News stories from Sunday March 1, 1970

Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:

Rhodesia declared herself a republic and dissolved its Parliament as of midnight. White Rhodesians, who rule the country, expected this final break with Britain. [New York Times] Police officials in Los Angeles began an investigation into the presumed theft of a tiny sample of moon gravel that had been brought back by the Apollo 11 astronauts last July. The lunar dust disappeared from a display at a charity dinner. [New York Times] A fierce fire burning on an oil-drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico is threatening to become a pollution threat. As soon as the dynamite that is expected to snuff out the flames is set off, some workers for the Chevron Oil Company will start drilling new holes to try to shut off the expected flow of underground oil into the gulf while others will try to scoop up the oil to keep it away from beaches. [New York Times] The White House, in the 30th day after President Nixon said he would decide whether to sell Israel more jet planes within 30 days, said that no decision had been reached. One factor Mr. Nixon was weighing was domestic Jewish pressure to sell the jets. On the other hand, congressional sources said that executive branch studies had concluded that Israeli air superiority over the Arabs could be maintained for a long time without more American planes. [New York Times] A dispute over the naming of a new national chairman of the Democratic party broke into the open at a meeting of the party's national executive committee. Former Vice President Hubert Humphrey urged the selection of Matthew Welsh, a former governor of Indiana, but several members of the committee refused to go along. No vote was taken on the recommendation. [New York Times] Austria's Socialist party made the best showing in national legislative elections today but failed to win a parliamentary majority. The conservative People's party, which has governed Austria for the past four years, won only 78 seats in the 165-seat National Council, and the Socialists won 81. The small Freedom party won 6. [New York Times]