Nation, World Briefs: Sen. Reid’s wife, daughter hurt in freeway wreck

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s wife and daughter were hospitalized Thursday — the wife with a broken back and neck — after their minivan was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer truck on an interstate highway in suburban Virginia, authorities said. Reid’s wife, Landra, 69, and the couple’s daughter, Lana Barringer, 49, were taken by ambulance to Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va. Neither woman’s injuries appeared to be life-threatening, and the daughter was expected to be released from the hospital Thursday night, Reid aides said. Mrs. Reid was listed in serious condition, an aide said, but she was not expected to require surgery.

Obama donates Nobel cash

President Barack Obama plans to donate the $1.4 million from his Nobel Peace Prize to helping students, veterans’ families and survivors of Haiti’s earthquake, among others, drawing attention to organizations he said “do extraordinary work.” Obama is giving a total of $750,000 to six groups that help kids go to college. Fisher House, which provides housing for families with loved ones at Veterans Administration hospitals, will receive $250,000, the White House said Thursday. And the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund, for which two former presidents are raising money to rebuild earthquake-ravaged Haiti, will receive $200,000.

Arizona: P-51 fighter crashes

A World War II-era plane crashed Thursday while attempting to land at a suburban Phoenix airport, killing the pilot and starting a hangar on fire, authorities said. An FAA spokesman said the single-engine P-51D Mustang crashed at about 1:20 p.m. at Stellar Airpark in Chandler. Authorities evacuated nearby hangars after one caught fire following the crash. The blaze was quickly extinguished, and fire crews sifted through the debris to determine if there were any other victims. None were found.

New York: Jets run into birds

Aviation officials said bird strikes forced emergency landings by two passenger jets shortly after takeoff on consecutive days at Northeastern airports. A US Airways Airbus jet hit several Canada geese and reported engine problems shortly after takeoff Thursday morning from Greater Rochester International Airport in New York. Wednesday night, a Continental Airlines Boeing 777 with 301 people aboard also hit Canada geese as it took off from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. It landed safely.

Colorado: PETA trash offer

The animal rights group PETA is offering to help the cash-strapped city of Colorado Springs by paying to put trash cans back in parks — on one condition. The cans have to carry an anti-meat slogan and a picture of a woman in a lettuce bikini. The city stopped picking up trash in parks to save money, and all the trash cans have been removed. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals told city officials Wednesday they’d pay for new trash cans saying “Meat Trashes the Planet” and “Go Vegan.” The cans also have PETA’s logo and the lettuce-clad model.

Nevada: Ban on brothel ads

A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld a Nevada law that bars legal brothels that operate in some of the state’s rural areas from advertising by newspaper, leaflets and billboards in Las Vegas, Reno and other places where prostitution is illegal. The state attorney general hailed the ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel in San Francisco, while a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada promised to appeal. The laws also prohibit brothel advertising in theaters and on streets and public highways.

Japan: Whaling activist held

Japan’s coast guard arrested an anti-whaling activist from New Zealand today for illegally boarding a Japanese whaling ship last month, an official said. Peter Bethune, a member of the U.S.-based Sea Shepherd activist group, is accused of jumping aboard the whaling vessel from a Jet Ski on Feb. 15 in Antarctic seas, where Japan was conducting its annual whale hunt. Boarding a Japanese vessel without legitimate reasons can bring a prison term of up to three years.

Italy: School condom machine

The decision by a Rome high school to install condom vending machines has set off a storm in Italy, with the Catholic Church charging the move will encourage young people to have sex. But the Keplero high school vowed Thursday to go ahead with its experiment, billed as the first in the capital. While it’s a relative novelty for Italy, schools in several other European countries have installed the machines in hopes of curbing teen pregnancy and HIV.

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