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Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Eire Is Faced With Further Isolation; Allied Bombers Smash Axis Targets, Ready Knockout Blows at Luftwaffe; Local Boards Cut Draft Deferments (EDITOR'S NOTE: When opinions are expressed In these eolomns, they tiro those of Western Newspaper Union's news analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.) I Released by Western Newspaper Union. f&&& r-r'' 1 - v mm,m- ; - Site- m I.. , ,.l,,,r.,.r.,.XyU VA3-:-Vi- -- .:C r-:;-vJ Burma With Jap shells popping overhead, Lt.-Gen. Joseph Stilwell (center, right) and Chinese-American troops take cover in deep ravine in north Burma. (See: Far East.) IRELAND: Faces Isolation Because Ireland lies so hard by Britain, the latter has always looked upon it as sort of a necessary ad-'OTJp junct of Britain's ' v i 43 defense, and long tjy -.: and bitter have f:vy been the contro- versies between ; :.: -Vf$ the two countries fSwA over the question IK ' g Ki of its sovereignty. v'S-ta Last ruffled Wy'f-Jfk through Britain's f s$ f ' "'Wi economic block- -M" '' ade of Ireland : from 1932-'38, re- De Valcra Iations between the two countries have become troubled again, with the U. S. joining join-ing Britain this time in demanding that Ireland oust the German and Japanese representatives, charged with carrying out espionage activity against Allied forces massed in the British Isles for the invasion of Europe. Following Premier Eamon de Valera's refusal on the ground that the Axis diplomats were being watched, Britain banned travel to Ireland, and promised to further isolate iso-late Ireland from all outside connections. con-nections. FAR EAST: Racing Weather As Lieut.-Gen. Joseph Stilwell's Chinese and American troops fought through Burma's rugged northwest clearing a route to embattled China, the U. S. announced it has stocked up more than $100,000,000 of guns, munitions and tanks in India for eventual shipment to Chiang Kai-shek. Kai-shek. In Burma, General Stilwell and British-Indian troops to the south sought to strengthen their foothold along the mountainous western border bor-der as a springboard for future attack at-tack before the merciless windy-rainy windy-rainy monsoon season sets in, to continue until fall. In announcing that the U. S. has piled up $40,391,000 of guns. $77,871,-000 $77,871,-000 of munitions and $42,197,000 of tanks in India for shipment to China upon the opening of routes, Foreign Economic Administrator Leo T. Crowley said that of total lend-lease aid given thus far to Chiang Kai-shek, Kai-shek, about $104,000,000 was for aircraft, air-craft, machinery, medicines, services, serv-ices, etc. EUROPE: Luftivafje Target With Allied forces massing in the British Isles and Axis chieftains predicting the early invasion of western west-ern Europe, U. S. and British aircraft air-craft kept up their heavy raids over the continent, aimed at knocking out the German Luftwaffe. By beating down Nazi fighters and blowing up their aircraft factories, the Allies hoped to decrease opposition opposi-tion to landing operations and resistance re-sistance to bombardment of other Axis industries. In Italy, the Allied air force was equally busy, smashing at the Nazis' defense installations in southern France, and at railroads and highways high-ways up and down the length of the peninsula, used to supply embattled em-battled enemy troops at Anzio and Cassino, where bottomless mud slowed ground operations. SOLDIER VOTE: Congressional Bill Once having denounced compromise compro-mise on soldier vote legislation embodying em-bodying state supervision. President Roosevelt was faced with the alternative alter-native of approving such a measure assured of passage in congress or risking another veto overriding. Latest soldier vote bill assured of passage allows use of the short federal fed-eral ballot for President, senator and congressman by servicemen overseas if their states provide no absentee vote or they have not received re-ceived state ballots by October 1, and their governors certify use of the federal ballot. About 20 states already have provided pro-vided for servicemen's absentee voting, vot-ing, and another 18 have indicated preparations for - considering such legislation. RUSSIA: Active Diplomacy While Russia insisted that Finland only could have an armistice by interning in-terning German troops in the country coun-try and recognizing the- 1940 borders, bor-ders, Moscow's busy diplomatic corps moved on two other fronts. Even as Italy's Communists cried for the removal of King Victor Emmanuel Em-manuel and Marshal Badoglio, Russia Rus-sia formally recognized their government gov-ernment by consenting to exchange ambassadors with them, even though the U. S. and Britain have withheld similar action. Russia's promotion of Tito Broz's Partisan cause in Jugoslavia where he has been feuding with Rightist Gen. Draga Mihailovitch, gained impetus im-petus when Mihailovitch's ambassador ambassa-dor in Moscow jumped into Broz's camp, and Jugoslavs in Russia were organized into an army swearing allegiance al-legiance to Broz. Gain in South Transferring their pressure from the Baltic to the south almost 600 miles distant, Russian forces under General Malinovsky cleared the Dnieper river port of Kherson, at the eastern end of the long German line