Nation, world briefs

Obama to request defense budget hike

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama will ask Congress for an almost 8 percent boost for the Pentagon, including $5.3 billion to equip and train Iraqi soldiers and moderate Syrian rebels to fight Islamic State militants in the Middle East. Obama will ask for $534 billion for the core budget of the Defense Department -- a $38 billion increase -- according to "pre-decisional" Pentagon documents obtained Tuesday. That means there could be some slight changes when the budget comes out Monday. The Pentagon saw budget cuts with the imposition of so-called budget sequestration in 2013 and has been at a freeze since then. Military brass say the bleaker budgets have forced cuts in flying hours, troop training and maintenance of military equipment.

Ex-Vanderbilt players convicted of rape

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A jury convicted two ex-Vanderbilt football players Tuesday of raping a former student, rejecting claims they were too drunk to know what they were doing and that a college culture of binge drinking and promiscuous sex should be blamed for the attack. The jury deliberated for three hours before announcing Brandon Vandenburg and Cory Batey were guilty. Batey was stoic, staring ahead and Vandenburg shook his head "no," appearing stunned. His father had an outburst and abruptly left the courtroom. The victim, a 21-year-old neuroscience and economics major at the time of the 2013 attack, cried as each guilty verdict was announced. Both men were convicted of four counts of aggravated rape, one count of attempted aggravated rape and two counts of aggravated sexual battery. They face decades in prison when they are sentenced March 6.

Donors pledge $7.5B for vaccines

BERLIN -- Governments and private donors, among them the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, have pledged a record $7.5 billion to replenish a global vaccination program for the poor. The Gates Foundation gave $1.55 billion to the public-private Gavi alliance that has immunized hundreds of millions of children worldwide since 2000. Britain pledged $1.57 billion, Norway gave $969 million and the United States pledged $800 million at a conference Tuesday in Berlin. Together with prior pledges, this provides Gavi with a pot of $9.6 billion -- slightly more than it requested -- for its work between 2016 and 2020.

Death toll rises to 11 in military jet crash

ALBACETE, Spain -- The death toll from the crash of a Greek F-16 fighter jet during an elite NATO pilot training program rose to 11 on Tuesday after a French airman who suffered serious burns died, Spain's Defense Ministry said. The death came as Spanish investigators probed what caused the jet to lose power during takeoff Monday and crash into five parked planes at the Los Llanos air base in southeastern Spain, triggering a series of explosions and a raging fire. The crash "represents one of the greatest losses of life during a NATO training exercise in recent memory," said Lt. Col. Jay Janzen, a NATO military spokesman.

-- Associated Press