LEAD: After ruling Rumania as a dictator for a quarter of a century, President Nicolae Ceausescu was forced to flee Bucharest Friday when angry crowds of anti-Government demonstrators, backed by army units, took over large sections of the capital.

UPHEAVAL IN THE EAST: Overview; CEAUSESCU FLEES A REVOLT IN RUMANIA BUT DIVIDED SECURITY FORCES FIGHT ON

LEAD:  6 Senators Face an Inquiry For H.U.D. and Thrift Roles

INSIDE

LEAD: Panama's deposed leader, Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, is believed to be personally directing a hit-and-run counteroffensive by armed civilians as he struggles to avoid capture by American troops, a senior United States military officer said this afternoon.

U.S. Says Noriega Seems to Direct Attacks in Panama

LEAD: Protesting American military action in Panama, Peru has requested that the United States suspend its anti-drug operations in Peru's coca-growing areas, an American narcotics official said. The suspension came after Peru withdrew its Ambassador from Washington. Page 15.

Peru Suspends Anti-Drug Effort

LEAD: The armed rebellion against Nicolae Ceausescu in Rumania demonstrates that no hard-line Communist regime in Eastern Europe can evade the popular wrath sweeping the region.

UPHEAVAL IN THE EAST: Wrath in East Europe; 'The Year of Democracy' Will Still Leave Many Problems and Unanswered Questions

LEAD: Two days after United States forces invaded the country, Panama appeared close to anarchy as bands of looters and roving gunmen took over and ravaged one neighborhood after another.

Cities Are Looters' Jungles As Chaos Consumes Panama

LEAD: ''Not even Hitler killed his own children, and here they used automatic machine gun bursts to strafe them down.''  - Slavomir Gvozdenovic, editor of a literary review in Timisoara, Rumania.  [ 1:5. ]

Quotation of the Day

LEAD:  International 3-15  President Ceausescu of Rumania fled Bucharest, routed by crowds of pro-democracy demonstrators backed by army units. The state security police reportedly remained loyal to the President. Fierce fighting was reported. 1  News analysis: The armed rebellion in Rumania proves that no hard-line Communist government in Eastern Europe can evade the popular wrath sweeping the region.

News Summary

LEAD: An article on Thursday about immigration to Israel referred incorrectly to the distribution of money collected by the United Jewish Appeal, an American fund-raising campaign. None of the money goes to the Israeli Government.

Corrections

LEAD: In a move to ease a looming famine in Ethiopia, the Government there said today that it would allow relief food provided by foreign governments and aid agencies to be distributed in the rebel-held province of Tigre.

Ethiopia to Let Food Aid Into Rebel Area

LEAD: The European Community and 22 members of the Arab League decided today to resume a formal dialogue on political and economic issues, six years after talks between the two groups broke down.

Europe and Arabs to Resume Talks

LEAD: The ''At the Bar'' column on the Law page yesterday referred incorrectly to the first Jews to have served on the United States Supreme Court. Benjamin N. Cardozo followed Louis

LEAD: A brief article on Dec. 12 about the acquittal of a student accused of painting anti-Semitic slurs in the Jewish Student Union at the State University of New York at Binghamton gave an incorrect account of testimony about a can of spray paint found in a desk in the group's office.

LEAD: A news analysis article yesterday about perceptions of the American invasion of Panama referred incorrectly to NBC's coverage of President Bush's news conference and the simultaneous unloading of coffins of American servicemen killed in Panama. NBC recorded the scene at Dover Air Force Base and showed it immediately after Mr.

LEAD: Their heads down, their cameras held close to their bodies, a small group of tourists hurried past the shuttered Arab stores and watchful Israeli soldiers that give this biblical city its feel of siege and arrived this morning at the Church of the Nativity.

Bethlehem Journal; O Little Town, Where Are Your Tourists Now?

LEAD: Lebanon's long political crisis has caused sharp divisions within Christian and Muslim sectors, generating fear about factional violence breaking out on each side of the dividing Green Line.

LEBANON MILITIAS ARE SPLINTERING

LEAD: A Bolivian Air Force transport plane crashed on Thursday in the jungle, killing 23 of 28 people on board, including 2 Americans, the air force said today.

Bolivian Plane Crash Kills 23 but 5 Survive

LEAD: Khmer Rouge guerrillas said today that they had captured the third district capital since Vietnamese troops withdrew from Cambodia three months ago, the guerrilla radio reported.

KHMER ROUGE SAY THEY HOLD A CITY

LEAD: Leaders of the two Germanys reopened the Brandenburg Gate today, breaching a barrier that more than any other had come to symbolize the division of the nation.

Upheaval in the East: Germany; Cheers as Brandenburg Gate Reopens

LEAD: The Acting President of Hungary, Matyas Szuros, announced today that the country's first competitive elections in 41 years will be held on March 25, the state news agency reported.

Upheaval in the East; Hungary to Hold Free Vote On March 25, Leader Says

LEAD: As Hungarians make their Christmas shopping rounds this year, in and out of stores trimmed with silver wreaths and bright ornaments, they are discovering a shortage of good cheer.

Upheaval in the East: Hungary; High Prices Dampen Hungary's Holiday

LEAD: Following are excerpts from dispatches by the Rumanian press agency Agerpres and Rumanian and Hungarian radio and television broadcasts, as monitored and translated by the United States Government's Foreign Broadcast Information Service:  Censor No Longer Needed

Upheaval in the East: East-Bloc Reports; Excerpts From Coverage by the Rumanians and Hungarians

LEAD: President Nicolae Ceausescu was the virtually the last old-style Communist leader to resist the wave of liberalization that swept across Eastern Europe at the end of the 1980's.

Upheaval in the East; Another Hard-Liner Totters In the East

LEAD: Until today, Western journalists were not allowed into Rumania. Here are dispatches on the situation in Rumania yesterday from Bucharest correspondents for the Soviet press agency, Tass, which translated the reports.  'The Army Is With Us!'

Upheaval in the East: Tass; Reports From the Rumanian Capital by Correspondents for Tass

LEAD: The poet Mircea Dinescu, who stood with former Foreign Minister Corneliu Manescu after the takeover of the Rumanian television studios in Bucharest yesterday, had been thrown out of the Communist Party in March for having contacts with foreigners.

Upheaval in the East; Poet Ousted by Party Joins Rumanian on TV

Liis Koger is an Estonian painter and poet based in Tallinn.

December 23, 1989

Headlines from December 23, 1989

UPHEAVAL IN THE EAST: Overview; CEAUSESCU FLEES A REVOLT IN RUMANIA BUT DIVIDED SECURITY FORCES FIGHT ON

INSIDE

U.S. Says Noriega Seems to Direct Attacks in Panama

Peru Suspends Anti-Drug Effort

UPHEAVAL IN THE EAST: Wrath in East Europe; 'The Year of Democracy' Will Still Leave Many Problems and Unanswered Questions

Billboard 200

Girl You Know It's True

Storm Front

Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814

...But Seriously

Forever Your Girl

Notable Births

Historical Context for December 23, 1989