Briefly world

Britain will scrap the proposed multi-billion dollar identity card programme within 100 days....

Britain to scrap Id card drive

LONDON: Britain will scrap the proposed multi-billion dollar identity card programme within 100 days. The National Identity Register,the database which contains the biographic and biometric fingerprint data of card holders,would also be destroyed by the first piece of legislation introduced to Parliament by the coalition government. This bill is a first step of many that this government is taking to reduce the control of the state over decent,law-abiding people, Home Secretary Theresa May said.

Bashir sworn in as Sudan President

KHARTOUM: Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir,the sole sitting head of state wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court,was sworn in on Thursday after his re-election in voting marred by boycotts. Bashir rejects the charges of ordering mass murder,rape and torture in western Darfur.

Jamaica: No trace of drug lord yet

KINGSTON: A military raid to capture an alleged drug kingpin has left 44 civilians dead in Kingston with no trace of yet of Christopher Dudus Coke. Security forces have seized more than 500 people in their search for the drug lord,who has set up a virtual mini-economy in slums.

Tsunami alert after 7.2 quake in Vanuatu

WELLINGTON: A 7.2 magnitude quake rattled the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu late Thursday,triggering a tsunami alert. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii issued a tsunami warning for Vanuatu,the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia.

Flying dino that lived 95mn yrs ago found

LONDON: Scientists have discovered a new type of giant flying dinosaur with a wingspan of six metres that lived in the Sahara region when it was a lush green paradise some 95 million years ago. The pterosaur,which had a lance-shaped lower jaw making it look like a huge heron,was found by a team of scientists from University College Dublin,the University of Portsmouth and University Hassan II in Casablanca. The scientists believe the newly identified pterosaur to be the earliest example of its kind that lived in the African region some 95 million years ago,the Daily Mail reported. The reptile was named Alanqa saharica,which means phoenix a mythological flying creature that dies in a fire and is reborn from its ashes.

Lopez,Marc Anthony to renew marriage vows

LOS ANGELES: Singer-actress Jennifer Lopez and husband Marc Anthony are planning to celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary by renewing their vows again. The couple will exchange their wedding vows again in a lavish ceremony at their Hidden Hills,California estate on June 5.

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The star couple wed in 2004 and cemented their commitment to one another in another ceremony in 2008. We realised the bets in Vegas on whether their marriage would last stopped at five years,so were really looking forward to this one. This is a big anniversary, Us Weekly quoted Anthony as saying.

Meg Ryan dating Tim Robbins?

NEW YORK: Hollywood star Tim Robbins has moved on to Meg Ryan after splitting from Susan Sarandon,according to reports. The When Harry Met Sally actress has been repeatedly spotted with Robbins in LA,despite denying an affair,reported New York Post. They were seen together last week at the 51-year-old actors Actors Gang nonprofit theatre group in Culver City. Robbins and Ryan recently denied reports that they had a long-term secret affair that ended his two-decade relationship with Susan Sarandon as absolutely false.