Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check

Those @$#%* Foreigners:

You can apparently add "fashion maven" to North Korean President KIM JONG-IL's resume. The Pyongyang government's official website quotes the country's communist party daily as saying that Kim's trademark jacket and pants suits --consisting of an overall-style zipped-up tunic and matching trousers, usually in khaki or blueish-grey-- have become a worldwide fashion statement.  
    The paper said, "...the august image of the Great General, who is always wearing the modest suit while working, leaves a deep impression on people's mind in the world." (Pacelli)

Plane safety:

Federal air marshals subdued a man they say attempted to light his shoes on fire on a United flight from Washington to Denver.
   Two jet fighters were scrambled from Buckley Air Force Base to accompany United Flight 663 as it flew the final 40 miles to Denver. When the plane landed, it was taken to a secure location where it was met by FBI bomb techs.
   Within an hour of the story breaking, FBI agents said no explosives were found in the man's shoes.
   The NY Times now says that the passenger --who's since been identified by the authorities as a diplomat in the Qatar Embassy in Washington-- was trying to light a cigarette in the plane's bathroom, and when he came out, he made a sarcastic joke about lighting his shoe on fire, a reference to RICHARD REID, the so-called "shoe bomber," which the air marshals took seriously.
   The flight was carrying 157 passengers and six crew members. (Maiman)

The Weather:

They say it every year, but this time they really mean it. Hurricane forecasters expect an above average hurricane season this year.
   Hurricane experts from Colorado State University say the end of the El Nino combined with record-high water temperatures in the Caribbean will likely mean more storms for this year.
   Doctors PHIL KLOTZBACH and WILLIAM GRAY are calling for 15 named storms in the Atlantic between June 1st and November 30th. They believe eight of those will become hurricanes, four of which will be Category 3 or higher.
   The long-term average is about nine tropical storms each year. (Page)

The Airlines:

How many airline fees are you willing to pay? First luggage, now bathrooms.
   Passengers on European budget carrier Ryanair will soon have to pay to use the bathrooms.
   In addition to raising fees on checked bags by 33 percent (it now costs $30 to check a bag) Ryanair will charge fliers about $1.40 to use the bathroom. The bathrooms will be coin-operated, although there's some speculation that they make also take credit cards in order to prevent situations like the one portrayed in a 1987 Alaska Airlines commercial where a passenger asks for loose change to use an on-board pay-toilet.
   Earlier this week, discount carrier Spirit Airlines announced charges to bring carry-on bags on board flights.
   Ryanair also plans to remove bathrooms to create space for seats, meaning that there may be just one bathroom for 189 people. Happy trails. (Maiman)

Another day, another TIGER WOODS story --and it's possibly the juiciest yet. The National Enquirer reported yesterday that Tiger wasn't just into porn stars and party girls --he also allegedly had a one night stand with his 22-year-old neighbor, RAYCHEL COUDRIET, on a couch in his home office.
   A source claims Raychel later said "I felt used and violated, like I meant nothing to him but a night of casual sex. I just wanted to dig a big hole, crawl in and die."
   So, was it worth it? Raychel later told a friend that Tiger was "mechanical and unemotional" --but not for Tiger, who "texted her constantly with sleazy sexual innuendos," according to the Enquirer, looking for another session.

First there was TIGER WOODS. Now former NY Giants running back TIKI BARBER is the next sports star in trouble with his wife. The New York Post reports Tiki --who just turned 35 yesterday-- left his pregnant wife for TRACY LYNN JOHNSON, a former intern he met while working at NBC and who also worked on the show, "30 Rock." For the record, his wife, Ginny, is 35 while Tracy Lynn is just 23.
Tiki and Ginny met at the University of Virginia when they were students and have been married for 11 years, and have two sons, aged six and seven years old. She is currently pregnant with twins.