JOHANNESBURG - The rand currency falls sharply after attacks on African migrant workers, accused by many poor township dwellers of stealing jobs and fuelling a wave of violent crime. The violence has helped weaken South Africa's rand as investors back away from the currency, fearing the xenophobic attacks will hurt the economy. Thousands of foreigners, mostly from Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi, are fleeing to refugee shelters.

CAPE TOWN - South Africa's parliament approves a new Internet gambling law to regulate an industry plagued by crime and vulnerable to money laundering and terrorism financing. The new legislation aims to address the negative socio-economic effects associated with gambling and deals specifically with issues of problem gambling, player protection, licensing, taxation and advertising. Every online player will now need to be registered with a licensed interactive gambling provider and submit an affidavit to ensure they are older than 18 years.

PRETORIA - The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) concedes in the Pretoria High Court that its policies preventing HIV positive people from employment, foreign deployment and promotion in the armed forces, are unconstitutional. The defence force has agreed to formulate a new health classification policy within six months. The decision follows an application before the court to force the SANDF to change its policies preventing people with HIV from being deployed externally, from being given promotions as well as from getting a job in the armed forces.

AFRICA

KHARTOUM - Heavy fighting erupts between Sudan's army and southern Sudanese forces in the disputed oil-rich town of Abyei leaving at least 100 injured and an unknown number dead. Analysts warn that the fierce fighting in Abyei - an area claimed by both Khartoum and the semi-autonomous south - threatens a key north-south peace deal and risks reigniting a two-decade civil war.

ABUJA - Delegates at a West African regional summit say tax cuts and export bans are not a sustainable strategy against rising food prices in Africa and could instead hinder the fight against poverty. Rocketing prices for staples such as rice and millet, driven by a global surge in the cost of major cereals and oil, have triggered riots and protests across West Africa, the poorest part of the world's least developed continent. Governments have scrambled to curb food exports, ease taxes on imports and increase subsidies for basic staples to try to make food more affordable. But experts at a meeting of trade, agriculture and finance ministers from the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) warned that such measures could prove counter-productive in the long term.

ADDIS ABABA - The United Nations (UN) Children's Agency, UNICEF, says a recent drought in Ethiopia is causing a food crisis and estimates that 126 000 children are suffering from severe malnutrition. However, the government and aid agencies are struggling to find money to help, with international food prices rising sharply. UNICEF says 6-million Ethiopian children under the age of five may be at risk of malnutrition. And the UN World Food Programme estimates 3.4-million of Ethiopia's more than 80-million people will need food relief from July to September.

WORLD

TOKYO - Japan plans to double annual foreign aid to Africa by 2012 to strengthen ties with the resource-rich continent and win support for its bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. Japan faces rising competition from China and India for Africa's natural resources such as rare metals. Tokyo aims to raise its annual aid to African nations to 200-billion yen by 2012, double the amount for 2007 according to Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura.