Dubai Jails Tourists for Kissing

A British couple have been sentenced to a month in prison in Dubai after a local woman complained when they kissed in a beachfront restaurant. "We kissed each other on the cheek as a greeting, nothing more,” Ayman Najafi, 24, told the Dubai Appeal Court yesterday. He called the case a "huge misunderstanding." Police were called to Bob's Easy Diner by an Emirati woman who said her daughters were upset because the two "were kissing on the mouth."

Najafi and Charlotte Adams, 25, were also fined $140 for being in a public place after consuming alcohol. The two have been released on bail pending a decision in their appeal. It's not the first time tourists have run afoul of Dubai's prohibitions. Two other British tourists were sentenced last year to 3 months in prison last year for having sex on the beach. (More Dubai stories.)