Monaco Journal - News from Monaco, Monte-Carlo and the world

French President Emmanuel Macron was in Moscow on Monday hoping to find common ground with Vladimir Putin on Ukraine and NATO, at the start of a week of intense diplomacy over fears Russia is preparing an invasion of its pro-Western neighbour.

Bordeaux fired coach Vladimir Petkovic on Monday, the day after a 5-0 thrashing at Reims kept the six-time French champions anchored in the relegation places.

London echoed to the sound of cannon shots on Monday to mark Queen Elizabeth II's 70 years on the throne, beginning a year of celebrations to honour Britain's longest-serving monarch.

One of French painter Paul Gauguin's most famous paintings, "Mata Mua", will return to a Madrid museum on Monday following an agreement between the Spanish government and its owner, who took it out of the country.

Budget US carriers Spirit and Frontier announced Monday they will merge to create a competitive low-cost airline, in an industry "shake up" they say aims to challenge the dominance of larger rivals.

Eddie Howe says Newcastle are stronger after their signings in the January transfer window but admits "nothing is done on paper" as they prepare to re-focus on their Premier League survival bid.

US-born Chinese figure skater Beverly Zhu broke down on the ice after she fell twice at the Beijing Olympics on Monday, having been widely abused on Chinese social media for another poor performance the previous day.

Moroccans on Monday attended the funeral of Rayan, a five-year-old boy who spent five days trapped down a well, sparking a vast rescue operation that gripped the world but ended in tragedy.

French electricity giant EDF prepared Monday to close a deal for the nuclear turbines business of General Electric, the latest step in President Emmanuel Macron's plans to revive his country's atomic power drive.

Dutch speed skater Ireen Wust has become the first person to win a gold medal in an individual event at five different Olympics after retaining her 1500 metres title in Beijing on Monday.

Morocco reopened its airspace on Monday in a bid to breathe life into its crisis-hit tourism sector, two months after it cancelled commercial flights over coronavirus fears.

Newcastle forward Callum Wilson is facing a battle to be fit before the end of the season, with manager Eddie Howe revealing that the player is making a slow recovery from a calf injury.

Stock markets largely steadied Monday with sentiment dominated by the outlook for interest rate rises as inflation soars.

Sadio Mane trumped Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah in the Africa Cup of Nations final, but the Egyptian will soon have a chance to even the score in a World Cup play-off.

Cyclone Batsirai swept out of Madagascar on Monday after killing 20 people, displacing 55,000 and devastating the drought-hit island's agricultural heartland, leading the UN to warn of a worsening humanitarian crisis.

After years of underachievement, Sadio Mane's Senegal finally lived up to their billing as Africa's outstanding team with victory in the Cup of Nations, even if they did it the hard way in the final against Egypt.

The head of music streaming giant Spotify Daniel Ek has condemned podcaster Joe Rogan's use of a racial slur but insisted that silencing him was not the answer.

Former all-rounder Paul Collingwood will take charge of England's Test tour of the West Indies next month after being installed as interim head coach, cricket chiefs announced on Monday.

The UK and Ireland will not bid to stage the 2030 World Cup and will instead focus on a joint campaign to host Euro 2028, their football bodies announced on Monday.

French President Emmanuel Macron heads to Moscow on Monday hoping to reach a deal with Vladimir Putin over Ukraine, at the start of a week of intense diplomacy over fears Russia is preparing an invasion of its pro-Western neighbour.

Swedish price comparison site PriceRunner said Monday it was suing tech giant Google for 2.1 billion euros ($2.4 billion) for promoting its own shopping comparisons in search results.

US ski star Mikaela Shiffrin suffered bitter disappointment in her first attempt at Beijing Olympic gold on Monday while Californian-born Chinese freestyle skier Eileen Gu held her nerve to seal a place in the final on her Games debut.

Myanmar's junta has denied freeing an Australian academic detained for almost a year after Cambodia's leader on Monday took credit for arranging the release.

Russian and Canadian women ice hockey players wore medical face masks Monday during their Beijing Winter Games match, which also started an hour late, in a bizarre chapter for the Games.

Sweden's Sara Hector won the women's Olympic giant slalom on Monday in a race stripped of a showdown with Mikaela Shiffrin after the American slid out in the first leg.

Su Yiming was a talented film actor as a child but his silver-medal exploits in snowboarding on Monday made him an instant box-office hit at his home Beijing Winter Olympics.

Former Dutch international Marc Overmars resigned as sporting director of Ajax after admitting sending a "series of inappropriate messages" to female colleagues, the club announced.

Police used Pegasus spyware to hack phones of dozens of prominent Israelis, including a son of former premier Benjamin Netanyahu, activists and senior government officials, an Israeli newspaper reported Monday.

Dabaso Galgalo is now used to the smell and grisly spectacle of rotting flesh festering in the scorching heat as Kenya reels from a spate of climate disasters.

"I don't sing to avenge my family, but because other innocent people who know nothing about politics continue to die," says imprisoned Congolese rapper Idengo.

Biology teacher Olga Shchegoleva had not even finished her first six months at a prestigious school in Saint Petersburg when she came under pressure to quit over a sex education blog.

Sweden's Sara Hector won the women's Olympic giant slalom on Monday in a race stripped of a showdown with Mikaela Shiffrin after the American slid out in the first leg.