Author: Bernd Debusmann Jr

The Parliament of Kyrgyzstan approved a bill that allows opening casinos in hotel buildings with a state share in three readings at once. The document was initiated by the Cabinet of Ministers to attract investors. The current law prohibits gambling activities from being located in real estate that is fully or partially state or municipal property, as well as in real estate of enterprises, institutions, organizations that have a share of the state or local government bodies in the capital. The background statement to the bill states that there is currently a positive trend in the development of gambling in the country. «This is evidenced by the following data: 3 licenses have been issued for casino activities, 4 licenses for bookmakers. In total, gambling entities paid 210 million soms to obtain casino licenses, and 42 million…

Reporting from the NATO summitWe’re now hearing from US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, who began by talking about NATO’s history and how the principle of collective security was formed in the wake of the Second World War. He noted that the “first and only time” NATO’s Article 5 was invoked was after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US. Article 5 sets out that an attack on one member of the NATO military alliance is an attack on all. “NATO stood by us,” he says. “We’re going to stand by NATO”. Looking forward, Austin said the US will “not…