Philippines: Estrada to face trial

Former President Joseph Estrada will become the first Philippines leader to face trial when he goes before a judge on Monday charged with plundering the economy - an offence that carries a maximum penalty of death.

Some 50,000 of Estrada’s supporters staged a bloody attempt to storm the presidential palace in Manila on May 1, but much of the emotion that surrounded his downfall in January and eventual arrest has cooled during months of routine court hearings preceding the trial.