US environment chief quits in face of probes

WASHINGTON • Mr Scott Pruitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and architect of United States President Donald Trump's aggressive effort to rewrite the government's rule book on environmental regulations, has resigned in the face of numerous ethics probes that doomed his tenure.

He cited in his resignation letter on Thursday "unrelenting attacks on me personally" as a reason for his departure.

NYTIMES

Migrants' Libya plight blamed on Italy policy

ROME • Italy's shutting of its ports to humanitarian rescue ships will trap more migrants in Libyan detention centres and in the hands of smugglers, where they face beatings and abuse, said aid group Doctors Without Borders.

Mr Christophe Biteau, the group's mission leader in Libya, said everyone intercepted by the Libyan coast guard - about 10,789 people this year - ended up being held indefinitely in centres run by the Tripoli government.

REUTERS

Top Aussie uni under attack by hackers

SYDNEY • Australia's top-ranked university, Australian National University (ANU), yesterday said it has been spending several months fighting off a threat to its computer systems, which the media said had been compromised by Chinese hackers.

The government was "working closely" with the university, home to several defence-focused research units, on the matter, said a spokesman.

REUTERS