August 27, 1993

NEW YORK CITY MUSLIM CLERIC APPEARS IN COURT Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, who for more than a decade has defied allegations that he inspired terrorism in Egypt and the United States, was taken before a Federal judge in Manhattan and was arraigned on charges that he led a conspiracy that prosecutors say was bent on waging a war of terror. A1. Clues pointing to a terrorist ring that the Government charges was centered around the sheik came to the attention of authorities more than a year before the trade center bombing. B2. DINKINS BEGINS HIS AIR ASSAULT Drawing on time-tested incumbents' tactics, Mayor David N. Dinkins begins his television advertising campaign with commercials that seek to blame others for many of New York City's problems and portray him as making brave headway against them at City Hall. A1. ANGRY EXCHANGE ON CROWN HTS. Mayor Dinkins and a lawyer representing Hasidic Jews in Crown Heights faced off for a second day in a session that became so combative that a judge directed the Mayor to simply answer his interrogator's questions about the violence that racked the community. B3. AUDIT OF ASBESTOS INSPECTIONS STARTED Two independent investigators have begun an audit of the emergency inspection of New York City's school system for asbestos in an effort to guarantee that the inspection is done properly and that the schools are safe. B3. CHILDREN REPORTEDLY USED IN BURGLARY A Manhattan woman was arrested after using three of her children to help carry out a burglary in the family's Washington Heights apartment building, the police said. B4. THREE MORE SOUGHT IN KIDNAPPING The Police Department released the names of three men who are wanted in the kidnapping of Harvey Weinstein. Three people have already been arrested. B4. A young mother is killed in a crossfire. B3. REGION WACHTLER FEES ARE REVEALED Sol Wachtler, the former chief of New York's highest court, collected more than $805,000 as executor of the will and trust funds left by the stepfather of his former lover, according to a pre-sentencing letter. B4. PILOT WORK-STUDY PROGRAMS ANNOUNCED The New York State Education Department announced that it has chosen 12 school districts to develop pilot programs that make work a part of classroom study. B5. CALL OF SILENT FIGURES Each day, hundreds of commuters who would ordinarily zip past the Morristown Muncipal Hall stop in their tracks, round the parking circle out front and warily approach the sculpted figures on the west lawn. Our Towns. B5. A girl who died of rabies was infected by a strain of the disease found in bats. B5. Nearly 150 school districts around New Jersey don't have contracts with teachers yet. B5. Traffic Alert B2 Chronicle B6

Since January, when the Ford Taurus eclipsed the Honda Accord as the nation's best-selling car model, the auto industry has been waiting for Honda's counterpunch, the new Accord. The first public demonstration of that model takes place Wednesday at a Honda assembly plant in Marysville, Ohio. Even rivals concede that the Accord has been the benchmark against which family sedans are measured, raising this question: Can the Accord do it again?

Welcome to Westhampton Dunes, the fastest-growing would-be village in the state, the country and, perhaps, the world. At a rate of 55,000 cubic yards of sand each working day, this two-mile section of barrier island, cut adrift from the rest of the island by a storm on Dec. 11 that put it on the far side of a widening breach, just keeps growing.

SOMETIMES in the darkness of the early morning, back when I was experiencing a sixth grader's first miseries of insomnia and existential dread, I used to panic about the imminent possibility of flunking French. I had a theory then that someday I would glue electrodes to my head so that the language could be automatically imprinted in my brain. I saw myself awakening refreshed and saucily self-confident, coolly conjugating the most difficult of verbs and cracking wicked little jokes en francais about the iron-willed, white-haired Mme. Jinx, my nemesis. The trouble was, I couldn't sleep. There was no such machine. I did not awaken refreshed. And Mme. Jinx quickly caught on to my one pathetic little ruse, which was to chirp the same sentence in every class -- "Ah, oui, Monsieur. J'aime le jus d'orange!" -- at high volume with a lilting accent.

Health Care Concern Raided Federal agents raided the offices and hospitals of National Medical Enterprises as part of an investigation of health insurance fraud. Page D1. Tracking Litigious Patients For $80 a month, Philadelphia doctors will soon be able to find out if a prospective patient has ever filed a malpractice suit. Page A21. Other Paths to Mars With the Mars Observer spacecraft still out of touch, space officials began looking for other ways to explore the red planet. Page A19. Mets Say Never to Coleman The Mets announced that Vince Coleman, who is facing a felony charge for throwing an explosive, will not play for the team again. Page B9. Nigeria's Ruler Resigns The President of Nigeria, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, resigned after eight years of military rule and named an interim civilian leader. Page A3.