Thierry Bellisha, 32, and two colleagues unloaded all of their suitcases from Hossam Abdalla's taxi at LaGuardia Airport. All except one. The co-owner of Montreal-based Crown Ring immediately looked up, but it was too late - Abdalla had already sped off, unaware he still had a suitcase worth several hundred thousand dollars in the trunk of his yellow cab.

A tabloid is making good on an offensive article that labeled a police officer who suffered disfiguring burns in a crash while on duty as "ugly. "American Media Inc. , owner of the Weekly World News, ran a list of the ''top 10 ugliest people'' in its Feb. 7 issue featuring a post-surgery photo of the disfigured officer and his wife.