The Indian state of Goa has renewed a controversial floating casino license after a court ordered it to stop stalling and make a decision already.

On Wednesday, the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court gave the state government 24 hours in which to consider whether or not to renew Golden Globe Hotels Pvt Ltd’s (GGHPL) casino license. On Thursday, the BJP government of Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar duly complied, approving the launch of Goa’s sixth ‘offshore’ casino.

The license was issued just two days before the results of February’s state election are to be published. The BJP government had claimed its hands were tied on the casino issue until the votes were counted and it knew which party would form the next government. The rival Congress and Aam Aadmi parties have pledged to ban all the state’s casinos if they win the election.

The license renewal is valid for five years. However, given the tight timeline under which it was required to act, Parsekar’s government left open the possibility of challenging the High Court’s ruling at the Supreme Court at some future date, assuming the BJP is still in power after this week.

The European Commission has dismissed Germany’s latest plans to revamp its online gambling market as “not a viable solution.”

This week, German media reported that their country’s Prime Minister had received a letter from Brussels pouring cold water on the new State Treaty on Gambling agreed upon by the 16 German landër last October.

That treaty sought to lift the previous treaty’s controversial cap on the number of available sports betting licenses, which had generated successful court challenges from operators who failed to win one of the original 20 licenses, thereby preventing the government from formally issuing any betting licenses.

The new treaty called for all of the original 35 license applicants who’d proceeded to the second stage of the application process to immediately receive temporary betting permits, while other applicants would have to apply for full licenses that wouldn’t become active until 2018. This week’s letter from the EC deemed this solution anti-competitive.

Central and Eastern European sports betting and lottery operator Fortuna Entertainment Group (FEG) saw its 2016 profits fall by nearly half thanks to higher costs and taxes.

Preliminary figures released Thursday show FEG’s 2016 revenue rising 3.3% to €106.2m thanks primarily to betting stakes rising 23%. But earnings dropped 18.5% to €22.1m and net profit slumped 42.4% to €11.2m thanks to decreased sports betting margins, double-digit rises in costs and taxes, and an unfair comparison with 2015, which featured a deferred one-off tax gain.

Betting taxes were up more than one-quarter to €52.4m last year thanks to increased betting volume and tax rate increases in the Czech Republic, which accounted for 44% of FEG’s overall sports revenue. Staffing costs were up 10.7% to €34.7m while other operating expenses rose 11.5% to €49.3m.

Sports betting stakes enjoyed strong growth in FEG’s three core markets, with Czech stakes up 21.5% to €561.3m, Slovakia up 28.7% to €334.5m and Poland rising 17% to €123.6m. Sports win was also up across the board, albeit by smaller ratios, led by the Czech market (€67.8m, +13.8%), Slovakia (€48.3m, + 8.9%) and Poland (€37.7m, +8.4%).

UK-listed online casino operator 32Red had its best year ever in 2016 although its share of revenue from regulated markets dipped slightly.

Final FY16 results released on Thursday show 32Red’s revenue rising 28% to a record £62.3m, while earnings more than doubled to £10.6m and pre-tax profits jumped 511% to £6.5m. The gains reflect a full year’s contributions from online casino add-on Roxy Palace, a newly profitable performance by 32Red’s Italian business and the May 2016 launch of a more responsive multi-platform website.

32Red boosted its marketing investment by 26% last year, in part to promote its nascent sportsbook product. This investment included a three-year shirt sponsorship of Leeds United FC, an advertising deal with Sky TV’s live sports coverage and two racing sponsorships – the King George Winter Festival on Boxing Day and Haydock Park’s Group 1 Sprint Cup.

32Red CEO Ed Ware admitted it was fun to announce “another record annual performance,” which featured “outstanding growth on mobile.” Mobile’s share of overall revenue topped 57% last year, up from 44% in 2015.

Two more casino operators are joining Sands China in giving their Macau staff a salary increase.

Galaxy Entertainment Group announced that eligible staff members who have joined the company on or before April 1, 2017 and have “satisfactory performance” will have a “performance-based salary adjustment ranging from 2.5 percent to 5.5 percent,” effective from April.

The company will also continue its share reward scheme for full-time workers at senior manager grade and below. Introduced in 2014, the scheme is equivalent to three months of an eligible worker’s salary as of August 2014 and will be vested on December 31, 2017.

Galaxy’s annual salary adjustment review, which usually happens in July, came a little earlier this year—a decision that the casino operator made “in recognition of its team members’ valuable contributions.”

Canada-listed Gaming Nation has successful acquired stadium betting services provider BD Sport for a total purchase price of £11,000,000 (US$13 million).

Insider Media reported that Gaming Nation has closed the purchase of the UK-based in-stadia marketing specialist after satisfying the conditions and securing regulatory approvals in the United Kingdom and Canada.

The purchase price consists of a total cash payment of £8,800,000 with additional earn out provisions with an additional earn-out provision of up to £2.2m.

“We are excited to have closed the acquisition of BD Sport Group and look forward to integrating the infrastructure and management expertise into our operations,” Gaming Nation President and CEO Scott Secord. “The combined synergies of 5050 Central and BD Sport will provide a platform for growth in both companies in an aggressive and profitable fashion.”

A dedicated regulator for online gambling in the Philippines may be better equipped to oversee the booming industry, a lawmaker said Thursday.

Senator Richard Gordon is seeking to form a new regulatory body—to be called the Philippine Online Gaming and Regulatory Authority (POGRA)—and leave state regulator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) to oversee land-based casinos in the country, according to an ABSCBN News report.

The senator put forward the proposal during a Senate hearing on the PHP50 million (USD1 million) bribery scandal involving gambling operator Jack Lam, pointing out that POGRA will be “better equipped to oversee” the online gambling industry using new technology.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre, who was present during the hearing, agreed with Gordon’s proposal, saying “a dedicated online gambling regulator would help eliminate grey areas.”

The price of bitcoin dropped by more than $60 on Wednesday after China’s three largest bitcoin exchanges announced their suspension on bitcoin withdrawals would continue indefinitely.

OKCoin, Huobi and BTCC—the so-called China’s “Big 3” exchanges—announced a month ago that they would completely halt bitcoin and litecoin withdrawals on their respective platforms for 30 days while they improve their anti-money laundering capabilities to prevent “illegal transactions.” The upgrades were part of the requirements set by the People’s Bank of China, who called on digital currency operators to step up their game against anti-money laundering.

Their self-imposed deadlines are coming close, but the exchanges’ clients remain in the dark on when their services will resume. The reason? They exchanges still waiting for the go signal from Chinese authorities.

“Once we get approval from regulators, then we can carry out withdrawals,” the three exchanges said in separate, but identical statements. BTCC previously said its suspension would run for a month, from Feb. 15 to March 15.