New Stuff -- The citizens of Malta voted last weekend for the country to join the European Union. Ninety-one percent of the island's residents turned out to vote on the issue, and 53 percent of them voted in favor of EU membership. Malta is a jurisdiction that allows Internet gambling.
UK Tidbit -- The government of Edinburgh has given a first-ever license to bookmaker Henry Spurway to open a betting exchange shop. Spurway plans to open a chain of more than 100 such shops, which take the form of Internet cafes combined with betting shops. The shops will be opened under Spurway's company name, easibet.net, and will allow customers to purchase food and drink, which are not always available in traditional betting shops. Edinburgh is the first jurisdiction to offer such a license.
News from Japan -- The leader of an academic commission in Japan to study gambling is saying that a gambling culture should be established in the country. Ichiro Tanioka said that experiencing wins and losses not only helps teach people about life, it ensures that when people are exposed to gambling, they do not go overboard. "Because there's no gambling culture ingrained in our society, many people went too far during the bubble period and ended up gambling their way to failure." According to the Daily Yomiuri, Tanioka is calling for more accurate information to be gathered on the state of gambling culture in the United States.