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GENERAL NEWS NOTES OF THE DAY. Official announcement was made at Pctrograd that Russia had refused to accept a tardy ex-planHtion from Turkey of the Black Sea raid; that the Tiukish charge daffaires had left Petrograd, and that the Russian ambassador had been withdrawn from Constantinople. It was further stated at the foreign ministry that a state of war existed between Turkey and Russia, but that neither country had issued a declaration of hostilities. Dispatches received by the war office report that Turkish troops have attacked the Russian forces in the government of Kars, southeast, of Trcbizond. It is believed that several corps of Ottoman troops have been concentrated in this district to overrun Trans-Caucasia. The Russian government lias ordered that all Turkish subjects within the borders of Russia shall leave within a week. It is officially announced at London jfiiat the British cruiser Minerva lias bombarded the forts of the Turkish town of Akaba and destroyed the barracks. Tne troops are believed to lie under the command of German officers. It is authoratively stated at Home that Italy and Great Britain have agreed to stand together for the common defense of their colonies in Africa if Turkey goes to war. The understanding may become operative at any moment. The tremendous German assault at Ypres is believed by Loudon observers to have been repulsed decisively, but this has been at terrible cost to the lower of the British army, which apparently has suffered as severely as did the Belgian forces which bore- the first brunt; of the seacoast battle. Concerning thc-situation along the river Aisiie, the reports from Berlin and from Paris are sharply contradictory. The Germans declare they have made distinct progress, while the French assert that all the violent German assaults have failed. The tuhinlt of battle lias rolled back from the Belgian coast, and, after the apparent failure of their lierce assault on the English and Belgian lines around Ypres, the Germans evidently are diverting their attack toward a more southerly point. Much activity on the part of the German mobile columns is reported from Belgium, and there is evidence that the invaders have not yet: exhausted all the resources which are being brougnt: to bear in the campaign to cut their way through to Callus.. "Heavy fighting is reported along th.r river Yser, apparently to cover the movements of large bodies of troops in a southerly direction," says a Rotterdam- -dispatch to the London Times. "The Germans, with ammunition wagons and guns marched from Bruges to Courtrai today," the correspondent continues, "and there is pronounced activity among the British airmen.. It. is asserted that three German staff officers were killed by a bomb dropped at Thiol t, fifteen miles southeast of j Bruges. Following the lierce attack against the British along the Yser, the German main forte evidently is making a desperate effort to break through to Calais by a more southerly route." Tne French official announcement says the . Germans appear to have abandoned the left bank of the Yser below Dixmude and troops of the allies have reoccupicd iwints on the river without great difficulty. A dispatch from Cairo, Egypt, says: "The Turkish troop are reported near the Iwrder. which they have not crossed. The British are fully pra-pred to repulse an invasion, thanks to the measures taken by the government. The public in Egypt is calm and not even aware of a Turko-Russian rupture. A press censorship will be established at once." The German submarine which compassed the destruction of the British cruiser nermcs off Dover last Saturday has returned safely to port. This information is conveyed in an official aniiouncp-meut given out in Berlin relating the loss of the British warship. The name of the submarine which took part in this engagement is not given. The following otlicial annouccmcnt was made public at Vienna: "On the Russian-Turkish frontier near Treblzond battles have commenced between Russian and. Turkish troops." A dispatch from Paris says: "Virtually every height of Importance in the Vosges is in the hands of the allies after fierce engagements. In Lorraine, not far from Nancy, the battle goes on in forests and across canals and rivers, from which the allies have pushed the Germans, entering German Lorraine." It was officially announced at Berlin that Lieutenant General Karl von Meyer was killed in action at Dixmude on Oct. 28. An official communication given out by the Belgian general staff says: "The enemy has fallen back toward the east, abandoning dead and wounded. Our troops are holding the positions occupied yesterday. Our advance forces, which moved toward the Yser, are finding everywhere signs of precipitate retreat." All Egypt is tinder martial law. Maj.-Geu. Sir John Grenfell Maxwell, commanding the forces in Egypt, has published a proclamation to the effect that the British government has ordered him to take charge of the military control of Egypt and to insure protection. An official communication was given out in Constantinople as follows: "According to official reports from the Caucasian frontier, Russian troops have attacked our frontier forces at several points, but were compelled to retire. The Russians sutlered losses through the energetic resistance of the Turkish troops." It was officially announced in London thnt the Turks have detained the British consul at Basrah, Asiatic Turkey, and all of the European merchants doing business there as hostages. Grave fears are entertained for the safety of all foreigners now in Asiatic Turkey. Basrah is on the Shat-El-Arab, sixty miles from the Persian gulf, and is a trading city of importance. :
