NEWS OF THE WEEK
THE course of the civil war in Spain has been obscured by its repercussions abroad : non-intervention has been made more difficult by the assistance given by Italian aeroplanes to the rebels. Fortunately Russia has agreed to a non-intervention policy provided Germany and Italy do the same, as it seems probable they will. The critical points of the war continue to be Saragossa, Seville, Toledo and the mountains north of Madrid, where the rebels are striving to advance on the capital. If they succeeded it-would be a decisive blow, but the Marxist militia have inflicted several defeats on them and hold Guadamarra village itself. The Government supporters ad- vancing from Barcelona on Saragossa, the rebels' strongest military position, have been defeated and driven back but are returning to the attack on this key-point ; at Seville the rebels are reported to have won several successes and to be advancing north. Politically, perhaps the most sig- nificant events have been the formation of an extreme Left Government in Barcelona, and the beginnings of divisions between its .constituent parties ; in Madrid events are likely to take the same course, though while the rebels are still threatening the capital frOm the north the necessity for unity and immediate military action has kept the ranks of the Popular Front firm and unimpaired.
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