Prince Albert II of Monaco has spoken out on the attacks on Israel, calling on the people of the Mediterranean to unite and “keep these barbaric acts in check”.
The Israeli government has formally declared war and given the green light for “significant military steps” to retaliate against Hamas for its surprise attack on Saturday.
The death toll has now passed the 1,100 mark, with thousands wounded on each side. At least 700 people have reportedly been killed in Israel, a number not seen in the country in decades, and more than 400 have been killed in Gaza.
Meaenwhile, Hamas and a smaller Islamic Jihad group claimed to have taken captive more than 130 people from inside Israel and brought them into Gaza, saying they would be traded for the release of thousands of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
The captives are known to include soldiers and civilians, including women, children and older adults — mostly Israelis but also some people of other nationalities.
On Monday, Prince Albert II released a public statement to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, expressing his support for the State of Israel. It reads, “Mister President, I learned with horror of the terrorist attacks affecting your country and of which we deplore numerous victims, some cut down in their youth.
“My thoughts go out, in sadness and dismay, to the families of the missing people as well as those injured and taken hostage.
“I fervently hope that the people of the Mediterranean basin can unite around the values of peace, justice and respect, so that they can keep these barbaric acts in check.
I assure you and the Israeli people of our support and compassion in this cruel ordeal.”
It’s a done deal. Monte-Carlo SBM has finalised its first major international property purchase – a luxury hotel in the French Alps that will be renovated and reopened to its high-end clientele.
The deal, as part of a strategy initiated by incoming President-Delegate Stéphane Valeri, was signed on Tuesday 3rd October.
It means that Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer (SBM) officially owns the ‘Palace des Neiges’ in Courchevel 1850, a property located in the prestigious Savoyard resort, in the heart of the Jardin Alpin district and situated amongst other luxurious brands.
“It is a great satisfaction for our group to succeed for the first time in its history in finalising an international hotel acquisition project, moreover alongside the biggest names in luxury hotels in the Alps,” said Stéphane Valeri.
Photo source: Courchevel Tourism
The Palace des Neiges will continue to be operated by the Alp’Azur group during the 2023/2024 winter season, ahead of renovation works which are set to begin in April 2024.
“I would like to thank all the teams who worked with great professionalism to bring this project to fruition,” said Pascal Camia, Director of International Development. “From now on, it is about offering an exceptional hotel, allowing us to export our know-how to a place very popular with our customers and those we want to attract to the global offer of our group.”
SBM’s record profits pave way for expansion
Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer, Monaco’s largest employer, revealed in June that the group had achieved record profits of €72 in the last financial year.
Meanwhile, the sale of the SBM Group’s entire 47.3% stake in Betclic Everest Group for €829.2 million, through its subsidiary Monte-Carlo SBM International, in June 2022 resulted in the exceptional consolidated net profit of €896.2 million for the 2022/2023 financial year.
The financial details of SBM’s purchase of the ‘Palace des Neiges’ has not been revealed.
Main photo left to right: Stéphane Valeri, President-Delegate Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer, Pascal Camia, Director of International Development Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer
and Mathieu Baiardi, General Manager Finance Alp’Azur Hotels. source: Monte-Carlo SBM
Monaco to host LIA-ROPSE scientific conference for the first time
After three successive meetings on French soil, now it is the turn of Monaco to host a conference for the great minds of the Centre Scientifique de Monaco and the Université Côte d’Azur, who have come together under the banner of the multi-focus LIA-ROPSE project.
A collaboration between the Centre Scientifique de Monaco (CSM) and the Université Côte d’Azur known as the LIA-ROPSE, or International Associated Laboratory for the Response of Organisms and Populations to Environmental Stress, is set to host its first meeting in the Principality on Friday 13th October at the Auditorium Rainier III.
A number of leading scientists from the region, such as the CSM’s Dr Denis Allemand, have been invited to speak and lead mini-conferences at the day-long event, which will include a visit to the premises of the CSM.
