For the second week running, the circulation of Covid-19 in Monaco has doubled. Meanwhile, the EU has just approved the first Covid treatment pill.
In its weekly communication of the Principality’s Covid screening campaign, the government on Monday revealed that 3.58% of the 3,487 PCR and antigen tests conducted over the previous seven days were positive.
The incidence rate therefore had increased significantly, jumping from 107 to 198. At the beginning of November, the incidence rate was 55.
On Tuesday, the number of confirmed Covid cases in Monaco had jumped to 45, the highest in months. There are now nine Covid patients being treated in the Princess Grace Hospital Centre, three of whom are residents of Monaco. In addition, two patients – both non resident – are in ICU.
In an effort to limit the effects of the virus, the Monaco government has made a third dose of the Covid vaccine available to any citizen or resident aged 18 years and over who was given their second dose more than six months ago.
In the neighbouring French department of the Alpes-Maritimes, there has also been a significant rise in circulation, and the incidence rate now sits at 224 compared to 60 at the beginning of November. Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi on Monday said that the situation was deteriorating rapidly and that from 1st December, a third dose of the vaccine will be made available to all over the age of 12, provided there is enough supply of the vaccine.
In Italy on the other side of the border, the health situation has also worsened, particularly in the north-east. Local governments are now pushing for new measures, primarily in the form of further restrictions on the unvaccinated under a so-called “super green pass” scheme. Meanwhile, the health minister has confirmed that the Covid-19 vaccine boosters will be available five months after the first vaccine cycle – one month earlier – for eligible groups. The first anti-Covid pill available in the EU
As the number of contaminations and deaths continues to rise in Europe under the effect of the fifth wave, the European Union has just authorised the use of an anti-Covid pill. The emergency-use pill from Merck was approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on 19th November. The drug, which data shows reduces the risk of hospitalisation and death in at-risk patients, “can be used to treat vulnerable adults with Covid-19 who do not need supplemental oxygen”, detailed the EMA in a press release.
While the drug has not yet received full marketing authorisation, the European regulator has issued the opinion in order to “support the national authorities who may decide on a possible anticipated use of the drug before the marketing authorisation, for example in emergency situations.”
France has already ordered 50,000 doses, France’s Health Minister Olivier Véran told the Senate on 26th October.
The Monte-Carlo Société des Bains Mer is looking to inject a “bit of magic” into Monaco this Christmas with the launch of their latest endeavour, Monte-Carlo Winter Fantasy.
The festive season is once again upon us and with it comes memories of years past, hopes for the future and, of course, the anticipation of what the season has in store.
The Société des Bains Mer (SBM), in this vein, is putting on a series of celebratory events intended to waken the Christmas spirit in even the most Scrooge-like of individuals, bringing magic and fun to the season with the Monte-Carlo Winter Fantasy.
The events, which run from early December to the middle of January, kick off on 2nd December at 5pm in Casino Square and on the Monte-Carlo shopping promenade with the lighting of an 18-metre-high Christmas tree adorned with 4,000 pearly white and gold baubles, as well as three “entertainment igloos” called the Giant Stars. Festive music will be playing and shops will be open until 9pm to get everyone in holiday mood.
The Giant Star igloos will be positioned around the tree and offer Christmas-themed events, based on history and poetry, for the whole family. The star dedicated to poetry invites visitors to hand in or write a poem for Father Christmas with the chance of winning a night in the Hermitage Hotel.
Casino Square will also be the location for a light projection show on the façade of the Casino from 26th to 31st December to add more sparkle to the long winter nights.
