yesterday was a . . .

Good Day for bomb disposal experts, as as area in Malmo, Sweden, was evacuated following the discovery of a suspect package in a grocery shop. A robot was sent into the building to retrieve the object - a taped- up box in a bag, and a bomb disposal expert opened it with his usual professional caution. The box was found to contain two puzzled kittens. "It's certainly better if it's kittens than bombs," said police duty officer Bertil Nilsson.

Bad Day for hairdressers and dry-cleaners, as the New York city council proposed to ban "gender-pricing" - the operation of price structures that discriminate against women. Research showed that the average price of a man's haircut was $13.75 compared with $16.20 for a woman. Dry cleaners charged women 30 per cent more than men. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, however, pointed out that his wife has more hair than he does.