News In Brief

Soviets' chief of ideology appears to be Gorbachev

Politburo member Mikhail S. Gorbachev has apparently assumed the Communist Party's ideology post traditionally held by the Kremlin's No. 2 man. He gave the closing speech to the Soviet Union's first-ever nationwide ideology conference, saying it was important to ''more fully and effectively utilize the vast ideological and organizing potential of party propaganda,'' the official news agency Tass reported.

The two-day gathering, which concluded Tuesday, was the first all-union conference on ideology, which is usually discussed in plenary meetings of the 300-plus-member Central Committee.