From 2nd December to 9th January, the Patio courtyard at the Hôtel de Paris will be covered in twinkling lights and filled with surprises. Exclusive offerings such as a new hot chocolate creation from Le Chocolat Alain Ducasse will be available, and guests can try their hands at creative or culinary workshops where they whip up Christmas treats, make their own decorations or arrange a gorgeous centrepiece-worthy flower display. For a complete list of all events, on the Patio, visit the website at https://www.montecarlosbm.com/fr/agenda/christmas-garden-in-the-patio Photo of the Hôtel de Paris patio courtyard, by Monaco Life
The Hermitage Hotel will feature a Christmas Teatime from 21st to 24th December in the Salle Belle Epoque. Children and parents can meet Santa from 3pm to 6pm on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd, and at 5:30pm on the 24th, to tell him all their secret wishes. They can then take part in creative workshops for young chefs, with festive pastries and sweets prepared by pastry chef Nicolas Baygourry. For more info, go to https://www.montecarlosbm.com/fr/agenda/gouter-noel-hotel-hermitage-monte-carlo
L’Etoile des Neiges at the Blue Gin Bar at the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel and Resort runs every Thursday from 26th November to 20th March 2022 from 6:30pm to 1:30am featuring a cozy apres-ski type feel. A fully heated terrace offering up stunning sea views, billiards and other games, and warm blankets to snuggle in, will make even the coldest night seem inviting. Visit the website for complete details on https://www.montecarlosbm.com/en/agenda/letoile-des-neiges-blue-gin
Meanwhile, keep your eyes open for Father Christmas Monte-Carlo as he tours the resort from 15th to 25thDecember and delivers presents from behind the wheel of his beautiful vintage car. https://www.montecarlosbm.com/fr/agenda/rencontre-avec-le-pere-noel-monte-carlo
Finally, to end 2021 in style and kick off 2022 with just right note, the legendary family group The Jacksons will be performing at the Salle des Etoiles. The singing sensations will be celebrating an astounding 55 years together at this New Year’s Eve bash with dinner and live show. For those who like to boogie through the night, the party goes on at the exceptionally opened Jimmy’z from 30th December to 1st January inclusive.
AS Monaco basketball were comprehensively beaten by reigning Euroleague champions Anadolu Efes in Istanbul on Friday to extend their winless away run in the competition to five games. The 98-77 loss also consigned Zvezdan Mitrovic’s men to their second loss in as many days after his side also succumbed to a defeat against Maccabi Tel Aviv on Wednesday evening.
The reigning champions immediately exerted their control on the match, their intelligent movement creating space to register a series of two pointers. Donatas Motiejunas kept Monaco in the game with some accurate finishing, both inside and outside the arc, as the first quarter ended 20-24.
Anadolu Efes slowly grew their lead in the second quarter, their incisive passing setting up a variety of two-point scores, whilst Rodrigue Beaubois scored a sumptuous three-pointer for the Turkish side from the left touchline. The inexhaustible energy of Paris Lee, which created openings for himself as well as his teammates, wasn’t enough to keep the Roca boys in the match as Anadolu took the half 34-20.
Mitrovic’s words at half-time sparked a revival in the third quarter, and a more solid defence limited the Turkish side to only a handful of scoring opportunities. Lee continued to be Monaco’s primary source of creativity, and of points, as his movement on the edge of the arc created half a yard for him to accurately dispatch a three-pointer. A 21-15 triumph for Monaco in the third quarter meant that, going into the final quarter, the Turkish side’s lead was sizeable but not unassailable.
Mitovic’s men immediately got to work in their attempt to reduce the deficit further. ASM started well, with Mike James providing key passes for his teammates to convert. Mid-way through the quarter, Anadolu’s lead had been reduced to a mere six points, but that is as close as Monaco would get.
Chris Singleton immediately replied with a three-pointer, and what then ensued was a carbon-copy of Monaco’s collapse against Tel Aviv just 48 hours earlier. Anadolu took the final quarter 25-16 to secure a comfortable 98-77 victory.
Monaco’s loss against the current European champions was neither unforeseeable nor surprising, but it further highlights their poor away form as well as their inconsistency, which is ultimately preventing Mitrovic’s men from building any momentum.
