Around The World

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 August 1949, Page 6

Around The World

Alleged Traffic In Drugs The Federal’Narcotics Bureau today announced that it had broken up the biggest drug-smuggling ring in the bureau’s history. The bureau said that the ring, in the last year, had smuggled cocaine, worth 5,000,000 dollars on the illicit market, into the United States from Peru. The bureau’s announcement followed the arrest of a wealthy Peruvian, Eduardo Balarezo, who signed on as a ship’s steward for a voyage to Italy, allegedly in an attempt to revive his fading drug trade. —New York, August 20.

Spectacular Fire In Sydney A spectacular fire on the eighth floor of Albert Buildings, in the centre of Sydney, resulted in injuries to seven persons and caused hundreds of workers to stampede to safety. The fire, which is believed to have broken oat in a photographic studio, sent columns of black smoke into the air. Large crowds in the streets and on the rooftops of nearby buildings hampered the work of the firemen. Two men were cut off in a workroom, and suffered cuts when they dived through a window into a corridor—Sydney, August 22. Women Athletes At White City The Netherlands has apparently produced an obvious successor to the Olympic sprinter, Mrs Fanny Blank-ers-Koen, says the Daily Telegraph. The newcomer is Miss Foujke Dilemma, aged 23. Powerfully built and with a, terrific . finish. MJss Dilemma soundly beat her British opponents, Miss S. Cheeseman'and Miss D. Manley, in the 100 metre event at a women’s triangular international match at White City. Miss Manley was second to Mrs Blankers-Kden in the 100 metres at the Olympic Games. Later, in the 200 metres, although Miss Cheeseman beat the British national record with 24.8 sec, the Dutch girl had a yard in hand when she broke the tape in 24.65ec. —London, August 22..

Large Imports By France “In the hope of forcing prices down the French Government has announced that it will import large quantities of butter, cheese, and wine,” says, the Associated Press. “The imports

will include 13,490 tons of butter from Denmark and Holland, and 4800 tons of cheese from Holland and Switzerland All restrictions on imports oi wines from Spain, Portugal, and Greece will be suspended until September 11 and customs duties will be dropped for the same period oh such imports. The Government hopes to force French farmers and merchants to bring out ol binding stocks of these products which might have been held back in hopes oi higher prices.”—Paris, August 21.

Australia’s Dollar Problem It was stated authoritatively today that the Commonwealth Government would wait to see how close its proposed import cuts go to bridging the dollar gap, before considering obtaining a dollar loan. A spokesman said that a dollar loan would be the last resort if it were found that alternative sources of imports were not sufficient to maintain a stable Australian economy. The Federal Prime Minister (Mr Chifley), who is known to believe that Australia should not incur any more overseas debts, recently said: “We are not anxious to enter into any commitments requiring repayments in dollars, but the situation is so extraordinary that we must keep a completely flexible mind.”—Canberra, August 22.