By a communication dated 20 June 1973, which reached the Swiss Federal Government on the 28th of the same month, the Prime Minister of Swaziland informed the Swiss Federal Council of his country's accession to the four 1949 Geneva Conventions. This accession, which becomes effective on 28 December 1973, brings the number of States Parties to the Geneva Conventions to 135.

From 9 to 23 June 1973, the ICRC delegate-general for Latin America and the Caribbean took part in the regional training institute for Red Cross senior personnel, organized in Jamaica by the League and mentioned later in this issue.

Under the title of Weapons that may Cause Unnecessary Suffering or have Indiscriminate Effects, the International Committee has published a summarized report on the work of a group of experts whom it convened in Geneva, this year, on the subject of modern weapons.

Between the end of December 1972 and mid-January 1973, National Red Cross Societies opened three offices to trace missing persons: in Saigon, Vientiane and Phnom-Penh. The ICRC has sent to these three towns specialists from its Central Tracing Agency to help the Societies organize the offices, prepare the necessary equipment (printing index cards in the local vernaculars, for example), and train local staff. Work has already started on the registration of requests for news. At the same time, information campaigns have been launched through the press and over the radio in order to make the people and local authorities aware of the opening of these national tracing services.

The definitive text of the draft Additional Protocols to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, drawn up by the ICRC as a sequel to the two sessions of the Conference of Government Experts on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts, in 1971 and 1972, have just come off the press. The text has been drafted in English, French and Spanish and may be obtained at 10 Swiss francs a copy from the ICRC Documents and Dissemination Division, 7, Avenue de la Paix, CH—1211 Geneva.

Born in Geneva in 1900, he studied medicine in the Universities of Geneva and Strasbourg, and took in-service courses in Paris and Vienna. From 1927, for over nineteen years, he worked in the Geneva Medical Clinic as assistant, clinical instructor, head of laboratory, and senior assistant. From 1946 to 1970, he was Professor in charge of the Geneva University Policlinic, twice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and, from 1960 to 1962, Rector of Geneva University. Since 1970 he has been an honorary professor of that University.

On 21 February 1973, a Libyan airliner was brought down in the Sinai desert.

The ICRC promptly offered the authorities concerned its services for the transmission of information regarding the victims, and asked to be allowed to visit the survivors.

The second session of the Conference of Government Experts, in May 1972, provided some very worthwhile results. Not all of the problems were covered, however, and the solutions proposed for some were far from meeting with unanimous approval. The ICRC therefore felt it necessary to call meetings of groups of government experts to help select questions and draft the finer points. Specific technical matters, too, called for consultation with specialists.

We have the honour to inform you that the International Committee of the Red Cross, on 24 October 1973, officially recognized the Central African Red Cross Society.

During his visit to Switzerland, the Israeli Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Abba Eban, went on 29 January 1973 to the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva.

At a plenary meeting held on 3 May 1973, the International Committee appointed Mr. Paul Ruegger and Mr. Guillaume Bordier honorary members.

We have the honour to inform you that the International Committee of the Red Cross, on 20 September 1973, officially recognized the Fiji Red Cross Society.

We have the honour to inform you that the International Committee of the Red Cross, on 6 June 1973, officially recognized the Mauritanian Red Crescent Society.

The new Society formally applied for recognition by the International Committee on 5 March 1973. Its request was supported by its Statutes, the Mauritanian Government Decree recognizing the Mauritanian Red Crescent as a National Society auxiliary to the public authorities, and a report on the Society's activities.

At its plenary meeting on 14 December 1972, the International Committee of the Red Cross took note with keen regret of the resignation of Mr. Jacques Freymond, a member of the ICRC for many years.

During the last few weeks, ICRC delegates and doctors in the Asian sub-continent have several times visited military and civilian prisoners. As customary, they talked in private with prisoners of their own choosing.

During the last seven years, the ICRC has been actively working for the victims of the conflict in Indochina at two different levels: protection and assistance. Already in 1965, it had for these purposes opened a permanent delegation in Saigon, and later in both Phnom-Penh and Vientiane.

In a letter dated 27 April 1973, which reached the Swiss Government on the same day, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Singapore informed the Swiss Federal Council of Singapore's accession to the four 1949 Geneva Conventions.

At the outset of hostilities in the Middle East, the ICRC took various steps in Geneva and through its delegation in the field.

Some time ago, the ICRC medical team in Bangladesh noted that in the various non-Bengali settlements 60 to 70 per cent of the children and a large number of adults were suffering from scabies. It was decided to construct Centres for the treatment of that skin disease, and the ICRC made a substantial sum available.