Post-match, Mitrovic was left rueing his side’s slow start, saying, “We started poorly, and against the most talented team in Europe that can’t happen.”
The Roca team returns to the Salle Gaston Médecin on Friday to face Lyon in the Euroleague, and a win is sorely needed for Monaco if they are to keep in the hunt for the European play-offs.
It was a difficult weekend for Charles Leclerc and a positive conclusion for Ferrari as solid points finishes for the Monegasque driver and his team-mate Carlos Sainz saw them increase Ferrari’s lead on Constructors’ rival McLaren in the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix.
But Sainz and Leclerc, who finished 7th and 8th respectively, did have contrasting races, with Leclerc making up places following a disappointing qualifying, where he had to settle for 13th place. Sainz, however, dropped back slightly from his 5th place grid position, which he earned thanks to grid penalties to Valterri Bottas and Max Verstappen. Leclerc’s qualifying was complicated due to a cracked chassis which, as well as hindering his on-track pace, also instigated an off-track race to replace the chassis before the start of Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton took the chequered flag at the first edition of the Qatar Grand Prix. The Brit finished comfortably ahead of his championship rival Max Verstappen who had done well to fight through the field, having received a grid penalty for failing to slow during yellow flags which saw him start in 7th. Fernando Alonso rounded off the podium with an impressive drive, to secure his first podium since 2014.
Verstappen quickly rectified his error in qualifying and had already made his way into P4 by turn two of the first lap. Having then dispatched with relative ease the Alpha Tauri of Pierre Gasly and the Alpine of Alonso, he then found himself once more behind his championship rival. But Hamilton was in a class of his own on the weekend and the Mercedes’ pace went unmatched.
Elsewhere in the field, punctures to Bottas, who later retired from the race, and Lando Norris played into the hands of Ferrari who found themselves within the points scoring positions. The race was deprived of much on-track drama, but that did not bother Ferrari, nor Leclerc. The Italian manufacturer now has a 39.5 point cushion to McLaren, whilst Leclerc has closed the gap on Norris to just one point.
Leclerc, although far from content with the result overall, recognised the achievement in its context, saying after the race: “In terms of the overall result, there is nothing to be excited about when you only finish in P8. But considering that I started from a long way back and looking at the strong pace I had, especially in the second stint on the hard tyre, I think we made a really good recovery.”
Next on the calendar is the inaugural Saudi Arabia Grand Prix – the penultimate race of the season. Leclerc will be hoping to jump Norris into 5th position whilst the title battle looks likely to go into the final race of the season, with Verstappen’s lead over Hamilton currently at a slender eight points.
Peace and Sport, the organisation aiming to build safe and cooperative communities through the power of sport, has nominated the initiatives for this year’s Peace and Sport Awards, including one category that requires the help of the public.
From specific field programmes to global projects, nominees for the Peace and Sport Awards are doing their part to promote harmony, unite communities and create dialogues amongst people with religious, political or ethnic differences through the use of sport as a healthy outlet.
The 2021 Peace and Sport Award nominees have been selected for their individual initiatives in three categories, those being the April6 Initiative of the Year, NGO of the Year and Institution of the Year.
The mission of both the organisation and the awards is to provide a platform for stakeholders on sport for development and peace to connect and to generate more cooperation for the development of peace through sport programmes.
“Over the past year, in a context marked again by the global health crisis, stakeholders in Sport for Peace have continued to use sport for social good and they have made a huge contribution to the peace-through-sport movement,” said Joël Bouzou, President and Founder of Peace and Sport.
“The nominees of this 2021 edition have led inspiring projects that are symbolic of sport’s capacity to bring dialogue within and between communities. Through the awards, we will come together to celebrate the unique power of sport. We will highlight and reward with five prizes the incredible vitality and inventiveness of sport for peace initiatives. These awards showcase best practices, so they can be duplicated to amplify our impact.”
