Animal rights protesters swarmed into a restaurant serving cat meat in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen and forced it to shut down. Xinhua reports that 40 or so, mainly female demonstrators-holding banners reading "cats and dogs are friends of human beings"-entered the Fangji Cat Meatball restaurant and demanded the owner free any live cats on the premises.

In a bizarre incident, thieves stole 150 plum trees from an orchard in eastern Hungary estimated to be worth 2 million forints ($9,500). The Associated Press reports the trees were uprooted and taken from an orchard in Patyod, a village about 175 miles northeast of Budapest.

At Northwestern University, one teacher is putting pornography on the required reading list. English lecturer Bill Savage will feature a pornographic novel in his Spring Quarter literature class; "Genius, Gender and Tradition. "

In an event that would make a lot of men's knees go weak, a woman in Australia single-handedly captured a young crocodile she found swimming in her backyard pool. According to local reports, the woman captured the reptile, which measured over a foot-and-a-half in length.

KFC is offering consumers an unusual way of getting a free chicken sandwich. All they need to do is record a television commercial, play it back and crack a hidden message. The aim is two-fold: interested viewers will have to watch the ad. And, according to chief marketing officer Scott Bergren, it creates a little fun on the screen. The ads are airing during NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics and programs on the major television networks.