Selection: Michalis Katsigeras

SYRIA: Cairo, 31 – In a report from Beirut, the newspaper Al Saab writes that “all Arab countries, united, will resist any attempts at military intervention in Syria. Any act of this nature would force Egypt to close the Suez Canal.” The same newspaper said that US State Department official Lou Henderson had failed in his efforts to isolate Syria. “Mr Henderson has realized that any hostile gesture against that country would have disastrous consequences for the economies of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Lebanon, given that Iraqi and Saudi oil have to pass through Syria, as do most of the food supplies required by Lebanon.” The report also said that the Syrian government had rejected the proposals put forward by several mediators who had asked Syria to invite Henderson to Damascus. It added that Syria had not plans to send any official invitation to the State Department official. US NUCLEAR TEST: Nevada Atomic Testing Range, 31 – This morning an atomic bomb placed on top of a 208-meter tower was detonated. Nine hundred men took part in the exercise that followed the explosion.