LEAD: In a vote that surprised both opponents and supporters of gun control, the Senate today approved a measure that would ban for three years the manufacture and sale of nine types of semiautomatic assault weapons.

SENATE BACKS CURB ON ASSAULT RIFLES BY A VOTE OF 50-49

LEAD: The House of Representatives late tonight overwhelmingly approved the first major overhaul of environmental laws in 13 years, rebuffing warnings from the White House that some provisions were ''unnecessarily costly.''

House, 401-21, Votes to Widen Clean Air Curbs

LEAD: Harvard University and the City University of New York have decided to eliminate stocks of tobacco companies from their investment portfolios, in what may be harbingers of a new tactic to highlight the dangers of smoking.

Harvard and CUNY Shedding Stocks in Tobacco

LEAD: THIS weekend many New Yorkers will spend their first days at the beach, as well as their first hours in trains, buses or cars getting there.

City and Sea At Front Door All Year Long

LEAD: The Administration told Congress today that more than 1,000 savings and loan associations - 40 percent of the industry - might eventually have to be seized by the Government, twice the number it had initially projected.

SAVINGS FAILURES EXPECTED TO SOAR, THE TREASURY SAYS

LEAD: Because of Ascension Thursday, alternate-side parking rules will be suspended in New York City today. Other regulations remain in effect.

Parking Rules

LEAD: IN a show twice as big as last year's, more than 200 exhibitors presented their newest designs this week at the second International Contemporary Furniture Fair, the fledgling forum for modern design. Its four-day run at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center left many wondering whether New York isn't wrenching the honor of being the unofficial capital of the furniture design world from Milan, which has reigned as such since World War II.

Ciao, Milano! Furniture Finds A New World

LEAD:    THE ECONOMY       More than 1,000 savings and loans might have to be seized by the Government, twice the number the Bush Administration had initially projected. Treasury Secretary Brady, raising earlier estimates, said at least $89 billion would need to be appropriated by Congress for the industry bailout.

BUSINESS DIGEST

LEAD:    NATO to Cut Back Training    The alliance said that it will reduce the readiness of some units and scale back training, in response to a decreased Soviet threat. Page A9.       Baker Defends Arms Deal    Secretary of State James A. Baker 3d rebutted critics who say he conceded too much in arms talks in Moscow last week.

INSIDE

LEAD: After months of searching, New York State Republican leaders last night selected an economist who has never run for public office to be their party's candidate for governor.

Pierre Rinfret, Economist, Chosen By G.O.P. to Run Against Cuomo

LEAD: The Coca-Cola Company earlier this month introduced its costliest summer promotion ever. But instead of winning more fans, the $100 million campaign has bought the world's biggest soft-drink company a world of trouble, including the potential for product liability suits, some lawyers contend.

Problems Pop Up in Coke Promotion

LEAD: Alice Richman died last July after she was found on the floor of an elevator bleeding from severe head and body wounds. Two months later the decomposed and battered body of Gladys Landau was discovered in a padlocked closet.

Death Among the Disturbed: Were Police Inattentive?

LEAD: It is that time of year for the community gardeners in Greenwich Village: time to plant, mulch, prune and adjust the chains around the shrubs. Growing things sometimes need a little extra slack. But not too much.

New Yorkers Trying to Outwit Shrub Rustlers

LEAD: The Soviet Government said today that it planned to hold a countrywide referendum this year on a new package of economic changes, giving Soviet citizens their first direct say on a matter of national policy.

Evolution in Europe;   SOVIET ECONOMIC PROGRAM WILL BE PUT TO THE VOTERS IN FIRST POLICY REFERENDUM

LEAD: Eight months ago, homeless men and women began hawking a new tabloid newspaper on the streets and subways of New York. The premise of Street News was the promise of self-reliance: Instead of begging for handouts, the paper's vendors would sell something of substance and perhaps save enough money to get back on their feet.

Tabloid Sold by the Homeless Is in Trouble

LEAD: Despite fairly aggressive incentives, sales of American-made cars and light trucks fell by 17.5 percent in mid-May, disappointing analysts and dealers who expect higher sales in the spring.

Vehicle Sales Fell by 17.5% In Mid-May

LEAD: A flurry of recent findings suggest that multiple sclerosis, a crippling disorder of the central nervous system, may be biologically simpler and more amenable to treatment than scientists have long believed.

New Findings on Nerve Damage May Help Treat Multiple Sclerosis

LEAD: DO parents have the right to keep grandparents out of their children's lives?

Taking Family Feuds to Court

LEAD: Monday marks four years since the name of Samuel B. Spencer 3d was indelibly inscribed on New York City's roster of black victims of racially motivated violence, though his name was written in lower-case letters.

Metro Matters;   In a Bias Case, A Family's Quest For Vindication

LEAD: Under a blistering cross-examination, Ivan F. Boesky testified yesterday that he had lied more times under oath than he could remember before he admitted to illegal insider trading in 1986 and began cooperating with the Government's investigation of crimes on Wall Street.

A Head Testimony By Boesky

LEAD: In a move that seemed to reflect Moscow's concern about falling energy exports, the Soviet Union today signed its first oil exploration and production agreement with a Western company, the state-owned Elf Aquitaine of France.

Oil Deal By Soviets And French

LEAD: On Dixwell Avenue, where addicts have congregated for years to buy and sell drugs, health workers are poised to begin giving users new needles for old ones as a way to try to slow the spread of AIDS.

New Haven Plans to Give Drug Addicts New Needles

LEAD: After years of searching for a second successful program, the Lotus Development Corporation may have finally found its 4-5-6.

A Bright New Number Beyond Lotus's 1-2-3

LEAD: Sometime Thursday afternoon at the BankAmerica Corporation's annual meeting here, A. W. Clausen, the chairman and chief executive, will hand over the gavel of leadership to Richard M. Rosenberg, ending an era - or more correctly two eras - at the nation's third-largest banking company.

One Goal Unmet as Clausen Retires From BankAmerica

LEAD: For seven weeks Adnan Khashoggi has sat at a far table in the courtroom, a kind of orphan defendant, mostly watching Imelda Marcos's lawyers fight the charges against her. At times, his head has swayed back and forth between the lawyer's podium and the witness stand as if he were a casual spectator at a tennis match.

Focus at Marcos Trial Turns to Khashoggi

Mattias Hans Ekholm is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman for the Edmonton Oilers in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted in the fourth round, 102nd overall, of the 2009 NHL entry draft by the Nashville Predators.

Mattias Ekholm, Swedish ice hockey player

Mattias_Ekholm

Joseph Thomas Logano is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Team Penske. He previously competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, as well as what is now the ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East and ARCA Menards Series West.

May 24, 1990

Headlines from May 24, 1990

SENATE BACKS CURB ON ASSAULT RIFLES BY A VOTE OF 50-49

House, 401-21, Votes to Widen Clean Air Curbs

Harvard and CUNY Shedding Stocks in Tobacco

City and Sea At Front Door All Year Long

SAVINGS FAILURES EXPECTED TO SOAR, THE TREASURY SAYS

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

Notable Births

Notable Deaths

Historical Context for May 24, 1990