Nation IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : Retired AF General Named FAA Chief

President Bush named Thomas C. Richards, retired four-star Air Force general, to run the Federal Aviation Administration. The appointment filled a job that was vacant for months. An earlier nominee, Jerry R. Curry, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, asked a week ago that his name be withdrawn. Curry will be offered another government post, Bush Administration sources said. Curry “continues as a valued member of the President’s team,” Transportation Secretary Andrew H. Card Jr. said. Curry had clashed with former FAA Administrator James B. Busey.