Monaco's Princess Charlene Tests Positive for COVID

Prince Albert II of Monaco and Princess Charlene of Monaco pose on the red carpet ahead of the 2020 Monte-Carlo Gala for Planetary Health in Monaco September 24, 2020. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard
Prince Albert II of Monaco and Princess Charlene of Monaco pose on the red carpet ahead of the 2020 Monte-Carlo Gala for Planetary Health in Monaco September 24, 2020. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard
TT
20

Monaco's Princess Charlene Tests Positive for COVID

Prince Albert II of Monaco and Princess Charlene of Monaco pose on the red carpet ahead of the 2020 Monte-Carlo Gala for Planetary Health in Monaco September 24, 2020. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard
Prince Albert II of Monaco and Princess Charlene of Monaco pose on the red carpet ahead of the 2020 Monte-Carlo Gala for Planetary Health in Monaco September 24, 2020. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

Princess Charlene of Monaco, who had been away from the principality for months due to health issues, has tested positive for COVID-19, the palace said in a statement, as the number of cases in neighboring France begin to rise again.

The 44-year-old former Olympics champion, who married Prince Albert in 2011, returned to Monaco in March as her health improved, the royal palace said at the time. She only recently resumed official duties.

The palace said there were no concerns about her condition and she would isolate according to health protocols.

The positive test comes a day after France's Public Health Authority said it had seen a rebound in cases this week for the first time in months with a 7-day average of about 20,000 daily cases, Reuters reported.

Guillaume Spaccaferri, epidemiologist at the Public Health Authority, told a news conference on Friday the rise in numbers was likely down to a new Omicron variant and the end of all COVID restrictions in the country.

So far, there was not a notable impact on hospitalizations or intensive care units, he said.



Eel-eating Japan Opposes EU Call for More Protection

People on bicycles cross a street under the hot sun in Tokyo on June 20, 2025. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
People on bicycles cross a street under the hot sun in Tokyo on June 20, 2025. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
TT
20

Eel-eating Japan Opposes EU Call for More Protection

People on bicycles cross a street under the hot sun in Tokyo on June 20, 2025. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
People on bicycles cross a street under the hot sun in Tokyo on June 20, 2025. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)

Japan's agriculture minister said Friday the country would oppose any call by the European Union to add eels to an endangered species list that would limit trade in them.

Eel is eaten worldwide but is particularly popular in Japan, where it is called "unagi" and traditionally served grilled after being covered in a sticky-sweet sauce.

Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters that the country carefully manages stock levels of the Japanese eel in cooperation with neighboring China, Taiwan and South Korea.

"There is a sufficient population, and it faces no extinction risk due to international trade," AFP quoted him as saying.

Japanese media have reported that the EU could soon propose that all eel species be added to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) which limits trade of protected animals.

There are 19 species and subspecies of eel, many of them now threatened due to a range of factors including pollution and overfishing.

In 2014, the Japanese eel was listed as endangered, but not critically endangered, by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which cited factors including habitat loss, overfishing, pollution and migration barriers.

Protecting the animal is complicated by their complex life cycle, which unfolds over a vast area, and the many unknowns about how they reproduce.