Birmingham and Coventry have missed out on the UK's first super-casino, it was announced today. Birmingham Council had backed a plan to build a GBP 250 complex at the National Exhibition Centre site in Solihull, while development work on a casino building at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry had already begun.

Sydney - Tapping into booming demand for exposure to China, Australia's Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd. and Melco International Developments Ltd. plan to raise up to USD 1 billion through a float of their Macau casinos joint venture. A source with knowledge of the plan said Wednesday the two intend to float 20% of the venture on the Nasdaq exchange in the U.S. later this year, valuing their Macau operations at around USD 5 billion.

Birmingham leisure complex Star City, home to Britain's biggest casino and cinema, is being sold for GBP 90 million. The entertainment centre in Nechells opened in 2000 has been placed on the market by owners X-Leisure Fund. They took control three years ago from Marylebone Warwick Balfour.

The Seminole Tribe wants a judge to break what it calls an "illegal and unconscionable" contract with the developers of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino complexes, saying the deal negotiated by its leaders could cost tribe members USD 2 billion. The filing in Broward Circuit Court said developer Power Plant Entertainment has been paid more than USD 310 million in the two years since the tribe opened new casinos in Hollywood and Tampa.

Towards the end of the year 2006 a great shopping-mall and entertainment centre will be opened in the city of Cartagena, in the Autonomous Community of Murcia; it will be called "Parque Mediterráneo". Surface of the new FEC rises to 250,000 sq.m. and forecasts estimate an average of 8,000 visitors a day. This involves a wide offer: more than 100 shops, 6,000 parking lots, restaurants, cafeterias, cinemas, bowling... and a small casino, that will operate under the current license of the Costa Cálida Casino (Hyatt), located in La Manga del Mar Menor.

Did Morgans Hotel Group overpay for the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino? How will it make the numbers pencil out? And what will become of the oldest profession? Those are some of the questions swirling in the wake of Morgans' USD 770 million buyout of the hipster hangout on Harmon Avenue.

The opening of the new casino of Asturias took place on February 22 in the city of Gijón, with the attendance of outstanding personalities from the Asturian social scene. The building of the Bahía de Gijón Casino has been completely refurbished and is located in the centre of town; the operator is Carbajosa group.

The closure of Ireland's fledgling casino sector would mean the loss of 500 jobs, cost the economy millions of euros a year in tax revenues and discourage tourism, an industry lobby group has warned the government.

Macao - The Grand Waldo Casino, the 21th casino in Macao, started operation here on Monday, a region with a population of 480,000. The gaming facility is located in the region's Cotai area, the first of its kind outside the Macao Peninsula, the city's crowded and prosperous center.

The Casino Advisory Panel is expected to reveal this week that up to 12 regions have made it on to a shortlist for the one super casino licence. The panel received 27 applications for the sole gaming house - dubbed the "super" casino - permitted under the new Gambling Act. The advisers have to decide which region will get the casino as well as those that will receive the eight large and eight small casinos also allowed under the Act. It will make its decision by the end of the year.

It wasn't until an investment bank approached Peter Morton with a huge offer to buy his Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas that Morton, the co-founder of the Hard Rock Cafe brand, seriously considered unloading the property he opened in 1995. With assistance from New York-based private equity firm Leeds Equity Partners, Morton signed a deal last week to sell the Hard Rock Hotel to boutique hotelier Morgans Hotel Group for USD 770 million in cash.

Cyprus-registered Ritzio Entertainment Group, which controls up to 10% of Russia's gambling industry, has postponed an initial public offering (IPO) of 15% of its shares until a law regulating the gambling business in Russia has been adopted, Boris Belotserkovsky, one of the company's owners, said, Russian business daily Vedomosti reported Thursday.