A roundup of today's other world news in brief
Man to be tried for Milly Dowler murder
LONDON – Prosecutors in England say a former nightclub doorman is to go on trial accused of murdering a teenager eight years ago.
Levi Bellfield (41) will be charged with kidnapping Milly Dowler (13) as she walked home from school, before killing her. Bellfield, from West Drayton, Middlesex, will appear in custody before Staines Magistrates Court on April 13th.
Amanda Dowler, known to her family as Milly, disappeared while walking home from school in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, on March 21st, 2002.
Six months later her body was found 30 miles away in Yateley Heath, Hampshire. – (PA)
17 sentenced to die over UAE killing
DUBAI – Seventeen Indian men have been sentenced to death by a court in the United Arab Emirates for the killing of a Pakistani after a dispute involving illegal trade in alcohol.
The ruling is thought to involve the largest number of death sentences ever handed out in a single case in the UAE, a Gulf state dominated by the oil-exporting emirate of Abu Dhabi and its flashy but deeply indebted neighbour, Dubai.
The Khaleej Times reported that the Islamic sharia court in Sharjah, one of the smaller of the seven emirates that make up the UAE, sentenced the men following DNA tests indicating their involvement. – (Reuters)
Woman to hang for wedding fire deaths
KUWAIT – A court has sentenced a Kuwaiti woman to hang for the deaths of 57 women and children who perished in a tent fire during celebrations to mark her husband’s taking of a second wife, her lawyer said.
The court found Nasra al-Enezi (24), a mother of two, guilty of arson and murder over last August’s wedding tent blaze, lawyer Saqqaf al-Saqqaf said.
“We will not accept this ruling and we will appeal,” he said of the verdict by a Kuwait criminal court.
Ms Enezi was arrested after fire consumed the tent where her husband was holding his wedding party. – (Reuters)
Singer Ricky Martin tells fans he is a ‘fortunate homosexual’
MIAMI – Singer Ricky Martin has told his fans he is gay, describing himself as a “fortunate homosexual man”.
In a statement posted via Twitter in Spanish and English, Martin (38), added: “I am very blessed to be who I am.”
The sexuality of the Livin' La Vida Locasinger has been speculated upon for years. He said he decided to reveal the truth after working on his memoirs. Martin, who has two sons born to a surrogate mother in 2008, said he could not continue to hide his sexuality now that he was a father. – (AP)