Yesterday was a ...

Good Day for virtue, as the Department for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice jailed two ice-cream vendors in Afghanistan for selling ices to women who were not veiled from head to foot. The women were let off with a caution.

Bad Day for raccoons, as Peter Lerat, 33, was arrested in Toronto for allegedly threatening to hit a two-month-old raccoon on the head with a rock if he was not given C$50 (about pounds 25). Last month the same man was charged with threatening to break a Canada goose's neck unless someone gave him money.

Good Day for negotiation, as a wanted Sicilian Mafia member offered to turn himself in if his cat could come to jail with him.