The jury is comprised of notable sport figures such as athletics gold and silver medalist Mutaz Barshim, first captain of the Palestinian women’s national soccer team Honey Thaljieh, European gymnastics champion Samir Ait Said, athletics Olympic silver medalist Charmaine Crooks, athletics Olympic bronze Medalist Muriel Hurtis, and world karate champion Laurence Fischer, who will make the difficult choice of narrowing the field down to a single winner in each category.
The nominees for the April6 Initiative of the Year were selected through their contributions, as an individual or an association, to the celebration of April6, the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. Through a #whiteCard campaign or an awareness-raising event on the use of sport as a conduit for peace.
This year’s nominees are the Cape Verdean Olympic Committee for their ‘Sport for Development and Peace Celebrations’. The operation brought together local Olympic clubs from five Cape Verdean islands who organised multisport events and conferences to celebrate April6.
The next to be nominated in this category is the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs with their ‘April6 Virtual Race- Forum: Diplomacy and Sport Cooperation in a World in Turmoil’. The initiative was launched by the Institute of Mexicans Abroad platforms and the Technical Council for Diplomacy and Sports Cooperation in a virtual event asking participants to run wherever they could, indoors or out, for either three, five or 10 kilometres whilst raising their #White Cards in a symbol of Solidarity. Several countries caught wind of the occasion and joined the over 20 million people already in the Mexican diaspora.
Last is the World Rafting Federation Digital Awareness Campaign, ‘Be White Water’. The organisation aimed to give voice to meaningful stories of respect, sharing and inclusion that are at the heart of the rafting community. Rafting enthusiasts and pros the world over shared their stories of how the sport has fostered gender equality and social inclusion, bringing unlikely people together to work as teams.
The NGO of the Year Award gives an NGO that invests in sport as an educational and social method for lasting peace.
The nominees are the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies with their ‘Uniting through the Power of Football’ project. The programme combines the Football for Development project and the IFRC’s youth leadership program, Youth as Agents of Behavioural Change in order to create leaders of tomorrow and promote social entrepreneurial skills to some of the world’s most vulnerable children. They do this through football activities, training courses, psychological and financial support, and workshops.
The second nominee in this category is Malaika for the ‘Malaika Community Centre’. Founded in 2007 by Noella Coursaris Musunka, an international Congolese/Cypriot model and philanthropist, Malaika has grown into an all-encompassing ecosystem, impacting thousands of lives each year through four core programmes. Free access is given to the whole community and the association has created a school to educate 400 girls. Additionally, they have purpose built a community centre, a sustainable agricultural programme and a clean water programme.
Finally, the ‘Inclusive Sports Unite’ programme by Dunk Grassroots in on the shortlist. This NGO mobilises and empowers children from poor urban communities in Ghana using sport. It promotes social cohesion, gender equality and education, building life skills to help these kids grow up to be peaceful and collaborative adults. The programme focuses on basketball and football, organising activities and tournaments as well as supporting after-school and leisure programmes as well as organising internship opportunities. Photo by Lars Bo Nielsen, Unsplash
The Institution of the Year nominees have been noted for being a public entity, such as a government, region, company or state, that contributes to the projects that use precepts of peace through sport.
The Portuguese government’s Sports and Youth Secretary of State is first up with their ‘National Plan for Ethics in Sport (NPES)’. The initiative is based on training and education, focusing on primary and secondary education teachers. Sports practice and events encourage the experience of ethical values of peace such as sincerity, friendship, respect, loyalty. Publications, Research and Digital Platform dealing with scientific studies; awareness campaigns on Radio, TV and the ‘Fairplay Card’ aim to recognize relevant attitudes of those who play. 350,000 of children from all over Portugal benefited from the NPES, and were encouraged by famous local athletes.
