Hundreds of police are being drafted to enforce a ban on the long-held tradition of playing football on Rio de Janeiro's beaches.

The ban, which begins on December 1 and will continue throughout the summer, is part of a campaign to keep crime down during the South American summer, a story by the Telegraph said. But the crackdown has caused controversy. "It's absurd," Gustavo Segala told the Telegraph. "Playing football on the beach is part of our culture."

It's so popular to play soccer on the beach, that soccer school recruiters come to the beach to find the next big star, the story said. But authorities say the ban is necessary to keep women and children safe because they are constantly hit with stray balls, the story said, and bathers have to unwillingly play dodge ball while walking to the sea. The football ban is from 8 am until 5 pm.

A corporate executive says he was denied a first class seat on United Airlines because he was wearing a track suit, according to an exclusive story by myfoxdc.com.

Armando Alvarez said he wanted to use his miles to upgrade to first class on a flight from Dulles to Connecticut. Instead, the Best Buy vice president said the gate agent told him that he was dressed "too casually" for seating in first class, the story said. Alvarez has sent e-mails to United Airlines and the airline's board of directors, but he has not received a response from them, the story said.

"I was humiliated and embarrassed," Alvarez, who is not seeking compensation, told myfoxdc.com. "If this happened to me and I'm a United Airlines Red Carpet Club member then I believe it's happening to other people and this must stop."

A 10-ton fishing boat was sunk and its crew thrown into the sea by the giant jellyfish they were gathering off the coast of Japan.

The three fisherman were hauling a net full of the gigantic creatures, known as Nomura's jellyfish when the weight of them caused the boat to capsize, a story by the Telegraph reported. The fishermen were rescued by another fishing boat.

Nomura's jellyfish are known to be the largest in the world, growing more than 6 and-a-half feet in diameter and weighing as much as 450 pounds. Nomura's jellyfish can be found in the seas between China and Japan.

Plan Your Getaway

A Delta flight attendant confronted embattled NY anchor Dominic Carter and threatened to have him removed from the plane, a New York Post story said.

According to various reports, NY1 political anchor Carter was on the way to the bathroom when he bent down to tie his shoe. When he stood up, he bumped into a flight attendant, who called cops and a ground operator supervisor and threatened to throw him off the plane, officials told the NY Post.

Carter is facing charges of domestic abuse and was leaving LaGuardia for Kansas City with his wife to "get away," the story said. He volunteered to leave the flight on his own to avoid any more problems, the story said, and he and his wife flew out on the next flight.

Let's Take a Long Walk

A civilian passenger accidentally ejected himself from an air force display plane in South Africa while reaching for something to steady himself during a mid-air drill, according to a story by the Telegraph reported.

The man, who has not been named, pulled the emergency lever between his legs while on a joyride with an experienced pilot from South Africa's Silver Falcons air display team, the story said. Once the two rockets attached to his chair were activated, he immediately flew through the plane's plexiglass-type canopy and more than 100 yards in the air. Eventually, he floated back down to the ground on a parachute which opened automatically, the story said.

South African Airforce bosses picked up the unharmed passenger in a helicopter, the story said.

Make It an Adventure

Medical workers were called in to meet a plane at London's Heathrow airport after several passengers "mysteriously" fainted on board, a story by News.com.au reported.

Six ambulance crews, three paramedics, two duty managers and the hazardous materials response team met the British Airway's flight from Newark, NJ to examine six passengers who had taken ill, the story said. None of them had to be taken to the hospital, and they continued on their flight.

The police force was also notified, and a spokesperson said that the incident was not being treated as suspicious, the story said.

Rest and Relaxation, Anyone?

Pamela Root was kicked off a Southwest flight to San Jose after her cranky 2-year-old son Adam was "disruptive" on the flight, story by MercuryNews.com said.

Adam was reportedly screaming, but Root said she had planned to feed him after takeoff, which would put him to sleep like the other times they flew, the story said. But the crew apparently didn't want to take any chances. Before they could take off, the plane returned to the gate because of a "passenger issue," which turned out to be Root and her son. "I left, rather embarrassed,'' Root told the Mercury News. "Then, I was so mad, I almost cried.''

