World briefs

Britain

Lawson aides acquitted of fraud

Two former assistants to Nigella Lawson and her ex-husband were acquitted of fraud yesterday, ending a trial in which allegations of unauthorized employee spending on luxury goods were overshadowed by titillating glimpses into the celebrity cook's tumultuous home life. A London jury rejected prosecution claims that sisters Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo had used credit cards loaned to them by Lawson and Charles Saatchi for household expenses to run up unauthorized charges of more than $1 million. Defense lawyers for the Grillos had claimed that Lawson approved their spending partly in exchange for their silence about her drug use. Lawson said yesterday that she was "disappointed but unsurprised" by the verdict. "Over the three week trial, the jury was faced with a ridiculous sideshow of false allegations about drug use which made focus on the actual criminal trial impossible," she said in a statement.

Philippines

Mayor killed in airport ambush

The mayor of a town in the troubled southern Philippines was among four people shot to death in an ambush outside Manila's international airport yesterday, authorities reported. The fatal attack on Ukol Talumpa, mayor of Zamboanga del Sur in the Labangan area of Mindanao, was at least the third attempt on his life in the past three years, raising suspicions that the gunmen were motivated by the region's brutal political conflicts. Talumpa; his wife, Lea; an 18-month-old baby; and a staff member were attacked by at least two gunmen soon after they arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport from the regional town of Cebu, airport manager Angel Honrado said, the Philippine Star reported. The gunmen fled on a motorbike.