In brief: Reid says he’ll back Iran nuclear deal

WASHINGTON – Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid on Sunday threw his full support behind President Barack Obama’s nuclear accord with Iran, saying “it is the best path to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”

“I strongly support the historic agreement and will do everything in my power to ensure that it stands,” Reid, D-Nev., said in a news release.

Reid is the 27th Senate Democrat to back the deal and the highest ranking in the Senate. His support will make it difficult for opponents to muster the veto-proof numbers needed in the Senate to scuttle the agreement.

Trooper shot in head during traffic stop

LAKE CHARLES, La. – A Louisiana state trooper was shot in the head and critically injured Sunday during a struggle with a man whose pickup truck had run into a ditch after being reported as driving erratically, Louisiana State Police said.

Other drivers stopped to help Master Trooper Steven Vincent, a 13-year state police veteran, said Col. Michael Edmonson, head of state police.

“Thank God for several civilians who pulled over,” he said. “They jumped out, they subdued him, grabbed the trooper’s handcuffs and put them on the suspect. And they rendered first aid” to Vincent, 43.

Edmonson said the arrested man, Kevin Daigle, 54, had a number of previous arrests, though he did not know details.

A state police spokesman said Vincent was in critical but stable condition Sunday evening.

NYC joins global going topless day

NEW YORK – Broadway put on a different kind of matinee: bare-chested women and men parading down the Great White Way.

The GoTopless Pride Parade took to the streets to counter critics complaining about topless tip-seekers in Times Square.

Appearing bare-breasted is legal in New York. But Mayor Bill de Blasio and police Commissioner Bill Bratton say the body-painted women in the square are a nuisance.

Sunday’s parade was among dozens of such events staged in about 60 cities on the worldwide GoTopless Day.

Plane crash kills two in Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Two men died Saturday night when a small plane crashed on the Kenai Peninsula, said Alaska State Troopers.

Troopers identified the men Sunday as pilot Brian Nolan, 69, and Peter Lahndt, 57, both of Kasilof. The Cessna 180, owned by Nolan, crashed near Cook Inlet in Kasilof.

Afghanistan attack kills former deputy

ATLANTA – Local officials say a former deputy sheriff from Georgia was among the victims of a suicide car bombing in Afghanistan.

Local media reports, citing the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office, identified the victim as Barry Sutton, a contractor for DynCorp International who was killed Saturday. He was helping train Afghan law enforcement as part of NATO’s Resolute Support Mission.

A suicide bomber attacked a NATO convoy traveling through a crowded Kabul neighborhood, killing at least 12 people, including Sutton.

Keepers optimistic about pandas’ odds

WASHINGTON – Officials at the National Zoo say they’re optimistic about the chances that twin giant panda cubs will survive thanks in part to a technique developed by panda breeders in China.

Panda mom Mei Xiang gave birth to two cubs about five hours apart Saturday. Both appear healthy.

Zoo director Dennis Kelly says the survival rate for panda cubs born in captivity is now greater than 80 percent.

British hostage freed in Yemen

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The United Arab Emirates says its military has freed a British hostage held by al-Qaida in Yemen for 18 months.

A statement carried by the official WAM news agency said Douglas Robert Semple, 64, was freed during a military intelligence operation and taken to the Yemeni port city of Aden before being flown to Abu Dhabi.

The statement said Semple was working as a petroleum engineer when he was kidnapped in February 2014.

Nepal reopens Everest to climbers

KATHMANDU, Nepal – Nepal has opened Mount Everest to climbers for the first time since an earthquake-triggered avalanche in April killed 19 mountaineers.

Japanese climber Nobukazu Kuriki will be the first to attempt to scale the world’s highest peak since the quake. Nepal’s tourism minister, Kripasur Sherpa, gave Kuriki his climbing permit at a ceremony in Kathmandu on Sunday.

“The main purpose of my climb is to spread the message that Nepal was safe for climbers and trekkers even after the earthquake,” Kuriki told reporters.