stretched far to the rear of the Reds' positions in Poland. As General Malinovsky's troops fought into Kherson, other Russian forces under General Zhukov worked on the big Nazi bulge farther to the northwest,' chewing into German lines at three points. Already deep in prewar Poland, the Reds not only were close to Rumania, Ru-mania, but also stood about 100 miles east of old Czechoslovakia and less than that from Hungary. DRAFT: Cut Deferments Ordered not to grant deferments to men in the 18 to 21 age group since February 1, the nation's draft boards were told to extend the policy pol-icy to others within the 22 to 25 limit. Under the new regulations, men in these age brackets will be eligible eligi-ble for deferment only if the state director deems their services vital to critical war production, or if they are holding jobs specifically exempted exempt-ed by the national draft director. Cut in deferments for the 18 to 25 age group followed draft boards' failure to meet induction quotas because be-cause of the hesitancy in taking fathers fa-thers and also because of the army's preference for younger men. PACIFIC: No Rest Ringed on all sides, Jap troops In the South Pacific were given no rest by U. S. forces slowly pulverizing their defensive outposts to the Philippines Phil-ippines and Asiatic mainland. Desperate enemy attempts to unloose un-loose the doughboys' hold on Bougainville Bou-gainville were repulsed after a day of savage fighting, and U. S. troops landing behind Jap lines in New Britain, wiped out remnants of the force driven back when the Yanks took Willaumez peninsula, to the southwest of the battered Nip base of Rabaul. Even in mid-Pacific the Jap found no rest, U. S. naval and marine bombers plastering their holdings in the eastern Marshalls and Carolines, from which they can pester Allied shipping. 1 GAS RATIONS: West Cut Because of expanded farm and highway needs, gas rations for all "A" card holders west of the Alleghany Alle-ghany mountains were cut from three to two gallons per coupon, the reduction being accomplished by extending ex-tending the validity of the coupons from 7 to 10 days. Effect of the OPA action was to take away one of the three gallons on the "A" coupon allotted for essential es-sential driving, and bring westerners' western-ers' "A" rations to the same level as in the 17 eastern states. Cut in the "A" coupons does not affect holders of "B" and "C" coupons, cou-pons, who will be able to obtain additional ad-ditional ration allotments for. occupational occu-pational driving to offset the reduction reduc-tion Jn the "A" card values. GREAT BRITAIN: Coal Strike With the British government assenting as-senting to most of their demands, Wales 100.000 coal miners went slowly back to work, as the threat to war production diminished. Piece-workers' demands that their rates be raised to allow them to earn over the $20 minimum wage recently granted to all British miners, was one of the conditions met by the government. gov-ernment. Also met were claims to special allowances for work in excessive ex-cessive dust and water. The strikers also rebelled at the government's order that all miners buying coal cheaply in the fields would have to pay .30 weekly for the privilege. WOMEN SERVE: Enlistments Up Since the navy lifted its ban against sailors' wives entering the WAVES, recruitments have risen to over 1,000 weekly, compared with 850 weekly last fall, and the service now looks confidently toward attainment attain-ment of its goal of 92,400 by the end of 1944. With soldiers' wives always permitted per-mitted to enlist, the WAC has been ,., ,.,,s.vy - , h " :;,... '"- t --. WAVES look to sea. recruiting about 800 women weekly, and present strength is estimated at 70,000, with a total force of 200,000 authorized. With wives of enlisted personnel eligible, the coast guard's SPARS have about 7,100 on active duty along seaboard and inland waterway installations, and expect to boost the total to 8,800 by June 30. With 5,000 men pilots now available avail-able for ferrying duties, congress debated continuing the Wasps, women's wom-en's airforce service. WAR PRISONERS: In Timberlands To help relieve the acute labor shortage in the northern timber-lands timber-lands of Michigan, the army has allowed al-lowed use of German war'prisoners to fell trees and cut them to size for paper mills. Under the 1929 Geneva convention for treatment of war prisoners, the Germans are paid 80 cents a day by the government, but the contractor contrac-tor employing them must give the U. S. treasury the ordinary going wage for each one. Once members of Gen. Erwin Rommel's vaunted Afnka Korps, the prisoners are well versed in their rights under the Geneva convention, con-vention, and still confident of Adolf Hitler, some having decorated their barracks with pictures and drawings of der Fuehrer. OIL RESERVES Vast reserves of petroleum still exist in the United States and the resources of Alaska have scarcely been tapped, according to geologist Wallace Pratt of the Standard Oil Company of New J-ersey. He said that in Texas alone from which nearly half the nation's petroleum comes, the "proved" area constitutes consti-tutes less than 1 per cent of the total area of the state in which it might be reasonable to expect oil deposits. The nation, he continued, is far I from the end of its resources. |