Hugo Micallef, the “Fresh Prince of Monaco”, will box in the Principality for the first time later this month.
The undefeated Monegasque boxer registered his seventh professional victory against Michal Bulik at the start of June, and he is now set to fight on home soil for the first time.
Micallef will meet Denis Bartos in his eighth professional fight at the Chapiteau de Fontvieille on the evening of 23rd September. Since turning professional, the 25-year-old Monegasque, who is a good friend of fellow Monaco native athlete Charles Leclerc, hasn’t been taken out of his comfort zone by his opponents; he should feel at ease competing in the place he calls home. Tickets for the event will be made available soon.
Speaking on social media, Micallef, who is currently training in Las Palmas, said “I am very proud to be able to perform in front of my people, my friends, my family for the first time in my professional career. I’m looking forward to seeing you all, and I can’t wait to be there and experience it with you. Go Monaco!”
An eighth consecutive victory for Micallef, in front of his fellow Monegasques, would be the sweetest of them all.
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Monaco’s Prince Albert and Princess Charlene have been pictured behind the scenes of the launch of the Principality’s new public television station, TV Monaco, which hit screens for the first time on 1st September.
Residents of the Principality now have a new public television station to call their own following the launch of TV Monaco at 7.22pm on 1st September.
Found on Channel 9 on the Monaco Telecom box, the French-language programme is part of the TV5 Monde network, which has a viewership of roughly 60 million a week and is broadcast in 198 countries around the world.
PRINCE AND PRINCESS IN THE CONTROL ROOM
Prince Albert and Princess Charlene were present in the control room as TV Monaco came to life. For the Prince, the moment would have been particularly special as his father, Prince Rainier III, was instrumental in bringing TV to the nation.
“It is a great pride, a great joy but also a great emotion,” said the Prince. “The launch of a channel is always a very important moment… My father launched Télé Monte-Carlo a long time ago in 1959.”
The savvy sovereign clearly understands what it means to have a voice that reaches the outside world, adding, “There was this real desire to participate and to promote the Principality even more beyond our borders… A channel was needed to show other aspects of Monaco.”
Prince Albert and Princess Charlene pictured at the launch of TV Monaco. Photo credit: Palais Princier de Monaco
OTHER TOP DOGS
After a short report presenting the channel and its editorial staff, Minister of State Pierre Dartout, General Director of TV Monaco Salim Zeghdar and Yves Bigot, the General Director of TV5 Monde, had their turns on the microphone of the inaugural edition.
The Minister of State made no bones about the channel being an excellent way of promoting the Principality, saying, “We have a belief and a faith that this television channel will succeed and that it will be a very important tool for Monaco.”
Zegdar, who will soon be handing over the reins to Nathalie Biancolli following his appointment to the role of Administrator of the Estates of Prince Albert II, used his time in the spotlight to speak about the hard work that went into making TV Monaco a reality.
The modern looking set of TV Monaco, which has taken inspiration from the natural elements of the Principality. Photo credit: Palais Princier de Monaco
The channel will focus on four key themes: “the environment, current affairs, sport and the art of living” as explained by representatives for Prince Albert via the Palais Princier de Monaco’s Instagram page.
DEDICATED SPACE
The new headquarters, a 1,300m2 space in Fontvieille, will house an editorial team of around 30 journalists, including a dozen freelancers, and will be self-contained.
The presenters and guests are seated around a jellyfish-shaped console “reminiscent of the sun” and the backdrop features wood and rock elements to represent The Rock of Monaco.
A live broadcast set has also been set up, in keeping with the overall look of the channel.
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A photo exhibition highlighting ‘10 years of action and prevention’ by the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation will be held at the Galerie des Pêcheurs de Monaco for the next few months.
The exhibition features 26 unique photographs illustrating the Foundation’s projects as part of its three programmes: Learn to Swim, Water Safety and Sport and Education.
Through this temporary exhibition, which runs from 1st September to 31st October 2023, the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation aims to raise public awareness of its actions, which have benefited more than 1.2 million people over the past 10 years.
Drowning is a major global health issue and a priority in the Foundation’s actions. Responsible for the deaths of around 236,000 people worldwide each year, the main mission of the Foundation is to save lives by helping to reduce drowning rates.
In France, although the number of accidental drownings is still high, the figures show that the number of deaths continues to fall. 598 people drowned between 1st June and 2nd August this year, according to a recent epidemiological report from Public Health France. Over the same period, drowning deaths were 724 in 2022 and 797 in 2021 – down 17% in one year and 25% in two years.
The Galerie des Pêcheurs is located in the building above the Parking du Chemin des Pêcheurs.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen secured a record-breaking 10th consecutive victory at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, as Ferrari could only manage third and fourth on home soil.
The Tifosi roared as Carlos Sainz narrowly took pole ahead of Verstappen and Charles Leclerc on Saturday, however, it was a different story on race day. Only 0.067 seconds separated the top three in qualifying, but the difference between the Red Bull and the Ferrari was more pronounced in race conditions, as expected.
Whilst Sainz managed to hold his first place from pole position, he soon came under pressure from Verstappen, who was dogged in his attempt to break the record for the longest series of Formula 1 victories.
Carlos Sainz celebrating his pole position with the Tifosi at Monza. Photo source: Scuderia Ferrari Press Office.
Sainz’s resistance was stern, but fair, and allowed him to fend off Verstappen for the first 15 laps, but once the resistance was broken, the result looked a foregone conclusion; the record looked like falling.
