WAR BREAKS OUT IN MIDDLE EAST OVER SUEZ CANAL
After nearly a decade in existence, Israel's Arab neighbors continue to refuse to recognize that nation as a legitimate entity. This refusal has bred numerous small conflicts, and one major war. Now a second major confrontation appears to be taking shape in the war-torn region as Israel pursues its goal of a southern outlet to the Red sea. Egypt has prevented Israel from using the Suez canal by stopping and harassing Israeli ships in Egyptian waters, and has gone so far as to seize the canal from its British and French owners and nationalize it, placing the valuable maritime trade route under military jurisdiction. Israel responded to this by attempting to build a port on the Gulf of Aquaba; unfortunately, persistant Egyptian artillery attacks from the Sinai peninsula have continued to thwart Israeli construction efforts, and this, coupled with Egyptian raids near the Gaza strip, has provoked retaliation by the Israelis. Supported by soldiers and equipment from the nations of Britain and France, Israeli military forces have begun an invasion of Egypt with the goal of securing control of the Suez waterway. The northern entrance to the canal has already come under serious attack, and Israeli forces have succeeded in occupying large portions of Egyptian territory in the Sinai peninsula. The Soviet Union has expressed outrage at this blatant aggression against its Egyptian clients, and the Arab alliance is gearing up for an all-out war.
RUSSIAN TANKS ENTER HUNGARY TO CRUSH REBELLION
Since the end of World War II, relations between the Eastern and Western Blocs in Europe have been strained, cold, and often ominously close to war. Unfortunately, recent events in Hungary have dashed hopes for any easing of this tension. The current struggle stems from the ongoing conflict between popular opinion and the will of the Communist Party. Matthias Rasoki, First Secretary of the Hungarian Communist Party, assumed control of the nation with the help of Soviet troops in 1949. His despotic and unpopular rule ultimately led to his replacement by Imre Nagy in 1953. However, over the course of the last three years, it has become increasingly obvious that Nagy was bent on economic and political reform--and this in turn led to a recent coup d'etat which returned Rasoki to power. Popular sentiment reached a boiling point over Rasoki's reestablishment of totalitarian policies, and that unrest led to an all-out country-wide revolution which reinstated Nagy, repudiated communism, and appealed to the West to defend Hungarian freedom. Soviet military forces have begun pouring into the tiny nation with the goal of crushing the rebellion, while NATO troops have been put on the highest state of readiness.
