Obama to give Nobel money to veterans, Haiti, students

Obama is giving a total of $750,000 to six groups that help students go to college. Fisher’s House, which provides housing for families with loved ones at Veterans Administration hospitals, will receive $250,000, the White House said yesterday. And the Bush-Clinton Haiti Fund, for which two former presidents are raising money to rebuild earthquake-ravaged Haiti, will receive $200,000.

The rest of the money will go to an array of other groups.

“These organizations do extraordinary work in the United States and abroad, helping students, veterans, and countless others in need,’’ Obama said in a statement. “I’m proud to support their work.’’

Obama was chosen for the Nobel award more for his aspirations and approach than his accomplishments. The Nobel committee honored him for changing the tenor of international politics and for pursuing goals Obama says will require worldwide effort, such as nuclear disarmament and reversing global warming.

He plans to give $125,000 each to groups that help children go to college: College Summit, a national nonprofit that works with elementary and middle school pupils to boost college enrollment rates; the Posse Foundation, which gives full college scholarships to public school students who might be overlooked by traditional scholarship programs; United Negro College Fund; the Hispanic Scholarship Fund; the Appalachian Leadership and Education Foundation; and the American Indian College Fund.

Obama is donating $100,000 to AfriCare, which funds HIV/AIDS programs, public health efforts, water resource development, and agriculture in 25 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. He will give $100,000 to the Central Asia Institute, which promotes education for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Landra Reid, 69, can feel her extremities, and her injuries do not appear to be life-threatening, Jim Manley, spokesman for the Senate majority leader, said. The couple’s daughter, Lana, was also injured in the accident.

The women were being treated at Inova Fairfax Hospital in suburban Virginia.

“While driving on a Washington, D.C., highway, their vehicle was rear-ended by a semitruck,’’ Manley said in a statement.

“Mrs. Reid has a broken nose, broken back, and broken neck. Lana has a neck injury and facial lacerations. Both Mrs. Reid and Lana are conscious, can feel their extremities, and according to doctors, their injuries are non-life threatening,’’ Manley said. “Senator Reid has been to the hospital and appreciates the support he and his family are receiving from Nevadans and his colleagues in the Senate.’’

Reid later returned to Capitol Hill, where he met with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on efforts to pass health care legislation.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — Former president George W. Bush personally intervened last week in a dispute over the peace process in Northern Ireland in his first known direct involvement in a public policy debate since leaving the White House.

Bush called David Cameron, the leader of the Conservatives in Britain, to urge him to press allies in Northern Ireland to support the latest step in the peace process.

But the effort proved unsuccessful; Cameron’s allies in Belfast refused to go along in a vote Tuesday.

The call represented a break from Bush’s self-imposed postpresidential retreat. Although he has given speeches and joined former president Bill Clinton in leading earthquake relief efforts in Haiti, he has largely refrained from involvement in policy and political matters since President Obama took office. He made an exception in this case apparently after a request from the Obama administration, reflecting his own longstanding interest in furthering reconciliation in Northern Ireland.

The issue was the latest move in the 12-year-old peace effort stemming from the Good Friday accords that were negotiated by Clinton and supported by Bush. The Northern Ireland Assembly was voting on a measure to transfer authority over the police, courts, and prisons from London to Belfast starting April 12.

The Ulster Unionists, who are allied with Cameron’s Conservatives, opposed the move, arguing that the coalition government in Belfast was still struggling to govern.

Their opposition was not enough to stop the plan, but American officials worried that a lack of unity behind the move would undercut it.

The Guardian newspaper reported that the Obama administration was so concerned that Declan Kelly, its economic envoy to Northern Ireland, asked Bush to intervene with Cameron.

In the end, the assembly approved the transfer of policing powers Tuesday with the support of 88 of 105 members.

NEW YORK TIMES