BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Belgium’s Liege airport temporarily halted flights due to drone sighting, the second such incident this week, national news agency Belga said on Friday citing the skeyes air traffic control service.
Drones spotted flying over airports in the capital Brussels and in Liege, in the country’s east, forced on Tuesday the diversion of many incoming planes and the grounding of some due to depart.
Sightings of drones over airports and military bases have become a constant in Belgium in recent days, and have caused major disruptions across Europe in recent months.
They have forced temporary closures of airports in several countries including Sweden on Thursday. Some officials have blamed the incidents on “hybrid warfare” by Russia. Moscow has denied any connection with the incidents.
The Belgian government called an emergency meeting of key government ministers and security chiefs on Thursday to address what the defence minister called a coordinated attack
(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi, editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten)
(Reuters) -Flights bound for Brussels Airport were held or diverted late Thursday, according to flight tracking site Flightradar24, which cited unconfirmed reports of renewed drone sightings.
Reuters has not independently verified the drone reports.
Belgium had called an emergency meeting of key government ministers and security chiefs for Thursday after drone sightings forced closures of airports and a military air base on Tuesday evening in what the defence minister called a coordinated attack.
(Reporting by Anusha Shah in Bengaluru, Editing by Franklin Paul)
PARIS—France’s state auditor issued a searing assessment of the Louvre Museum’s finances on Thursday, alleging its management prioritized the acquisition of new artworks over the maintenance and security of its existing collection.
The auditor released its 153-page report after a team of thieves used low-tech methods to break into the museum last month and steal France’s crown jewels, drawing attention to the Louvre’s porous security.
ZURICH (Reuters) -Swiss efforts to secure a more favourable trade relationship with the U.S. are ongoing, Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said on Thursday, after Swiss corporate bosses met with U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this week.
Switzerland was left reeling after Trump imposed tariffs of 39% on Swiss imports in August, among the highest duties levied in his global trade reset.
Keller-Sutter, who has come under fire for her handling of the dispute, said she had fulfilled her duties as Switzerland’s president when she spoke to Trump before the tariffs announcement.
“He did not agree with the negotiated agreement. Period,” she told newspaper Blick in an article published on Thursday.
“We have to live with that. The talks are continuing.”
She remained tight-lipped on the negotiations, or whether an agreement could be reached this year.
“Ultimately, it is up to the U.S. president to decide whether or not to agree to a deal,” Keller-Sutter said.
Swiss companies have also been working to persuade Trump to reduce the tariffs, with a delegation of business leaders meeting Trump in the White House on Tuesday.
The group, which included executives from shipping company MSC, watchmaker Rolex, investment firm Partners Group, commodities trader Mercuria, Cartier-owner Richemont and precious metals firm MKS, had organised to draw attention to the consequences of U.S. tariffs on their companies, Switzerland’s economy ministry said.
The government welcomed the initiative.
“Diplomatic and political exchanges are continuing with a view to achieving a rapid reduction in additional tariffs,” the ministry added.
(Reporting by Ariane Luthi and John Revill; Editing by Paul Simao)
THE HAGUE (Reuters) -A Dutch appeals court on Thursday confirmed a decision to throw out a case brought by pro-Palestinian groups to stop the Netherlands exporting weapons to Israel and trading with Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.
The court said it was up to the state to decide what actions to take and not judges.
In a written ruling, the court said it could not order a blanket ban because the pro-Palestinian groups had not shown that the government was routinely failing to consider whether exported arms or dual-use goods would be used to violate rights.
The court in The Hague added that the Dutch government already did enough to discourage companies from working in the occupied territories.
The plaintiffs, citing high civilian casualties in Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip, had argued that the Dutch state, as a signatory to the 1948 Genocide Convention, has a duty to take all reasonable measures at its disposal to prevent genocide.
Israel has repeatedly dismissed accusations of genocide and said its Gaza campaign was focused solely on fighting Hamas.
The court said the Netherlands did have that obligation under the Genocide Convention and that there was “a grave risk” that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.
But it backed a decision by a lower court in December last year. In that case, the judges sided with the Dutch state which had said it continually assesses the risk around exported arms, and that it has refused some exports.
The pro-Palestinian NGOs had said the Netherlands had exported radar systems, parts for F-16 fighter jets and warships, police dogs and cameras and software for surveillance systems.
The Dutch government says that it has halted most arms exports to Israel and only allows parts for defence systems such as the Iron Dome.
(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
Retail sales in the eurozone unexpectedly inched lower in September, contrasting with some of the rosier sentiment among consumers in recent months.
