News In Brief

Gromyko scorns US policy; Stalin draws fresh praise

Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, in a speech launching festivities for the 67th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, said Tuesday the United States was ''stubbornly pursuing a militarist course.'' He repeated the Soviet offer of a nuclear freeze.

Meanwhile, Josef Stalin received rare public praise Tuesday in a leading Soviet newspaper which in glowing terms recalled his central role in the 1917 revolution. Although praise for his role as a military leader in World War II appears occasionally, references to his political activities before or after that period are highly unusual. After his passing in 1953, he was denounced for his tyrannical rule and brutal mass repressions.