News stories from Sunday January 16, 1977

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

President-elect Carter refused to budge from his choice of Theodore Sorensen as Director of Central Intelligence. Mr. Sorensen, who was a confidant of President Kennedy, has come under lire in Washington for his personal use of classified White House files. Mr. Carter reaffirmed his nomination in a terse statement. [New York Times] The cost of the Ford administration's policy of seeking to limit the spread of nuclear weapons to nations around the world is put at $2.8 billion over the next three years. The cost estimate was made by the Office of Management and Budget. The outlays required for the program raised objections from some officials in the administration and critics outside it. [New York Times] A 23-year-old University of California student was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on charges that he was a spy for the Soviet Union over the last 18 months. He was identified as Christopher Boyce, 23. The F.B.I. said he had been employed as a "security clerk" by TRW Inc., a military contractor, from July 1974 to December 1976. An alleged accomplice is in custody in Mexico. [New York Times] Preparations proceeded in Utah for the execution by firing squad of Gary Gilmore tomorrow morning. Only a last-minute stay can prevent the convicted killer's execution, the first in this country in 10 years. [New York Times] Pressure appears to be growing within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries for an end to the two-tier price system that has been in effect only two weeks. The system has substantially cut the revenues of Iraq, Iran and Kuwait. Iraq's Planning Minister, Adnan Hamadani, reportedly visited Kuwait recently to call for a special OPEC meeting to try to settle the pricing dispute. Other OPEC countries including Venezuela and Indonesia are also unhappy. [New York Times] The credit markets "will remain nervous and volatile" until the increase in the money supply slows down, according to the Chase Manhattan Bank Market Report. The credit markets last year made the strongest gain since the Depression. So far this year, they have declined daily in a dramatic reversal that has left fixed-income analysts and traders without definite conviction about the outlook for bond prices and interest rates. [New York Times] The nation's largest accounting firms -- known as the "Big Eight" -- are accused in a Senate subcommittee staff report of controlling and exploiting the profession's rule-making powers to serve special interests of large corporate clients. The 1,760-page report, "The Accounting Establishment," was also sharply critical of the Securities and Exchange Commission for its "astounding" acquiescence in having accounting rules set largely by "self-interested private accounting organizations." [New York Times] Two champion bridge players who were accused of "improprieties" at a Houston tournament have resigned from the American Contract Bridge League, after their withdrawal from the North American championship. The players who quit were Dr. Richard Katz and Lawrence Cohen, of Los Angeles. [New York Times] An assault on the city of Cotonou in Benin -- the former French colony of Dahomey -- by a number of unidentified armed men was repulsed by government troops. The Cotonou radio, monitored in Niger, said that the attack occurred at dawn after a DC-8 unloaded the attackers and "large quantities of munitions and took off again" from Cadjehoun Military Airport. [New York Times] The British government is expected within the next year to sell a large part of its shares -- $850 million worth -- in the British Petroleum Company, Europe's biggest company and the world's fifth largest oil company. The government decided to sell the B.P. shares to help rehabilitate Britain's economy. The sale was one of the concessions that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Denis Healey, made to the International Monetary Fund last month in applying for a $3.9 billion loan. [New York Times]