Monaco’s reputation as one of the safest places to live in the world is justified, but that doesn’t mean crime in non-existent in the Principality. 

According to “délinquance générale” figures published by the Monaco Matin, 834 incidents ranging from thefts and burglaries to drink driving and drug possession were recorded by the Principality’s Police Department in 2023, up 0.9% on those reported in 2022.  

The 606 officer-strong police force, which is backed up by a massive network of 1,087 security cameras to make it the world’s largest per-capita and per-area force, attended 9,400 callouts and emergency interventions last year and conducted 44,750 identity and 57,000 vehicles checks over the course of 2023. 

Just one incident of car theft was noted, down from four the year before, but the number of two-wheeled vehicles rose to 11 from nine.  

143 people were found to have been driving under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs, an increase of nearly 24% on 2022’s statistics, while 118 cases of drug possession were registered by officers, up almost 50% in 12 months.  

Richard Marangoni, the head of the Police Department, confirmed to the newspaper that the force was keeping a close eye on telephone and email scams and those behind them. 18 crimes of this category were recorded in 2023, compared to 27 the previous year. Marangoni added that one perpetrator had very recently been arrested.  

See more: Authorities warn of new email scam doing rounds

For the first time ever, statistics on crimes against members of the police force have been made public: seven officers were the subject of verbal assaults while 10 came up against resistance while attempting to perform their duties and seven were violently attacked. Marangoni told local reporters that he hoped communicating these figures would help demonstrate the reality faced day-to-day by his officers.  

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Photo source: Jakub Zerdzicki, Unsplash

The final hammer has gone down on the auction of guitars from the personal collection of music legend Mark Knopfler, the celebrated singer-songwriter, guitar hero and frontman of the iconic British band Dire Straits. The sale was 100% sold, realising a total of €10,342,987. 

The sale was led by Knopfler’s 1959 Vintage Gibson Les Paul Standard which sold for £693,000, setting a new world auction record for the model. Further new world auction records were set, including for a Pensa-Suhr, which sold for sold for £504,000. The guitar was completed in record time so it would be ready for Knopfler to play at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert on 11th June 1988 at Wembley Stadium. The guitar made its debut a week earlier when Knopfler played ‘Money For Nothing’ and ‘Layla’ with Eric Clapton’s All-Star Band at the Prince’s Trust Rock Gala on 6th June 1988.

Another record was broken with the sale of a  Red Schecter Telecaster  setting a new world auction record for a Schecter. Knopfler purchased the guitar in 1984 and used it to record the hit Dire Straits song ‘Walk Of Life’ and its accompanying music video. This vermillion red workhorse has become one of his most recognisable and long-serving instruments, with a live performance history spanning Dire Straits’ 1985-86 Brothers in Arms Tour through to Knopfler’s 2008 Kill To Get Crimson Tour, with notable appearances at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute Concert in 1988 and on the 1996 live concert DVD A Night In London Schecter. This legendary guitar sold for £415,800.

Music aficionados, fans and collectors from 61 countries registered to bid, with high levels of competition across the 122 lots offered, resulting in the auction lasting over six hours.

25% of the total hammer price will be divided equally and donated to charities that Mark Knopfler has supported for many years: The British Red Cross, Tusk and Brave Hearts of the North East. 100% of the funds raised from the final lot are being donated to Teenage Cancer Trust. In addition, Christie’s is contributing a further £50,000 to each of the four charities.

“This auction has been an incredible journey and I am so pleased that these much loved instruments will find new players and new songs as well as raising money for charities that mean a lot to me,” said Mark Knopfler. “It has been heart-warming to witness how much these guitars mean to so many people and I am also pleased that they will continue to give joy to many through the songs recorded over the years with me. To you fellow players, enthusiasts and collectors, I wish you all good things.”

According to Amelia Walker, Christie’s Specialist Head of Private and Iconic Collections, London, “The auction saw an unprecedented number of bidders register to take part. We feel privileged to have been entrusted by Mark to find new owners for his old ‘friends’, some of which appear on his upcoming new album One Deep River to be released in April, and to have helped raise money for his chosen charities.”

