CABLE NEWS IN BRIEF

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 25021, 1 November 1946, Page 7

CABLE NEWS IN BRIEF

Officer Acquitted on Libel Charges. —Lieutenant Kenneth Alexander Gourlay, R.A.0.C., has been acquitted by a court-martial at Cairo on charges of making libellous statements about the 6th Air-borne Division and Sir John Shaw, former Chief Secretary of the Palestine Government. —Cairo, October 30. Fascist Broadcaster Released.— Rita Zucca—“Sally”—"who broadcast to the Allied troops in North Africa from the Fascist radio, has been released from prison. Soon after the liberation she was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment.—Rome. October 30. Armistice in Indo-China. The French News Agency reported from Saigon that Annamese forces attacked French posts round Saigon three hours before the armistice between the Annamese and the Indo-China Expeditionary Army, which was due to become effective at midnight. The attacks were repulsed, but firing continued almost until the time of the armistice.—Paris, October 30. Baltic Refugees Land in Britain.— The authorities are interrogating 17 men believed to be_.Latvians who landed on the Northumbrian coast from a 40ft fishing boat, after they were seen to be in difficulties and under sail four miles offshore. The “Evening News” says that parties of refugees from the Baltic States which are in the Soviet bloc have been escaping for some time to Sweden.—London, October 30.

Execution Pictures Suppressed in Japan.— The pictures of the dead German war criminals which arrived in Tokyo by air mail on Tuesday were withheld from the Japanese newspapers because of the possible effects which their publication might have on the witnesses and defendants at the Tokyo war crimes trial. Allied censorship officials said that publication of the pictures would be prejudicial to peace, order, and a fair trial. —Tokyo. October 30. Former Hungarian Minister Executed.—A firing squad executed Ferenc Schallmayer, Minister of Propaganda in the Cabinet of the former “Fuehrer” of Hungary. Szalasi.—Budapest, October 30. Australian Sales Tax.—Sales tax yielded £5,600,000 more than expected during 1945-46, when the actual revenue totalled £33,600,000. It is understood that the surplus will be used to make reductions in sales tax to the public, particularly in clothing Draft proposals to this effect will be submitted to the new Cabinet on Tuesday.—Canberra, October 31. Anns Smuggling Ring Broken.*— An important arms smuggling ring is believed to have been smashed by the British police, who broke into a secret rendezvous in Parliament square, Cairo, reports Reuter’s correspondent there. They found 700 rifles and revolvers and 500,000 rounds of small arms ammunition, allegedly for smuggling into Palestine.—London. October 30.

Goering's Letters.—The Allied Control Council in Berlin unanimously decided that Goering’s suicide letters written in his cell at Nuremberg should not be published. The council announced that four copies of each letter which were sent to the council would be destroyed, and the original notes would be sealed and impounded into the control authority’s’ archives. The letters included one to Goering's wife, another to the gaol commandant, and a third to. certain Allied personalities. It is understood that the counciL/elt th - at Goering wrote the letters with the intention that they would be published, so that he “could make propaganda and try some legend-build-mg through them.”—Berlin, October “Sun” Aria Contest*—The New Zealand singer, Geoffrey Moore, was eliminated last night in the semi-final of the “Sun” aria contest at the City of {Sydney Eisteddfod.—Sydney, Oct. 31. . Awerton Aircraft Enginepie United States Army Air Force has developed a 5000 horse-power engine with a revolutionary feature by which the pilot is able to control its power like a motorist changing gears. The engine is liquid cooled with 38 cylinders. Air Force officers said the engine would increase the range of existing aeroplanes to more than 11,500 miles, and raise their pay load to 50,0001 b. Equipped with four or six of these engines, an aircraft may be designed to fly non-stop around the world.—Washington, October 31.