LATE NEWS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25101, 17 December 1942, Page 5

LATE NEWS

TROOPS RUSHED TO NORWAY NAZIS EXPECT ARCTIC OFFENSIVE (Rec. 1.30 a.m.) LONDON, Dec. 16. While the position of the German* south of Voronezh is becoming increasingly precarious, the German High Command is reported to be rushing troops from Northern Norway to the Murmansk front, says the Stockholm correspondent of Reuters. Reports from Berlin hint that this may be the prelude to a German attack, but observers in Stockholm are convinced that it is due to the fear or even the certainty of a forthcoming Russian offensive on the Arctic front.

Reuters Moscow correspondent reports that the Russians have captured several more German strong points west of Rjev. Each house was a pillbox that had to be taken in stubborn, savage fighting before one important point fell into Russian hands. A front-line despatch to the newspaper Red Star says that north-west of Stalingrad the exhausted Germans are remaining generally inactive behind fortified positions At some points they are regrouping and bringing up 0 reserves in an attempt to regain lost positions. POSITION IN TUNISIA ENEMY FORCES FALLING BACK (Rec. 1.30 a.m.) LONDON. Dec. 15. First Army patrols report that tha Axis forces have again fallen back north-east and south-east of Medjez-el-Bab, says the correspondent of Reuters Agency in Tunisia. The weather has improved, and the hot sun is quickly drying the water-logged roads and airfields. Both sides are getting into shape for some tank fighting.

WAR CRIMINALS TALKS IN PROGRESS (Rec. 1.30 a.m.) LONDON, Dec. IS. The Government was asked in th« House of Commons to-day what steps were being taken towards forming a list of Germans, Italians, and Japanese who had been guilty of excessive brutality, with a view to their trial after the war. The Foreign Secretary, Mr Anthony Eden, replied that talks on this subject were now going on with the Dominion and Allied Governments. AFTER THE WAR (Rec. 1.30 a.m.) LONDON, Dec. Id. In the House of Commons to-day the Foreign Secretary, Mf Anthony Eden, was asked whether the Governments of Britain, the United States, and Russia were formulating a common programme to be put into operation after the war based on the Atlantic Charter and the Anglo-Russian Agreement. Mr Eden replied that no negotiations were in progress at present. The Government had every intention of working with these and the other United Nations Governments towards a common programme of this kind. The sooner this was done the better, as it would hearten the people under .German domination and encourage the rest of the world.