Now, Root is livid, and wants an apology from Southwest and compensation for the things she bought while she stayed overnight in Amarillo, Texas, the story said.

Take a Little Trip

A worried pilot flying a plane with a technical problem asked passengers to pray for safety.

A passenger aboard the Aseman Airlines Boeing plane said the plane took off from Tehran, Iran airport after a six hour delay, a story by News.com.au reported. "The plane took off in the morning and had to land back in Tehran after 45 minutes," the passenger said. "The pilot told the passengers 'the plane is facing a technical problem and has to return. So please pray.'"

For years, Iran has been under international sanctions hampering its ability to buy more up-to-date planes, such as Boeing and Airbus, or spare parts. As a result, they have suffered several air disasters over the past decade.

Take a Little Trip

A 12-year-old child had his television antenna confiscated by government officials who said the signal was interfering with air traffic control signals at a nearby airport.

Nickie Chamberlain had been using the antenna on his 14-inch bedroom television for two years to watch music channels, cartoons and other shows, a story by the Telegraph reported. But officials with the Office of Communications showed up as his home one day claiming that his TV signal was operating on the same frequency as the pilot's cockpit radio, causing pilots to lose contact with the air traffic control tower as they came in to land at Luton Airport, the story said.

Officials used a hand-held device to trace the problem back to Nickie's bedroom television, and ordered him to get rid of the antenna, the story said. Nickie told the Telegraph that he was upset that he couldn't watch television for a while, but that it was "better than causing a plane crash."

OSLO -- (AP) A man has been arrested in Norway trying to smuggle two dozen snakes and geckos into the country by hiding them under his clothes. Customs agent Helge Breilid said Monday the 22-year-old Norwegian citizen was apprehended in the southern town of Kristiansand after getting off a ferry from Hirtshals, Denmark. He said the man had 14 royal pythons and 10 albino leopard geckos under his clothes.

Breilid said the non-venomous snakes -- the smallest species in the python family -- were hidden in stockings duct-taped to the man's abdomen. The geckos were in boxes taped to his thighs.

Customs officials found the reptiles, which are not endangered, Sunday during a search following the discovery of a tarantula in one of the man's bags.

An Australian tourist who happens to be a black belt in karate gave an attacker a little more than he bargained for, an AFP story said.

The 20-year-old was in the Outback town of Alice Springs when the unknown assailant asked her for a cigarette. When she refused, he punched her -- but she punched back, the story said, forcing him to run away.

"When she said no, he got upset and lashed out at her -- and she lashed right back," a police spokeswoman told AFP. "She punched him three times in the face with a karate punch and kicked him with a karate kick. She did pretty well – not that we're encouraging that sort of thing." The tourist has been practicing karate for 10 years, the story said.

Attention die-hard golfers! The world's longest golf course, spanning 848 miles, is now open!

Nullarbor Links, an 18-hole, 72-par golf course, stretches through several towns situated along the desolate Eyre Highway. Golfers play a hole in one town, then drive to the next tee which could be as far as 62 miles away. To give golfers the "quintessential Australian experience," the course features a "somewhat rugged, outback-style, natural terrain fairway," which means there are very few manicured greens, or pristine fairways. The course could take as long as 4 days to complete.

”I think people are looking for an adventure, and an experience,” Alfie Caputo, the course's project manager, told News.com.au. ”This is the real Australia, it really is. They'll never play anything like this anywhere in the world.”

Take a peek at the course: Nullarbor Links

A Jet2 plane bound for Newcastle, UK had to be taken apart after a passenger dropped a cell phone down an air vent, a story by the Daily Mail reported.

Officials would not clear the plane to fly because the mobile device was turned on, the story said. Passengers waited in the departure lounge while the crew dismantled the cockpit area and three rows of seats to recover the phone, the story said.

A spokesperson for Jet2 told the Daily Mail: "Whilst it was no doubt inconvenient that people had to wait for us to retrieve the phone, any mobile or similar communications device that is switched on would need to be removed from the aircraft in order to ensure maximum safety for our passengers."

