Infamous JetBlue passenger Christina Szele will plead guilty to at least some of the federal charges she's facing, according to the Denver Post, citing court documents in the case.
Szele, you'll no doubt remember, reportedly sparked up a cig on her flight between New York and San Francisco and flew into a rage when a flight attendant snatched it from her lips. She was booted off her A320 after it made an emergency pit stop in Denver.
With the plea, it's unlikely she'll get the maximum penalty she could've drawn, but US Attorney Troy Eid is definitely making an example of Szele--just like he promised.
Is the wind in the Windy City a little clearer these days? Two and a half years after the City Council passed a "public places" smoking ban, residents are pleased overall--even if the ban has had some unintended consequences.
After nearly a decade, Qantas is bringing back in-flight cigarette sales on international flights. Though the carrier isn't allowed to advertise smokes, it can and will start stacking them prominently on top of duty free carts as they trundle down the aisles.
Obviously, this has the anti-tobacco lobby more than upset. Says the head of one anti-smoking group:
Retail tobacco display is a powerful form of advertising, especially in association with a highly respected brand name like Qantas, and research shows it normalizes and encourages young people to smoke.
Kenya is the latest country to join the no-smoking bandwagon, with an stringent anti-tobacco law that went into effect this week. The government's ban on butts is so strict, residents can't even puff in parks, private cars or their own homes.
The new rules require smokers to stick to sealed and ventilated rooms, so unless a house is equipped, it's technically out of bounds. For those hangers-on, the government has established a few outdoor "smoking zones" that draw clusters of smokers, eager to avoid fines of up to $46,000. (That's not for the first offense!)
Also included in the new tobacco control legislation is a ban on sales of single cigarettes, designed to keep lower-income Kenyans from lighting up. One vendor in Narobi told the BBC that his sales of loosies had indeed dropped off--but that people were just buying packs instead.
Christina Szele, the enraged passenger who allegedly punched a flight attendant after he snatched a lit cigarette from her lips, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver. They say there's enough evidence to prosecute on the original charges of assault and interference with a flight crew--and the jury adds that another charge of assault is in order for Szele's behavior toward a second FA.
The US attorney in the case, Troy Eid, says he's not afraid to make an example of Szele, who authorities say caused such a ruckus that the pilot on her flight had to make an unscheduled stop at Denver International to toss her.
The "anything-goes-on-an-airplane" culture must end. Mess with a commercial flight crew and expect to face the consequences.
And consequences there certainly may be: If found guilty of the interference charge, Szele faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000!
In an effort to keep underage kids from buying, new cigarette vending machines in Osaka have facial recognition cameras. The scanners look for wrinkles and other signs of age before greenlighting the purchase of a pack.
But some crafty kids in Japan have come up with a work-around: They simply hold up a magazine photo of someone older and the machine gives them the OK.
The manufacturer of the machines says a new system that can't be fooled will be ready to go soon. Funny thing is, there's already something more effective: Japan's Taspo program--RFID cards used for age verification--will be installed on machines nationwide by next month.
A packed JetBlue plane flying from New York to San Francisco had to make an emergency landing after a woman flipped out and allegedly punched a flight attendant. The passenger, 35-year-old Christina Szele of Queens, flew into a rage after a member of the crew asked her to put out a cigarette she lit up mid-flight. Szele, a white woman, began cursing and screaming racial epithets at an African-American flight attendant after he plucked the cigarette from her mouth, according to an affidavit filed in the case.
After her outburst, Szele was placed in restraints, but she managed to escape her plastic handcuffs and punch the flight attendant in the face. That's when pilots decided to bring the plane down in Denver in order to throw Szele off the flight.
Now the angry Queens nicotine fiend faces federal charges and up to 20 years in jail. Note to Szele: Cigarettes are pretty tough to come by in prison!
As of today, Turkey has banned smoking in all enclosed areas. But getting people to comply may be quite a task, as half of all Turks smoke at least occasionally, according to Gallup.
If you're not ready to quit, you'll find a reprieve at bars, cafes and restaurants: They'll have until July 2009 to go smoke-free. Until then, one waiter says, you'll be able to skirt the restrictions:
I don't think the Turkish people will follow this law ... They will find a way around it. But I think it's a good change. Even as a nonsmoker, I feel like I am smoking.
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