IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Italy

Pepper spray found in stampede probe

Italian police investigating a deadly disco stampede said on Sunday they found a pepper spray can and were questioning dozens of witnesses following accounts by concertgoers that a teenage boy had sprayed an irritating substance, triggering the mad rush by the crowd to flee. It wasn't known if the can was the one whose spray apparently set off the stampede and he also declined to confirm Italian media reports that a 16-year-old boy had been identified as the sprayer and would be questioned by juvenile court officials.

United States

Trump backs $750b defense budget

US President Donald Trump has backed plans to request $750 billion from Congress for defense spending next year, a US official said on Sunday, signaling a Pentagon spending hike at a time of potential belt-tightening elsewhere in the government. The amount would be even more than the $733 billion request that the Pentagon had been expected to make for fiscal year 2020. The official said that it was clear during that discussion that Trump wanted to "accelerate the progress his administration has made in rebuilding the military".

Libya

IS militants kill 6 hostages out of 10

Islamic State militants have executed six hostages out of the 10 hostages they kidnapped almost two months ago from Libya's central town of Fug'ha, a Libyan official confirmed on Sunday. The dean of the Jufra District also said that elders of Jufra are negotiating an exchange of IS detainees with hostages between the terrorists and the army. The IS group had claimed responsibility for an October attack killing five people on the Fug'ha area in Jufra, about 650 kilometers southeast of the capital Tripoli. Seven of the more than 50 people injured in the stampede remained in critical condition.

Reuters - Xinhua - Ap

(China Daily 12/11/2018 page11)