Nation IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : Round-the-Clock Coal Strike Talks

Negotiators for striking coal miners and the Pittston Co. resumed talks in Washington and were expected to bargain around the clock to settle the 9-month-long walkout by New Year’s Day. The sides returned after a Christmas break from negotiations that officials said had come close to agreement. “A great deal of progress was made,” said Herb Fishgold, spokesman for federal mediator W. J. Usery. The violence-marred strike by about 1,700 coal miners in Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky against Pittston’s coal subsidiary began April 5.