Dark days ahead for Russian drivers
MOSCOW: Drivers are up in arms after Russian police declared war on the dark tinted glass ubiquitous in cars from humble Ladas to limousines, while stars complain they can no longer hide away from their fans. Under a new law that came into force July 1, police have the powers to remove the number plates of cars that have dark tinting unless the driver scrapes off the protective film on the spot. Until this week, the worst police could do was impose a 500 ruble ($15) fine. And Russia’s household names are complaining that they are now at the mercy of fans in the jams.“Farewell, tinted glass. Now everyone is going to be chummy and say ‘Beardie went past,’” television and film comedian Mikhail Galustyan raged on Twitter, referring to one of his characters in a sketch show. “I understand you have to follow the law, but I am categorically against,” complained Ksenia Borodina, host of a long-running television reality show, to Life News website. “As soon as I let down a window, I heard ‘Girl, let’s get to know each other. Pull over to the kerb!’ she confided. “I find it unpleasant, but I can’t do a thing about it. The law is the law.” Darkly tinted windows in cars came into vogue in the 1990s and have never really gone away, despite the distinct lack of sunlight for half a year in most of Russia. The new law is hardly draconian. It covers windscreens that let through less than 25 percent of light and front side windows that let through less than 30 percent, while other tinted windows are acceptable. To persuade the public, the police recruited a comedy group called Ural Pelmeny for a public service ad in which a driver lets down a pitch-black window to look outside. “Take off your tinting. Summer is short enough already in the Urals,” they urge.
Drug dealer who sent ‘come and get me’ texts nabbed
BANGKOK: A bungling Thai drug dealer who sent text messages goading police to apprehend him has been arrested with dozens of amphetamine pills, a local police officer said yesterday. The man, who is 24, was caught on Wednesday night in a town in northeast Thailand, after police received several messages challenging them to make an arrest, Major Viriyaphab Wangprom of the local police said. The texts, apparently sent in anger after a number of his gang had been caught by police, read “come and arrest me, I am in Laos,” a neighboring country where the man is believed to have picked up his drugs. “During an investigation he confessed that he and an accomplice sent several messages to police mobile phones because they were angry that several of his traffickers had been arrested,” Viriyaphab told AFP. Viriyaphab was charged with drug trafficking offenses after being caught with 90 amphetamine tablets in his possession.
‘Rightful heir’ to UK monarchy dies
SYDNEY: An Australian forklift driver who some historians argued was the true heir to the British throne has died in the small New South Wales town he called home, his local newspaper reported yesterday. Mike Hastings, 71, was a real-life aristocrat, born the 14th earl of Loudoun, who moved to Australia in 1960 in search of adventure. He made international headlines in 2004 when a documentary team from Britain’s Channel Four conducted extensive research into the monarchy and concluded his ancestors were cheated out of the crown in the 15th century. Hastings, an avowed republican, died on June 30 and was buried yesterday in Jerilderie, about 750 kilometers southwest of Sydney, the local Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser reported. Hastings was a descendant of England’s House of York, whose dynastic struggle with the House of Lancaster became known as the Wars of the Roses and was dramatised by William Shakespeare. The British documentary’s historian Michael Jones found documents in France’s Rouen Cathedral that he believed showed King Edward IV, who ruled with a brief interruption from 1461 to 1483, was illegitimate. Jones believes that Edward’s father Richard of York was fighting the French at Pontoise when he was conceived, while his mother Cecily was 200 kilometers (125 miles) away at Rouen, allegedly in the amorous arms of an English archer. If true, the crown should have passed on to Edward’s younger brother George, the duke of Clarence, who was a direct ancestor to Hastings. Hastings showed little interest in pursuing his claim to the monarchy when interviewed by AFP in 2005, citing the intense public scrutiny endured by the royals.
— Compiled from agencies
