Ahead the red carpet in June, Monte-Carlo Television Festival has announced that the event will be co-hosting the Night of 100 Stars gala in partnership with Make-A-Wish International, the charity association dedicated to putting smiles on the faces of critically ill children around the world.
Around a hundred VIP guests, celebrities and notable Monaco residents will be gathering at the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort for the Night of 100 Stars charity event on 16th June, and the gala evening looks set to be one of the big philanthropic occasions of the summer.
Maxime Dereymez, the winner of Dancing with the Stars France, and former model Victoria Silvstedt will be co-emceeing the event, which will feature a special performance by The Voice France alumni Nade.
“This event is more than just a glamourous night,” says Silvstedt. “It is an opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of children around the world.”
Founded in 1980, Make-A-Wish has spent the last four decades giving critically or terminally ill children the chance to live out their dreams for a day, whether that is going on a rollercoaster, being a police officer or meeting their hero.
The wishes of more than 585,000 children worldwide have been granted by Make-A-Wish and its affiliates, which operate a network of branches in 40 countries across six continents.
“As our festival celebrates the talent of international television production, we also shine a light on the positive impact our industry can have on the lives of others,” says Laurent Puons, CEO of the Monte-Carlo Television Festival. “With this event, we are delighted to support Make-A-Wish International and to help grant wishes to children around the world who are living with critical illnesses.”
For more information on Make-A-Wish, click here. To reserve tickets to the Night of 100 Stars gala and afterparty, click here.
The Principality’s very own Charles Leclerc has won the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix, fulfilling the dreams of the Ferrari driver and of Monaco.
Qualifying on Saturday 25th May gave the Scuderia Ferrari driver his third start from the P1 grid slot in Monaco. It also moved him ahead of Niki Lauda in the list of Ferrari pole sitters in the team’s history; 26-year-old Leclerc is now second only to the legendary Michael Schumacher.
“I’m very happy. We were fast right from the beginning of the weekend and I really think the whole team deserves this pole position. We know how important track position is here and having the possibility to start in front of everyone gives us the best chances,” he later said. “Now we have to complete the job, and we will do our best to bring home this victory.”
Race Day on Sunday 26th May brought sunshine to the streets of Monaco, and thousands of Formula 1 fans poured into the Principality, with the grandstands near full capacity along every sector of the iconic circuit.
The on-track drama began almost as soon as the lights went out; before Lap 1 was done, four drivers and their cars had retired from the race.
A collision just after the Sainte Dévote turn involving Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez put both drivers, as well as Magnussen’s teammate, Nico Hulkenberg, out of the running. Damage to the barriers forced a 44-minute delay to the standing restart.
Meanwhile, the two Alpine drivers, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, were also involved in a separate incident. The damage to Ocon’s car was deemed sufficient enough for him to withdraw from the race. He was handed a 10-second penalty, which will be carried over to the Canadian Grand Prix in June, and the Team Principal warned that “serious consequences” would be coming for the driver in the future.
Charles Leclerc: P1 to win
Once the race had resumed, Monaco’s golden boy, Charles Leclerc, was quick off the line and secured his status at the front of the grid.
By Lap 41, the race leader had lapped Stake KICK Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz and the fourth-placed Lando Norris, for McLaren, quickly following suit.
Ultimately, it was a pitstop-less race for the Top 5, which also featured Mercedes’ George Russell.
Leclerc delivered a faultless performance, maintaining his position up front and elegantly managing the gap between himself and Piastri behind, slowing the pace when needed and picking up the speed when he felt pressure from the Australian driver.
As the chequered flag was waved at the end of Lap 78, the Monegasque driver sailed through with a lead of more than eight seconds on the second-placed Piastri and Sainz in third. It marked success at last on his home track, the win he has always dreamed of.
The emotion in his voice over the radio was clear for all to hear as commentators joked, “The son of a hairdresser is a cut above the rest.”
Prince Albert II congratulates Charles Leclerc
Prince Albert II of Monaco and members of his extended family were seen celebrating the Monegasque’s victory as the driver punched the air and proclaimed, “Tonight is going to be a big night!”
The sovereign looked down on the celebrations in the paddock, with Princess Charlene alongside him, as the horns of the yachts moored in Port Hercule blared out.
