IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Italy

2,300 migrants rescued at sea

Around 2,300 migrants including many women and very young children were rescued from the Mediterranean on Saturday while on a perilous crossing to Italy, the Italian coastguard said. A Spanish ship, an Irish naval vessel and several humanitarian boats took part in the rescue operations which began at dawn, it said. The migrants were traveling on 17 inflatable boats and a fishing boat. The rescues follow a huge wave of 14,000 migrants who arrived in Italy at the end of August.

Tanzania

13 dead, 203 injured in quake

At least 13 people were killed and 203 injured in northwest Tanzania when a 5.7 magnitude earthquake hit the country on Saturday, local authorities said. The epicenter of the quake was about 25 kilometers east of the northwestern town of Nsunga on the border of Lake Victoria, according to the US Geological Survey.

Australia

Stabbing inspired by terror group

A man charged with committing a terrorist act and attempted murder after allegedly stabbing a man in Sydney was inspired by the Islamic State group, police said on Sunday. A 59-year-old man was stabbed several times while walking through a park in suburban Minto in southwest Sydney on Saturday and was in critical condition, police said. The suspect, Ihsas Khan, 22, also attempted to stab a police officer before he was arrested.

United States

John Hinckley Jr. leaves hospital

The man who tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan has been released from a Washington mental hospital for good, more than 35 years after the shooting. A spokeswoman for the District of Columbia's Department of Mental Health confirmed on Saturday that John Hinckley Jr. was discharged from St. Elizabeth Hospital. A federal judge ruled in late July that the 61-year-old Hinckley is not a danger to himself or the public.

Libya

Forces claim control of ports

Forces loyal to eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar took control of key oil ports in Ras Lanuf, Es Sider and Brega on Sunday, said Ahmed al-Masmari, a spokesman for the forces. But an official from the force that previously controlled the ports, the Petrol Facilities Guard, said there was still fighting at Ras Lanuf. Masmari said clashes were continuing at another oil port, Zueitina, and around the nearby town of Ajdabiya.

United Kingdom

Sky diver killed after chute fails

British police say a sky diver was killed when her parachute failed to open fully and she plummeted onto a parked car in a residential cul-de-sac. The woman landed in a street near an airfield at Shotton Colliery, 400 kilometers north of London, on Saturday afternoon. She was flown to a hospital by air ambulance, but was later pronounced dead. Police said the victim, who has not been named, was a 49-year-old woman from northern England.

AFP-AP

(China Daily 09/12/2016 page11)