The six-year tradition of North Carolina Muslims slaughtering chicken, lamb or goat at a hog farm in Princeton during the Eid-al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) ended on Wednesday, the first day of their festival. Eddie Rowe, who runs the 300-acre hog farm, did not allow the ritual in compliance with a Dec. 15 court order stopping the illegal slaughter. Instead, he refunded Muslims who bought animals from him or just told them to kill the animals at their own backyards, which is not illegal.

A councilman from Ann Arbor raised a proposal at a recent lawmakers' retreat, arguing that the local government should allow its residents to keep live chickens in their homes. Stephen Kunselman noted that citizens must be allowed to house live poultry, as it will provide fresh eggs, which are of far better quality than store-bought ones.

Aaron Giles was just five years old when he lost his identity bracelet while playing in his grandfather's farm in Fairmont, Minnesota. Now 31 and a resident of Gloucester, Massachusetts, he never thought that he could still find a childhood memento - and no small thanks to the meat cutters of Olson Locker in Fairmont.

A teenage-girl just wanted to impress her mother by having the word "mum" tattooed on her back in Chinese letters. After the tattoo was completed, the girl found out that the symbols meant "Friend from hell. " A local paper said Charlene Williams, 19, only discovered something was wrong with her tattoo when a passing Chinese woman shouted at her, "Evil, evil, very bad. "

Venezuela President Hugo Chavez and his officials set a world record for making the largest pot of soup on Saturday. Venezuelan Food Minister Rafael Oropeza said they could beat the current Guinness World Records record-holder with their gigantic stainless steel cooking pot, set up outdoors in downtown Caracas. The giant pot contains about 3,960 gallons of "sancocho" stew, while the current Guinness holder prepared 1,413 gallons of spicy soup last July in Durango, Mexico.