“No words can explain [the feeling],” said Leclerc, grinning from ear to ear, to reporters post-race. “Winning a race that I always dreamed of winning one day… The emotions were coming, I was thinking of my dad… He [gave] everything for me to be here, we always dreamed of winning here.”
Charles Leclerc’s victory at the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix makes him the second-ever Monegasque. after Louis Chiron in 1931, to win a home race in the Principality. Photo credit: Scuderia Ferrari Media Centre
As Leclerc made his way to the podium, a visibly moved Prince Albert stepped forward to hug the driver. The two appeared to share some close words as they embraced again atop the podium before the Monegasque national anthem was played.
On top of the full points, which will see Leclerc catch up significantly on Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the Drivers’ Standings, the Monegasque was also voted Driver of the Day by F1 fans watching on worldwide.
A four-year journey came to an end last week, with the final meeting of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation-sponsored Life WolfAlps EU project, an initiative aimed at improving the relationships between wolves and humans in the European Alps as well as fostering conservation efforts on broader biodiversity issues across the continent.
The conference, which was held on 18th and 19th May in Trento, Italy, highlighted the numerous achievements of the Life WolfAlps EU project over the last four years while also looking to the future.
The objective of the project was simple: “to improve the co-existence between human activities and wolf populations in the Alps by implementing coordinated actions across the Alpine ecosystem, particularly in France’s Mercantour National Park, Italy, Switzerland and Slovenia”.
Wolves were reintroduced to the western Alps two decades ago, though efforts in France began considerably earlier, back in 1992 with the opening of Alpha Park near the Alpes-Maritimes village of Saint-Martin Vésubie in the Mercantour National Park. Since then, there have been other colonisation efforts made in the central-eastern Alps, where wolves have been identified as a threatened species.
The methods and approaches undertaken during the Life WolfAlps EU project were varied and included a ‘predator-prey’ programme that studied in-depth the interactions between prey, predators and humans in this part of the Alps. Other initiatives involved the use of anti-poison dog units to prevent the illegal culling of wolves, the creation of Wolf Prevention Intervention Units (WPIU) tasked with coming up with solutions for better wolf-human co-existence, and the establishment of a Young Ranger programme to engage youth in the protection and preservation of these Alpine regions.
The recent conference also touched upon the survival of other predatory species in the area, such as the lynx and the golden jackal, as well as themes pertaining to biodiversity management in Europe and how humans can successfully live side-by-side with native wildlife.
To read more about the Life WolfAlps EU project, click here.
More than 90 beaches in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, which has a coastline stretching from Menton in the east to the Camargue Regional Nature Park in the west, have been awarded a prestigious Blue Flag for the 2024 summer season.
Every year, the Foundation for Environmental Education awards beaches deemed compatible with the worldwide organisation’s “stringent environmental, educational, safety and accessibility criteria” with the Blue Flag label, known in French as the Pavillon Bleu.
Some 91 beaches in the PACA region have earned a Blue Flag this year. In the Alpes-Maritimes, 24 beaches in towns and cities including Nice, Antibes and Cannes will be able to proudly fly their Blue Flag this summer, while an impressive 45 beaches in the Var have been recognised for their efforts.
Seven ports in the Alpes-Maritimes, such as the Port de Plaisance in Cap d’Ail, the Marina Baie des Anges, Port Camille Rayon in Golfe-Juan, Cannes’ two ports and Port de La Napoule, have also been awarded a Blue Flag. In the Var, the number of ports and harbours with a Blue Flag for 2024 rises to 15.
To be considered for a Blue Flag, sites must pass through a rigorous test with 50 benchmark standards that include waste and water management, the cleanliness of bathing water, gentle mobility and environmental education, to name a few.
In total, 398 French beaches have been rewarded with the Pavillon Bleu label this year, as well as 106 marinas. PACA was the second-highest scoring region after Occitanie.
For a full list of all the 2024 laureates, click here.
Despite the torrential rain and threatening thunderclouds, hundreds of fans turned out to see their idol, Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen, on stage at the Monaco Grand Prix Fan Zone, including many young children, who had plenty of questions for the leader of the 2024 Drivers’ Standings.
