Washington, D.C.

Democrats to nominate convention chairman

Democratic officials will nominate Bill Richardson, the Hispanic governor of New Mexico, to be chairman of the party’s 2004 national convention, several Democrats said Sunday.

Alice Huffman, president of the California NAACP, will be nominated to head the convention committee.

The plan to nominate Richardson as convention chairman was mentioned in published reports Sunday. Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe planned to announce the decision today in Boston.

“Governor Richardson is honored to have been chosen,” Richardson spokesman Billy Sparks said Sunday. “It’s a positive sign for the future of the Democratic Party and a strong symbol of commitment to the West and to Hispanics.”

Washington, D.C.

Administration will seek $1 billion for Afghanistan

President Bush is preparing a $1 billion aid plan to accelerate rebuilding in Afghanistan at a time when the country has sunk on the priority list of would-be donors, U.S. officials said Sunday.

International donors at a conference in Japan last year pledged nearly $5 billion to help rebuild Afghanistan, but only about $2 billion has been delivered.

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz did not confirm or deny the new aid in an appearance Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed Bush plans to propose the $1 billion in aid for Afghanistan. Following the Iraq war, the country has dropped to third or fourth priority on many allies’ aid lists, this official said.

United Arab Emirates

Accused of bias, Arab TV on defensive

Two of the most high-profile Arab TV networks reacted angrily Sunday to U.S. claims of biased news coverage about the Iraq war.

Adnan al-Sharif, the manager of Al-Jazeera, said poor translation of their reports was behind the accusations.

“Our news is being poorly translated for the Americans,” al-Sharif said.

Earlier, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz accused Al-Jazeera, based in Qatar, and Dubai-based Al-Arabiya of bias in their reporting.

Wolfowitz told Fox News that the networks incited violence against American forces with slanted reports that he asserted were funded by Middle East governments.

Al-Arabiya’s Editor in Chief Salah Negm said the network was private. “Al-Arabiya’s coverage reflects the truth, even if that angered some people,” he said.

Wyoming

Lightning strikes Grand Teton, killing 1

Lightning struck and killed an Idaho woman and injured five others as the group was climbing the 13,770-foot Grand Teton, a park spokeswoman said.

The thunderstorm moved in around 3:45 p.m. Saturday while the climbers were on Grand Teton’s Exum Ridge.

Park spokeswoman Joan Anzelmo said Erica Summers, 25, her 27-year-old husband, Clinton, and four others were among 13 climbers who had divided themselves into four groups for the climb. Each group had at least one experienced climber.

“They all felt rain sprinkles, and they didn’t sense a big storm,” she said. “In fact, they only saw two major lightning strikes, and one was the one they were struck by.”

Erica Summers was struck directly and killed.

Rangers were flown onto the mountain, one or two at a time, while hanging from ropes under a helicopter to evacuate four of the five injured.