Volumes fell back 0.1%, the same rate as in August, statistics agency Eurostat said Thursday. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had instead expected a 0.2% increase.
MONTCLAIR, New Jersey (AP) — On a sunny fall morning, children wearing helmets and backpacks gathered with their parents in Montclair, New Jersey, for a group bicycle ride to two local elementary schools. Volunteers in orange safety vests made sure everyone assembled in a neighborhood shopping area was ready before the riders set off on their 5-mile “bike bus” route.
Every few blocks, more adults and kids on bikes joined in. Eventually, the group grew to over 350 people. Older students chatted with friends, while younger ones focused on pedaling. Cars along the way stopped to let the long line of cyclists pass. Pupils and parents peeled off toward the first school before the remainder reached the group’s final stop.
It’s a familiar Friday scene in Montclair. For the past three years, what began as a handful of parents hoping to encourage their kids to bike to school has grown into a weekly ritual for both the township of about 40,000 residents and many of its families.
“It was so fun,” second grader Gigi Drucker, 7, said upon arriving at Nishuane Elementary School. “The best way to get to school is by bike because it gives you more exercise. It’s healthier for the Earth,” she added.
But traveling to school on two wheels isn’t just for fun, according to organizer Jessica Tillyer, whose are 6 and 8 years old. She believes that biking together each week helps promote healthy habits for the children and strengthens the sense of community among parents.
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“And it really started because a small group of us, about five parents, all wanted to ride to school with our kids and just felt like it wasn’t safe. And for me, I felt kind of lonely riding by myself to school. So, bike bus just took off as a small effort. And now we can have up to 400 people riding together to school,” Tillyer said.
The bike bus movement isn’t new. Hundreds of them exist throughout the U.S. and Europe, as well as in Australia, Brazil, India, Indonesia and Israel, according to Bike Bus World, a nonprofit organization that promotes and provides information about bike buses.
Co-founder Sam Balto, who established a bike bus in Portland, Oregon, more than three years ago, said interest has grown so much that he offers free coaching calls to help others launch their own. He estimates there are more than 400 routes worldwide, and the number continues to grow.
“Children and families are craving community and physical activity and being outdoors. And when you present that versus a school car line, people naturally gravitate to something that’s super joyful and community-driven,” Balto said.
While starting a bike bus may not be difficult, keeping it running year-round through different seasons takes more effort. Organizers of successful rides shared advice for parents hoping to create their own.
Plan and communicate
Andrew Hawkins, one of the leaders of Montclair Bike Bus, said that once enough families express interest, the first step is to plan a route carefully. That means identifying streets with low traffic while considering how many students can join at the starting point and along the way.
“It took us a while to come up with a route we were happy with, but we’re still ready to adjust if necessary,” Hawkins said. “Things can change. It could be that new groups of students move into a certain block, or traffic patterns shift, and you have to adapt.”
The Montclair group started via word of mouth and social media posts. As the number of participants grew, the organizers created a chat group to coordinate and share weekly updates. They also reached out to other families through PTAs, school forums and other parent communication channels.
One unexpected benefit, several parents said, is the bike bus motivates children to get up and out the door more quickly on Friday mornings.
“He’s more excited to get out of bed for the bike bus than for the regular bus. So actually, I have an easier time getting him ready for school,” said Gene Gykoff, who rides with his son to the boy’s elementary school.
To keep momentum going all year, the Montclair Bike Bus team organizes themed rides on weekends and holidays. These events also allow families who can’t join on weekday mornings to experience what the bike bus is all about before committing to a regular schedule.
Start young and go slow
Montclair Bike Bus consists of multiple adult-led groups and routes that encompass all of the township’s elementary schools and middle schools. Organizers think the primary grades are when children benefit most from cycling with a group. Students in the first few years of school can learn about riding safely and apply those skills when they bike on their own or in small groups as they get older.
The Montclair parents found that most elementary school students can handle a distance of 3-5 miles, and the group travels at a speed of around 6 miles per hour so the younger kids can keep up.
“The slow speed can be tough for some of our older kids who want to go a little bit faster. We tell them there’s no racing on the bike bus — everyone gets to school at the same time. But there have been occasions where we’ve had to split the ride into two groups so that some of the older kids can go a little bit faster than the younger kids,” Hawkins said.
Be consistent no matter the weather
Keeping a bike bus going year-round requires consistency, which means preparing to pedal when it’s raining or cold outside, Balto and Hawkins said. Leaders monitor weather forecasts and decide whether to cancel a Friday ride due to unsafe conditions or to proceed as planned while reminding families to dress appropriately.
