Yesterday was a ...

Good Day for mice, as two towns in Albania were blacked out, an electricity distribution centre burned down and and a power plant caught fire when a mouse chewed through a cable causing a short-circuit. "A normal grey mouse can be fantastically expensive," a spokesman said. "It cost about $10,000."

Bad Day for flies and mosquitoes, as authorities in Peking extended their campaign against cockroaches to other insects. "All urban neighbourhood and work units are urged to conduct hygienic inspections and to distribute pesticide," they said. The fight against flies and mosquitoes will last from 28 June until 10 July.