yesterday was a ...

Good Day for plastic surgery, as a Colombian who is alleged to have made $10bn dollars by selling 30 tons of cocaine in New York, appeared in court in Venezuela to fight an extradition request. Justo Pastor Perafan's lawyer explained that his client had undergone a facial operation and hair transplant not because he was trying to evade the authorities, but because he wanted to look good in the company of his beauty queen wife. Perafan has been charged in Venezuela for living under a false identity.

Bad Day for actors, as security forces in Peru mistook the cast of a soap opera for Marxist rebels. The actors were dressed as armed guerillas for an episode of Diamonds and Hearts. The director, who had not obtained permission for filming, was arrested but later released without charge. "They were about to blow us to pieces," he told reporters.

Expensive Day for mincing, as Barry Moore, a butcher in Devon, hid pounds 840 in notes and cheques in a mincer overnight, but returned the following morning to see his father turning the machine on as he opened the shop for business.