Wrong switch, gets Delta fighter jet escort

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Don’t slip!

A Delta Airlines pilot accidentally activated a hijacking alert on a flight from New York to Tel Aviv. As a result, Israeli fighter jets were scrambled to escort the plane “safely” to Ben Gurion Airport.

The fighter jets lingered briefly over the airliner and its 100 passengers … ultimately for no reason. Then, they escorted the plane – and probably a confused flight crew – into Tel Aviv. A technical malfunction, apparently, kept the pilot from communicating with the airport’s tower.

Nobody was hurt in this bizarre event, according to Israeli transportation ministry official Dani Shenar, and an investigation will be launched.

Bolshoi in Russia: American celebrities aka hookers in Moscow?

by Iva Skoch on

Greetings from Moscow! Bolshoi in Russia is my variation on Big in Japan. (Bolshoi means “Big” in Russian. Get it?) Stay tuned for my live dispatches from Russia this week.

This sincerely made me laugh today.

At breakfast, I am sipping my morning coffee at a coffee shop, reading The Moscow Times. There it is in the classified section: an ad for an exclusive escort service featuring Jessica Simpson, I mean “Lena – 24 hours.”

Another two ads with pictures of two Victoria Secret models. They are retouched just enough to make you look twice, but there is no doubt it is them.

I guess you couldn’t really get away with stealing someone’s likeness in the LA Times, but hey, this is Moscow. Anything goes.

From Russia, with love.