News In Brief

King holiday signed into law by Reagan

President Reagan, in a Rose Garden ceremony marked by the spontaneous singing of ''We shall overcome,'' signed Wednesday a law establishing a legal holiday honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. At the President's side was Dr. King's widow, Corretta Scott King.

The law, which Reagan did not endorse during the long campaign for its adoption, provides for a 10th federal holiday to be celebrated the third Monday in January, starting in 1986. Dr. King's birthday is Jan. 15.