News stories from Sunday November 7, 1976

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

An engine room fire aboard an American container ship carrying flammable cargoes raged for more than six hours in the North Atlantic. But the Coast Guard reported that seamen snuffed out the blaze by nightfall, with no reports of serious injuries. [New York Times] Hard world currency decisions will face the Carter administration, according to financial experts in Europe. A priority is loan applications by Britain and Italy to the International Monetary Fund, which needs more money. [New York Times] Earnings progress by American business continued in 1976's third quarter. Corporate profits exceeded predictions by many experts in rising 14 percent above the year-earlier levels. Most economists believe that, for all of this year, corporate earnings will be about 25 percent higher than in 1975. [New York Times] Credit markets zigzagged up and down last week, but closed on Friday with prices and interest rates close to their levels of a week earlier. Bond analysts seemed concerned that Jimmy Carter's election would lead to policies accelerating inflation. But at week's end, economists agreed that the concern had been exaggerated and his victory would not threaten bondholders. [New York Times] Labor songs reverberated through the grand ballroom of the Pierre Hotel as the United Federation of Teachers observed the 16th anniversary of its first strike in New York City and hailed Charles Cogen, who led the walkout. The occasion reunited two deans of the American labor movement, Jacob Potofsky and David Dubinsky, who sang ''We Shall Overcome" and stressed the teachers union's link with labor struggles of a bygone era. [New York Times] The endangered California condors, threatened both by hunters and a changing environment, now number only 40. They have developed problems in reproducing, and there is a suspicion that pesticides may be interfering with their birth rate. [New York Times] The World Trade Center lost nearly $12 million last year, New York state Comptroller Arthur Levitt reported in a study of the 25 facilities operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. But he said that operations of all the authority's units made a profit last year of $38,254,000. [New York Times] The Lebanese people were urged by President Elias Sarkis to end the "bloodshed and ruin" of their civil war. In a national broadcast, he appealed to the warring factions to welcome the Syrian-dominated peacekeeping force being established in Lebanon to disarm and control the opposing camps and end the 18-month war. In his first major speech since he took office Sept. 23, Mr. Sarkis stressed that the peace-keeping force of about 30,000 troops would be directly under his command. He said he hoped their stay would be brief. [New York Times] A relatively modest military parade and endorsement of detente marked the Soviet Union's celebration of the 59th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. It was the second annual parade through Red Square that broke a 15-year tradition by omitting intercontinental ballistic missiles. [New York Times] India's authoritarian policies, begun as temporary, are now regarded by many Indians as permanent. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi originally called her suspension of civil liberties and jailing of opponents "temporary restrictions." But milestones in her new order include tough press censorship, a new, dynastic mentality, concentration of power and postponement of a parliamentary election. [New York Times] President Park Chung Hee must have been aware of cash payments to American officials and pressures on businessmen for contributions, according to Korean and American sources in Seoul. They say that the linking of the practices with so many top aides and confidants of the South Korean leader Indicates his tacit approval. [New York Times] In an unusual arrangement, the Northrop Corporation and the Navy are jointly promoting a $4 billion sale to Iran of a land-based version of a new Navy fighter, the F-18. The Pentagon has reservations about such an accord. Iran would finance development of the land-based F-18. which the Pentagon does not plan to buy. The proposed deal could set a precedent for a foreign country to influence United States weapons development and foreign military sales programs. [New York Times] Suspected PBB poisoning of more than 1,000 rural residents of Michigan has produced the first federal mass survey of the effects of an environmental contaminant. In 1972 a quantity of PBB, a fire retardant, was accidentally mixed into animal feed distributed in the state, causing the deaths of many thousands of animals and the destruction of even more to prevent further contamination. Families suspecting PBB-related illnesses are undergoing free examinations in Grand Rapids. [New York Times] The elections in Puerto Rico upset not only the incumbent Popular Democratic Party. The dramatic victory of the opposition New Progressive Party also disappointed the independence movement in its hopes of becoming the power broker in the new legislature. Neither of the two pro-independence parties made significant gains. [New York Times]