“As it gets colder, we tell everyone to make sure they have the right gear — gloves, neck warmers, warm jackets,” Hawkins said. “The idea is that kids should feel comfortable riding all year.”
The Montclair bike bus secured reflective vests and bike lights from sponsors to increase visibility on dark winter mornings. Leaders also carry basic maintenance tools, such as tire pumps.
Weather is often more of a concern for adults than it is for children, Balto observed. “Kids want to be outside with their friends,” he said. “If you’re going to do this in all weather, just do it consistently. People will get used to it, and they’ll start joining you.”
Just do it
Despite all the planning and coordination involved in running a regular bike bus, experienced organizers say the key is simply to start. It can be as informal as two families riding to school together and sharing a flyer to spread the word, Balto said.
“If you’re consistent — once a week, once a month, once a season — it will grow,” he said.
Tillyer said she gives the same advice to anyone who asks how to begin: just go for it.
“Don’t ask for permission. Don’t worry about what it’s going to take,” she said. “Find a small group of people, get on your bikes and ride to school. Once people experience it and enjoy it, more will want to join.”
LONDON (Reuters) -Several prisoners are mistakenly released from British prisons each week, a minister said on Thursday, revealing the scale of a problem that came to light with the wrongful release of a migrant sex offender whose offences sparked weeks of protests.
The accidental release of Ethiopian asylum seeker Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu last month compounded the pressure on the government which is struggling with overcrowded prisons and a broken immigration system.
His arrest in July already triggered protests outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Epping, north of London, which then became a touch-paper for wider anti-immigration demonstrations. He was deported following a three-day manhunt.
This week, two more mistaken prisoner releases – including an Algerian national on the sex offenders register who had overstayed his visa – have raised further concerns about the prison system, which has been grappling with overcrowding after the number of inmates in England and Wales doubled in the last 30 years.
The government estimates that 262 prisoners were released mistakenly in the 12 months to March 2025 – marking the fourth consecutive year of increase and more than double the 115 reported the previous year.
“The system is in utter chaos,” Alex Davies-Jones, a minister in the justice department, told Times Radio.
“We are deporting more foreign prisoners than ever before,” she said. “We’re also going to be deporting them on sentencing, rather than waiting for them to serve time in our prisons.”
The accidental releases have also increased pressure on David Lammy, Britain’s justice minister and deputy prime minister, who told parliament on Wednesday that he had toughened the rules to fix the problem, without revealing that he had known about the recent mistakes.
Davies-Jones blamed the crisis on 14 years of “chronic austerity and underfunding in our public services”, as well as the failure to build more prisons, under the previous Conservative government.
(Reporting by Muvija M; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
When Ozempic and Wegovy launched, their bombshell success was only going to be exclusive to their maker—Novo Nordisk—for a matter of time. While the Danish pharma giant holds the patents to these GLP-1s for the time being, some are due to expire as early as next year.
The success of these drugs, used to treat diabetes and obesity, has naturally caught the attention of Novo’s competitors. America’s Eli Lilly, for example, is seeing growing demand for its Mounjaro product and is keen for a pill form of the medication to be pushed speedily through the U.S. approvals process.
Novo Nordisk has a pill form of its own products to come, but the fact remains that until it can conjure its next rabbit from the hat, the outlook is weakening. In its Q3 2025 results released November 5, Novo reported expected sales growth for the year of between 8 and 11% at constant exchange rates, and operating growth profit now between 4% and 7%. Compared to the same time last year, Novo was predicting 22% operating profit growth and sales growth of 24%.
Novo Nordisk shares dropped on the update before quickly rebounding, but its stock remains on a downward trajectory. Its share price has fallen more than 50% year to date.
After a company-wide restructuring costing some DKK 9 billion ($1.38 billion), Novo’s path to success lies in its ability to create the next healthcare-altering drug. This, says Novo CFO Karsten Munk Knudsen, will be the “silver bullet” to defending key markets from competitors.
“The ultimate defence in our industry is in innovation,” Knudsen told Fortune in an exclusive interview. “So clearly we do everything we can to push innovation forward: That could be the Wegovy pill that we hope to launch next year in the U.S., that could be our third-generation product CagriSema that we hope to submit in the coming months, and then push and increasing forward also amycretin. So innovation is really the silver bullet here.”
