NEWS OF THE WEEK
WHILE fighting in Albania is largely held up by the weather, and Greek successes are confined in the cir- cumstances to hauls of a few hundred prisoners and the destruction of occasional Italian aeroplanes, British advances in Africa continue at varying rates of progress but with one unvarying outcome. The sweep through Italian Somaliland is no less spectacular than the earlier drives through Libya. The capture of Kismayu and the forcing of the Juba River last week were followed by the occupation on Monday of the port of Brava 16o miles farther. along the coast and on Tuesday of the capital, Mogadishu, another 120 miles farther still. From there a railway runs into the interior and the seizure of the town means that the full occupation of the colony is well in sight. In Eritrea arrangements for the capture of Keren, threatened by three converging columns, are progressing well, and in Abyssinia the patriots, co-operating effectively with British patrols, are gaining possession of fresh villages daily. There are about ten weeks in which to secure Addis Ababa before the rains begin. Speed everywhere is essential, for areas from which the Italians are once dislodged can be Held with light forces, and troops be thus released for possible service in another theatre, not necessarily on the southern shore of the Mediterranean. That will depend on whether Germany decides definitely to strike southward through Bulgaria, as there is every sign that she will, and what plans Mr. Eden and Sir John Dill concert with Turkish statesmen and soldiers for meeting such a situation.
