As a two-time Best Actress Emmy winner for Euphoria and as a co-star in the blockbuster Dune movies, Zendaya has reached a new level of stardom in her career. However, Zendaya’s previous level of fame flew over the heads of Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures when she was originally cast as MJ (Michelle Jones) in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Zendaya went on to have much larger roles in both Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man: No Way Home.

“To be honest with you, neither Kevin Feige nor I knew who she was,” said producer Amy Pascal in a new Vogue feature about Zendaya. “She was wearing no makeup and she was just dressed like a regular girl, and we were like, ‘Oh my God, she’s amazing. She has to be in the movie.’ And then we found out she was a totally famous person, and felt rea…

The gaming regulator for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands has reportedly cut its workforce by over half owing to the lengthy closure of the American territory’s Imperial Palace Saipan property.

According to a report from Inside Asian Gaming, the move from the Commonwealth Casino Commission comes after beleaguered operator Imperial Pacific International Holdings Limited was obliged to indefinitely shutter the facility on the island of Saipan in March of last year as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic. The source detailed that this large venue has yet to re-open and has since had its license suspended for lack of compliance.

Coronavirus consequences:

Hong Kong-headquartered Imperial Pacific International Holdings Limited reportedly opened the c…

American casino operator Hard Rock International has reportedly announced that it has identified three locations in New York City that could potentially serve as the site for a proposed Las Vegas-style development.

According to a Thursday report from the Associated Press news service, the firm owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida is already responsible for Manhattan’s popular Hard Rock Cafe New York enterprise and is planning to debut its nearby $400 million Hard Rock Hotel New York project from April. The operator also purportedly runs the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Atlantic City facility while simultaneously holding a large stake in New Jersey’s Meadowlands Racetrack venue, which sits only about eight miles from the center of ‘The Big Apple.’

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Different states across the US where casino gambling is legal have established exclusion lists. Such lists often include the names of individuals who were found guilty of gambling-related crimes or were involved in other illegal activities. With their name added to the infamous “black books,” those patrons are banned from visiting casinos in a particular state and may face legal action if they breach this prohibition.

It’s no surprise that Nevada, the home of Las Vegas, also has a black book that includes the names of patrons excluded from casino gambling. Following a Thursday meeting, the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC), unanimously voted to expand its list by adding another person, increasing th…

Last week brought the news that the Russian state was preparing for a ban on Discord, the latest move in a wider purge of Western technology firms from the region. This crusade began following the various sanctions imposed on Russia after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with the Putin regime seeking “digital sovereignty” through domestic tech companies that have no Western links.

Discord is based in the communist hotbed of San Francisco, California, and is estimated to have between 30-40 million users worldwide, with around 4% of the platform’s traffic estimated to originate from Russia. The Russian state media regulator Roskomnadzor has been building the bureaucratic case against the platform, issuing five rulings relating to Discord since September 20, with Russian users …