An explosion and fire have disrupted a number of Gibraltar online gambling operations on Sunday. Most residents of the British territory were also left without power. Local media reported a generator at Waterport Power Station caught fire and exploded due to a mechanical failure. No-one was injured, but the outage shut down the online betting operations of several firms, including William Hill, Betfred and Ladbrokes, which are based in Gibraltar. Online gambling is an important part of Gibraltar’s economy with international companies choosing to base themselves there because of the territory’s low taxes. The outage meant many people were unable…

From New York Times – Gibraltar, the British territory at the tip of the Iberian Peninsula, has long been a political sore point between Britain and Spain. But now, in an Internet gambling dispute, it’s Briton vs. Briton. Officials and executives in the territory’s thriving online gambling industry are crying foul over Prime Minister David Cameron’s plan to impose a 15 percent tax on residents of Britain who place bets on Gibraltar’s dozens of sites. People here in this tiny outpost, which evokes England with its red phone booths and helmeted police officers, see the proposed tax as an unfair…