top spot retained in Betclic, despite defeat
On Sunday, and once again with very little preparation times, the Roca Team were in Betclic Elite action. Obradovic’s side succumbed to a surprise defeat to Le Portel (89-81), but still retained top spot in the domestic division.
The game was ultimately lost in the first quarter, during which Monaco were in difficulty on both sides of the court (33-13). A comeback of sorts took hold in the second quarter, and the beginning of the third, but Le Portel regained their grip on the tie having briefly fallen behind.
Despite the defeat, Obradovic’s side remain top with 11 wins. Boulogne-Levallois, led by Victor Wembanyama, look likely to be Monaco’s closest challenger this season, and they are currently one win behind and with a game in hand.
Photo by Monaco Life
Mush Foods founder Shalom Daniel: “Eat the meat you like, just cut it by half”
In the global race to find sustainable eating solutions, the food tech industry is exploding with innovative, natural alternatives. Among them is Mush Foods, an Israeli-based start-up that plans to revolutionise how we think of, and consume, food by cutting 50% of our meat intake.
The world’s population is growing at an alarming rate. On 15th November 2022, we hit the milestone figure of eight billion people. To put that into perspective, the number of humans on the planet grows by the equivalent of the population of Paris every 10 days.
“If we keep consuming like the average American or European consumer, we will need four planet earths,” Edwin van Raalte, Global Head of Food Tech at White Castle Partners, told Monaco Life. “That’s not going to work. So, we really need to find ways of creating better food production in a more environmentally friendly way. But it always starts with the customer – it must give a balance to nutrition and taste, while at the same time reducing impacts on the environment.”
White Castle Partners, a start-up acceleration firm headquartered in Monaco, recently hosted a food tasting at Komo restaurant in the Condamine district, not far from Port Hercule. Shalom Daniel, Founder and CEO of Mush Foods, was there with his two chefs to showcase how we can cut 50% of meat consumption without compromising on flavour, texture or nutrition.
A small group of investors had been invited to enjoy a six-course ‘50 Cut Hybrid Menu’: White Fish ‘cigars’, Ragu ravioli, chicken nuggets, chicken meatballs, beef burger, and lamb kebab.
“Why do people want regular meat? Because it is tastier and it is nutritious,” Shalom Daniel told me before the tasting. “We say, keep the meat that you like to eat, just cut it by half.”
In place of the other half of the meat is a natural product called mycelium.
Mycelium is actually more familiar to the building industry than to the food industry. It can be used to make building materials fire-resistant, stronger, and lighter. It can be used in the fashion industry to mimic the look, texture, and utility of leather. In some cases, it can even be used as a bonding agent for building materials such as bricks.
But in the case of Mush Foods, it is used in cooking to be blended with minced meat.
Photo by Monaco Life
Mush Foods is a one-and-a-half-year-old start-up out of Israel. Shalom Daniel, a Harvard Business School graduate, was formerly the global brand director of food giant Unilever. He wanted to have more of an impact on the world, so he started his own company and discovered mycelium, the “roots” of mushrooms.
“The mushrooms that we know are only 5-6% of the total organism,” explained Shalom Daniel. “The reason why you don’t call it the root of a mushroom is because mushrooms are not plants. But they are not animals either, they are a third kingdom, right in the middle. This organism is closer to us than it is to plants.”
More than 95% of the mushroom organism grows beneath the surface. Once mycelium reaches above ground, the pressure of oxygen and light turns it into the mushroom that we know and love today. But mycelium has all the same nutrients, the same taste, the same protein and amino acids. The problem has always been the harvesting.
“But with our technology we can grow mycelium above ground,” says Daniel. “We are utilising 70-75% of this total organism. We are also collecting waste from the food industry – coffee, soy, beer – and we are growing mycelium in it in vertical farms. So, it is very efficient on a number of levels, because we also don’t need light or oxygen.”
In its raw form, mycelium looks very much like mushroom. The genius in Mush Foods is that it combines different species together in order to get the specific aroma, texture and taste of different meats.
Mycelium. Credit: Dmytro Ostapenko (Shutterstock)
So, how does it stack up? Of the entire 50% Cut menu that we tried, there was a unanimous opinion that everything was incredibly close to resembling 100% meat. Even the beef burger, a culinary legend, was a hit.
