Dallas police met a Southwest Airlines plane at Dallas Love Field on Monday after flight staff reported that a passenger refused to stop using his mobile phone during the flight.

Joe David Jones, 50, was cited for disorderly conduct, Dallas police said.

The incident occurred during a Southwest flight from Austin to Dallas. “After multiple requests, the flight attendants were not successful in getting the passenger to get off the phone,” said Southwest spokeswoman Brandy King.

According to a Dallas police report, flight attendants had asked Mr. Jones to turn off his cell phone and he responded with, “Kiss my —.” When asked again, he stated, “Kiss my —. Not happening,” the report said. (more…)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York man who says he was denied a seat on a five-hour jetBlue flight and was instead told to “hang out” in the plane’s bathroom has sued the airline for $2 million, saying he suffered “extreme humiliation.”

When Gokhan Mutlu arrived to check in for a jetBlue flight from San Diego to New York in February he was told the flight was full, according to the lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court.

But Mutlu was allowed to board after a jetBlue flight attendant agreed to give up her seat and travel in an airline employee “jump seat.” It was not clear in the lawsuit whether the flight attendant was working. (more…)

Devotees believe this ritual is good for the health of the child.

BOSTON - The Boston Red Sox jersey secretly buried under the new Yankee Stadium in a failed curse attempt sold Thursday for $175,100 in a charity auction.

The bid was the highest of 282 for the battered No. 34 David Ortiz jersey, which the Yankees jackhammered out from under two feet of concrete earlier this month. (more…)

TOKYO, April 17 - A Japanese high school pleaded for a regional game to be abandoned after surrendering 66 runs in less than two innings, local media reported on Thursday.

The coach of Kawamoto technical high school threw in the towel to spare his pitcher’s arm with his team losing 66-0 with just one batter out in the bottom of the second. (more…)

NEW YORK —A construction worker’s bid to curse the New York Yankees by planting a Boston Red Sox jersey in their new stadium was foiled Sunday when the home team removed the offending shirt from its burial spot. (more…)

LOS ANGELES - A Californian man faces jail after being convicted of smuggling stolen rare iguanas into the United States inside his prosthetic leg, justice officials said Friday.
(more…)

WELLINGTON - Hurling a hedgehog at a teenager has landed a New Zealand man a date in court, a report said.
“It hit the victim in the leg, causing a large, red welt and several puncture marks,” said Senior Sergeant Bruce Jenkins, of the Whakatane police. (more…)

BEIJING (Reuters) - A tiger devoured a mentally ill man who entered the animal’s zoo cage in northeast China, local media reported on Friday.

Zhang Yachun disappeared from his home in Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province, on March 24 and five days later police told his parents he had been eaten by a tiger in a nearby zoo, the China news service reported, citing a Harbin newspaper. (more…)

CINCINNATI - A man arrested in Cincinnati on a charge of disorderly conduct remained in custody Friday because a judge refused to reduce a $1 million bond that was imposed on a charge he stole $21 in products nearly 18 years ago. (more…)

HAVANA - First microwaves, now cell phones. Is this the new Cuba? Raul Castro is revolutionizing his brother’s island in small but significant ways — the latest in a decree Friday allowing ordinary Cubans to have cell phone service, a luxury previously reserved for the select few. The new president could be betting greater access to such modern gadgets will quell demand for deeper change. (more…)

PODOLYANTSI, Ukraine - Leonid Stadnik’s phenomenal height has forced him to quit a job he loved, to stoop as he moves around his house and to spend most of his time in his tiny home village because he cannot fit in a car or bus. (more…)

Federal agents have arrested a mystery man who has used so many different identities over so many years, they don’t know who he really is.

Activision is launching a Guitar Hero 3, Release Your Rockstar Competition. (more…)

DURANT, OK — A 23-year-old man is accused of eating marijuana to hide it from the cops. That’s what Durant police say 23-year-old Tony Pelayo did early Sunday morning. (more…)