The programme is impressively diverse, from a panel event on ocean sustainability that will be led by Dr Françoise Gaill of the CNSR and Vice-President of the Plateforme Océan & Climat, who will discuss why it is important for politicians to have a good understanding of the scientific world, to a comparative study of “The Mouse and the Starlet Sea Anemone: Not a fable but two complementary models for paediatric cancer research” by Dr Nicolas Haupaix of the IRCAN.
Spokespeople from a number of Monaco’s scientific agencies, such as Bernard Fautrier from Monaco pour l’Environnement and Dr Florence Decroix-Comanduci from the International Atomic Energy Agency offices in the Principality, will also be given a chance to present their work.
The convening of the LIA-ROPSE is being counted amongst the year-long calendar of events held in honour of the centenary of the late Prince Rainier III’s birth in 1923. He was the founder of the CSM in 1960, and also launched many other scientific endeavours during his lifetime and reign.
International meetings have dominated the schedule of the Monegasque government recently, with delegates from the Principality sent out to meetings across Europe.
Education summit at the Council of Europe
Between 28th and 29th September, Monaco’s Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe, Gabriel Revel, headed to Strasbourg for a meeting of the Council of Europe’s Standing Conference of Ministers of Education.
Representatives from the US, Japan, Mexico and the Vatican City joined those from Europe in discussing the Council’s new “Education Strategy for 2024/30”. As summarised by the Monegasque government, the strategy focuses on the three core pillars of: “renewing the democratic and civic mission of education; enhancing the social responsibility and responsiveness of education; and advancing education through a human-rights based digital transformation”.
It was also announced at the conference that a “European Year of Digital Citizenship Education” would take place in 2025; a project supported by 46 Member States.
Anti-violence group GREVIO visits Monaco
A delegation from GREVIO, the independent expert body responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, was received in the Principality between 2nd and 5th October.
Various local officials were invited to participate in a meeting with the representatives from GREVIO, including those from the Ministry of the Interior, the Department of Health and Social Affairs, the Centre Hospitalier Princesse Grace, IMSEE and the Department of Justice.
It was an opportunity for all concerned to present the efforts of their sector and those of the Principality as a whole in combatting violence against women and domestic violence in Monaco. A report by GREVIO specifically on Monaco is set to be published in June 2024.
Isabelle Berro-Amadeï, the Principality’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, speaking at the GREVIO meeting. Photo credit: Monaco Communications Department
Monaco at the World Health Organisation
A delegation led by Carole Lanteri, Permanent Representative of the Principality to the United Nations Office in Geneva, attended a meeting regarding potential updates to the World Health Organisation’s International Health Regulations (IHR) in Geneva between 2nd and 6th October.
On the agenda were proposed amendments relating to: points of entry; public health measures; health documents and the Emergency Committee.
The IHR are the only legally binding international instrument in the field of international health security. The original IHR were adopted in 1951 as a way of setting out “agreed approaches and obligations for countries to prepare for, and respond to, disease outbreaks and other acute public health events with risk of international spread”. The IHR have been revised three times since: in 1969, 1981 and 2005.
Next stop: Granada for the European Political Community meeting
A high-level meeting of 43 Heads of State and Government from the European Political Community was hosted by the Spanish city of Granada on 5th October.
Monegasque Minister of State Pierre Dartout was joined by Isabelle Berro-Amadeï, the Principality’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, as well as Frédéric Labarrère, the head of the Mission of Monaco to the European Union, Ambassador of Monaco to Spain Catherine Fautrier and Isabelle Costa, High Commissioner for European Affairs, at the event, which culminated in a spectacular dinner in the presence of the King and Queen of Spain at the Alhambra.
Monaco’s Minister of State Pierre Dartout is pictured with 24 other Heads of State and Government at the Alhambra. Photo credit: Monaco Communications Department
“The objective was to strengthen cohesion, cooperation and dialogue between all European countries, with a view to preserving peace and security on the continent,” reads a statement from the Monegasque government. “The representatives thus had the opportunity to discuss several topics of common interest, including the digital transition, artificial intelligence and current multilateral and geostrategic issues.”
