The UEFA European Championship 2024 is just around the corner, and it's Germany's turn to host the international tournament.

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       Germany is home to the Bundesliga, which is considered one of the top five leagues in the world. The teams in Bundesliga 1 and 2 play in world-class arenas that are ready to showcase the footballing extravaganza that is the EUROS.

       Ten magnificent stadiums await fans ahead of the tournament, including the Allianz Arena, which is no stranger to the tournament and hosted vital matches in 2012 and 2020

       Additionally, Olympiastadion Berlin will host the EURO 2024 final. The 71,000-seat stadium previously hosted the 2015 Champions League final between Barcelona and Juventus.

       Germany has suffered a significant lack of form in international competitions over the last few years. Fans questioned the leadership and quality loss of their national team due to back-to-back World Cup Group Stage exits, and a Round of 16 loss against England in the last edition of the competition were some of the lowest points in German football's history. The hosts and fans alike will be hoping they can bounce back from international tournament heartbreak.

       Raphael Honigstein, a German football writer for The Athletic, told FOOTBALL NOW, "There's still optimism, but there will be more optimism if the next couple of friendlies go well… the next two games in March are really key to shape the mood going into the Euros."

       Julian Nagelsmann will lead Die Mannschaft out this summer. The international manager has a strong pedigree and previously managed Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig, most notably guiding them to a Champions League Semi-Final in 2020.

       An exciting summer awaits football fans worldwide, with an endless list of top players ready to write their names in the history books of European football.

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       Russian news media reported on Thursday the sudden death of Vitaly Robertus, Vice President of the country’s oil and gas giant Lukoil, writing that the manager died from suicide in his office this week.

       Just before his death, local media wrote that Robertus had complained of suffering headaches and asking for medications before going to his office.

       He was later found hanged in the room.

       "He didn't leave for several hours and didn’t answer his phone. The employees decided to go into his office and found his body. The top manager died by suicide of asphyxia. He had worked at the company for about 30 years,” Baza wrote on Telegram reporting the manager’s death.

       According to the publication, Lukoil announced the death of Robertus on March 12.

       In March 2022, the board of the privately owned company called for an end to the conflict in Ukraine.

       They expressed “empathy for all victims who are affected by this tragedy” and urged a “settlement of problems through serious negotiations and diplomacy.”

       The company, estimated to produce 2% of the world’s crude oil, suffered greatly from sanctions imposed on Moscow by the US following the Ukraine invasion.

       The energy giant didn't incur EU sanctions, however.

       Robertus is the fourth Lukoil’s manager and the latest in a long list of tycoons and billionaires to suddenly die under mysterious circumstances since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022.

       Former Lukoil’s top manager Alexander Subbotin, 43, was found dead in May 2022 in the basement of a house in the town of Mytishchi of an alleged drug-induced heart attack.

       Lukoil’s former chairman Ravil Maganov, 67, died in September 2022 after falling from a window of Moscow’s Central Clinical Hospital.

       In late October 2023, Vladimir Nekrasov, chairman of Lukoil’s board, died of what the company said was heart failure at the age of 66.

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       The Croatian parliament was dissolved on Thursday to pave the way for a parliamentary election later this year, with 143 out of 151 lawmakers backing the decision.

       Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic has suggested the election could be held before the vote for the European Parliament, which takes places on June 6-9, but no date has yet been set.

       The decision to dissolve parliament comes as Plenkovic and his conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party are facing mounting accusations of high-level corruption from the opposition ahead of the ballot.

       Last month, thousands of protesters rallied in Croatia’s capital to protest against the government and demand that this year’s parliamentary election be held as soon as possible.

       The prime minister has denied any wrongdoing.

       An anti-government protester holds a banner during a protest at the St. Mark square in Zagreb, Croatia, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. AP Photo/Darko Bandic

       Plenkovic and HDZ are expected to be challenged by a group of centre and left-leaning parties who have already announced they will run in a coalition. The prime minister’s party has held power since Croatia gained independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.

       Croatia is also scheduled to hold a presidential election as well by the end of the year.

       The country, a nation of some 3.8 million people which was the latest to join the European Union, remains one of the poorest economies in the bloc, surviving largely on tourism along its Adriatic Sea coastline.