The World in Brief

Maria Lourdes Sereno, the ousted Philippines Supreme Court chief justice, greets supporters Friday in Manila.
Maria Lourdes Sereno, the ousted Philippines Supreme Court chief justice, greets supporters Friday in Manila.

Philippine high court ousts chief justice

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Supreme Court ousted its chief justice, a critic of the country’s authoritarian president, in an unprecedented vote Friday by fellow judges that she and hundreds of protesters called unconstitutional and a threat to democracy.

Court spokesman Theodore Te said justices voted 8-6 to grant a petition by the government’s solicitor-general to remove Maria Lourdes Sereno from the 15-member tribunal for allegedly failing to file statements of assets and liabilities as required by law. Sereno denies the allegation and refused to participate in the vote.

Sereno has earned the ire of President Rodrigo Duterte by speaking up for the respect of law and human rights as he has led a brutal crackdown on illegal drugs that has left thousands of suspects dead. About 1,800 protesters gathered to support Sereno outside the court in Manila, where anti-riot police blocked an access road with trucks and iron railings to maintain order and separate a smaller group of anti-Sereno demonstrators.

Sereno said the petition that led to Friday’s vote violates the constitution, which stipulates that top officials like her can only be removed by impeachment.

Guard killed, tourists taken in Congo

KINSHASA, Congo — One wildlife park guard was killed and two British tourists and their driver were abducted in Virunga National Park in Congo, a park spokesman said Friday.

Their vehicle was ambushed while taking the tourists from Kibumba to the city of Goma, Joel Wengamulay, spokesman for the Congolese Institute for The Conservation of Nature, told the U.N.-backed Radio Okapi.

Investigations have begun, Wengamulay said.

Eastern Congo is home to multiple armed groups that compete for mineral-rich land.

A park guard said the driver was injured in the ambush about 6 miles north of Goma. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to speak to the press.

Virunga is home to about one-quarter of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas, and the work of protecting them has proven dangerous.

Slain Mexican candidate is week’s third

MEXICO CITY — Gunmen killed a mayoral candidate in central Guanajuato state Friday, the third local candidate in Mexico’s July 1 elections murdered in the past week and one of more than a dozen during the entire campaign.

Most of the candidates for mayorships or state assembly seats killed have been in the drug cartel-plagued southern state of Guerrero.

The Guanajuato state prosecutors’ office confirmed that mayoral candidate Remedio Aguirre had been shot to death in the town of Apaseo El Alto. Aguirre was running for the leftist Morena party.

The party’s candidate for governor, Ricardo Sheffield, wrote on his Twitter account that the party’s candidates would resume campaigning today, to honor Aguirre’s memory.

Election violence has been a persistent problem in Mexico. But this year’s presidential and local elections have been hit by mounting violence.

On May 4, Morena’s mayoral candidate in the city of Tenango del Aire, south of Mexico City, was killed. And a state assembly candidate of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary party was killed on Tuesday in Guerrero state.

Billionaire sentenced in U.N. bribe case

NEW YORK — A Chinese billionaire convicted of bribing United Nations officials was sentenced to four years in prison.

Ng Lap Seng was sentenced Friday in a New York federal court but isn’t reporting to prison immediately. He has been under 24-hour guard at a Manhattan apartment on $50 million bond.

He was convicted in July of paying over $1.7 million in bribes to two ambassadors to support his plan to build a U.N. conference center in Macau.

Defense lawyers said Ng paid money only when asked to spend it to speed the project along.

It was never built.

Former U.N. General Assembly President John Ashe pleaded innocent in the case and died while awaiting trial. Former Dominican Republic Ambassador Francis Lorenzo pleaded guilty and testified against Ng.

A Section on 05/12/2018

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