Monaco

The Prince's Palace of Monaco is the official residence of the Prince of Monaco. Built in 1191 as a Genoese fortress, during its long and often... dramatic history it has been bombarded and besieged by many foreign powers. Since the end of the 13th century, it has been the stronghold and home of the Grimaldi family who first captured it in 1297. The Grimaldi ruled the area first as feudal lords, and from the 17th century as sovereign princes, but their power was often derived from fragile agreements with their larger and stronger neighbours. Thus while other European sovereigns were building luxurious, modern Renaissance and Baroque palaces, politics and common sense demanded that the palace of the Monegasque rulers be fortified. This unique requirement, at such a late stage in history, has made the palace at Monaco one of the most unusual in Europe. Ironically, when its fortifications were finally relaxed during the late 18th century, it was seized by the French and stripped of its treasures, and fell into decline, while the Grimaldi were exiled for over 20 years.
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The Monte Carlo Casino is a gambling and entertainment complex located in Monte Carlo, Monaco. It includes a casino, the Grand Théâtre de... Monte Carlo, and the office of Les Ballets de Monte Carlo. The Monte Carlo Casino is owned and operated by the Société des bains de mer de Monaco, a public company in which the Monaco government and the ruling family have a majority interest. The company also owns the principal hotels, sports clubs, foodservice establishments, and nightclubs throughout Monaco. The idea of opening a gambling casino in Monaco belongs to Princess Caroline, a shrewd, business-minded spouse of Prince Florestan I. Revenues from the proposed venture were supposed to save the House of Grimaldi from bankruptcy. The ruling family's persistent financial problems became especially acute after the loss of tax revenue from two breakaway towns, Menton and Roquebrune, which declared independence from Monaco in 1848 and refused to pay taxes on olive oil and fruit imposed by the Grimaldis.
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Grimaldi Forum, Monaco is a conference & congress centre located on the seafront of Monaco's eastern beach quartier, Larvotto. Les Ballets de... Monte Carlo and the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra regularly perform here. This is also the venue of the EVER Monaco exhibition held March annually. During the renovation of Salle Garnier in the Opéra de Monte-Carlo in 2004–05, operas were presented at the Salle des Princes in the Grimaldi Forum. Grimaldi Forum also host the draw for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, including the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year award. It also host the draw for the Group Stage of the UEFA Europa League, prior to the UEFA Super Cup match played on Stade Louis II in Fontvieille.
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The Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo is a hotel located in Monte Carlo, Monaco, It was opened in 1863 as part of the development of Monte Carlo by the... Société des Bains de Mer under the auspices of Charles III of Monaco. The Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo is a luxury hotel at the heart of Monte Carlo and is owned and operated by SBM, along with the Hôtel Hermitage Monte-Carlo, the Monte-Carlo Beach Hotel and the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort. The hotel is regularly listed on the annual Conde Nast Traveller Gold List. It has notable restaurants, including the Michelin 3-star Louis XV and Michelin-starred Le Grill, as well as the Le Bar Americain. The hotel has 187 rooms divided into four groups based on type of view, decoration and luxury. The Exclusive City View offers 20 rooms, the Superior Courtyard has 29 large rooms, the Exclusive Sea View has 59 and the Exclusive Casino has six. Additionally there are 75 suites and junior suites which are grouped similarly, offering more luxury than the regular rooms. There are single and double suites as well as Courtyard Junior suites and Sea/Casino Junior suites. There is also a Presidential suite.
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The United Nations , is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security,... economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace. The UN was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of Nations, to stop wars between countries, and to provide a platform for dialogue. It contains multiple subsidiary organizations to carry out its missions. There are 193 member states, including every internationally recognised sovereign state in the world but Vatican City. From its offices around the world, the UN and its specialized agencies decide on substantive and administrative issues in regular meetings held throughout the year.
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Justine Henin , known as Justine Henin-Hardenne between 2002 and 2007, is a retired professional Belgian tennis player and former World No. 1. Henin... won 43 WTA singles titles and seven Grand Slam singles titles, including four French Open titles, one Australian Open title, and two US Open titles. She has also won the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships twice and the singles gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Tennis experts cite her mental toughness, the completeness and variety of her game, her footspeed and footwork, and her one-handed backhand as the principal reasons for her success. Critics and all-time-great players have made testament to Henin's talent. Upon Henin's first retirement from the WTA in the early part of the 2008 season, Billie Jean King said that "pound for pound, Henin is the best tennis player of her generation", as well as that "Justine is the best women's athlete I've ever seen." Andre Agassi said of Henin, "Justine Henin is one of the most talented women ever to have played the game of tennis.
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Jelena Dokić is an Australian female professional tennis player. During the height of her career, she played for Serbia and Montenegro and... reached a career-high ranking of World No. 4 on 19 August 2002. After several family-related difficulties , she slowly slipped down the rankings in 2006. She made a serious return to tennis in 2008, and after winning three ITF tournaments that year, rose to World No. 187 going into the 2009 Australian Open. She finished 2009 in the top 100, but declined in 2010. Her 2011 season has seen a resurgence in Dokić's form and abilities. The highlights of Dokić's career include reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon and the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and reaching the quarterfinals at the French Open in 2002 and the Australian Open in 2009. Other highlights include beating several former World No. 1 players: Martina Hingis in the first round of Wimbledon in 1999, Venus Williams at the 2000 Italian Open and Kim Clijsters at the 2003 Zürich Open.
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Marat Mikhailovich Safin is a Russian politician and retired tennis player of Tatar descent. Safin won two grand slams and reached the World No. 1... ranking during his career. He was also famous for his emotional outbursts and sometimes fiery temper on court. Safin also holds the record for most broken racquets in a year with 87. Safin is the older brother of former World No. 1 WTA player Dinara Safina , born April 27, 1986 in Moscow. They are the first brother-sister tandem in tennis history to both achieve No. 1 rankings. Safin began his professional career in 1997, and held the No. 1 world ranking for a total of 9 weeks between November 2000 and April 2001. He won his first Grand Slam title at the 2000 U.S. Open after defeating Pete Sampras, and won the 2005 Australian Open, defeating Australian Lleyton Hewitt in the final. Safin helped lead Russia to Davis Cup victories in 2002 and 2006.
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Elena Viatcheslavovna Dementieva is a retired Russian professional tennis player. Dementieva is most notable for winning the singles gold medal at... the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She won 16 WTA singles titles and reached the finals of the 2004 French Open and 2004 US Open. Dementieva achieved a career-high ranking of World No. 3, which was accomplished on 6 April 2009. She announced her retirement on 29 October 2010, after her final match at the 2010 WTA Tour Championships. Dementieva ended her career ranked World No. 9. Dementieva was born in Moscow to Viatcheslav, an electrical engineer, and Vera, a teacher—both recreational tennis players. She was rejected by Dynamo Sports Club and the Central Red Army Tennis Club at the age of 7, before enrolling at Spartak Tennis Club, where she was coached for 3 years by Rauza Islanova, the mother of Marat Safin and Dinara Safina. She then moved to the Central Red Army Club with Sergei Pashkov, when she was 11. She was later coached by her mother Vera and her older brother Vsevolod.
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