And that’s the key. Mush Foods is not intended for vegans. It satisfies carnivores while being kinder to the planet.
“We could sell it to companies like Beyond Meat to replace the soy and processed products that are not very tasty. But we decided to focus on the meat industry,” explained Daniel. “We want to reduce high amounts of meat within meat products, instead of trying to make people become vegan or vegetarian.”
Mush Foods 50 Cut tasting menu at Komo
Even cutting 50% of meat production would have an enormous impact.
The raising and culling of animals for food, particularly beef, is a major contributor to climate change, responsible for huge greenhouse gas emissions – more than 14% of the total according to the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation – as well as land clearing for grazing and feeding. Meat production has expanded to the point where there are now three chickens for every human on the planet.
Scientists have consistently stressed that if dangerous global heating is to be avoided, a major rethink of eating habits and farming practices is required.
There are also the health benefits. Cutting out 50% of the meat also means slashing by half the amount of saturated fats and cholesterol, as well as calories, in a meal.
The food tech industry is booming as increasing awareness among the health-conscious population drives demand for healthier foods. The global food tech market size was USD 220 billion in 2019. By 2027, the figure is expected to reach USD 342 billion.
50 Cut food tasting with investors, organised by White Castle Partners, photo credit: Dasha Krizanovska
“Food tech is basically the Tesla of the future in the food world, so from an investment perspective, it is a great opportunity,” said Edwin van Raalte. “What we are trying to do at White Castle is to say, capital is of course something everyone thinks about in Monaco, but it is everything around that capital – capability, capacity, finding the leading companies in the food tech space that are really making an impact. There a lot of plant-based companies in the world, but who are the leading ones that are really making a difference, with true purpose, but at the same time also have an economic outlook for an investor? And finding those companies who understand that in America, food might be fuel, but in France, food is emotion, for the heart.”
In less than two years of creation, Mush Foods has established a facility in Israel and is about to build a new facility in the United States, where food regulation is less strict than in Europe. In about a year, once regulation hurdles are cleared, Shalom Daniel anticipates opening facilities here in Europe. His marketing strategy is to target restaurants and fast-food joints, selling the price benefits of mycelium over meat while satisfying a growing demand from health and planet-conscious consumers.
Monaco backs call to finalise marine biodiversity protection law at UN Convention
Monaco has joined in commemorations for the 40th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, where the call was made to finalise a concrete law protecting marine biological diversity areas.
Isabelle Picco, a permanent representative of the Mission of Monaco at the United Nations (UN), and Florian Botto, the mission’s first secretary, were both present at the 40th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention of the Law of the Sea, which took place in Montego Bay, Jamaica, on 8th and 9th December.
At the end of a year punctuated by numerous meetings on the oceans, such as the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon in which Prince Albert II took part, the Monegasque diplomat said that the pressures on the oceans are increasing, in particular due to pollution and the adverse impacts of climate change.
He spoke about how Monaco promotes ocean conservation through effective marine protected areas and has always supported marine science and research, highlighting the first ever science festival organised in October 2022 by the Scientific Centre of Monaco, praising its work and that of the Oceanographic Institute, the marine environment laboratories of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the International Hydrographic Organisation, established in the Principality.
In celebrating the 40 years of marine multilateralism ushered in by the adoption of the Law of the Sea, considered “the constitution of the oceans”, speakers in the General Assembly also underscored the need to continue that tradition with a binding instrument on sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.
In his opening address, General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi called for the need for a legally binding tool to better manage marine conservation areas that fall beyond national jurisdiction.
António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, continued by reminding delegates that “the Convention is more relevant than ever”, and stressed the importance of ending the division between profit and protection as well as the support of developing countries, particularly those with small islands.
While reflecting on the history of the convention, the common theme of discussion by delegates was the agreement that further governance is required.
Some of the notable comments made by speakers included those from Rwanda’s representative, speaking for the African Group, who criticised the current framework as being “fragmented and inadequate” while South Korea asked for a “soul-searching” examination of the robustness of the current Convention.
