LEAD: A 19-year-old white man was acquitted yesterday of killing a 16-year-old black youth who crossed one of the invisible barriers that separate white from black New York when he went to the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn last Aug. 23.

2d Brooklyn Jury Rejects Murder Counts

LEAD: A new Federal grand jury today began a criminal inquiry into the Iran-contra affair that is expected to center on the activities of mid-level Reagan Administration officials, Government officials said.

IRAN-CONTRA PANEL OPENS NEW INQUIRY ON REAGAN'S AIDES

LEAD: A Japanese industrialist identified himself today as the buyer of the two most expensive paintings ever sold at auction. The purchases are considered likely to deepen already serious concern over the manner in which Japanese businessmen are amassing and displaying collections of Western art.

One Man, Two Masterpieces And Many Questions in Japan

LEAD: A 53-year-old Harlem factory worker saw a fellow passenger being robbed at gunpoint on the J train yesterday morning and came to his aid, saying ''leave that man alone.'' The gunman shot the worker dead.

Man Is Killed on a Subway Train While Trying to Thwart a Robbery

LEAD: In two days, two separate juries in the same case presented New York with two very different verdicts.

Different Verdicts: Why?

LEAD: Bringing to a close New York State's longest budget fight ever, legislative leaders today agreed on a new financial plan that raises spending only slightly while calling for the largest tax increase in the state's history.

7 Weeks Late, New York State Has Budget Pact

INSIDE

LEAD: Secretary of State James A. Baker 3d urged the Lithuanian Prime Minister today to consider suspending her republic's declaration of independence as a way of opening a dialogue with Moscow, Lithuanian officials said.

Evolution in Europe;   BAKER SAID TO ASK VILNIUS TO SUSPEND INDEPENDENCE ACT

LEAD:    Taking a stride toward full German unification, East Germany agreed to adopt West Germany's currency and change to a market economy. Page 6.

Germans Sign Economic Pact

LEAD: Couples who become adoptive and foster parents of drug-exposed babies often find that rearing them is vastly more difficult than experts had predicted.

Adopting Drug Babies    A Special Report;   Child-Rearing Is Stormy When Drugs Cloud Birth

LEAD: With a margin of only about 11,000 votes separating the two leading candidates in Wednesday's presidential elections, the major political parties agreed today to a ballot-by-ballot recount that is expected to take up to 10 days.

With Tiny Margin Between Them, Dominican Foes Agree to Recount

LEAD:    International    2-6       The Lithuanian Prime Minister was urged by Secretary of State Baker to consider suspending her republic's declaration of independence as a way of opening a dialogue with Moscow, Lithuanian officials said.    Page 1       The logjam in the arms control talks was not broken, despite five hours of discussions between Secretary of State Baker and President Gorbachev in the Kremlin, American officials said.

News Summary

LEAD: ''What we are experiencing is the moment in which the free and united Germany is born.''     - Chancellor Helmut Kohl of West Germany. [6:2.]

Quotation of the Day

LEAD: A senior Chinese official who disagreed with the military crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators last spring has quietly arrived in the United States, apparently seeking refuge, American officials said yesterday.

Chinese Aide May Seek U.S. Refuge

LEAD: A chart with an article yesterday on the nation's farm economy used an incorrect scale for the number of farms in the United States. The number of farms shown was in millions.

Corrections

LEAD: A senior Ethiopian official scheduled and then abruptly canceled a meeting with an American official today on an agreement guaranteeing safe passage for tons of emergency food supplies for starving people in northern Ethiopia.

Ethiopia Cancels Talks In U.S. on Food Accord

LEAD: The Diner's Journal in Weekend yesterday mistated the dates that Huberts on Shelter Island, L.I., will be open. The restaurant will be open from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and will not close during August.

LEAD: A music review on Thursday about a program honoring the composer William Schuman at Merkin Concert Hall last Saturday misidentified the pianist who played his ''Variations on Chester.'' She was Lisa Moore, who substituted for Ilana Vered, the artist listed in the program.

LEAD: Because of an editing error, an obituary yesterday about S. Arthur Dembner, a book publisher, gave the wrong date for a memorial service. It will be at 1 P.M. on May 29, not this Tuesday, at the Ethical Culture Society, 2 West 64th Street in Manhattan.

LEAD: Philippine and American negotiators today ended preliminary talks on the future of United States military installations by agreeing only to hold more discussions on ''new, restructured relations'' between their two nations.

U.S. and Philippines Recess Talks On Bases in Mood of Uncertainty

LEAD: If you've always wanted to be a Scottish baron, today was the day to be at Glazier's Hall, London, with a pocketful of money.

London Journal;   Not to the Manner Born, but to the Manor Bought

LEAD: More than 50,000 people crowded into a central intersection here today to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Kwangju uprising, and afterward thousands of students battled the riot police late into the night.

Protesters Hail 1980 Uprising in Korea

LEAD: An article in Business Day on Thursday about a proposal for the creation of futures contracts related to insurance misidentified an insurance industry analyst at Shearson Lehman Hutton. He is Michael Smith, not Michael Sutton.

LEAD: An article by The Associated Press yesterday, about a killing in which Marlon Brando's son has been arrested, misidentified the victim in some copies. He was Dag Drollet.

LEAD: A brief article in some copies of Sports Pages yesterday misstated the day on which runners wishing to compete in the New York City Marathon in November can line up for application forms at Tavern on the Green near West 67th Street in Central Park. It is tomorrow at 10 A.M.

May 19, 1990

Headlines from May 19, 1990

2d Brooklyn Jury Rejects Murder Counts

IRAN-CONTRA PANEL OPENS NEW INQUIRY ON REAGAN'S AIDES

One Man, Two Masterpieces And Many Questions in Japan

Man Is Killed on a Subway Train While Trying to Thwart a Robbery

Different Verdicts: Why?

Billboard 200

I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got

Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em

Brigade

Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814

Soul Provider

Historical Context for May 19, 1990