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under the Charter as soon as it considers that the Spanish situation so requires. The Assembly did not, however, reaffirm the previous year's resolution concerning relations of United Nations members with Spain. THE MIDDLE EAST 1. Palestine Developments in Palestine have an important bearing on the security position in the Middle East, and hence on British Commonwealth strategic interests in this vital area. As such they have been closely followed by New Zealand as a member of the Commonwealth. As a member of the United Nations, to which the question of Palestine was referred by the United Kingdom, New Zealand had an added responsibility for joining in the attempt to reach a just and permanent settlement of this complex problem. Finally, as a member of the group of wartime Allies, New Zealand could not ignore the fate of the small remnant of European Jewry which survived the German extermination camps and, for the most part, now wishes to find haven in Palestine. Since accepting the mandate for Palestine the United Kingdom Government have made many attempts, without success, to reconcile the conflicting claims of Arabs and Jews ; finally, on 2 April,'l947, they requested that the question of Palestine be placed on the agenda of the United Nations General Assembly at its next regular session, and announced that they would submit to the Assembly an account of their administration of the mandate and would ask the Assembly to make recommendations on the question of the future Government of Palestine. At the same time the United Kingdom Government pointed out the desirability of preparatory study of the question under the auspices of the United Nations, and accordingly requested that a special session of the Assembly might be called to constitute and instruct a Special Committee to prepare for the consideration of the Palestine question at the Assembly's next regular session. The special session of the Assembly met from 28 April to 14 May, 1947, and set up a United Nations Special Committee to examine the question of Palestine and to prepare a report for the General Assembly. This Special Committee went to Palestine, visited significant areas, heard representatives of both Arabs and Jews, and drew up a report, which was signed on 31 August, 1947. The report was unanimous in recommending the early termination of the mandate and the granting of independence to Palestine, but as regards the future government of Palestine the Committee was divided, the majority