Regarding the report "Major gambling changes on cards" (The Mercury, July 19) in which I was quoted, I would like to correct some misperceptions. In general, the contents of the KwaZulu-Natal Gaming and Betting Bill, 2007 do not herald major changes in gambling policy. By and large, the overall effect is that two existing pieces of legislation will be amalgamated.

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians along with two other tribes reached the end of a campaign to expand their tribal casinos when the governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed bills ratifying revised gambling agreements. The four bills signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will allow the Agua Caliente and Morongo tribes alone to add up to 8,500 new slot machines.

Only the signature of President George Maxwell Richards remains for the Finance Bill that will ban slot machines to become law, as it was passed in the Senate after midnight yesterday. Among its many measures, the bill is meant to amend the Gambling and Betting Act that will phase out slot machines which are used in casinos and private members clubs.

Industry - Union leaders led a protest at Assemblyman Charles Calderon's office Tuesday, alleging that a bill being championed by the assemblyman would allow expansion of an Inland Empire tribal casino without adequate protections for workers. About 30 workers and union members carried placards denouncing Calderon and the Morongo Resort and Casino, shouting slogans including "Without Justice or Respect, There is No Peace!" in Spanish.

An executive member of the Union of Members Clubs and Lottery Workers (UMCLW) is to be sworn in as a temporary Opposition Senator today, as the Senate debates a bill that could put an end to the local gaming industry. "Because of the special nature of the occasion the UNC is offering the opportunity to the executive member of that union to speak in her capacity as a temporary Senator, Cindy Gibbs," said Leader of Opposition Business in the Senate, Wade Mark.

Trenton, New Jersey (AP) - The Assembly on Monday approved a bill designed to keep Atlantic City casinos open in the event of another state government shutdown like the one that halted gambling last year. Casinos closed last July when the Legislature and Gov. Jon S. Corzine failed to agree on a budget by the July 1 constitutional deadline, leaving the state without means to spend money.

Employees in the local gaming industry are now worried about their future, as a recent amendment to the Finance Bill, 2007 is likely to shut down the industry entirely. The Finance Bill, 2007 will be brought for the debate in the Parliament tomorrow. Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Conrad Enill, told the Express yesterday that previous forms of the legislation left some ambiguity with regard to the definition of a slot machine, which is illegal, and that this amendment of the proposed law was necessary.

Close to 7,000 employees of the gaming industry will be placed on the breadline if government moves ahead with its plan to present a bill in parliament on Friday to phase out slot machines. Addressing a news conference hosted by the Union of Members Club and Lottery Workers (UMCLW) at the NUGFW headquarters at Henry Street, Port of Spain, yesterday, member Cindy Gibbs said slot machines make up 75 per cent of the gaming industry.

Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Conrad Enill, reaffirmed the Government’s opposition to casino gambling as he moved an umbrella Finance Bill in the House of Representatives on Friday. The Bill amends the 1963 Gambling and Betting Act to specifically add slot-machines to the list of gambling activities banned by the Act. Enill said the change now “removes any ambiguity” over slot machines which through the Bill are considered to be gambling machines under the 1963 Act.

Denver -- It's official. Colorado casinos will be going smoke-free on Jan. 1. Gov. Bill Ritter signed that bill into law, among 14 other measures, Friday afternoon. House Bill 1269 expands the statewide ban to include casinos, which had been exempt. The bill covers the 44 casinos in Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek starting Jan. 1.

Springfield, Illinois -- The Illinois Senate early Friday voted down a measure that would have allowed casino patrons to continue lighting up next year even as smokers in all other public places in the state are forced to snuff out their cigarettes. However, proponents of the idea could try again today.

Zwei Tage vor dem 15. Life Ball war der ehemalige Präsident der USA Bill Clinton als Ehrengast der Aids Life Gala im Schloß Schönbrunn zugunsten der William J. Clinton Foundation unter dem Ehrenschutz des Bundespräsidenten Dr. Heinz Fischer zu Gast. Bundeskanzler Dr. Alfred Gusenbauer, Aids-Life Obmann, Gery Keszler und Dr. Franz Wohlfahrt, Generaldirektor Novomatic AG, überreichen Bill Clinton einen Scheck zur Unterstützung der Clinton Foundation HIV/Aids Programme (CHAI) in der Höhe von einer Million Dollar.