For the patents on some of Novo Nordisk’s hero products in certain regions to be running out is an inevitable headache—companies can only hold them for so long before competitors are able to launch their own products. To win a patent is the prize for pushing the needle, Knudsen said, and after a period of breathing room companies must go to battle for consumers: “This is how it is for our industry. The way we deal with it vis-a-vis our shareholders, first and foremost, is that we’ve been very transparent with the impact from countries where our patent … lapses into next year.”
The company sees a low single-digit negative impact because of the expirations next year, Knudsen added: “In those specific markets then we adapt our strategies and we do not intend to leave these markets whatsoever, and intend to defend our market position.”
The real snag will come in the next decade: The U.S. represents 50% of group sales for Novo, and while there is a “good runway” until the early 2030s, that’s when patents in America run out and the true battle begins.
Most recently, New York-based Pfizerlaunched a case against Novo Nordisk over the Danish brand’s bid to buy obesity start-up Metsera. Both Metsera and Novo have fired back, with the latter saying in a statement: “We are confident this transaction does not raise any antitrust issues.”
Knudsen also said he doesn’t see consumers moving away from Novo products following cases alleging serious side effects from taking the medication. “This class of products has been around, just in our portfolio, for more than 15 years, and we are reaching millions of patients with our products,” he said. “Clearly that would not be the case if there are any material concerns around safety around our products.”
Nonetheless, the suits could prove costly and lengthy—potentially having a material impact on the company’s bottom line.
“First and foremost, I do believe that we have a highly capable global legal function and the best way to deal with legal situations is to prevent them from occurring in the first place,” Knudsen said. “The best defence is prevention and from there it’s really about the legal capabilities both with our in-house function and with our external legal advisors that we use.”
Financially, he added, risks are evaluated on a rolling basis: “We have a reasonable risk profile on that front. It’s something that … we assess on an ongoing basis … and then what insurance coverage do we have, how strong is our legal position, and I think we’re in a reasonable position.”
Industrial production in Europe’s largest economy rebounded less than expected in September, amid hopes that the outlook could be changing for the sector ahead of large-scale government investment.
Output rose 1.3% on month, Germany’s statistics agency Destatis said Thursday, offsetting some of the 3.7% decline in August. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected a larger 2.5% uptick.
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) -Britain’s Prince William expressed optimism on Wednesday about tackling global environmental challenges at a star-studded event in Rio de Janeiro for the fifth edition of his EarthShot Prize.
William’s first visit to Latin America comes shortly before Brazil hosts the UN climate summit COP30 next week.
“I understand that some might feel discouraged in these uncertain times,” William said during the ceremony for the award, founded in 2020 and inspired by a visit to Namibia.
“I understand that there is still so much to be done. But this is no time for complacency, and the optimism I felt in 2020 remains ardent today.”
Named in homage to John F. Kennedy’s “moonshot” goal, the award was intended to foster significant environmental progress within a decade that has now reached its midpoint.
The prize, which aims to find innovations to combat climate change, and tackle other green issues, awards five winners 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) each to drive their projects.
Pop stars Kylie Minogue and Shawn Mendes, Brazilian musicians Gilberto Gil, Seu Jorge and Anitta, along with former Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel, were among those who appeared or performed at the ceremony.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and London Mayor Sadiq Khan also attended.
William will attend the UN climate summit in place of his father, King Charles. On his trip, he announced initiatives for Indigenous communities and environmental activists, and visited landmarks in Rio.
(Reporting by Andre Romani in Sao Paulo and Michael Holden in London; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
After signing the deal, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan hailed the joint venture between the Romanian state and Europe’s largest arms producer as a sign that Romania is “emerging as a player with potential in the defense industry of Southeast Europe.”
Construction of the 535 million-euro ($616 million) plant in the town of Victoria in Brasov County is expected to start in 2026, take three years to complete and create about 700 local jobs, he said. Romania will seek to finance part of its contributions through the European SAFE mechanism to encourage defense readiness.
“After many years in which our defense industry was in little demand, Romania is entering a new stage because of the security situation in Eastern Europe,” Bolojan said. “I’m glad Rheinmetall sees us as an important and serious partner and is strengthening its presence in Romania.”
Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger said the ammunition powder to be produced at the factory is “needed worldwide and especially in Europe,” and will make Romania a key player in the continent’s defense ecosystem.
“The strategy is to make Romania an integral part of the European ecosystem,” Papperger said. “Romania will also be an integral part of the NATO ecosystem.”
Since Russia launched its full invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Romania has played an increasingly prominent role in NATO. It has donated a Patriot missile system to Ukraine and opened an international training hub for F-16 jet pilots from allied countries, including Ukraine.
Russian President
Vladimir Putin ordered his top security officials to draw up plans for potential nuclear weapons testing should President Trump follow through on his suggestions that the U.S. resume testing its nuclear arsenal, in a fresh sign of the faltering relationship between the two leaders.
While the threats from each side are likely still tools for political signaling at this stage, if either Washington or Moscow pushes ahead with testing it would raise nuclear tensions to levels unseen since the peak of the Cold War.
The French finance ministry said Wednesday that it had begun the process to suspend Shein for “the time necessary for the platform to demonstrate” it has scrubbed its site of illegal products.
VILNIUS (Reuters) -Latvian lawmakers on Wednesday postponed a vote to quit a European treaty aimed at combating violence against women until after a parliamentary election in October next year, a move welcomed by the prime minister who opposes leaving the accord.
Opposition parties joined by a conservative party from the governing coalition pushed through a vote on October 30 to quit the Istanbul Convention, which defines violence against women as a violation of human rights.
Opponents of the treaty say they object to language in it that defines gender as a social convention, and say Latvia’s domestic law already provides enough safeguards against violence towards women. Thousands of supporters of the treaty demonstrated last week in Riga against withdrawal.
President Edgars Rinkevics declined to sign off on the withdrawal. Parliament can still enact the measure with another vote, but lawmakers accepted a call from Rinkevics to schedule the new vote after next year’s election.
Prime Minister Evika Silina called the postponement “a victory of democracy, rule of law and women’s rights”.
“It is a victory of the Latvian people. Latvia is a reliable partner and ally, and remains committed to European values”, she posted on X.
(Reporting by Andrius Sytas and Anna RingstromEditing by Terje Solsvik and Peter Graff)
European Union environment ministers agreed to a watered-down version of the bloc’s 2040 climate goals on Wednesday, bringing the EU one step closer to setting new—if weaker—targets for lowering carbon emissions.
Ministers adopted a number of climate-focused policies, including a legally-binding target to slash the EU’s collective emissions by 90% by 2040 from 1990 levels.
TAIPEI (Reuters) -Former Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen will visit Berlin to address a conference next week, her office said on Wednesday, as the diplomatically isolated island pushes ahead with a new outreach to Europe.
Chinese-claimed and democratically governed Taiwan has formal diplomatic ties only with the Vatican in Europe, but countries from Britain and France to Lithuania and Poland have disregarded Beijing’s complaints to allow visits by acting or former senior Taiwan officials.
Tsai, who left office last year, will leave for Berlin on Saturday and speak on Monday at the Berlin Freedom Conference, her office said.
“Former President Tsai hopes this trip will help deepen cooperation and exchanges between Taiwan and Germany, as well as with like-minded democratic countries in Europe,” it said in a statement.
China cut off a regular dialogue mechanism with Taiwan after Tsai took office in 2012 and has an especial dislike of her successor Lai Ching-te, whom it calls a “separatist”. Both are members of Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party.
China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tsai’s trip.
On Monday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his German counterpart Johann Wadephul that Berlin should oppose “Taiwan independence”. Last month, Wadephul postponed his first trip to Beijing.
In September, Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung made two trips to Europe, visiting countries such as Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Italy.
Speaking to reporters in Taipei earlier on Wednesday, Lin said he went to Europe to strengthen relations, adding that his ministry had set up a “Europe task force”.
Tsai, a fluent English speaker who remains an influential political figure in Taiwan, has already visited other European countries since stepping down, including Britain and France.
Last year before Tsai headed to Europe on a similar visit, Taiwan’s presidential office said she had Lai’s full support to promote the island’s relations with the continent.
China says Taiwan is one of its provinces with no right to the trappings of a state, a position Taipei’s government strongly rejects.
(Reporting by Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
PISA, Italy (Reuters) -When Luciano walked into an anti-addiction clinic in the central Italian city of Pisa, the only thing he had not lost to years of gambling were the clothes he was wearing. Everything else – family homes, savings, his dignity – was gone.
“I devoted myself to casinos, horses, everything. Basically, I toured all the casinos in Europe; I spent all my assets, I gambled them, I gambled everything away in those places,” the 69-year-old retired railway worker told Reuters.
Luciano’s story exemplifies some of the darker realities behind Italy’s emergence as Europe’s largest gambling market, with the spread of online and smartphone betting making it ever easier to place wagers.
