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1 r I , ; s 5 e i j 1 0 e y a "1 J UNITED PRESS i NEWS - . BRIEFS NATIONAL: Britains Action No Surprise: Potter WASHINGTON, D. C, May 31. Sen. Charles E. Potter R-Mich. said today that congressional passage of President Eisenhowers foreign aid program may "possibly" be hampered by Britains decision to increase its trade with Red China. Potter, a member of the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee, called the British action "regrettable." But it comes as no surprise, he said, "because pressures have been building up for an increase in such trade." Reuther Hits Natural Gas Bill WASHINGTON, D. C, May 31. United Auto Workers President Walter A. Reuther said today enactment of an administration-supported natural gas bill would cost consumers almost one billion dollars a year. He said there would be an "upward spiralling of all fuel prices that would follow the sharp increases in gas prices triggered by enactment" of the measure. "Careful estimates show," he added, that the bill would result in an increase in the "value of presently reported gas reserves by more than 30 billion dollars, one of the greatest windfalls in history." Recommendations on Campaign Spending WASHINGTON, D. C, May 31. A blue- -ribbon Senate committee recommended today that Congress junk spending ceilings on presidential election campaigns. Reporting on a 14-month inquiry, the group proposed that the Comptroller General fiscal watchdog for the Congress be given addi-i tional powers to ride herd on lobbying and campaign spending. FOREIGN: British Labor Party Renew Demands LONDON, England, May 31. The British Labor Party today claimed major victories in three British by-elections and renewed its demands that the government of Prime Minister Harold MacMillan resign. But there was no chance of MacMillan heeding , the cries. He still has a solid 59-seat ma-3 jority in the House of Commons and the next general election is not scheduled until 1959. Fear Flu Epidemic Is Spreading LONDON, England, May 31. An influ-i enza epidemic which has been raging through the Far East since mid-April was feared today to be spreading to Europe. The World Health Organization in Geneva said 60 per cent of the population in Ma- nila was affected by the disease. Outbreaks have also been reported in Japan, For-e mosa, Cambodia, Malaya, Indonesia, Sara-e wak, North Borneo, Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore. Thus far the epidemic has been relatively mild. Britain Relaxing Trade Embargo LONDON, England, May 31. British Board of Trade officials said today Britain 1 would relax its trade embargo with such Communist countries as North Korea and s. North Vietnam at the same time it drops i- the Korean war-imposed ban on trade with l- Red China, it he Report on German Reunification 5t BONN, Germany, May 31. West Ger-a a man Chancellor Konrad Adenauer said today it may take "one to two years" before , the way can be Cleared for a four-power s Foreign Ministers Conference on German :d reunification. Adenauer made this point se in talking to newsmen after he reported of to his cabniet on his recent talks in Wash-af of ington with President Eisenhower, lr Indonesia Crisis-Torn Free Nation not at JAKARTA, May 31. Growing political and ecomonic pressures are nearing the exploding point in crisis-torn Indonesia, Western dipolmats said today. Observers do not feel a bloody civil war is inevitable, but they agree this young republic is headed for trouble that will test its ability to sur- : vive as. a free nation. Batista Heads Army Against Rebels HAVANA, Cuba, May 31. President Ful-gencio Batista today took over the military campaign against Cubas rebels. There were indications he would set up "death zones" in Southeastern Cubar to stem rebel infiltration." Army general headquarters disclosed a new general operations command, headed by Batisa, had been set up to stamp out the rebel threat in Oriente Province.
