CABLE NEWS IN BRIEF

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24910, 25 June 1946, Page 5

CABLE NEWS IN BRIEF

Mines on British Beaches. —The War Office estimates that there are still 30,000 mines to be cleared from British beaches. German prisoners are to be employed to assist British sappers and speed up the work for which armoured bulldozers, flame-throwers, and high-pressure jets are also being used. The most heavily mined areas are on the south and south-east coasts. Five companies of Royal Engineers are working there, and already have cleared nearly 10,000 mines. Wales and the north-west coast are already free, and only nine of the 600 minefields in the north are still dangerous. Good progress has also been made in Scotland, where mines now remain on only five .beaches.—London, June 24. Siamese King’s Death.— An official source in Bangkok stated that an Xray examination of King Ananda Mahidol’s body proved conclusively that the bullet which killed him was fired at close range and entered the front of the head first. Reports from the medical commission of 23 members which is investigating the circumstances did not state any conclusion as to whether the King died by accident, suicide, or murder.—Bangkok. June 24.

British Gliding Record.— Philip Wills established a new height record for British gliding when he reached 15.300 feet in a flight of 77 miles. Wills held the previous record of 14,200 feet in July, 1939. A Bavarian, Peter Floeckner, in May. 1939. reached 29,900 feet, using oxygen.—London. June 24.

William S. Hart Dead.— The death has occurred of William S. Hart, the silent screen’s first two-gun Western hero, after a brief illness. He was 83 years of age.—Los Angeles, June 24.

Jugoslav War Crimes Trial.—A prewar Jugoslav Minister. Dr. Markovic who is charged with General Mikhailovic and others before the War Crimes Tribunal, pleaded not guilty. He denied that he personally opposed Marshal Broz’s National Liberation movement, but admitted that General Mikhailovic’s Chetnik forces had collaborated with the Germans against Marshal Broz’s forces.—Belgrade. June

British-Belgian Security Pact Urged. —“The Belgian Senate’s Foreign Affairs Committee has recommended the negotiation of a British-Belgian security pact,” says the diplomatic correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph.” “The committee expressed the view that modern weapons necessitated defence in depth. Britain was geographically situated in a position that enabled her to provide Belgium with the redoubt essential to the concentration of Belgian reserves of men and material."—London, June 24.

Liberal Party in Europe.— Delegates » from eight countries attended a con- « ference for the regeneration of the : Liberal Party in Europe. Mr Clement ( Davies. M.P., and Lord Derwent led ( the British delegation. The conference, [ on the motion of Senor Salvador de Madariaga, who privately represented the exiled Spanish Liberals, adopted a declaration. affirming faith in the spiritual freedom of the human being and stating that world peace and eco-’ s nomic prosperity required a free ex- • change of goods and services, the free { circulation of men and capital, the f suppression of fetters in economic re- t lations between States, and control of - trusts and monopolies in the interests i of consumers.—Brussels. June 23. 1