A slow pit stop from Ferrari afforded Verstappen a comfortable margin when the reigning world champion exited the pits one lap later, and once in the lead, Verstappen never cedes it. It quickly became evident that the Ferraris would quickly be fending off Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez.
A nail-biting battle between the Ferraris
The Mexican made the move on Leclerc on lap 32, and despite more strong resistance from Sainz, Perez finally made the move stick on lap 46 of 51. Leclerc looked to follow the Red Bull through and temporarily did so on lap 47.
However, Sainz retook third just one corner later. A nail-biting battle ensued until the end. Sainz pleaded over team radio for Leclerc not to contest the position, but those pleas fell on deaf ears. Ferrari did, nonetheless, tell Leclerc not to take any risk.
Leclerc then almost went into the back of Sainz on the final lap, but the Ferraris kept it clean, the latter taking third, whilst the Monégasque had to settle for fourth.
However, there was no challenging Red Bull’s supremacy once again, as they beat Ferrari on their home soil. Verstappen now holds the record for the most consecutive victories (10), and you wouldn’t bet against him extending that record in Singapore in a fortnight.
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AS Monaco returned to the top of the Ligue 1 table thanks to a dominant victory over RC Lens (3-0) at the Stade Louis II on Saturday.
The fixture was touted as Monaco’s first real test, and they passed with flying colours. Last season, Les Monégasques lost both matches against Lens by a three-goal margin, but it was Monaco’s turn to return the favour.
Under Adi Hütter, Monaco look revitalised. So often ponderous in possession under Philippe Clement, Hütter has stated that he wants his side to play “fun” football, and they are certainly doing that. No Ligue 1 team comes close to Monaco’s 13 goals in four games.
Lens were sluggish from the offset. Monaco quickly found their rhythm and comfortably bypassed Les Sang et Or’s porous midfield throughout. The man-of-the-moment, Takumi Minamino saw an effort tipped over, but from the resulting corner, Wilfried Singo scored his first goal for the Principality club, heading home Caio Henrique’s cross.
Adi Hütter equals Claudio Ranieri’s record
Monaco would double their lead before the break. Minamino found himself with the time and space to pick out Aleksandr Golovin in the box, who finished first time past Brice Samba.
The half time break didn’t stem Monaco’s momentum. It was once again Henrique with the assist as Guillermo Maripán headed home the third and final goal of the encounter.
Folarin Balogun came on for his debut late in the second half, and almost got on the scoresheet, but he went to ground after rounding Samba, and instead of earning a penalty, he received a yellow card for simulation. Regardless, Monaco sauntered to victory to retake top spot in Ligue 1. Hütter meanwhile, is the first manager since Claudio Ranieri in 2013 to have earned 10 points in his first four Ligue 1 matches as Monaco manager.
“The idea is to have an aggressive style of football.”
Sporting Director Thiago Scuro reacted the Monaco’s offensive festival in the post-match mixed zone. “The idea is to have an aggressive style of football, to play forward, to play on the front [foot]. This kind of football clearly creates a lot of chances. It’s good that our players are using these opportunities to score,” he said.
However, despite Monaco’s strong start, and the relative struggles of the Principality club’s rivals, Scuro isn’t getting ahead of himself. “In football, what counts is the way that things finish, not the way they start. It’s very good to have a good beginning, but in the end we know the championship is decided in the last five or six games. We always have to be thinking about the next game,” he told Monaco Life.
It will be hoped that the upcoming international break won’t break Monaco’s rhythm. The Principality club next face Lorient on 17th September, before welcoming rivals Nice and Marseille to the Stade Louis II later this month.
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Vatel, the world’s leading business school group for the hospitality and tourism management sector, is to open a new school in the south of France.
On Friday 1st September, longtime Cannes Mayor David Lisnard unveiled plans for the opening of a brand-new hospitality school and training centre in the west of Cannes. The future establishment will be part of the internationally renowned and award-winning Vatel Group network.
Set to open in time for the 2026/27 academic year, the Vatel Academy will eventually welcome 1,000 students. Two Masters will be on offer – Events Management and Strategic Luxury Management – in addition to courses in the realms of cookery and hospitality.
The school will cover 18,000m2 and be equipped with a top-of-the-range teaching kitchen and pastry facilities. There will also be a 50-room training hotel, a restaurant and food court, and various classroom settings as well as student accommodation of at least 319 rooms to allow for on-campus living for a portion of the intake. Around 100 permanent jobs, from teaching posts to maintenance roles, will be created.
BIGGER PICTURE
The last few years have seen considerable developments and investments made in the Cannes-La Bocca area of the city, including a €22 million rebrand and renovation of its seafront and a €78 million injection into the local town centre.
Mayor Lisnard has spoken frequently of his desire to establish Cannes as a major “university city”; a project that is already well underway following the 2021 opening of the Georges Méliès University for the applied arts, animated images, special effects and video games sectors.
“What pride [I feel] to welcome the prestigious Vatel hotel school, which has been training future hotel executives and managers for 40 years,” he said at a press conference for this latest Vatel development. “In less than two years, Cannes has established itself as a student city that counts in the landscape of French academia. The establishment of a Vatel Group school here also confirms the global influence of our city in the professions of events, tourism, and the hotel and catering industry.”
The French Vatel Group began in Paris in 1981, but has grown to reach all four corners of the world. Today, the group operates 55 schools in 31 different countries and currently educates 9,000 students. Over the years, some 39,000 alumni have passed through the doors of Vatel’s various establishments.
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