ohannesburg - South Africa is soon to become a target for internet gambling operators from Europe as the country's gambling laws are made more accommodating. Online or interactive gambling is still illegal in South Africa under the National Gambling Act, but this situation is about to change with the imminent passing of the National Gambling Amendment Bill. The bill is presently before the national council of provinces, having already been approved by the national assembly.

In the wake of an EU Commission lawsuit against Denmark, the government, with the help of the New Alliance party, is investigating the possibility of allowing international competition on the national gambling circuit. According to New Alliance's Anders Samuelsen, who will later this week put forth a proposal suggesting the end to Danske Spil's gaming monopoly, there is no longer any point in protecting something that will be lost anyway, referring to the lawsuit against Denmark by the European Commission.

In France, Budget Minister Eric Woerth has announced that the Government of President Nicolas Sarkozy is looking to open the market to gambling firms from elsewhere in the European Union next year or by the start of 2010. Woerth told French daily newspaper Le Parisien that he expects the government to complete plans this year regarding a test phase in 2009 or 2010 and that private betting providers licensed to operate under French regulations will be subject to the same conditions and tax policies as Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU), the current monopoly betting operator.

A gambling clinic has been opened in Salzburg to treat the city's growing number of gambling addicts. Around 5,000 Salzburg residents are addicts and it affects more and more young people. Until now addicts have been able to find help at the Self-help Group for Anonymous Gamblers and at the Provincial Social Medicine Service but it is hoped that the new clinic will be able to offer more extensive treatment.

Charleston - Unlike the more than 50 people accused of gambling after police raided a Charleston-area poker game, the seven people accused of dealing the cards at those games face more serious charges and tougher penalties if convicted. Sheriff Al Cannon told The (Charleston) Post and Courier that South Carolina still treats dealing as a misdemeanor, but a person convicted of the crime could spend as much as a year in jail and be fined USD 2,000 for each count.

It may have been offered after the World Trade Organization deadline, but it appears that the United States has at last proposed a settlement in its protracted WTO dispute with the Antigua and Barbuda government. The Antigua Sun newspaper is currently reporting that the Caribbean island government is soon to make a statement "...that a proposal for the resolution of the trade dispute received from the U.S. last week has not been met favourably."

An industry report crediting gambling for creating thousands of jobs and contributing CAD 15.3 billion a year to the economy was dismissed by critics Tuesday, who said the "one-sided" advertisement fails to account for the social costs of gambling addictions or the lack of new revenue generated by the industry. The Canadian Gaming Association's report found gambling accounted for 267,000 full-time jobs a year, and said 57 per cent of gambling revenue - CAD 8.7 billion - also supported government services and charities.

Online and land-based gambling companies in the UK have demonstrated a higher level of advertising compliance than any other industry sector, according to a leading voice in European marketing regulation. A survey conducted by the European Advertising Standards Alliance in the wake of the UK Gambling Act, which was implemented in September 2007, analyzed gambling adverts in the national press, consumer magazines, posters, direct mailings, internet, television and radio.

Ahead of a scheduled vote wherein Dutch legislators will consider UIGEA-style legislation designed to restrict access to the Dutch online gambling market for international court, a Netherlands Court denied an appeal in a related case by Unibet, admitting that its interpretation is different than that called for by European Union treaty. Unibet had been judged guilty of violating the Dutch Gaming Act and infringing upon the market rights of the Dutch state lottery, De Lotto (The Lotto).

The Government is likely to abandon a clampdown on problem gambling in a desperate attempt to find bidders for its Tote betting business. A study for the Government into highstakes gambling machines is being put on the back burner to avoid frightening off potential bidders.

Washington - Congress' ban on Internet gambling is so vague that figuring out how to enforce it is a struggle, say federal officials charged with the task. "I think it is very difficult without having more of a bright line about what is intended to be unlawful Internet gambling," Louise Roseman, head of the Federal Reserve's bank operations division, told a House hearing Wednesday.

Amsterdam (Reuters) - The upper house of the Dutch parliament defeated a bill that would have allowed monopoly casino operator Holland Casino to open a gambling web site on a trial basis. The bill was defeated in a narrow 35-37 vote on Tuesday, the Senate's web site said. The lower house of the Dutch parliament had approved the bill in 2006.