Another standout in the auction is the Gibson Les Paul ‘Gold Top’ which sold for £403,200. The guitar betokens a highly anticipated collaboration project featuring some of the world’s most iconic musicians, spearheaded by Mark Knopfler, to be announced in February. The autographs on this guitar include Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, David Gilmour, Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, Slash, Ronnie Wood, Brian May, Sting, Ringo Starr, Bruce Springsteen, The Edge, Joan Jett, and Nile Rodgers, as well as many other world-famous artists.

For the full set of the results, click here.

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Photo source: Christies

The centenary of the death of Giacomo Puccini, the lauded Italian composer, is to be commemorated later this month with a spectacular gala evening in Nice that will feature a performance by Ermonela Jaho, the Nice Opera Choir and the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra.  

On 9th February at 8pm, the doors of the Nice Côte d’Azur Opera in the old town will open for a dazzling night of culture and cuisine.  

The evening is being held in commemoration of the centenary of the death of Puccini, the Italian composer renowned for revolutionising the world of the opera with works such as La Bohème, Tosca and Madame Butterfly.  

The cultural highlight of the event will be a performance by Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho, who is recognised worldwide for her spellbinding interpretations of Puccini’s heroines. In the role of conductor will be Daniele Callegari, who will lead the Nice Opera Choir and the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Following the concert, guests will be invited to mix and mingle at a VIP cocktail before heading through to the Opera’s Salon for a gourmet dining experience.  

Tickets cost €350, but up to 66% is tax deductible, while a table for 10 guests can be reserved for €3,500. 

Click here for more information about the event.  

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Photo credit: Opéra de Nice

Just in time for the Six Nations Championship, the Blue Coast Brewing Company in Nice has announced a brand-new burger menu to accompany its taproom beverages as well as a monthly beer pong tournament that will begin this Friday. 

The French Riviera micro-brewery, which was launched in 2017 by a collection of avid brewers, sports stars and celebrities, is branching out with a range of gourmet burgers that will be served on-site at the taproom on Chemin de Saquier in Nice. 

The kitchen will be open from Friday 2nd February, a date that marks the start of the 2024 Six Nations Championship, with a game between Ireland and France due to begin at 9pm. 

The same day, and on the first Friday of every month going forwards, the Blue Coast Brewing Company will host its first beer pong tournament. 

Beer pong, for the uninitiated, is a game where players aim to land table tennis balls in a cup of beer located on their opponent’s side of a table. If a ball makes its way into a cup, the person next to the cup must drink its contents.  

It costs €6.50 to sign up for the tournament, which will kick off at 7.30pm. The prize is a free metre of the Blue Coast Brewing Company’s award-winning artisanal beer! 

Click here for more information. 

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Photo source: Blue Coast Brewing Company, Facebook

Air France, an official partner of the Cannes Film Festival, will supplement its flight schedule during May with a direct connection between LAX and Nice Côte d’Azur Airport that will appeal to fans of both the cinema and the Monaco Grand Prix. 

The outbound route will depart Los Angeles’ main airport at 1.15pm on 13th May, the day before the Cannes Film Festival begins, with a scheduled arrival in the French Riviera the following morning at 9.35am.  

Depending on the configuration of the A350-900 plane used, there could be between 292 and 324 seats available, including premium economy and business class seating.  

The return journey will leave Nice at 1.55pm on 27th May, the day after the Monaco Grand Prix and two days after the close of the film festival. It is scheduled to land back on the West Coast at 5.05pm later that same day.  

NYC CONNECTION FOR CANNES LIONS 

Come June, and coinciding with the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Air France will also run a special connection between New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and Nice. Outbound trips will leave the East Coast on 15th and 16th June while return voyages will be possible on 20th and 21st June.

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Photo source: Antoine Contenseau, Unsplash 

More than 300 entrepreneurs, businesspeople and local officials gathered at Le Méridien Beach Plaza on 18th January to hear about the Monaco Economic Board’s exciting plans for 2024 as well as its new membership formula for individuals and companies.  

The Monaco Economic Board’s (MEB) long-time chairperson, Michel Dotta, opened the proceedings at the annual ‘Rendezvous’ event with a tribute to Etienne Franzi, who recently handed over the presidency of the Monaco Association for Financial Activities (AMAF) to Robert Laure after 25 years in the position.  

See more: Robert Laure named new President of AMAF

Dotta called Franzi’s work “remarkable”, complimenting the outgoing president on how he had “transformed an employer union into an institution with a key role to play in our economy… that actively participates in the ongoing effort to make the Principality a benchmark and respected financial centre”.  

Next up was an inclusivity-focused speech from the Monaco Government’s Technical Advisor Lionel Galfré, who asked those gathered to show their support for the Principality’s newly implemented Handipact initiative.

See more: Monaco sets goals for an “inclusive society” with wide-reaching National Policy for Disability Inclusion

MEB CEO Guillaume Rose then took his turn at the mic, giving an overview of what’s in store for the organisation in the first half of 2024. 

Rose’s presentation also covered the new “two tier membership programme” available at the MEB, which will offer two distinct levels of involvement and participation. There will be the classic option, that will be the same as it ever was, and a premium option that will offer priority registration to events and priority invites from partners who distribute through the MEB, support from the MEB’s communication team regarding the local media and the chance to feature in a new section of the MEB website called ‘Our Premium Companies’, among other advantages.   

INTERNATIONAL MISSIONS 

The MEB’s travel schedule in the first half of 2024, following on from a recent trip to Riyadh, will see representatives head to Morocco from 16th to 19th April and then to London from 10th to 13th June. The MEB will also play host to delegations from Tunisia on 22nd February and Austria on 18th April.  

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Photo credit: MEB

Between 9am and 6pm at the Grimaldi Forum on 16th February, thousands of jobseekers searching for their perfect role in Monaco’s dynamic jobs market will be able to gain an audience with more than 80 employers from a variety of different sectors present in the Principality. 

Designed to address the need for a growing number of workers in an already thriving jobs market – Monaco currently has around 63,000 workers on its books in both the public and private sectors – and pair up suitable candidates with employers looking to fill open positions, the ‘Monaco For Employment’ event is the second edition of a concept launched back in September 2023.  

After that successful inaugural edition, which saw some 3,650 jobseekers turn up with their CVs at the ready, the event has been revived and more than 80 employers have already signed up to have a stand. Companies wishing to attend can still apply for a space within the 3,000sqm facility by clicking here.

Representatives from Monaco’s Caisses Sociales, Cellule Emploi Jeune, Service de l’Emploi and the wider civil service will also be present to help answer any questions that prospective workers in the Principality might have about administrative and even visa requirements.  

“The Employment Forum desired by the Government, and reinforced by the success of the first edition last September, responds to an ever-increasing need for our companies to recruit qualified and quality candidates,” says Christophe Robino, Monaco’s Minister of Social Affairs and Health (pictured). “This Forum is intended to become a highlight of the year and will allow companies to develop an annual recruitment strategy and meet seasonal employment needs. Monaco Pour L’Emploi must become the unmissable meeting place for economic players in the Principality.”

The event is free to attend. More information can be found here.

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Photo credit: Stéphane Danna / Monaco Communications Department

The Centre Scientifique de Monaco and the Aleksandr Savchuk Foundation, which raises funds for scientific research as well as backing educational and sport-based initiatives for cancer sufferers, have joined forces with the International Art & Science Institute to host a fascinating event that will explore the benefits that art and art therapy can have on patients. 

The ‘Repair the World with Art’ conference, which will take place on Thursday 1st February between 10am and 7pm at the Centre Scientifique de Monaco (CSM), will cover an array of projects happening in Monaco and the south of France that are at “the crossroads of contemporary art, art therapy and medical research”.  