Dartout also used the occasion to meet with his counterparts from Andorra and San Marino, as well as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, President of the Swiss Confederation Alain Berset and Iceland’s Prime Minister, Katrin Jakobsdóttir.
Monaco welcomes new ambassadors
On 6th October, Monaco’s Director of Diplomatic and Consular Relations, Marie-Catherine Caruso-Ravera, stepped in to replace Isabelle Berro-Amadeï, the Principality’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, in welcoming four new ambassadors.
These included: Gocha Javakhishvili of Georgia, Saïd Moussi of Algeria, Fahad al-Ruwaily of Saudi Arabia and Marc Ungeheuer of Luxembourg. Each of the men are also Ambassador to France for their respective nations.
The diplomats presented their credentials to Prince Albert II in the morning, ahead of a special lunch at the Hôtel Hermitage.
Director of Diplomatic and Consular Relations, Marie-Catherine Caruso-Ravera, is pictured with Monaco’s latest draft of international diplomats. Photo credit: Monaco Communications Department
Make sure you’re never left out of the conversation.
Recognised around the globe for its appraisals of fine dining establishments, the Michelin Guide is taking on another sector of the high-end hospitality industry: the world’s top hotels.
Think of it as a sister guide to the original Michelin Guide, which was first launched back in 1926 and has become the gold standard when it comes to choosing an exceptional restaurant. There isn’t a chef around who would argue against the prestige of having a Michelin star – or two or even three – to their name, and it is hoped that this level of respect can be translated over to the world of hotels.
OVER 5,000 HOTELS
The team at the Michelin Guide have selected more than 5,000 accommodations in 120 countries to feature in the first edition, which will be known as the Michelin Key.
“The Michelin Key is a clear, reliable indication for travellers,” says Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the Michelin Guide. “Just as the Michelin Star distinguishes those restaurants that are at the peak of their art, the Michelin Key recognises the most exceptional hotels throughout the world. It is also an acknowledgment of the teamwork of committed enthusiastic hospitality professionals.”
FOUR YEARS IN THE MAKING
Like with the restaurant edition, the judges recommend places that they consider to be “true destinations”, and the team has spent four years visiting potential establishments to list and collating the results.
The price points of the hotels will vary significantly, as do the styles, and readers will be pointed toward accommodations that stand out from the crowd. The evaluating criteria includes: displays of excellent design, craftsmanship and architecture, top notch service, comfort and maintenance, unique character, consistency between price paid and quality of the experience, and how the establishment contributes to the overall local landscape.
The guide also strives to uphold three primary objectives, summed up as: “[guiding] travellers to boutique accommodations that offer much more than a room for a night; to precede or extend a gastronomic outing with a memorable hotel stay; and to allow people to choose, book and comment on stays on a single independent platform”.
COMING SOON
The team behind the guide are currently “in the field” and the first laureates of a ‘Michelin Key’ are set to be revealed in the first half of 2024.
Ahead of the future twinning of Monaco and Dolceacqua, an exciting evening dedicated to the famous Italian commune will be held at the Condamine Market this October.
For this special occasion on Saturday 14th October, a delegation of 25 talented musicians from Dolceacqua will travel to the Principality to grace the event with a 30-minute concert starting at 7pm. Following this musical delight, the Municipal Music of Monaco, comprising 21 musicians and a conductor, will take over the stage.
The festivities kick off at 6pm with a delightful offering of Dolceacqua’s specialties, from focaccia to Pansoti – a pasta like ravioli – allowing attendees to savour the flavours of this charming Italian town.
The evening promises to be a wonderful celebration of cultural exchange and a prelude to the promising partnership between Monaco and Dolceacqua.
Experience the vibrant Italian culture by joining the festivities at the Condamine Market on Saturday 14th October at 6pm. The admissions are free.
