SUNDAY night's episode of Only Fools and Horses on BBC 1 was watched by 21.5 million people, rising to 22.1 million in the last half hour, 71.6 per cent of all viewers, unofficial figures have shown. The previous highest audiences for the adventures of Del Boy and Rodney, in the show's 15 year history, were 20.1 million for the Christmas Day episodes in 1992 and 1989.
The angelic charm of John Travolta, in Michael, drew film goers to the cinema in the US at the weekend, earning £10.8 million in ticket sales.
The film, which opened on Christmas Day, got mixed reviews but benefited from the drawing power of Travolta, who plays an amorous, unlikely angel.
Veteran French communist leader Georges Marchais (76) left Lariboisiere hospital in Paris yesterday after undergoing heart bypass surgery shortly before Christmas.
Marchais, who was head of the French Communist Party (PCF) for more than 20 years until he retired in 1994, has been fitted with a pacemaker and will be closely monitored for some time.
Virtually unchallenged until the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989, Marchais steered a rigid and orthodox course at the helm of his party.
German Economy Minister Guenter Rexrodt was elected "Dinosaur of the Year" yesterday by a nature organisation which awards the title to perceived enemies of the environment.
The Association for the Protection of Nature said in a statement it had chosen Rexrodt "for his constant attempts to lower standards in Germany concerning the environment and put the brakes on the slightest progress in environmental policies."
A pensioner thought she had bought the perfect Christmas present for her grandchildren.
Judith Mitchell (70), from Sevenoaks, Kent, wanted to buy a CD by the all girl band, the Spice Girls, for her grandchildren, but got confused and instead presented the youngsters with a cook book called Spicy Grills.