News stories from Saturday February 27, 1971

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

There was heavy fighting in Laos including the biggest tank battle of the Indochina war for control of Hill 31. North Vietnamese tanks attacking Hill 31 were shot at by U.S. helicopters. A scheduled helicopter trip into Laos for reporters was canceled due to risk. [CBS] The Air Force is questioning more than 40 soldiers at the Cam Ranh Bay base in South Vietnam about a narcotics ring there. [CBS] There was violence in Belfast, Northern Ireland, as British troops attempted a search for the killer of two Belfast policemen. Catholic women protested the sentencing of a man to eight months in prison for wearing an IRA uniform to a funeral. [CBS] The United Nations announced that Israel is willing to discuss the establishment of borders with Egypt. Israel demanded that there be no preconditions for the negotiations. [CBS] The U.S. aircraft carrier Enterprise was invited to Chile by President Salvador Allende, but the Pentagon says that the ship has other schedule commitments. [CBS] President Nixon nominated University of Utah president James Fletcher as the new head of NASA. [CBS] The Army surveillance handbook for the 1967-68 riot season was revealed at Senate committee hearings. The handbook outlines the types of information the Army wanted to be gathered about civil disturbances. It asked for the names of those who aggravate racial tension and listed the NAACP and Southern Christian Leadership Conference as being among them. The handbook was declassified three days ago; the Army stopped using those guidelines last June. [CBS] Democrats in the Illinois state legislature failed in their attempt to call for an investigation of the late Illinois Senator Everett Dirksen's estate. The inventory of Dirksen's assets is scheduled to be filed in three weeks, but should have been filed a year ago. [CBS] The Washington Senators baseball team began spring training with two new controversial players. Pitcher Denny McLain of the Detroit Tigers was suspended twice last year and then traded to Washington after the season. Former St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Curt Flood didn't play in 1970 while he was suing to break the contract clause which binds players to a team.Manager Ted Williams says that McLain and Flood are important to baseball, and he thinks they realize that baseball is important to them. Williams noted that he used to be considered "controversial" as a player too, but never had trouble with his manager and doesn't think he will have trouble with McLain and Flood. [CBS]