zero article

[bbudulinek]

Hello,
I am confused about using of zero article in the sentences like:

Source of poisoning has yet to be identified but the local council's environmental health department believes that meat may have caused the outbreak.

British Minister of Foreign Affairs will pay a three-day visit to Czechoslovakia next weekend.

Please, could you help me? Thanks a lot for your comments:)

[apex2000]

Originally Posted by bbudulinek

Hello,
I am confused about using of zero article in the sentences like:

Source of poisoning has yet to be identified but the local council's environmental health department believes that meat may have caused the outbreak.

British Minister of Foreign Affairs will pay a three-day visit to Czechoslovakia next weekend.

Please, could you help me? Thanks a lot for your comments:)

Both sentences should start - The - and appear to have been omitted to save space!

[BobK]

As apex2000 said, it's just telegraphese. Some newspapers do it rather too much, especially when quoting an official source. "The scene of the crime" often becomes 'Scene of crime'; I believe "SOC-" is a prefix sometimes used in police jargon when referring to this.

b