Around The World

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 May 1949, Page 7

Around The World

King To Attend Next Match The King and Queen will visit Loid.. next Monday to see the match between the M.C.C. and the New Zealand cricket team. This visit is in place of the one it was announced earlier the King would make to Lord’s during the second test on June 27.—London, May 19;

Communism In Victoria • Sir Charles Lowe, a Judge of the Victorian • Supreme Court, will inquire into Communist activities m Victoria. He has been appointed a Royal Commission by the State Executive Council and will begin taking evidence as soon as possible after June 1 when the present Supreme Court sitting will end. —Melbourne, May 20. Protest Action Ended The Arab leaders in Tripoli- today notified the British Administration that they had decided to call off their resistance policv, started last week as a protest against the proposal in the United Nations to return Tripolitania to Italy. The Arab decision became effective today. Shops were open as usual in Tripoli. However, there were isolated incidents in which Arabs molested Italians. —London, May 19.

Fighting In Burma Government troops had repulsed a rebel force near Kiektila, the headquarters of the North Burma Army, said a Government announcement tonight. Government troops captured Communist strongpoints near Pyapon. The Burma Army radio said that 60 ncn-insurgents including the commander were killed and others drowned while attempting to cross the Salween river.—Rangoon, May 20.

Basic Wage In Australia In a unanimous judgment the Full Arbitration Court today refused to hear a claim by the Australian Council of Trade Unions for an • interim basic wage rise of £2 a week. The ActingChief Judge (Mr Justice Kelly) said it would be "undesirable, impracticable, and against public intrest” at this stage to hear a claim for an interim award. The hearing of a claim for a new basic wage of £lO a week was adjourned.— Melbourne, May 20.

South African By-Elections General Smut’s United Party lost one seat to the Nationalist Party and retained the other in two South African by-elections, the results of which were announced today. The seat lost was Vereeniging, which has been faithful to General Smuts for 20 years. The Nationalists won it by 16 votes in a total poll of 11,626, and the result has shocked General Smuts’s supporters. The Nationalists now have a working majority of five in the Assembly. In the Senate they have a majority of one. —Cape Town, May 20.

Eire Labour Party The Eire Labour Party, in its' first municipal election, has returned all of its seven candidates in Belfast. The Northern Ireland Labour Party was overwhelmingly defeated. Eleven of its 12 candidates were beaten. The twelth was returned unopposed. The Unionist Party increased its strength from 43 to 48. The three Communist candidates lost their deposits. The final stages of the parties is: Unionist 48, Independent Irish Nationalists 3, Eire Labour Party 7, Irish Nationalists 1, Northern Ireland Labour Party I—London, May 20. Theft Of U.S. Documents

An American military court today convicted a 24-year-old woman, Gertrude Mittenentzwei, of having stolen United States military documents. The Court sentenced her to 30 months’ imprisonment. The woman admitted during her trial that she was “driven to join the Soviet Information Service” by threats from Soviet officials against her and her parents, who lived in the Russian zone. The presiding judge found that Mittenentzwei had passed American documents to unauthorised persons, and that this “came very close to espionage for a foreign Power.”— Munich, May 19.

Indian Trades Unions The annual session of the Commun-ist-dominated All-India Trades Union Congress, due to be held in Bombay from May 27 to May 30, was banned by the Police Commissioner today. Mr Amrit Shah, assistant secretary of the A.1.T.U.C., said his congress would demand intervention by the Prime Minister (Pandit Nehru). Meanwhile the A.I.T.U.C. president, Mr S. Dange, who with 200 others is on a hunger-strike in provincial goals demanding better treatment, was reported to be getting weaker—Bombay, May 20. ' New Coalfield In England A new coalfield, containing at least 400,000,00(1 tons of good quality coal, has been discovered in South Staffordshire. Mr Herbert Morrison Deputy Prime Minister, in announcing this today, added that seams of coal eight feet thick, were found by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in a deep bore at Whittington Heath, near Lichfield. Mr Morrison said that the coal seams, which arc at a. depth of 3000 feet, might contain several times as much coal as was estimated —400,000,000 tons. — London, May 20.

Sentence On Japanese The Lord Chancellor (Lord Jowitt) refused an application in the House of Lords for Britain to review the Japanese war trial sentences. A member of Britain’s War Cabinet (Lord Hankey) pleaded for intervention by Britain on behalf of a former Japanese Foreign Minister, Mamoru Shigemitsu, because of the “aura of goodness that surrounds the man.” Lord Jowitt said he was staggered to hear talk of “Shigemitsu’s aura of integrity,” especially in view of a telegram sent by Shigemitsu to his Foreign Minister, Mr Matsuoka, on August 5. 1940, when he was .Ambassador in London. Lord Jowitt said that after reading of the tortures inflicted on Allied prisoners his conscience would not let him take any step to have the trials reviewed.—London, May 20. American Samoa And Guam

President Truman today called for the transfer of Guam from naval to civil administration within a year, and of American Samoa and the Pacific Trust Territories within the next two or three years. In a letter to the Secretary of the Interior (Mr Julius Krug), the President approved organic legislation for Guam and American Samoa prepared by the Department of the Interior. This legislation will soon,be submitted to Congress. After setting time limits for the restoration to civil administration. Mr Truman said: “It is the announced aim of this Government to accord civil government and a full measure of civil rights to the inhabitants of its Pacific territories. The accomplishment of this objective will be furthered by the transfer of these territories to civil administration and the enactment of organic legislate at the earliest practicable date.’ — Washington, May 18.

Australia Bars Air Competitor The grounding is reported of a Air Ceylon plane at Darwin. It is stated to be part of the Commonwealth plan to block competition with the Govern-ment-owned Airways. The move is said to be principally aimed at Australian National Airways. Tills is a private company which holds a 49 per cent, interest in Air Ceylon, and which competes with the Australian Govern-ment-owned Trans-Australian Airlines. The other 51 per cent, of the interest in Air Ceylon is held by the Ceylon Government. The establishment of the line with a terminal in Australia would mean competition with the Quantas Empire Airways (which is also Gov-ernment-owned) on the India-Aus-tralian section of the route from the United Kingdom. Discussions have been proceeding for some time between the Ceylon and Australian Governments for landing rights in Australia. —Canberra. May 20.