Personalities from the worlds of art and science are due to speak at the event, such as Professor Florence Askenazy of the Université Côte d’Azur, who is also a children’s psychiatrist at the CHU de Nice and the city’s Hôpital Pédiatrique Universitaire Lenval. Professor Askenazy will deliver a talk on the “benefits of art therapy in working with the psychological trauma of children and adolescents”. 

Taisiya Savchuk-Polishchuk, the president of the Aleksandr Savchuk Foundation, will also be speaking about art therapy and “art-care actions” as well as the ‘Going Towards the Light’ book project that the foundation has been developing, and artist Olga Kisseleva will hold a presentation on “art, science and interdisciplinary practices of the stage space”. 

“We wish to promote unique reflections, initiated as much by the arts and aesthetics as by medicine or neuroscience, in order to identify the specificities of art as a tool for repairing the world,” says Savchuk-Polishchuk of the unique event. “The artistic dimension of science as well as the contribution that an aesthetic approach to scientific data can make will also be addressed.” 

“Art is recognised as a very beneficial means of treating patients”

Doctor Vincent Picco, the head of the paediatric cancer research team at the CSM, says, “Art is recognised as a very beneficial means of treating patients, with proven effects on reducing cancer, the taking of medications and the length of hospital stays as well as the improvement of the well-being of the person treated independently of the care protocols. This approach is one of the extensions of our research action at the CSM, which aims to treat, but also to improve the conditions of therapeutic care for people undergoing treatment.” 

A cocktail reception will follow the talks.  

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Photo source: Tetiana Shyshkina, Unsplash

Against the backdrop of ongoing farming protests and the so-called “Siege of Paris” by members of the country’s agricultural sector, a cross-section of teachers’ unions has called for a nationwide strike to take place on Thursday 1st February. 

Around 40% of the country’s teaching staff – those represented by the Force Ouvrière, FSU, CGT Educ’Action, SE-UNSA, Sud Éducation unions – have been asked to participate in the industrial action, which is being driven by calls for higher wages for all staff, criticism of job cuts in the sector and a fight back against “the implementation of forced reforms”.

The latter reasoning is a reaction to the ‘Shock of Knowledge’ reforms announced by now-Prime Minister Gabriel Attal in his former capacity as Minister for National Education and Youth back in December. 

See more: France asks students and teachers to work harder to bring up school standards and scores

Posts released by various participating unions also note “anger against the new Minister [for Education]”, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, who drew public criticism earlier this month when it was revealed that she had taken her eldest son out of state school and enrolled him in a privately funded establishment. She claimed that the decision had been driven by “lots of teaching hours without a serious replacement” in the absence of a permanent teacher and said that she was “fed up… like hundreds of thousands of families”.  

Heads of schools heavily affected by the planned strike are expected to alert parents of any closures or class cancellations ahead of time. No figures are available yet for schools in the French Riviera, but around 130 establishments in Paris are likely to be shut for the day. In Nice, a protest has been organised by the local teaching unions’ members that will depart Place Garibaldi for the Gare Thiers at 10am.  

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Photo source: Kenny Eliason, Unsplash

Monaco residents are being warned about a surge in email scams flooding their inboxes. The emails, originating from various sources and often slipping past spam filters, are part of a sophisticated phishing campaign aimed at deceiving unsuspecting victims.

According to authorities, the malicious emails are clumsily composed, claiming recipients are implicated in legal proceedings and urging them to open attached PDF documents. The fraudulent summons alleges involvement in “criminal charges related to sexual misconduct,” adding a sense of urgency and intimidation to the message.

Monaco’s government has issued a series of guidelines to help residents identify and avoid falling victim to these scams. Recipients are advised against responding to the sender, refraining from opening any attached documents, and promptly reporting suspicious emails to cyber@gouv.mc. Additionally, citizens are encouraged to mark such emails as spam and delete them permanently to prevent any further interaction.

Officials emphasise that no legitimate institution in Monaco communicates such matters via email. Government services exclusively use email addresses ending with @gouv.mc and recipients should verify the sender’s email address carefully for authenticity.

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Photo source: Monaco Government