During the afternoon of Thursday 23rd May, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took time out of his busy schedule to make an appearance Monaco Grand Prix Fan Zone on its first day of events.
Among those who turned out to see him were dozens of young children. They were given pride of place alongside the main stage, safely shielded from the crowds by security in a special zone earmarked just for them.
Upon arriving, the 26-year-old Dutchman headed straight for the Red Bull simulators to set a race time for the public to try and beat over the course of the weekend. He crossed the finish in a time of around 1.11.40.
He later joked on stage, “I’m not very good at the game.”
Max Verstappen completed several laps of the Monaco Grand Prix circuit on the Red Bull simulators. Photo by Monaco Life
With their raincoats on and parents hovering above with umbrellas, the children then got a front seat view of the leading driver in the 2024 World Championship as he fielded questions submitted by them earlier in the day.
One of the first questions posed was about his first ever road car – a Renault Clio RS. The 26-year-old laughed as he explained how he had received the car as a gift when he was 17, but was unable to legally drive it for much of the first year he had the car as he was still a minor and didn’t yet have his driving licence.
He was also quizzed on his biggest source of support and inspiration, and he made it clear how important his parents have been to him and his success over the years.
“I was surrounded by my family,” he said on stage. “When I came home, we talked a lot about racing… My father supported me a lot, financially but also in terms of sports. He was my mechanic but also my engine tuner. We basically did everything together… [He was] my taxi driver getting to Italy (for Toro Rosso). For sure, I have a lot to thank him for.”
He added, “My mom also helped me… She understood exactly what needed to be done… My parents are divorced and normally you live with your mother, but I lived with my father. Not that it was a problem for me, but my mother didn’t see me a lot because of that, and yeah, we were travelling a lot all over Europe to try to reach F1. She understood that, and I think it helped a lot that she was a racer herself.”
Verstappen went on to say that, despite all of the experience he had accumulated over the years and his many races and wins, his mother is still nervous when it comes to Race Day.”
“Every weekend that I race, I know she [goes] to church to light a candle” he shared with the crowd.
He later signed autographs for the children watching on before heading off to continue his preparations for the 81st Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday 26th May.
To see more of Max Verstappen in the Fan Zone, watch the Monaco Life Instagram reel below:
The 2023 BioDivMed Mission saw a coalition of regional organisations and higher education establishments come together to track and make an inventory of all coastal marine species living in the waters off the southern French shoreline and Corsica. The results have been deemed “positive and encouraging”, but the group has also identified areas for improvement.
In line with the French government’s National Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the 2023 BioDivMed Mission’s primary task was to create the first-ever standardised scientific inventory of marine life in a vast triangular zone that encompasses the entire French Mediterranean coast and the waters around Corsica. This area includes the Pelagos Sanctuary, a marine mammal protection zone established in 1999 through a pioneering international agreement between Monaco, France and Italy.
The initial findings from this ambitious mission have just been released. They paint a generally positive picture of the health of the coastline’s biodiversity, particularly when it comes to the wealth of fish and shellfish living in these waters.
“We are surprised and pleased to discover new remarkable habitats with high densities of threatened species, even though they are not necessarily protected sites,” says David Mouillot, one of the scientific coordinators working on the project. “This inventory is currently enabling us to draw up an initial overview and develop several biodiversity indicators. These will serve as a dashboard for local stakeholders and provide valuable decision-making aids in fighting pollution and defining new marine reserves, whether temporary or permanent.”
Despite the positive findings, some areas were found to be “devoid of vulnerable species”, meaning that some native species may have already disappeared from these waters.
To address this, the next mission, set to start this year and run for four years, will establish several Marine Biodiversity Sentinel Sites (MBSS) between Menton, Banyuls-sur-Mer and Corsica. These sites will be guided by the OceanoScientific eDNA Mediterranean Expedition 2024, which is being led by OceanoScientific, a Nice-based collaborator in the BioDivMed Mission.
In addition to OceanoScientific, the BioDivMed Mission was supported by various partners, including the Rhône Mediterranean Corsica Water Agency, MARBEC Joint Research Unit-University of Montpellier, the Centre d’Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive de Montpellier, SPYGEN, Andromède Océanologie and the philanthropic association We Are Méditerranée.