British Airways was forced to cancel a domestic flight after a passenger saw a tarantula aboard the plane, the Telegraph reported.

The male passenger, who has not been named, informed the cabin crew that he saw a tarantula crawling between his legs, the story said. The announcement led to the flight being grounded, but none of the other 82 passengers aboard the flight from Heathrow to Edinburgh saw the spider, according to the story.

A specialist firm was flown in to fumigate the plane, but the tarantula was never found, the story said.

After a mid-air brawl earlier this month, Air India was hit with more bad publicity after a pilot reportedly showed up for work drunk, a story by The India Times reported.

One of four pilots on the "zero-delay" flight from Mumbai to New York failed a breathalyzer administered as part of pre-flight checks, the story said. The 15-17-hour non-stop flight, which is virtually guaranteed to take off on time, was delayed by 45 minutes, the story said.

Between July 2008 and 2009, 29 pilots failed the breath analyzer tests, most often during festivals and New Year, the story said, but reporting to fly while drunk is not a criminal offense in India.

European airline Ryanair is giving away 1.6 million seats for free after a BBC documentary criticized its business practices, a story by News.com.au said.

The budget airline is facing heavy scrutiny after a BBC Panorama documentary "Why Hate Ryanair" aired earlier this week, claiming it “had no respect or dignity for pilots or cabin crew, that “people feel cheated by Ryanair” and that chief Michael O’Leary “is a bully,” the story said. Ryanair responded to the "hatchet job" by offering 100,000 free seats for each of the 11 "lies" in the documentary. Once the 1.1 million free seats were gone, they added an additional 500,000 free seats, the story said, but BBC says the information is accurate.

The free seats are being offered from its UK airports for flights in November and December, include all taxes and charges, and there are no destination restrictions.

The pilot of an Air Canada Jazz flight made an unscheduled stop after a passenger stole beer from a beverage cart, according to a story on the News.com.au Web site.

The passenger allegedly took several cans of beer, drank them, then tried to flush the empty cans down the jet's toilet to get rid of the evidence, the story said. The plane, headed from Vancouver to Fort McMurray, Alberta, was redirected to Kelowna, British Columbia where police arrested the 23-year-old thief, the story said.

The man faces charges of causing a disturbance on an aircraft, the story said.

Plan a Fall Vacation

Two Air India pilots involved in a mid-air brawl with a stewardess were arrested and later released, according to a story by HotelierMiddleEast.com

Pilot Ranbir Arora and co-pilot Aditya Chopra were questioned by police about their involvement in the scuffle and arrested, the story said. They were later released after "registering their arrest and questioning," a senior police official told the Press Trust of India, the story said.

The incident took place in the cockpit of a flight from Sharjah to Dehli where an airline hostess said she was molested and assaulted. A mid-air scuffle between the pilots, hostess and other crew members followed.

Plan a Fall Vacation

A Delta flight headed to Atlanta was forced to make an unscheduled stop in Nashville after a man aboard the flight caused a disturbance.

Paul Marchuk III was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after a 30-minute ordeal that witnesses say included biting, pinning a woman in her seat and citing the Lord's Prayer "at the top of his lungs," while on the flight from Seattle, a story by the Komo News. Marchuk also "kept intruding, touching and talking to a passenger about the Bible," before he was subdued by male passengers and flight attendants, who restrained him with zip-ties, the story said.

Family members said Marchuk, who was also charged with resisting arrest, has Tourette's Syndrome, the story said. The flight landed in Atlanta an hour and a half later, and none of the 178 passengers or six-member flight crew was hurt.

Plan a Fall Vacation

Several women traveling on a popular Papua New Guinea airline are complaining of having their underwear stolen from their baggage.

At least four women say their "best" underwear were stolen out of their luggage during domestic flights on Air Niugini, a story by News.com.au reported. One woman said she had much more valuable items to steal, but was only missing a pair of pink panties on her visit to see her mother, the story said. Another woman said her lock was broken and her g-string and lace hipster panties were taken, the story said.

Air Niugini officials are investigating the claims, but they are unaware of a particular item being targeted, the story said.

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