The International Paralympic Committee Worldwide Digital Awareness Campaign, #Wethe15, is the next nominee. #Wethe15 is a worldwide digital awareness campaign that places people with disabilities at the heart of the inclusion agenda. Launched before the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, #WeThe15 aims to end discrimination against people with disabilities who make up 15% of the global population, by publicly acting for visibility, accessibility and inclusion. #Wethe15 gathered a massive response on social media, with over 2.5 billion interactions. More than 125 iconic landmarks around the world, such as the Colosseum in Rome and the Empire State Building in New York, were lit up in purple, the campaign’s colour.
Last but not least, the International Cycling Union is up with their ‘Evacuation Procedure of Afghan Refugees’. Following the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban in August 2021, the International Cycling Union (UCI), its President David Lappartient, and other members of the Cycling community have been key players in the evacuation of 165 refugees from Afghanistan. Thanks to this operation, female cyclists, members of the Afghan cycling management, artists, judges, journalists, and human rights campaigners have been able to reach Europe. Thirty-eight of these Afghan evacuees, were welcomed to join the UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC), in Aigle in Switzerland. A great demonstration of solidarity, proving the power of sport to unite people, transform lives and build a better world.
All the Peace and Sport Awards winners 2021 and the next Champion for Peace of the Year will be revealed on the organisations’ social media networks from 7th to 11th December.
A spirited second-half performance from AS Monaco saw them rescue a point against reigning Ligue 1 champions Lille. The game looked beyond Nico Kovac’s side having conceded twice early on, but Wissam Ben Yedder’s unlikely equaliser following an ASM red card saw the game finish 2-2.
For the first match after the international break, Kovac deployed a slightly unfamiliar system. Aware of the threat posed by Lille’s 4-4-2, ASM matched their formation with the aim of nullifying the attacking threat, which had the potential of creating overloads on the ASM defence.
This plan however, was quickly torn-up, either through a lack of sharpness following the break, or a lack of preparation in this unfamiliar system. Within two minutes, Lille took the lead from the penalty spot after Strahinja Pavlovic’s reckless challenge in the box, which saw the Serb subsequently receive a yellow card. The prolific Jonathan David finished from the spot, sending ASM keeper Alexander Nübel the wrong way.
Lille weren’t done there. What followed the opener was a relentless barrage on the ASM goal, which, had Lille been more clinical, could have seen them out of sight within the first 30 minutes. David got his second in only the 8th minute, latching onto a simple ball over the top and neatly slotting past Nübel to double their lead.
Lille continued to carve open the ASM defence at will, with untracked runners easily running in behind the defence. Good chances fell to David, who could have easily had a first-half hat-trick, Nanitamo Ikoné, and Timothy Weah. The turning point came late in the first-half, when Daivd, through on goal, failed in his attempt to chip Nübel; Monaco then went down the other end and scored through a rifled shot from Krépin Diatta, to give ASM an unlikely route back into the tie.
ASM, having reverted to a more familiar 3-4-3, came out completely revitalised for the second-half. Kovac’s men created a flurry of high-quality chances, lifting the crowd, and the players in return fed off their intensity. Despite this, ASM couldn’t get the ball over the line, Kevin Volland was denied by an expert goal-line clearance, whilst good chances also fell to Gelson Martins and Axel Disasi.
ASM’s chances of rescuing a draw looked to have been scuppered, when Pavlovic, already on a yellow card, saw a second yellow and subsequent red card for a carbon-copy of his first challenge. Ben Yedder, however, rescued a point late-on with a fiercely-hit shot, which beat the Lille goalkeeper for pace, and earned Monaco a deserved point.
Monaco winger Sofiane Diop praised the side’s second-half performance. “Even though we would have preferred a different result, this second-half will do us a lot of good… it gives us a lot of confidence physically and mentally.”
Looking forward, Diop sees the result as a building-block for Thursday night’s match against Real Sociedad, as well as for the rest of the season. “I am very confident that this match will be important for the rest of the season.”
Photo source: AS Monaco
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