Macau, one of the most important gaming and casino centers of the world, announced this week that it will stop the granting of new licenses and the allotment of land for the construction of casinos. In the last few years, Macau has opened its doors to Las Vegas giants, such as Wynn and Sands.

Edmund Ho, Macau’s Executive Chief, was in charge of making the announcement that no more land would be allocated for the construction of new casinos in the territory. Ho explained that, besides social tension in the enclave linked to the boom of gaming, the new policy adopted by Macau comes from the wishes of Beijing.

Online Gambling in South Africa is still illegal, but a new Bill has been put recently in place that changes the whole gambling scenery in this country. It is up to the National Council of Provinces whether or not it is accepted as a law, as it has already been approved by the National Assembly.

Quite a few online companies have communicated their idea of moving their operations to South Africa, once the bill has been approved. Two major gambling companies, The Victor Chandler International Group and the Bwin Interactive Entertainment are already working to open in the country in the near future.

Legalizing online gambling in South Africa has been talked about for a while. The general aspiration of the country to legalize this situation for a couple of years adds a certain anxiety on the whole process.

Although gambling is still considered illegal in South Africa, (even if the service provider is located in another country), The Business Times reported that the proposal will be introduced to the National Assembly briefly. The Select Committee of National Provinces is currently reviewing the proposition, and it is they who will then pass it on to the National Assembly.

The Prime Minister of Bangkok, Samak Sundaravej’, supports the legalization of casinos in the country, in spite of the public opinion, which thinks that this action will benefit only the government and in exchange damage society. If this multi-million idea could actually be put into practice, then it would only serve politicians, businessmen and overall the government’s allies.

The public Thai public in general would receive nothing more than a very probable increase in debt and family and work problems.

The restriction imposed by the Russian government to the gambling industry in the last few years has led some operators to show their discontent and take some measures about it. Such is the case of Storm International, which announced this week its possible retirement of the Russian market and transfer to more profitable markets.

The measures adopted by the Russian government include the exile of the big gaming centers from the main cities like Moscow and Saint Petersburg to more distant regions. Also, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, compared the addiction caused by gambling to that caused by alcohol and nicotine.

January, the first month of the summer season 2008, did not leave a positive balance in the city of Mar del Plata in terms of gastronomy and rents. Nevertheless, Central Casino employees can say that they “broke the bank” at the beginning of the year.

The money collected by the employee’s fund in January reached a historical record for that casino. Each worker won near 3 thousand Argentinean pesos, thanks to the profits of 11 casinos in province, which represented a total of 8 million Argentinean pesos.

The authorities of the region of Krasnodar in Russia informed that the construction of a gambling city similar to Macau would start in 2009. According to a spokesperson, the zone will be called Azov City and it will be located in the south of the country.

Azov City will house several casinos, slot machine parlors, betting shops and other similar establishments, all related to the gambling business. The urban center will also offer four and five star hotels, bars, restaurants, convention and sports centers plus theaters and other entertainment venues.

Actor Daniel Craig astonished Bond fans as well as critics with his debut as a 007 actor in Casino Royale, which came out last year. Takings from the movie were more than it was expected and the bosses at Eon, the production company, decided that Craig deserved a raise in his paycheck.

The film collected 300 million pounds, a new record for a Bond film. Daniel Craig is now going to make something like 5 million pounds for the second Bond movie, and then 8 million for his third appearance in a 007 film.

In the region of Nova Gorica, in the border between Slovenia and Italy, there will be built in the next four years something like a European Las Vegas, according to an agreement which was signed this week between the Slovenian company Hit and the American society Harrah’s Entertainment.

The complete investment is thought to be of about 750 million euros and the idea is to try and attract around six million tourists to this new entertainment complex, which would hire 90 per cent of foreign people.

The Councilor of Culture, Tourism and Sports, Javier López Marcano, delivered a huge amount of books to the Recreation Center of the city. Most of the mentioned books are about the region’s history, and will enlarge the bibliographic funds of the institution.

Among all the books that made the lot, which had over fifty titles, there was one that stood out and it was the latest work of art by the poet and painter Julio Sanz Saiz, which has actually not seen the light yet.