LATE NEWS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24421, 5 October 1940, Page 12

LATE NEWS

BRENNER PASS MEETING AXIS SEEKING NEW ALLIES (By Wireless) LONDON, Oct. 4. (Received Oct. 5, at 1.30 a.m.) Herr Hitler and Signor Mussolini are meeting this morning on top of the Brenner Pass while fighter planes circle overhead. They are believed to be accompanied by their Foreign Ministers, and one report says that the party includes Marshal Keitel. the German Chief of Staff. A diplomatic correspondent of the 8.8. C., commenting on the meeting, says there is no doubt that it means a reconstruction of the Axis plans because both Hitler and Mussolini both banked on a quick end to the war and they are now facing a protracted struggle with increasing resistance on the part of Britain and the Empire. The German and Italian leaders, he says, will also have to discuss the question how far they have failed in the blitzkreig and how far thej can agree on their respective roles in an attack in the East. Each may find himself in the position of urging the other to "get on with it," and Hitler may be promising all kinds of help in a military campaign. In the meantime, new allies are being sought, with the main effort of the moment directed towards Spain, but until Senor Suner returns to Madrid the effect of Axis pressure can be only a matter of guesswork. Occasion may also be taken to straighten out the relations of each partner with Russia, and it would not be surprising to hear of blandishments to Moscow by one party or the other. Greece and Jugoslavia are still threatened by Italian troop concentrations, but there is nothing to suggest that the threat is any more dangerous than it has been recently. In view of the recent spectacular achievements of the navy, the correspondent added, the auguries are not favourable for a new Axis campaign in the Mediterranean. ROYAL AIR FORCE RAIDS OVER SEVENTEEN HUNDRED LONDON, Oct. 4. (Received Oct. 5, at 2 a.m.) It is officially announced from Berlin that the Royal Air Force carried out 1741 attacks on Germany and German-occupied territory, dropping 7542 bombs, during September. Of the attacks, 1.6 per cent, caused military damage, and 50.4 civilian damage or deaths. Forty-eight per cent, were unsuccessful. BRITISH CONVOY ATTACKED GUNS ON FRENCH COAST (By Wireless) DAVENTRY, Oct. 4. German long-range guns on the French coast this morning opened fire on a British convoy in the Channel. The convoy was carrying its own balloon barrage. Conditions were very stormy, and the German gunners after firing two salvoes of three shells each gave it up.