June 9, 1980

BETHESDA, Md. Recombinant DNA techniques, known popularly as gene-splicing, are being adapted so rapidly by industry that specialists expect the first tests in humans of potential medical products within a year, far in advance of what had often been predicted.

Governor Carey and key state legislators of both parties have agreed on a bill that would make the courts rather than state psychiatric hospitals responsible for the custody of people found not guilty of crimes because of insanity.

ALGIERS, June 8 Members of the 13nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries began gathering here today for another attempt to set a single base price for oil and to ease some of the strains in the cartel.

BONN, June 8 Inflation, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. That is the conclusion of some West German economists who say that Germany's remarkably low inflation rate, a startling comparison with that of the United States, is in part cosmetic.

TORONTO, June 8 Bell Canada and the Canadian Government are preparing a major field test of a new two-way communications service using home television sets to link private users with a vast array of computerized information banks.

PARIS, June 8 Bjorn Burg, coping with the carefully designed game plan of his opponent, became the first player to win the French open tennis championship five times today, scoring a 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 victory in the final over Vitas Gerulaitis.

WASHINGTON, June 8 The unexpectedly bad news about unemployment and unexpectedly good news about inflation in the last two months has intensified the debate over the Carter Administration's continued emphasis on curbing inflation at the risk of more severe recession.

When corporations become embroiled in social crises, such as the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company and its "500" radial tires, sympathy and a contrite heart are seldom on view. The executive response seems one of throwing up the barricades and limiting any financial liability.

In Louisville, Ky., the General Electric Company said last week that it was laying off about 400 white-collar workers at its big Appliance Park operation. And more cuts are in the offing: 3,700 production employees are slated to be let go in July.