Issue 359 - 24/07/2020

34 24/07/2020 NEWS LITERATURE POLITICS FASHION ART & CULTURE KIDS RELIGION FILMS
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Guy Ritchie banned from
driving for six months
London : Filmmaker Guy
Ritchie has been banned from
driving for six months after a
cyclist filmed him texting while
he was behind the wheel.
The director was spotted typing
a message on his phone as he
drove his car through London's
Hyde Park in November last
year. Ritchie has also been
ordered to pay a fine of 666
pounds, as well as 166 pounds in
prosecution costs and court fees,
reports mirror.co.uk. He has
already been hauled up thrice
previously for speeding offences
in March 2017, and February
and December last year. In the
video, Ritchie is seen waiting in
traffic when the cyclist stops
beside him. "Hello my friend,"
he says when he realises he is
New Delhi : Mumbai-born street photographer
Dimpy Bhalotia who is now based in London on
Wednesday won the title of Photographer of the
Year at the 2020 iPhone Photography Awards
(IPPAWARDS) for an stunning black and white
image showing Varanasi boys in the Indian summer.
Selected from thousands of entries received
from 140 countries, Bhalotia's winning photograph
titled "Flying Boys" was shot on iPhone X and
characterised the day-to-day activities of the boys
in Varanasi in India. The boys were jumping off
from a man-made cliff into the Ganges river to beat
the hot weather during the summer.
Face masks to
become mandatory
in UK takeaways
London : Face masks will become mandatory
in takeaways and sandwich shops in the UK under
government laws which will come into effect on
Friday, media reports said.
The Downing Street is expected to clarify its
position on Thursday after mixed messages from
Ministers over wearing masks in food establishments,
the Metro newspaper reported.
Premises with table service are said to be
exempt from the new rules, though buying food
from a counter and sitting down to eat inside will
banned, according to The Daily Telegraph.
A government source told the newspaper that
only eateries with table service would not require
masks. "You have to sit down straight away if you
are going to eat in. If you can sit at a table you
don't need to wear a mask."
This comes ahead of already planned changes
over face mask usage. From Friday onwards,
wearing a face mask in shops and supermarkets
will become mandatory and anyone failing to
comply will be fined up to 100 pounds.
being watched. The cyclist
replies: "I don't think you should
be using your text messages
while you are driving. I saw you
doing it back there as well."
Ritchie then drives away as the
traffic moves forward.
The filmmaker has admitted
to being the driver in the video.
Cyclist Mike van Erp sent the
video to the police, with the file
"Their expressive limbs fill
the sky with both tension and
exuberance," said the award
committee in a statement. With
over nine years of shooting on
iPhone, the grand prize winner
said that "it feels like I'm
shooting with my palm,"
adding that "understanding the
true semiotics of street photography
with iPhone at my convenience
is a euphoria." She
was joined by Artsiom
Baryshau of Belarus, Geli
titled: "Man typing on his mobile
phone whilst behind the wheel of
his car."
The cyclist said as part of his
statement: "I spotted this driver
texting on his phone. I stopped
and whilst waiting for traffic to
clear could clearly see the driver
typing on his phone."
He did not know then the man
he was filming was Ritchie.
He said he started filming and
reporting drivers on a helmet
camera after his father was killed
in a road crash while riding a
motorcycle.
Ritchie pleaded guilty in writing
to the latest offence. He was
banned from driving for six
months by magistrates at the
southeast London township of
Bromley on Tuesday.
London road closed
after ammunition fell
off police vehicle
London : A major road in London had to be
closed for over 11 hours after ammunition fell off
the top of a police vehicle.
The items had been placed on the roof of an
armed response vehicle and subsequently fell into
the road as officers drove off to support colleagues
on a firearms operation on Wednesday, the Metro
newspaper reported.
Police were called at about 10.15 a.m., to the
eastbound A13, close to Prince Regent Lane, to
reports of items on the carriageway.
Officers attended the scene and recovered a
"quantity of ammunition and ancillary items" from
the carriageway, a spokesman for the Met Police
said. The road remained closed off till about 9 p.m.
The Met's Directorate of Professional
Standards established that the incident was due to
"human error".
US Ambassador to UK denies
making racist comments
London : Woody Johnson,
the US Ambassador to the
UK, has denied reports that
he made "insensitive"
remarks about race and gender
to embassy staff, the
media reported on Thursday.
Responding on
Wednesday to a CNN report
that he had been probed by
US officials after making
"generalisations about black
men", and "cringeworthy"
comments about women's
looks, Johnson tweeted: "I
have followed the ethical
rules and requirements of my
office at all times."
"These false claims of insensitive
remarks about race and
gender are totally inconsistent
with my longstanding record
and values," the BBC quoted
the envoy as saying.
Johnson was named
Ambassador to the UK by
President Donald
Trump in 2017.
In the report, CNN
also said that the envoy
had sought to promote
the President's business
interests in the UK by
asking politicians if the
Open Championship
golf tournament could
be played at Trump's
Turnberry course.
But Johnson, who is
part-owner of NFL
team the New York
Jets, denied that claim
too. Asked about the
allegation at a White
House press conference on
Wednesday, President Trump
said he had never spoken to
Johnson about the matter.
Mumbai-born woman wins iPhone Photography Awards for 'Flying Boys'
Zhao of China and Saif Hussain of
Iraq as three runners-up of the award
which entered into the 13th year, with
submissions from thousands of photographers
from all over the globe.
"Having an iPhone with me at my
leisure has made it all more convenient
for me. iPhone grants me that
privilege to manoeuvre my craft as I
like," she said.
Bhalotia wishes to cast her photographs
into life-size sculptures and
describes her winning photograph as
a "symbol of fearlessness and freedom".
She said she aims to capture moments which
will "cease to exist" in her photographs and
encourage people to step back from technology to
appreciate their lived experience and spread the
message of hope, love, energy and freedom.
iPhone Photography Awards is the first and the
longest running iPhone photography competition
since 2007. It has been celebrating the creativity of
the iPhone users since the first iPhone has inspired,
excited and engaged the users worldwide.
Since then, IPPAWARDS has selected the best
shots among thousands of images submitted by
iPhone photographers from 140+ countries around
the world.