President of the Association of Games of Chance Administrators (ASAJA), Antonio Alfaro, has recently asked to the Gambling Control Committee (JCJ) more transparency in the approval of casino licenses. Alfaro said that this demand is made every time that JCJ aims to ignore ASAJA as trade union representative of the games of chance industry, in order to be able to grant a casino operating license in the facilities of Four Points Sheraton Hotel, which does not comply with the basic requirements demanded by law.

Great Yarmouth District Council has granted planning permission for a 250,000 sq ft leisure scheme in Great Yarmouth. The scheme, called ‘The Edge’, is being developed by a company called Pleasure & Leisure, and comprises a 250,000 sq ft leisure complex designed by architect ColladoCollins, which spans 500m of Great Yarmouth’s ‘Golden Mile’ beach frontage. The GBP 35m scheme will create a 60,000 sq ft casino, a 10-screen cinema, bowling alley and a number of food outlets.

Finance Minister Audley Shaw has announced that Cabinet is on Monday expected to approve policy governing casino gambling in Jamaica. He says in order to further stimulate the local tourism industry Cabinet will give the green light to the policy. According to the Finance Minister, one major project is on hold pending the decision and approval by Parliament.

The location of a casino proposed by the Fort Mojave Band of Indians has won approval from a number of federal, state and local government agencies as well as voters. The casino would house two restaurants, a 100,000-square-foot gaming floor and 1,500 slot machines near Needles, according to documents submitted to San Bernardino County. The proposed 300-acre site is four miles west of the city, just south of the 40 Freeway.

Taiwanese parliament is set to legalize gambling on a group of offshore islands as soon as year end, legislative sources said this week, as local officials eye permits for three resort casinos to shore up their economy. The passage of a bill authorizing gaming in the Penghu archipelago would bring Taiwan into competition with other East Asia gaming hotspots such as Macau and South Korea, and upcoming casinos in Singapore, even as the global credit crisis make it harder for developers to raise funds for new projects.

Controversial plans for a late-night casino on the edge of Lancaster have been approved - despite opposition from ward councilors. The gambling centre at Riversway House in Morecambe Road, will open from 6pm-4am seven days a week and could create around 30 jobs. The plan, which will see the casino operate on two floors of the building...

Tropicana Entertainment LLC will be allowed to place Casino Aztar on the auction block again. A Delaware judge gave Tropicana Entertainment permission today to hold a new sale of Casino Aztar. In March, Tropicana had agreed to sell the casino to Eldorado Resorts LLC for as much as USD 245 million. The transaction was to take place once Eldorado, based in a Reno, Nev., obtained a license to run a casino in Indiana.

The Gaming Commission of Castilla y León gathered this week to discuss, among other issues, the decree project in which the plan of operating licenses of Type B machines will be approved for the period 2009-2012. According to Angel Nieto, legal councillor of FAOCALE Association, the increment for the four-year period will be the following: 2009, 17.191; 2010; 17.274; 2011, 17.357 and 2012, 17.440.

Betting website Bwin.com lost a case before the regional court in Germany, in which it had demanded to revert the strong measures of the European country against Internet gaming, according to German estate lottery. In the trial, held in a court in Colonia, Bwin had asked the suspension of the immediate execution of an online betting ban issued by some German states while it expects the sentence of the Federal Court on the matter.

AMZ Holdings Plc, the AIM listed hotel and leisure company seeking to build Taiwan's first world class hotel and casino resort, is pleased to announce today that the Taiwan Tourism Bureau - Ministry of Transportation and Communications - has approved the resort Enterprise Plan submitted for the proposed property. This plan, part of a complex zoning development process for the 27 acre beach fronted site...

After being approved by Parliament in May, President Thabo Mbeki has signed South African National Gambling Amendment Bill into law but, frustratingly, the legislation will not be implemented ‘until a date chosen by the President’. With the President’s signature, South Africa has become the latest nation to legalize online gambling but it could still be some time before operations begin as officials work out on how to implement all of the new legislation in the Bill.

In the UK, the Gambling Commission has published its latest list of approved test houses accepted to assess the compliance of online betting and gaming sites with its technical standards and requirements. The latest list includes new entries Gaming Associates, Gaming Laboratories International and Gaming Laboratories Austria and includes details of which technical standards and requirements each test house can assess.