Portrait of the Week
THE week's foreign news has been dominated by Mr. Dulles's indiscretion in Life, an article that raises once again all the issues on which Great Britain has differed from the US and that at a time when the British Prime Minister Is on the point of setting out for Washington. Comment in this country on the Secretary of State's publicising of himself as the strong man of Western diplomacy has been fairly restrained, the Foreign Office contenting itself with pointing out the various inaccuracies in his version or history (especially the inaccuracy of the idea that Great Britain ever consented to consider armed intervention in Indo-China), but in America critics have not been so tactful.
The Middle East, of course, is still far from quiet, and, though order reigns at Amman. there is a lingering impression that it is not for long. Israel's raid on Syrian army posts has been up for consideration before the Security Council, but, Owing to conflicting resolutions put forward by the Western Powers and the USSR, no consensus has so far been obtained, though all speakers were united in condemning the Israeli action. The potential explosiveness of this area is underlined by recent Soviet moves to strengthen their diplomatic repre- sentation there. M. Generalov, late Ambassador in Canberra, has been appointed to Libya, while the first secretary of the Soviet embassy in Cairo, M. Kiktev, has been promoted to the post of Ambassador in Beirut. The British Ambassador In Belgrade has called on the Jugoslav Foreign Minister to discuss Marshal Tito's criticism of the Baghdad pact during his visit to Cairo. Meanwhile, in Egypt Colonel Nasser has announced the proposals for a new constitution which is to be approved by a plebiscite in June. These provide for a President ' and a single-chamber legislative assembly. The President will be elected, also by a plebiscite, on July 7. By and large, the proposals .provide for far more liberalisation of political life than was expected.
In Cyprus a bad situation has been made worse by the growth of tension between the Greek and Turkish communi- ties following on the murder of'a Turkish policeman in Paphos. There have been demonstrations by the Turkish community, and the canard put about by Athens radio that the policeman Was murdered by British agentibas been believed by nobody. However, there are signs that the Ethnarchy has been scared by the passions that have been released, and Archbishop Makarios has shown moderation in failing to deliver his usual Political blast on the anniversary of the enosis plebiscite. . The new Soviet five-year plan which has just been announced in Moscow is remarkable for its emphasis on technical train- ing. It provides for 50 per cent. more technicians by 1960—a lesson that the West might well take to heart.. It also announces big increases in productivity in all the industrial sectors but (upart from asking for 100 per cent. increase in labour Productivity on 'collective farms) does not seem calculated to d. 0 much to remedy the disproportion between agriculture and Industry which is the main defect of the Soviet economy. Other foreign news items include the meeting of the new French National Assembly, where it now appears possible that a Socialist will be the first to have a shot at forming a new government. M. Poujade has appeared in court on a charge of defaming the President of the National Assembly. and one deputy of his party has demanded the annulment of the elections. The American budget contains provisions for an increase of one thousand million dollars in defence credits. The legality of the Malta referendum on integration with the UK has been challenged by the Maltese Nationalists. In Germany a number of 'war criminals' have been returned from the Soviet Union, and the German Government has asked Great Britain to sell it seven frigates to serve as a foundation for the new German navy. Nine Communists have been killed in Malaya this week, while Tengku Abdul Rahman, the Chief Minister of the Federation, has arrived in London and begun his talks on Malayan independence. There has been a railway disaster in Sweden, and in Ecuador five American missionaries have been massacred by Indians. An outbreak of cannibalism is reported from India, where two Saddhus have confessed that they belong to the Aghori sect which has traditionally practised ritual anthropophagy.
At home the Prime Minister in his speech at Bradford has recommended that increased profits should be passed on in the form of lower prices rather than of increased dividends. Otherwise interest has been divided between the Independent Television Authority and Smithfield meat market. In the latter dispute as to whether butchers coming to collect meat have to have porters or not, it is now becoming apparent that the writ of the courts does not run in the TGWU. In spite of a court decision that butchers had the right, Mr. Tribe, market organiser of the TGWU, has declared that they will not be allowed to, and all attempts to take away meat without porters have failed. In the ITV, alarm and despondency have been caused by the resignation of Mr. Aidan Crawley, editor-in- chief of the Independent Television News. The Sunday news- paper, the People, has been censured by the Press Council for breaking the embargo on the New Year honours list. There has been the usual quota of industrial disputes this week, including one in the printing trade, which has led to a ban on overtime by two printing unions. At Harwell two new atomic reactors have been set in operation. The Theron, the head- quarters ship of the British Antarctic Expedition, is still in the ice somewhere in the Weddell Sea. Sir Oswald Mosley has addressed a meeting of his Union movement in a school hall in Bethnal Green. Black flags and shirts were much in evidence.
Sporting enthusiasts will be glad to hear of the defeat of France by Scotland at Rugby football (12-0), and sorry about the retirement of Len Hutton from cricket. The Oxford Playhouse is threatened with closing once again, but the Taj Mahal is quite secure according to the Director of Antiquities in Agra. A round-up of witch-doctors has been going on in the Belgian Congo, and two hundred of them have been interned.
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