June 16, 1990

LEAD: President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro of Nicaragua announced today that she had ordered a one-third reduction in the size of the Nicaraguan Army, the biggest force in Central America and the most powerful political weapon in the arsenal of the opposition Sandinista Front.

LEAD: Auto makers are planning to put air bags in more models - at $1,000 each - and install them on the passenger side as well as the driver's side. In addition, air bags and automatic seat belts will become more common in pickup trucks, minivans and sport and utility vehicles.

LEAD: A Manhattan jury awarded $7.57 million in damages yesterday to the widow of a young aspiring actor who was stabbed to death nine years ago outside an East Village restaurant by the jailhouse author Jack Henry Abbott.

LEAD: The vibrant prosperity of California has drawn and rewarded many waves of migrants, both American and foreign, but some see a gloomy alternative prospect if more is not done to absorb the state's fast-growing Hispanic work force.

LEAD: Romanians Take Stock

LEAD: Reversing a policy decision, the White House said today that it would support a new international fund to help poorer countries phase out chemicals that are destroying the earth's ozone layer.

LEAD: President Bush today vetoed a bill that would have relaxed restrictions on partisan political activity by Federal workers. The White House said Mr. Bush would also veto another hotly debated piece of legislation mandating unpaid leave for workers with new babies or facing a family emergency.

LEAD: A second illuminated manuscript from the hoard of medieval treasures stolen from the German town of Quedlinburg in the closing days of World War II has just been sold to a West German art dealer.

LEAD: Donald J. Trump failed to pay about $73 million that was due yesterday to banks and bondholders, but bankers said substantial progress was made during the day on a deal to provide new loans to keep the Trump empire afloat.

LEAD: Tamil rebels today fired mortars at a vital airfield in the Jaffna peninsula at the north of this island nation, minutes after a Government minister had left at the end of a round of peace talks, military officials said.

LEAD: ''I want a sacred Nicaragua, which instead of burying its sons in a war between brothers will forever bury its arms so that the cannons will never roar again.'' - President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro. [1:5.]

LEAD: International 2-5 The United States will support a fund intended to help developing countries phase out chemicals that are destroying the earth's ozone layer, the White House said, reversing its earlier opposition to the international fund. Page 1 Nicaragua's army would be reduced by one-third under an order issued by President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro.