September 7, 1988

LEAD: Sales of new American-made cars and light trucks remained brisk in late August, industry analysts said, although the auto makers reported an estimated 2.1 percent decline from the comparable period last year.

LEAD: West Germany today reported a lively growth in its gross national product for the first half of 1988, at an annualized rate of 3.9 percent. That offered strong support for the latest Government predictions that the economy would grow by at least 3 percent this year.

LEAD: Donor nations have pledged millions of dollars in aid to Bangladesh, where the worst flooding in 70 years has left much of the country under water and as many as 28 million people homeless or stranded.

LEAD: Michael S. Dukakis's campaign gave ground today in the debate over debates, grudgingly agreeing that there might be only two debates between the Presidential candidates, instead of three or four.

LEAD: After a summer in which sewage and medical waste fouled beaches in the New York metropolitan region, political, business and environmental leaders met here today to exchange strategies to avoid a repeat of the problem next summer.