August 29, 1992

Pentagon officials said today that they were prepared to deliver large amounts of emergency aid to victims of Hurricane Andrew on Monday, the day it devastated South Florida. But they did not do so because neither President Bush nor other civilian officials ordered a large-scale Federal response to the devastation until late Thursday. At a White House news conference today Mr. Bush asserted that the Federal Government was "responding promptly and massively to the hurricane disaster," and added that even though Florida officials had criticized the Federal relief effort, "I am satisfied that we responded properly."

Omer Filipovic, a Muslim high-school teacher and political leader from the Bosnian town of Kljuc, died on July 28, his death certificate says, in the solitary-confinement stall of a prison camp run by the Bosnian Serb army at a cattle farm on this nearly treeless plateau. His story, reconstructed from interviews with acquaintances and witnesses and buttressed by the death certificate, offers a rare look at the ordeal of one who died in a Serbian camp. 'Natural Causes,' Serbs Say Thousands of Muslims have died as Serbian forces have swept through Bosnia and Herzegovina, uprooting and destroying centuries-old Muslim communities and herding into camps men suspected of resisting, or having the potential to resist, their takeover.

Saying the economy here is in severe straits, Japan's Government tonight announced the largest economic rescue package in the nation's history to try to stimulate growth and strengthen a banking system that has been jeopardized by falling land and stock prices. The centerpiece of the plan, aimed at jolting the economy, consists of a one-time increase in Government spending of 10.7 trillion yen, or about $86 billion. That money would be used to more than double public works spending for the current fiscal year, which ends next March 31, and to provide new incentives to encourage business investment. U.S. Seeks a Bigger Market A second part consists of measures to stabilize banks and other financial institutions by making it easier for them to dispose of bad loans and by propping up land and stock prices.

Conviction in Bronx Murders A Bronx jury found a livery-car driver guilty of killing a young woman and two girls, as emotions exploded in the courtroom. Page 21. A Semantic Olive Branch Israelis are calling the Palestinians "Palestinians" at peace talks -- a small but significant step in the Arab-Israeli war of words. Page 2. Penalty for Pentagon Fraud United Technologies admitted defrauding the Government on military contracts and agreed to pay $6 million in penalties. Page 33. Less Pay for Ex-Macy Head R. H. Macy and its former chairman, Edward S. Finkelstein, have agreed on his severance pay, which is far less than he had planned. Page 33.

After years of delay, New York City is installing an elaborate and costly system of sensors under its roadways to enable the Transportation Department to monitor congestion, identify trouble spots and control the flow of traffic by quickly changing the duration of red lights. Spanning a city whose crowded streets and highways often seem to be little more than a gridlocked maze, the sensors and "smart" traffic lights are the major components of a planned $100 million traffic-tracking network.