PRETORIA – South Africa's Minister of Social Development, Dr Zola Skweyiya, announces the allocation of R124-million to the South African Social Security Agency and to provincial departments of Social Development, to provide relief to households or individuals facing hardship. The Social Relief of Distress allocation, intended to assist those in dire material need, is a temporary relief lasting for three to six months. People who are either medically unfit or whose social grants applications are still being considered, will be among the first to benefit. Beneficiaries, who will receive assistance in the form of either food parcels or vouchers, will be assessed by social workers prior to receiving any aid.

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) and its left-wing allies say they have overcome the rifts which have emerged under President Thabo Mbeki, and vow to tackle the country's economic and political challenges together. Investors have been concerned that the ANC, which ousted Mbeki as party leader last year, could surrender to the left's calls for a shift away from the business-friendly policies pursued by his government for the better part of a decade.

JOHANNESBURG – A mob attacks a group of immigrants with stones, whips and guns in a South African township. Twelve people are arrested in connection with the violence in Alexandra township outside Johannesburg, which police say is motivated by a belief that illegal immigrants are responsible for a series of robberies. The rampage rekindles fears that xenophobia is rising in a country known as one of the most welcoming to immigrants and asylum seekers, especially from Africa.

AFRICA

HARARE – Zimbabwe suspends import duty on some basic commodities, in response to a sharp spike in prices following the flotation of the local currency by the central bank in April. The rate of import duty levied varied with the products but stood at between 60 to 100 percent. Some of the goods include cooking oil, rice, flour and soap, whose prices have shot up by as much as four times since the country's disputed March 29 election.

ADDIS ABABA – A lack of funds forces the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to cut by more than one-half the number of districts in drought-hit Ethiopia it serves. The WFP is appealing for $76,4-million in aid to feed mothers and children under five and to support the government's emergency relief programme. In 2007, WFP provided supplementary food to over 1,1-million Ethiopians.

MAPUTO – The African Development Bank is challenged to coordinate with United Nations (UN) agencies in order to implement effective urban development programmes on the continent. Alioune Badiane, the regional director for Africa and Asia in the UN Habitat, tells ministers - at a round-table meeting in Maputo - that urbanisation is increasingly becoming a reality on the African continent. Badiane says the bank needs to help local authorities develop working programmes that will tackle the issues of slums which have sprouted in most of the cities on the continent.

WORLD

WASHINGTON – The US announces that it is reviving a programme offering rewards of up to $5-million a head for information leading to the arrest of 13 suspects in Rwanda's genocide. Called the "Rewards for Justice" programme, it offers bounties to bring to justice those most responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. In recent years, the programme has lost its impetus and the goal is to relaunch the plan, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where most of the fugitives are believed to be hiding.

WASHINGTON – The US Supreme Court clears the way for lawsuits to go forward by apartheid victims seeking damages exceeding $400-billion from more than 50 major corporations. With four justices recused from the case and therefore lacking a quorum, the High Court has issued a brief order simply affirming a ruling by a US appeals court in New York. The appeals court reinstates the lawsuits by the plaintiffs, who claim the companies violated international law by assisting the apartheid system in South Africa.