Former UBS AG (UBSN) Executive Director Juerg Buergin was convicted of two charges of having paid sex with an underage prostitute in Singapore, with the judge saying that mistaking a minor's age isn't a defense.

Singapore's laws impose a higher standard of care to prevent the sexual exploitation of minors, subordinate court Judge Eddy Tham said today. Buergin, who could be jailed for as long as seven years and fined for each charge, will be sentenced on May 8.

MANILA, Philippines - The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) rescued 14 girls and a boy, believed forced to engage in cybersex by an Australian national in Cebu City last Friday.

NBI Director Nonnatus Caesar Rojas identified the suspect as Drew Shobbrook, alias Dean Fred Hoban, of 96 A. Lopez Street, Labangon, Cebu City.

THE Philippines will lead a two-day conference to discuss human trafficking in Southeast Asia and ways to combat the problem at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Ortigas Center starting today.

Representatives from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member-countries Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are set to join Philippine officials in discussing the development of a legal instrument to demonstrate ASEAN's commitment to combat human trafficking, said Undersecretary Felizardo M. Serapio, the senior Philippine representative to the ASEAN on Transnational Crime.