Beirut car bomb blast kills two
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- A explosion by a car bomb in Lebanon's capital of Beirut killed two people, one of them an Iranian embassy chauffeur, the BBC reported.
The vehicle was parked on a busy street in Beirut's southern suburbs. The explosion also injured a number of pedestrians.
Thus far, no one has claimed responsibility for the incident.
Hadi Nasrallah Street, where the explosion occurred, was named after the son of the Hezbollah secretary general. He was killed fighting Israeli forces in southern Lebanon before Israel pulled out in 2000.
Similar car bomb blasts in recent years have killed at least two prominent people in Lebanon, including the son of leading Palestinian militant Ahmed Jibril and former warlord Elie Hobeika, according to the BBC.
Denise Rich accused of forcing donation
NEW YORK, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Denise Rich is being accused of having an employee make an illegal campaign contribution to Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The employee, Jimmy Hester, said he was the general manager of Rich's record companies until he was fired in February 2002. He charges that Rich fired him after learning he had AIDS, the New York Daily News reported.
The allegations are contained in a lawsuit filed by Hester Friday in Manhattan. The lawsuit alleges Rich demanded in October 1999 that he make a $2,000 contribution to Clinton's Senate campaign that would be refunded by her.
"It was clear that this demand was made so that Rich could disguise the source of the contribution," the lawsuit says.
Federal campaign laws prohibit secret contributions in the name of another.
Rich's spokesman, Howard Rubenstein, said his client was traveling and would not comment.
Schwarzenegger to announce decision on TV
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to announce whether he will run for governor of California next Wednesday on NBC's "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno."
For nearly a week, aides to the film star have said that he is not likely to run in the state's recall election this fall but had not quite made up his mind.
A news conference was planned, then scrapped, on Monday. A statement was prepared, then shelved, on Thursday. The actor's aides made the Leno announcement Friday.
If, as expected, Schwarzenegger declines to run, Republican leaders in California said former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan is almost certain to launch a campaign against Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat.
The deadline for candidates to enter the race is Aug. 9.
Riordan and Schwarzenegger, both moderate Republicans, are friends and have been engaged in intensive private discussions over which one should run in the recall election, the Washington Post reported.
UN approves Western Sahara plan
UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Morocco won a concession from the United Nations Security Council for control of the disputed territory of Western Sahara, the BBC reported.
The council unanimously adopted a modified version of a plan authored by former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker. It would make the Western Sahara a semi-autonomous region of Morocco for a transition period of up to five years.
After that, a referendum will allow the people to decide whether they want the territory to become independent, remain autonomous or integrate with Morocco.
The resolution made clear the council was only supporting the modified plan rather than endorsing it, as the original text proposed.
However, the changes will give Morocco the right to object to any stage of the plan's implementation.
The Algeria-backed Polisario Independence Movement wants a referendum to include the inhabitants and their descendants at the time Western Sahara was taken over by Morocco in 1976, according to the BBC.