The growth of Italy’s gambling industry has outpaced Britain, Germany, and France, with gross gaming revenues – the difference between the amount wagered and the amount won – hitting 21.5 billion euros ($25 billion) in 2024.
FAMILY VALUES, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE MAFIA
Booming betting habits have helped to line state coffers and have put conservative Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a self-declared defender of family values, at odds with the Catholic Church and others who have called for tighter regulation.
“(Gambling) ruins people, it impoverishes, in many cases it destroys relationships, so it is clear that a huge effort (to control it) is needed by everyone,” the head of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, said in June.
There are indications that the mafia has a hand in Italy’s gambling addiction: this year’s “Black Book of Gambling” report, compiled by the CGIL trade union, showed betting was especially widespread in poorer and mafia-ridden southern regions.
Italy’s anti-Mafia directorate routinely lists gambling and online betting as a sector infiltrated by mafia groups, particularly the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta, for money laundering purposes.
About 20.5 million Italians, 43% of the adult population, gambled at least once in 2022, with a higher incidence among men, the Italian National Research Council reported last year.
Among them, 1.1 million spent at least one hour gambling on a typical day – a pattern common to Luciano and three other former addicts Reuters spoke to for this story. They asked for their names to be changed to protect their privacy.
Francesco, 52, said his gambling started in childhood. He recalled how a teacher in junior high school told him off for playing dice under the desk with a classmate, for 100-lira (5 euro cent) punts.
Although he now feels cured, gambling will always be a temptation. “It’s like a vulture sitting on my shoulder,” he said.
Industry representatives say the sector is committed to promoting responsible gambling, and the government agency that oversees it believes excessive curbs do not work, as they push people towards illegal betting.
“We estimate that there is an underground, illegal market now worth over 10% of the legal market,” Mario Lollobrigida, head of the gambling department of the Customs and Monopolies Agency, said last month.
A senior government official added: “Italy takes a pragmatic approach towards gambling, recognising the contribution the industry makes to jobs and the economy, and is happy to support its growth, while also carefully monitoring the risks.”
Giovanni, a 44-year-old veterinarian who managed to break his addiction to slot-machine betting around six months ago, said the government was not doing enough to curb gambling.
“It’s as if the Italian state is encouraging citizens to gamble. There’s advertising everywhere; there are TV ads where they say, ‘Do you like easy wins?’ It’s like they want to create a problem which they then don’t know how to handle.”
For Luciano, it took around 10 years of group therapy at Pisa’s SERD – a public health centre that also treats drug and alcohol addicts – to kick a habit that started when he picked up a flyer on a train that offered free dinner at a casino.
“Every time I’d tell myself: fine, now I’ll go play in Monte Carlo because then I’ll win back the money I lost and solve my problems. I never solved my problems; I lost everything, I even lost my dignity,” he said, holding back tears.
The psychologist who treated him said gambling leads to many broken homes. “We get a lot of very angry wives, and very guilty husbands,” SERD’s Dr. Rosanna Cardia told Reuters. “Sometimes, marital separation follows.”
Italians’ spending on gambling has surged in the last 20 years, with year-on-year increases of more than 15% following the COVID pandemic, reaching 157.4 billion euros in 2024.
Flutter, the world’s biggest online gambling company, bought well-known domestic player Sisal in 2021, and the national market leader Lottomatica has thrived, enjoying a fivefold revenue increase from 2020 to 2024 and taking a spot on Milan bourse’s blue-chip index in September.
“We are doing very well in the Italian market, which is a great market both for the consumer dynamics and regulation. We think this trend is a long-term trend and will continue for a very long time,” CEO Guglielmo Angelozzi said in July.
Against this backdrop, the state collected 11.5 billion euros in gambling taxes last year – compared to 1.4 billion euros from alcohol and 14.5 billion euros from tobacco – although revenue fell slightly from 11.6 billion euros in 2023.
Industry experts say this was due to the spread of online gambling – subject to lower tax rates – at the expense of more heavily taxed in-person gambling, such as playing slot machines or buying scratch cards.
Emiliano Contini, a campaigner from the anti-addiction cooperative “Il Cammino”, said an outright ban on gambling would be unrealistic. But he called for a more honest assessment of its costs to society.
“From 2004 to 2024, total gambling jumped from around 25 to more than 157 billion euros, but the tax intake rose only from about 7 to 11.5 billion euros: is the game really worth the candle?”
(Reporting by Alvise Armellini, additional reporting by Gabriele Pileri; Graphics by Stefano Bernabei; Editing by Ros Russell)