The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has started communicating with the some of the worlds’ largest online gambling operators to discuss casinos in Japan. The casino operators are sure that Japan has what it takes to be a successful destination: a large and relatively wealthy population, a responsible government, and people who are constantly looking for new forms of entertainment.

The MPs backed a warning by the Church of England warning that the search engine's actions were irresponisible. The motion, brought by Khalid Mahmood, Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, said: "This house notes with concern the recent decision of Google to reintroduce online gambling advertisements during a period of economic downturn; supports the Church of England's position that the actions of Google risk normalising gambling in society...

The Italian government has included a series of points in the text of transposition of a community law on Internet gaming that aims to toughen the existing norms for casinos and online betting houses, as well as for its users, that could end in jail if they go to those illegal sites. According to the Italian press, people will just be able to enter such websites through the site of Monopolios del Estado, and, at first, the executive will only allow 200 licenses.

Members of the online gambling industry are trying to wait patiently as the new US President Barack Obama repudiates many changes, with the UIGEA hopefully on the horizon. Obama and the members of his administration have acted swiftly to undo last-second changes and midnight rules pressed into policy by George Bush in his last days as a lame duck. Members of the online gambling industry are trying to wait patiently as the new President repudiates many changes, with the UIGEA hopefully on the horizon.

The Isle of Man Today newspaper reported that Internet gambling will provide new business and new jobs on the island in the near future. Over 360 jobs have been created in the last three years, with major names in online gambling setting up offices on the island. Currently there are 13 license holders with eight new licenses issued in 2008. The Gambling Supervision Commission has more than twenty applications at various stages of preparation and approval.

In Turkey, the Telecommunications Directorate (TIB) watchdog has asked the Ministry of Finance to levy a tax on Internet gaming after an investigation allegedly produced irregularities within the sector. According to a report from Zaman Istanbul, Fethi Simsek, the head of TIB, stated that his agency had watched the online gaming sector closely and decided to warn the Ministry about the need for a tax.

The Antigua Sun reported on Wednesday that Antigua & Barbuda's Minister of Finance, Dr. Errol Cort, has returned to the United States for a final round of trade negotiations with Bush administration officials regarding the years-long standoff between the countries over Internet gambling. Cort expessed optimism that his negotiations with United States Trade Relations (USTR) representatives could produce some form of agreement, despite previous meetings that led to no resolution.

Strip casinos have been struggling lately to keep up their gaming revenues. Fewer people are visiting Las Vegas and that means even less are gambling. But could the cure for the downturn be reaching out to would-be gamblers in their own homes? Online gambling sites offer the same variety of games that most Strip casinos do -- from sports betting, to poker and even bingo.

The five biggest bookmakers in the Czech Republic could be about to receive permits from the Finance Ministry to offer online gambling following years of lobbying and promises to prevent minors from betting on their sites. According to a report from Radio Praha, one of the firms thought to be in contention for a license is Fortuna Group, which operates land-based sportsbetting in the Czech Republic alongside lotteries, games and telephone betting services.

While the US government may not have many allies when it comes to their stance on Internet gambling, it appears that Sweden may be one of those allies. The country appears ready to maintain a monopoly when dealing with online casinos. The Swedish National Gambling Consultation made its recommendations to the Swedish government last week and the recommendations were not good for online casino sites that are not working out of Sweden.

Antigua and Barbuda has seen a tremendous increase in the number of online gambling operators expressing interest in becoming licensed by the small Caribbean island nation. The independent state of only 84,500 people was added to the UK Department of Culture Media and Sport’s “white-list” in late-November, which means that remote gaming operators based in the country could advertise their services to consumers in Great Britain.

In 2006, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed into law in the United States. The law, while vague, ran several high-profile online poker rooms out of the market, including PartyPoker and Paradise Poker. Recently, Norway has followed suit, enacting its own version of the UIGEA. Poker News Daily sat down with Clive Hawkswood, the Chief Executive of the Remote Gambling Association (RGA), to learn more.