BBC – Gambling tycoon James Packer and David Gyngell, who heads the Nine Entertainment Group, were seen fighting at Bondi Beach on Sunday. It is not clear what caused the brawl between the two, who are good friends. The incident has dominated the Australian media, with photos reportedly sold for a six-figure sum. “Eastern Suburbs Local Area Command has commenced an investigation into an incident that occurred about 14:00 Sunday… at Bondi Beach,” a police statement said. “Police have not yet received an official complaint but have appealed to anyone who witnessed, or has vision or images of the incident.”…

The Australian – Sri Lanka has refused to allow casinos at three super-luxury resorts planned in the capital after opponents said they would lead to prostitution, an official says. It was not immediately known whether the casino ban would endanger the development of the three mega-resorts in Colombo, which have attracted investment worth $US1.3 billion ($1.4bn) from tycoons including Australian gambling mogul James Packer, who runs plush casinos in Melbourne, Perth, Macau and London. Developers, including Packer, wanted casinos to be part of all three luxury resorts, but the government rejected the plans, Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapakse said on…

Las Vegas Review Journal – A spokeswoman for Deutsche Bank in New York wouldn’t discuss an Australian press report Monday that the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas could be sold to a company controlled by billionaire James Packer. Germany’s largest bank, which opened the 3,000-room Cosmopolitan in December 2010 after it foreclosed on the project’s original developer, is reportedly seeking a buyer for the resort. The Cosmopolitan has never turned a quarterly profit. The Brisbane Times reported that Crown Resorts, which is controlled by Packer, was planning to “lodge an expression of interest” for the Cosmopolitan by Tuesday. Bloomberg News recently…

Forbes – Slumped in white oversize chairs in an enormous suite at the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, Australian casino billionaire James Packer and Hollywood movie director Brett Ratner are exhausted. They look like two hungover frat boys after a hard night—but these guys haven’t been partying. They’re jet-lagged after visiting Russell Crowe’s film set in South Australia, watching Chinese tennis star Li Na win the women’s Australian Open in Melbourne and toe-touching in the Philippines to open Asia’s first Nobu restaurant at a new casino resort in Manila. It sounds like a pleasure cruise from Packer’s earlier life as…

Companies controlled by billionaires James Packer and Cheng Yu-tung have lodged bids to develop casinos in Australia’s Queensland, as the state government plans to lure Asian tourists with new resorts based on the success of Singapore casinos. Packer’s Crown Resorts Ltd. (CWN) and a venture including Cheng’s Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd. are among 12 groups that have filed applications for new casinos in a state which is already home to four, Queensland deputy premier Jeff Seeney said in a statement posted on a government website today. With a shoreline longer than India’s that’s lapped by the Great Barrier Reef,…