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1 week ago | 
eureporter.co | Colin Stevens
A new report from global consultancy KPMG has revealed a sharp rise in illicit cigarette consumption across the European Union, with France and the Netherlands emerging as epicentres of the surge. According to the 2024 KPMG study, smokers in the European Union consumed 38.9 billion illicit cigarettes in 2024, marking a 10.8% increase versus 2023. That is the highest level recorded since 2015.
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1 week ago | 
eureporter.co | Colin Stevens
It will be a nervous morning on the banks of the Boyne as club officials at Irish Premier Decision side Drogheda United await word from a Swiss courtroom on the fate of their European football season. The club confirmed last week it was facing expulsion from the UEFA Conference League owing to the late qualification of Danish club Silkeborg IF to the same competition.
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2 weeks ago | 
eureporter.co | Colin Stevens
As noted American philosopher Biggie Smalls once said: “Mo’ money, mo’ problems”. And while the Notorious B.I.G. was rapping about the perils of the big money hip-hop lifestyle, he could just as easily have been talking about the immaculately dressed lawyers in the boardrooms of Nyon. The small Swiss town is, of course, home to the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the regulatory body charged with governing a game with enough big money in it to give even Biggie pause for thought.
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2 weeks ago | 
eureporter.co | Colin Stevens
Whether football fans like it or not, multi-club ownership groups are becoming the new normal. What’s more, there is now too much money in the ‘beautiful game’ to begin unwinding the clock. Groups like the City Football Group (Manchester City, Girona) Eagle Football Holdings (Crystal Palace, Lyon), INEOS (Manchester United, Nice) and BlueCo (Chelsea, Strasbourg) are here to stay. The rise of multi-club ownership models poses a challenge for regulators.
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2 weeks ago | 
eureporter.co | Colin Stevens
Europe’s economic stability and public security are increasingly under threat from so-called “blended threats”—complex combinations of organised crime, terrorism, cyber-attacks, and illicit trade. A high-level roundtable convened in Brussels on Wednesday investigated how NATO, the European Union, and industry can collaborate to assess these threats and coordinate a joint response.
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2 weeks ago | 
eureporter.co | Colin Stevens
Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev hosted Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Bulgarian President Rumen Radev in Tashkent on Tuesday to watch the national football team claim a 3-0 victory over Qatar in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match. The win secured Uzbekistan fourth place in Group A with 13 points, earning the team a place at the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in Canada, Mexico and the United States. The match also marked the end of Qatar’s qualifying campaign.
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3 weeks ago | 
eureporter.co | Colin Stevens
Europe stands at a critical crossroads in the battle against smoking. A landmark report from the European Policy Innovation Council (EPIC) makes a powerful case for rethinking traditional tobacco control policies. Instead of pursuing an prohibitionist path, the report urges the European Union to embrace innovation and pragmatic harm reduction strategies to save millions of lives, while preserving economic vitality. Published in early 2025, EPIC’s 'The End of Smoking?
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4 weeks ago | 
eureporter.co | Colin Stevens
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev delivered a powerful and moving address today at the ALZHIR Memorial Complex, marking Kazakhstan’s annual Day of Remembrance for Victims of Political Repressions and Famine. Speaking before citizens, historians, and descendants of the persecuted, Tokayev reaffirmed the nation’s commitment to historical justice and charted a clear path toward a unified, progressive future.
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1 month ago | 
eureporter.co | Colin Stevens
As Uzbekistan continues to raise its profile on the global stage through diplomatic and humanitarian efforts, Tashkent this week hosted a high-level regional forum titled “Dialogue in the name of children: Central Asia and UNICEF,” focused on improving child health across Central Asia. Held on May 27, the forum was aligned with International Children’s Day, celebrated each year on June 1.
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1 month ago | 
eureporter.co | Colin Stevens
Azerion, the leading European digital advertising company, is launching its new Multi-Cloud and AI platform, Azerion Intelligence. In a time where independence, open choices and scalable AI compute power are more relevant than ever, Azerion offers European businesses affordable, independent cloud hosting, access to open-source AI capabilities, and a marketplace of AI-powered apps and agents tailored for digital marketing and publishing.
