NEWS OF THE WEEK
IN Northern Abyssinia the Italian penetration con- .' tines with unabated speed, and unchecked by any opposition more serious than sniping. A column moving along the Sudan border has reached Gellabat, 100 miles south of the Eritrean frontier. It is in touch with Sudan officials and its presence is no more likely to lead to complications than is that of the Italian force on the Kenya border in the south. The Italian flag flies on the banks of Lake Tana. Magdala, if not already occupied,: is threatened. Dessie, 200 miles by execrable motor-road from Addis Ababa, was entered on Wednesday by an Italian force. Aeroplanes circle at will over the capital. Of the Emperor and his armies there comes no word. -Do those armies still exist as such ? What is the state of their morale ? How do they stand for ammunition and supplies ? Much turns on the answers to these questions. Beyond doubt vast numbers of men bearing rifles swarm in . the hills not only in front of the Italian armies, but around' and behind them. Within a few weeks their great ally, the rain. will be with them, to restrict mechanised movement, wreck roads and convert camping-grounds into quagmires.
