NEWS OF THE WEEK HE war-nevusin the past week has
been uniformly good— inn most theatres good beyond expectation. In Libya Dema has been captured, though the haul of prisoners was not, as in the case of Bardia and Tobruk, great. And the westward advance continues, over increasingly difficult country, with Benghazi as the immediate goal and the capture of Cyrene, 13o miles from that town, marking the first milestone. The beleaguered Italian garrison at the oasis of Jarabub is still holding out with some gallantry. But the most notable successes have been in Eritrea, where the capture of Agordat and Barentu gives strong promise of the success of the move, first on Asmara, then on Massawa and the sea. The complete elimination of the Italian forces in Eritrea, Abyssinia and Somaliland seems only a question of time, and no long time. On the other side of the Mediterranean the systematic Greek advance in Albania con- tinues, in spite of a series of costly and quite ineffective counter- attacks by the new Italian commander, General Cavallero, who is reported to have tendered his resignation; as he has already held his post for over a week the rumour is probably true. The immediate Greek objective is Valona, and the Italians are said to have evacuated Tepilene, which is one of the last.obstacles on the road to the port. It has to be recognised that Greece may soon have to face a new and grave menace. German. air transport units are admitted by the Italians to be in Albania, though Germany is not at war with Greece. What that points to is obvious.
