"Public reminded not to rush to the stores." There is a bigger shopping crowd now than previous Christmas rushes. Chinese stores usually have a crowd outside waiting to get in, and most stores open for only a few hours. Yesterday, I was told that I could buy anything I wanted without a ration card, but at higher prices.

Minou Kato of the Mainichi, Berlin: "Germans set to launch new offensive on Russia." It's summer, you see; the Wehrmacht completed its preparations and is now ready to "strike a decisive blow" to the Soviets. But instead of "expanding areas of occupation as in 1942," they will try "annihilating as many Russians as possible as in 1941." Their plan is to transfer Axis units on the eastern front to the western coastal areas. "Among experts it is believed that German strategy will be a defensive offensive, namely, to annihilate Soviet units ... in several sectors ... by engineering the enemy to take the initiative." In other words, the Russians will do all the attacking while the Germans hang on for dear life!