yesterday was...

A good day for:

Rich, fashionable slimmers, with the launch in Japan of diet earrings. Yasuo Tomoyuki, 47, has designed a pair of earrings that sit on the hunger- suppressing acupuncture pressure points at the front and back of the ear. He also claims that their pearls generate infra-red rays that suppress hunger pangs.

A bad day for:

Chinese zoos, with a report that the People's Park in the city of Huzhou is being sued for 100,000 yuan (about pounds 8,000) by a 10-year-old boy who was bitten on the ankle by a giant panda. The bars of the cage were wide enough apart for children to go in and play with the usually docile animal.